The House on the Hill

Escape Rooms Canberra (Canberra, Australia)

Time limit: 60 minutes

Age limit: Recommended 13+

Player limit: 2-7 (Recommended 2-6)

Difficulty: 1.5/5 (success rate 63%)

Awards: TERPECA Nominee (2023-2024)

Date visited: June 2025

After our amazing visit to Riddle Rooms the day before, we ventured to Escape Rooms Canberra (ERC) in the morning for our final set of rooms before the long drive back to Sydney. I jokingly said before entering that we were saving the best for last. And as it turned out, I was right! On the whole, ERC might very well be our favourite escape room business in the city.

First up, I booked their easiest game, The House on the Hill (formerly known as Salem), a witchcraft-themed room with a spooky ambience and atmosphere. We had played quite a few of these types of rooms by now (Blackwood Manor, The Doll House, The Witching Hour, etc), so we had a good baseline for what makes a good occult-style room.

As expected, the room was dimly lit, with only a lantern to help our eyes in times of need, adding to the ominous vibe. The theming was strong, with sturdy, well-made props that belong to a spooky house and fit into the narrative. While Riddle Room had the slick professional look and feel akin to a film set, ERC had bespoke decor and realistic textures that gave the experience a greater sense of intimacy.

We started off with some fairly standard traditional puzzles, but this ramped up as we moved to the second phase, and then really took off in the third phase as more technology was infused into the puzzles as well as the lighting and sound design. There was nothing too crazy or outrageous, but I really enjoyed the flow and gradual escalation of the atmosphere, puzzles, and story. By the end, it all came together like the climax of a horror movie.

That said, don't be misled into thinking that this is a very scary room. While darkness and occult themes are prevalent, I don't recall there being any jump scares. It's more atmosphere than anything else. I'd say it's one of the least scary spooky rooms we've done to date. And don't pay too much attention to the 1.5/5 difficulty level that ERC assigned. While it's not a hard room, it's definitely not THAT easy.

One thing that really impressed me with the rooms at ERC was how elaborate the backstories were — without being confusing or convoluted. These backstories are available to read on the website, and also on large boards in the waiting area at the venue. Rather than your usual generic background story, these stories are unique and detailed, and are expanded on when you're inside the room. In other words, they are not perfunctory and actually lead somewhere.

Such was the case in The House on the Hill, which ends with an intriguing dilemma. Will you make the right choice?

Escape time: 35 minutes and 15 seconds

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

Verdict: An excellent occult-themed room bolstered by a strong atmosphere and well-crafted puzzle and narrative flow.

OVERALL RANK:

H	E	Z	J
B+	B-	B+	A+