Never House

DarkPark Games

Age: 14+ recommended

Players: 1-4

Play Time: 1.5-3 hours

Difficulty: Medium

Awards: Golden Lock Award - Tabletop (2024)

This was the second DarkPark tabletop escape game that our friend the Escape Room Explorer lent us while we were on the Gold Coast and our third tabletop game (played the next morning).

After Witchery Spell, our expectations were quite high, so I’m glad to say we enjoyed Never House even more. Personally, I think the two games are probably equally good in terms of quality of props, puzzles, and overall immersion, so it really just comes down to personal preference. For us, the spooky, supernatural occult horror theme was more compelling than the witchcraft one, and we thus felt more invested and immersed.

The production value was incredible for a tabletop game, with authentic, weighty, and tactile objects that infuse the game with an air of authenticity. The flow of the plot and the puzzles was also excellent, and we did get the sense that we were slowly progressing toward some startling and climactic revelations.

Like Witchery Spell, which relied on network connectivity and custom-built websites, Never House also utilized a lot of multimedia, including videos and audio recordings. All of this was done extremely well and it’s easy to imagine that all of it is real, though we did find some of the acting rather amusing (so did the actor — you must check out the hilarious outtakes at the end of the game!).

We really enjoyed the mystery and the surprises Never House had to offer. I was impressed with the high production value, the intricate storyline, and of course, the puzzles, some of which had us in awe of their design and ingenuity. This ranks as one of the best tabletop escape rooms we have played to date, and probably the best one you can actually buy and own (since The First of Them by Social Escape is only a portable rental).

Rank: A+

PS: Be warned, there are some dark themes, so it’s probably not suitable for younger kids. But having played quite a few real-life horror rooms by now, it was nothing my kids couldn’t handle (I never said I was a good father).

PPS: There are single-used consumables in Never House, meaning that you cannot fully reset the game for it to be played again unless you purchase a refill pack online.