The Witching Hour

Scram Escape Rooms - Macquarie Park (Sydney, Australia)

Time limit: 60 minutes

Age limit: 13+ (flexible) (crawling, strobe lights)

Player limit: 2-8

Difficulty: Hard (escape rate 67%)

Date visited: January 2025

We had heard about Scram for a while but had too many escape rooms on our list to make the trip out to one of their locations in Parramatta, Penrith, or Macquarie Park. With the school holidays winding down, I decided it was time to take the boys to try out one of their rooms while E was working from home.

I ended up choosing The Witching Hour  because it had been a while since we tried a “scary” room, and it also happened to be one of their best-rated games on Morty. Besides, E is usually not a fan of horror rooms or occult themes, so it was the perfect opportunity.

Well, we came away thoroughly impressed. The Witching Hour was legit scary. The theming was fantastic, with excellent props that look like they came straight out of a horror movie. It came across as a surprisingly large room because of its multiple spaces and transitions, yet also felt quite claustrophobic because of the tension.

While there were a few minor jump scares, the reason we found this room scary was because the atmosphere created the sense that something could jump out at us at any second. The lighting and sound design played a major role in this. It was this eerie tension and potential of being spooked that got to us more than anything truly frightening in the room, save for one moment I won’t spoil. Even though the boys claim they weren’t really scared, the fact they made me go into all the dark spaces first says it all!

The puzzles were pretty solid and in line with the theming. We did have trouble with a couple of puzzles and received clarification (as opposed to a proper hint), though this was really our own fault for being inattentive rather than the puzzles being overly difficult.

I would say the only complaint is that the lights did flash or go out completely in the room more than I would have liked. I understand that it adds to the atmosphere and thrills, but it can get a little annoying if you’re in the middle of solving a puzzle.

Ultimately, we had a really good time in The Witching Hour. This was a genuinely effective horror room and probably the scariest we’ve done to date. Scram surprised me with the quality of their theming, immersion, puzzles, and flow, and we are definitely open to trying more of their rooms, especially their scariest room, F.E.A.R., and their newer experiences Prison Island and The Sorcerer’s Secret in Penrith.

Escape time: 49 minutes and 30 seconds

Verdict: A scary room with a creepy atmosphere and solid puzzles.

Rating: 8.7

Player	Theming	Atmosphere	Puzzles	Creativity	Fun	Average
H	8.5	9.5	8.5	8	8.5	8.6
Z	8.5	9.5	9	8.5	8.5	8.8
J	9	9	8.5	9	8	8.7
Rating						8.7