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All right, scouts! Are you ready for your big adventure in the woods? Don’t mind the rumours about the forest being haunted by spirits, we’re pretty sure it’s all nonsense and poor old Sam will find their way back one day soon. After all, time can pass very quickly in there; morning to noon to evening to night and before you realise, it’s morning again! Stay safe in the woods, scouts – it’s everyone’s responsibility!
All (307)
Overwhelmingly positive
19 escape rooms
The rooms at Next Level themselves are interesting and fun, but the interaction with the GM as a character makes the experience leaps and bounds more immersive. Huge shout out to Nikki
Nikki is the BEST GM YOU CAN GET!
Yes
Due to space limitations, there’s a really interesting way they keep you in one room but make it feel like multiple rooms
Not scary
No
221 escape rooms
THE VOICES,THE SPIRITS, GAH! Forest of Echoes is a truly fantastic room complete with interesting, varied puzzles, an in-depth multilinear story and gorgeous set design, it honestly deserves every bit of praise that comes its way. While thematically, there's something for everyone at Next Level, I'd say objectively this is their strongest, most complete offering. Tasked with following the stories of 6 unique spirits I found that even in a larger group there was so much to discover with props galore, hidden alcoves and even a bin chicken, I was having a really good time piecing it all together. I'd say where this room shines the most is its storytelling, every piece of the puzzle had purpose and meaning behind it backed by some impressive performances from the staff, it's hard not to be charmed by the whole experience. If you're only in the market for 1 experience here, this would have to be my pick, amazing room. Also shout out to Rosie our GM and scout guide and benevolent voice in my head, she really made the whole thing fun and light-hearted. Heck yeah.
Yes
Medium
High tech
3
Not scary
16
No
No
Not at all
No
Minimal signage on entrance of venue. Intercom required to enter.
Limited
Limited in busy Sydney CBD.
192 escape rooms
I hear the whispers all around (they don't like Michael). After a brief break in nature we returned to Next Level only for our Scout Master to trek us out into the forest and disappear, leaving us to converse with the sky. Thankfully this is a pretty standard Friday errand so we were up for the challenge. Holy multi-linearity, there was a heap to do in this room and most of it was available all at once. The time dial is a really awesome game function and allowed for what is essentially a one room experience feel far larger and more engaging. The story flowed nicely but did feel like after missing out on certain solves I was missing some components to try and move forward, ugh teamwork. All the elements of this room were however super lovingly thought out and charming. One of my favourites at Next Level and dare I say a must play. Our GM Rosie was awesome, completing not one but two spins in the name of scout's honour. Sick. Oh and they gave us a real gauntlet. Double sick.
Yes
Hard
Mechanical
4
Spooky
16
No
Yes
The Game Masters take you into the room in character and remain in character for any hints/story related narration.
Somewhat
Small-ish cave space.
No
It is a bit hidden on first glance as it is in an office type building with only a small A4 sheet above the intercom.
Limited
Inner city parking YUCK
99 escape rooms
𓆜𓋘𓄁 𓊛𓇙𓋸𓌤𓌥 𓌦 𓅐𓆢 𓆣 𓀉𓆤 𓆥 𓅑𓆘 𓆙 𓅒𓄙 𓄚 𓄛 𓅓𓃺 𓃻 𓅔 𓅕 𓃕 𓃖 𓃗 𓎷 𓄁𓎸𓅖 𓅽 𓅾 𓅿𓅗 𓅘 𓇆 𓇇𓅙 𓅚 𓁵 𓁶𓂵 𓂶𓃝𓋲 𓋳𓀬 𓅛𓁃 𓂺𓅜 �𓅝𓃄 �𓄁𓅞𓂙 𓅟𓂿 𓆜𓋘𓄁 𓊛𓇙𓋸𓌤𓌥 𓌦 𓅐𓆢 𓆣 𓀉𓆤 𓆥 𓅑𓆘 𓆙 𓅒𓄙 𓄚 𓄛 𓅓𓃺 𓃻 𓅔 𓅕 𓃕 𓃖 𓃗 𓎷 𓄁𓎸𓅖 𓅽 𓅾 𓅿𓅗 𓅘 𓇆 𓇇𓅙 𓅚 𓁵 𓁶𓂵 𓂶𓃝𓋲 𓋳𓀬 𓅛𓁃 𓂺𓅜 𓂨𓅝𓃄 𓄁𓅞𓂙 𓅟𓂿
a
11 escape rooms
Loved this room. GM was excellent and really elevated our experience . Puzzles were fun and non-linear.
19 escape rooms
Really great room, loved the story! One of the few rooms we've done that I would recommend doing with more than two people. It's very non linear, and with a lot going on its easy to lose some of the smaller details.
Yes
The non linear mechanic and use of space was brilliant.
Hard
High tech
4
Not scary
12
No
No
Not at all
Yes
Limited
p
19 escape rooms
An excellent room with great atmosphere, a wonderful interactive experience thanks to the GM voice acting the story, and great puzzles. There are a few hiccups in my opinion, but it was still great fun throughout.
The puzzles were very out of the box. Perhaps a bit TOO out of the box, honestly. Most of the puzzles are fine or even great, but there’s one that I found rather… thanks to the GM interacting with us, it was fine, but it’s a thin line to walk.
Stellar atmosphere and set design. The voice actor/GM did extremely well at bringing us into the setting and improvising with our play. YMMV based on GM, but ours was great.
Loved the energy of the GM. It helped that they were speaking with us the entire time, but hey.
Yes
A stereotypical story, but well told and engaging.
Easy
High tech
There’s a few mechanical locks, and the electronics are somewhat simple, but it’s still what I’d call high-tech.
4
The room is multi-linear, but in a way where you can’t really do more than one puzzle at a time. That said, more eyes and hands will help for some of the puzzles.
Not scary
10
No
Yes
About 80% of the story was told to us from a live voice actor doing improv, and it really improved the experience
Not at all
153 escape rooms
Forest of Echos is a game that focuses much more on the story and narrative, but doesn’t sacrifice the puzzles or the set. I loved the alternate approach that shows that escape rooms can tell intricate, connected, and meaningful stories. The game master interactions were also my favorite part, you can have so much fun if you treat this less like an escape room and more like an interactive experience. A must for any enthusiast, simply for not being afraid to be different and unique
Yes
Easy
High tech
4
Not scary
16
No
Yes
Yes but not in the room with you
Not at all
Yes
Limited
n
31 escape rooms
The game master made this room. I expected puzzles to be a lot more challenging particularly given some of their other rooms. The story line got a little confusing at the end and seemed unnecessary. Lighting and thematically was very creative!
Easy
2
Not scary
No
Not at all
97 escape rooms
A beautiful, unique room with some brilliant ideas and multi-linear puzzles. Not a big space but it was packed with props and the use of lighting played a big role. Narrative driven, with a lot of voice acting, which is typically not our kind of thing, but it’s definitely worth a try just to experience it for yourself. The tech in this room was off the charts but extremely well designed and hidden.
