Encore! 👏👏👏
Location: Sydney, Australia
Date Played: March 14, 2024
Team Size: 2-5; we recommend 2-4
Duration: 75 minutes
Price: $60 AUD per player for 2 players down to $55 AUD per player for 5 players
Ticketing: Private
Accessibility Consideration: Fully accessible
Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock
Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints
REA Reaction
A cross between an escape room and an audio play, The Show Must Go On presented an experimental format that pushed the bounds of escape room storytelling in some truly intriguing ways.
The experience alternated between segments of audio-based narrative and of puzzle solving. These modes were mutually exclusive, giving each other space to breathe. While listening to audio segments, the main lights turned down, we typically had just finished whichever puzzle we'd been working on, and we could fully focus on the next audio scene. While solving puzzles, we had a clear sense of purpose behind our actions without needing to receive or recall any substantial narrative details. Throughout, our talented actor-gamemaster played the role of the assistant stage manager, both supplementing the prerecorded audio with improvised interactivity and occasionally entering the room to retrieve items needed up on the "stage" above us.
This approach felt meaningfully different from the vast majority of other escape rooms that present verbose stories through either writing or audio. Narrative and puzzles complemented each other rather than competing, and we knew upfront that the narrative segments were not puzzles. Never did we enter into the mindset of scouring a page of text for that one clue that's relevant to the next puzzle, disregarding the story content in the process. The characters were compelling and entertaining, with top-notch campy voice acting.
Image via Lachlan Crosweller
The Show Must Go On experimented in relatively uncharted territory for escape rooms. Most of the risks it took paid off surprisingly well, while other elements showed room for further calibration. The writing was all excellent but could have been more concise. The environment wasn't physically designed for lengthy periods of listening, and, lacking that, I frequently found myself sitting cross-legged on the floor, staring awkwardly up at the ceiling. Puzzles almost always cleanly gated narrative, but the occasional exceptions to this flow felt mildly disruptive. Through this all, the game fully committed to the bit and was all the more interesting for its unique strengths and shortcomings alike.
Each experience at Next Level Escape presented a witty, nerdy, and thoroughly innovative take on escape rooms. Incorporating many of their learnings from The Show Must Go On, Next Level Escape struck a substantially smoother balance of narrative and puzzle elements in Forest of Echoes. While I'd recommend saving Forest of Echoes for last to best experience Next Level Escape's evolution over time, The Show Must Go On — along with truly every game at Next Level Escape — are not to be missed.
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