Narrow Escape Rooms (Penrith, Australia)
Time limit: 60 minutes
Age limit: None
Player limit: 2-6
Difficulty: Hard (35% success rate)
Awards: TERPECA Finalist (2022), TERPECA Nominee (2021, 2023)
Date visited: January 2025
Our second room at Narrow Escape was The Inheritance, widely touted as their best room. I love the premise: Your great aunt has passed away and you must find her will in the next 60 minutes to get your hands on the inheritance!
It’s the type of theme that allows the room designer to put in all kinds of puzzles without making things feel illogical or out of place, and the owners of Narrow Escape certainly did that by building an extremely fun multi-linear room that challenged us and kept everyone busy. I especially liked how the room and puzzles built a compelling narrative around her life and the places she visited throughout the years, but it’s done in a way where you don’t need any specific geographic knowledge to solve the puzzles.
I wouldn’t call The Inheritance a huge room but it was big enough and the space was utilised extremely well, taking advantage of every wall, corner, and cabinet to provide something of relevance. It was also a very hi-tech room, but the tech was well hidden and revolved around the puzzles rather than the other way around. There were multiple puzzles and concepts in this room that we had not seen before. And despite being a multi-linear room, there was still a flow to the progression that felt smooth and natural.
Even though The Inheritance was rated Narrow’s most difficult game, our team did a lot better in this room than in Undetected, requiring only one hint towards the end when it felt like the timing could get tight (we probably didn’t need it as we got out with plenty of time to spare). I attribute this to our carb coma from the massive burger and fried chicken lunch we had before playing Undetected, as well as our tendency to do better with traditional puzzles than task-based tech puzzles.
The Inheritance was super fun and made the drive to Penrith worthwhile. We really enjoy these types of rooms where we feel challenged and have to work together as a team to decipher a wide variety of interesting and intriguing puzzles. Can’t wait to go back!
Escape time: 43 minutes and 33 seconds
Verdict: A super fun and challenging multi-linear room with a wide array of puzzles. Lives up to the hype!
Rating: 8.9
Player | Theming | Atmosphere | Puzzles | Creativity | Fun | Average |
H | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8.8 |
E | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8.8 |
Z | 9 | 8.5 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8.9 |
J | 9.5 | 9 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 8 | 9.1 |
Rating | 8.9 |
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