The Tavern

Escapade (Auckland, New Zealand)

Time limit: 60 minutes

Player limit: 2-6

Difficulty: Medium

Date visited: December 2025

We kicked off our New Zealand adventure in Auckland, literally just a couple of hours after disembarking our flight. Due to expected Christmas closures, I had to put together a tight schedule for the first couple of days, meaning we only had one night in Auckland. I didn't want to waste this opportunity, so I asked around for recommendations for ONE room, and The Tavern was an overwhelming favourite. Even though it's very old, most enthusiasts preferred it to their newer offerings.

Here are my thoughts:

• A major selling point of the room was its Lord of the Rings theme, perfect for tourists visiting New Zealand. That said, it's really only vaguely LOTR related, with just a small handful of Middle Earth references that could have been removed without significant modifications to the game. I'd call it more of a medieval tavern theme with a couple of LOTR references.

• The set design was sufficient but slightly underwhelming. The wooden decor did resemble that of an old tavern, but everything in the room was looking very worn and fraying at the edges. Fortunately, nothing broke or malfunctioned.

• The puzzles were the strength of the room and included some cool mechanisms, a couple of which we had not seen before. The majority required figuring out codes for padlocks, but the way these codes were derived offered a lot of fun and several aha moments.

• We did get stuck at one point and required a clue, though the reasons we got stuck were not really our fault. First, a particular prop was so worn that the writing/images were almost completely faded, making it difficult to notice and form the requisite connections. Secondly, we were told by our GM at the start to not do a certain thing, which confused us into thinking we could not do what was required to solve the puzzle.

• My biggest disappointment with the room was that it only had a single space. I was hoping a secret door or compartment might open to reveal a second space, but the only doors in the game were the entrance and exit.

Escape time: 41 minutes out of 60

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

Verdict: A single-space first-gen room that's starting to look quite worn and dated, but still had clever puzzles that managed to deliver engagement and fun. Just don't expect too much from the theming or the LOTR references.

OVERALL RANK:

H	E	Z	J
B-	B	B	B-