The Abandoned Carnival

Padlock'd (Gold Coast, Australia)

Time limit: 60 minutes

Age limit: None

Player limit: 2-8

Difficulty: 4/5

Date visited: September 2025

This was the fourth game of our September Queensland trip and first on the Gold Coast, as well as our first at Padlock’d. We had heard that Padlock’d was pivoting towards purchased, ready-made games from escape game sellers such as Indestroom, so we initially did not plan on playing this room. But we then found out that this was one of their older, original creations and one of their best rooms, so we decided to give it a try. Here are the main points:

• This turned out to be a really cool, fun room that our entirely family really enjoyed. I think the main reason was because the space used to be a business with actual carnival-style games, and was repurposed by Padlock’d into an escape room. Thus, the theming and aesthetics were authentic, and the fact that it was looking somewhat worn due to age added to the creepy “abandoned” vibe. But don’t worry — it’s not scary at all and is suitable for kids and families.

• It’s also a surprisingly big room that seems to take up the entire floor of the building, and I like how it begins as soon as you walk out of the lift. I didn’t expect there to be so many sections and was impressed every time a new door opened to something different but still in alignment with the theme.

• The puzzles were also quite strong and varied, with some multi-linearity that allows divide and conquer. There was one really cool puzzle/prop that I had never seen before in an escape room and doubt I ever will again.

• Overall, the puzzles were not difficult and were quite fun, but there was one towards the end that could be interpreted in various ways and we had to guess and check a few times to get it right. There was another lengthy puzzle where we overthought the complexity and solved it the right way but implemented it in the wrong order, so our GM stepped in to let us know how to re-interpret what we ended up with rather than forcing us to start all over again.

• Even with those trip ups, we finished with 19 minutes to spare, so I would say the room has a moderate level of difficulty and is suitable for teams of varying levels of experience. Teamwork was also essential, and while it can be done with 2 people, I would say 3 players or more would make life a lot easier.

  
  

Escape time: 41 minutes out of 60

Theming	Atmosphere	Puzzles	Creativity	Fun
B+	A-	B+	A-	A-

Verdict: An enjoyable family-friendly game with authentic theming and fun puzzles. It may be one of Padlock’d’s oldest games, but from what other enthusiasts tell me, it remains one of their best!

OVERALL RANK:

H	E	Z	J
A-	A	A-	A-