Eclipse Escape (Gold Coast, Australia)
Time limit: 60 mins
Age limit: None
Player limit: 2-14 (recommended 2-8)
Difficulty: Medium
Awards: TERPECA Nominee (2022)
Date visited: July 2024
They say you always remember your first. The Magic Moonstone was our family’s first real-life escape room, the one start started it all, the one that sparked this obsession. And to be honest, we are so glad we chose Eclipse on the Gold Coast as our first experience, because our fates might have turned out very differently had we tried a lesser escape room. We’ve done a bunch of rooms since, many of which are the highest rated in Sydney and Melbourne, but The Magic Moonstone still holds up quite well.
The first thing that stands out about The Magic Moonstone is the size of the room — it is huge, albeit dominated by a giant table in the middle. The website does say it holds up to 14 people, and while everyone would theoretically fit, that would be way too many in my opinion, especially given the number of puzzles there is to do. I would say even 2 people is fine, and 7 or 8 people is already pushing it.
The next thing we noticed was the beautiful theming and the incredible quality of the props. True to its name, The Magic Moonstone resembles the magical meeting place or library of a secret society of witches, with all sorts of ornaments and interesting objects to explore. One other thing that really stands out is that the room does not have a clock (to maintain the immersion), but there is a cool mechanism that lets you know roughly how much time you have left. We were told later that the owner of Eclipse designs all the puzzles and sources all of the props, many of which are custom-built or antiques. This level of care and attention to detail can really make a difference to the immersion and overall experience.
The puzzles were interesting and in hindsight remain relatively unique, though none stand out as super brilliant or challenging. That said, the flow is excellent, and the nature of the puzzles align with the theme perfectly. There is a fair bit of tech, but most of it is concealed, and some I believe are manually triggered by the GM.
On the whole, we couldn’t have asked for a better first room than The Magic Moonstone. It is a fantastic room for families and slightly larger groups because of the space, and the level of difficulty and number of puzzles are solid but not overwhelming or frustrating for novices. It also has a couple of moments that really wowed us newbies, though I would like to think even experienced enthusiasts would be a little bit impressed. The room is excellent for inexperienced players but still solid enough satisfy experienced ones. The 2022 TERPECA nomination is well-deserved.
Escape time: 49 out of 60 minutes
Rating: 7.9
Player | Theming | Atmosphere | Puzzles | Creativity | Fun | Average |
H | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
E | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7.2 |
Z | 8 | 8 | 8.5 | 8 | 8.5 | 8.2 |
J | 8 | 8.5 | 7.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 8.2 |
Rating | 7.9 |
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