[187] Mission Room Escape: The Lost Mine

Date: 22/10/2022

Company Name: Mission Escape Room

Room: The Lost Mine

Cost: $59 per person (Team of 4)

Time Allowed: 80 Minutes

Website Link: https://www.missionsydney.com/pitt-street-venue/

Location: Suite 202, 332-336 Pitt St, Fortuna House, Sydney

Best Parking: Wilson Parking - 14 Wilmot St, Sydney NSW 2000

Succeeded: No

Rating: 

• Hospitality/Gamesmaster: 7/10
• Room Quality: 7/10
• Immersion: 6/10
• Puzzle Design: 7/10
• Fun Factor: 8/10

Overall: 7/10

Room Description: 

While shopping at a Sunday market, you meet an elderly widow trying to sell her husband’s belongings. You take interest in a strange-looking purple crystal. She tells you it could be quite valuable and belonged to Parker- her late husband.

He had no education but interestingly, without any experience, was offered a highly-paid job in a remote mine. Overjoyed, he gladly took the opportunity but one day, some years later, he returned from the mine with the purple crystal and announced that he had quit his job. He seemed distant, withdrawn, and refused to say why.  On his death bed, he asked her to promise she would return the crystal to the mine however he died before she could ask him why.

The widow insists you take it and think it could be valuable you decide to buy it. Can you perhaps discover for yourself where this mine is and if it contains any more precious crystals….

Comments:
Kyle: Being my second room personally, I believe that we bit off more than we can chew. This room was largely mechanically based and I don't believe we were not at all ready for it. Luke unfortunately was not able to attend this one so we had our good friend Dale help out, but it was to no avail as we made it through I would say 85-90% completed before our gamesmaster had to stop us and run through the end so we managed to get our closure. Immersive but did struggle to get into the storyline at first. Would not recommend for new Escapers.

Josh: Anyone who knows me will tell you that I'm a bit of a researcher. Basically, any time I buy something, do something, watch something I'm always looking for the best and will do what it takes to find things out. It's a large reason why I enjoy Escape Rooms and the biggest reason why we ended up at The Lost Mine for our second room as a group. After being captivated by the hobby in my first few rooms I knew I wanted to try one of the best. Wherever I looked online a familiar name kept on popping up: Mission Escape. Specifically, The Lost Mine. I had previously completed their Last Order Room in a previous life and was so excited to try this one out. We gathered the gang, minus Luke who was unavailable but reliably replaced by Dale. The room did not disappoint! Mission Escape's biggest selling point is that they are fully mechanical rooms, meaning there is no padlocks awkwardly placed about. Everything has a purpose and will operate on its own. Right from the get go we entered a small room that would serve as our Mine shaft elevator and it looked fantastic. Full immersion was immediate and would become a trademark of our visits to Mission. We knew this would be a step up on our first room given the transition from the first room to the second. Anyone who has done this room will know what I'm referencing, for the rest of you I won't spoil it but there is no half measures in the Lost Mine even just moving between rooms and spaces. My least favourite part of the room was just how fiddly some of the different aspects were which cost us valuable time. There is one particular section (Again, no spoilers) where you need to line up some lasers. We had the solution to the puzzle but until each of the lasers was lined up exactly right it would not trigger. This took us far longer than it needed as each laser was reliant on the previous and I believe this was the biggest reason we did not quite get out of the room in time. For our second room though, and first with a new crew member, we were relatively happy with our performance.

The Simon WTF are you doing moment of the Game: This will be a regular segment in my reviews moving forward as it seems to happen at least once a game where three of us will look at each other in disbelief before absolutely dying of laughter at something our very intelligent, yet seemingly from time to time dim witted friend has done. The Lost Mine's moment came right towards the end. Within the room you need to nominate one member of your party to go separate from the rest of you. It is at this moment you need to decide if that person will be sacrificed. When I tell you that we sacrificed Simon before the sentence even finished I am not lying. That boy was dead to us. Honourable mention to Kyle, who we thought had got lost leaving the room, only to find out that he had in fact got a major cramp and was being stretched out by special guest Dale. 

Simon: This game had a lot of reviews on how spectacular it was in terms of the immersion, storyline and mechanics. Couple that with a lot of research into the best escape rooms in Sydney, a big build up and a lot of anticipation. Suffice to say the expectations for this room were high. It did not disappoint on everything I had read about it. The immersion was as good as I have ever experienced. The thought, effort and genuine care that was undertaken to create this room was evident. The mechanical props were next level and the puzzles involved a lot of interaction both physically and mentally. The only thing I would say is to make sure you are precise when solving the mechanical puzzle. There was a point where puzzles were not being solved due to minor precision issues with mechanics which takes time away from completing the room. To avoid giving away any spoilers, I would say an example of this in other escape rooms would be if you had the correct combination for a padlock but couldn't open it because one of the numbers wasn't aligned properly; a common and basic mistake to make in any escape room. The high level of detail in the room is mirrored by the level of difficulty therefore, every second counts! If you suspect a similar issue, let the game master know. I say this not as a criticism to Mission Escape, but because you may miss out on some unbelievable future puzzles and events by getting bogged down and not being wary of your time. In saying that, this room is difficult so maybe do a few escape rooms before attempting this one. That will help to shape your creative thinking and build anticipation for this room because trust me, this escape room does not disappoint! Mission Escape had really announced itself to us as one of the premier escape rooms in Sydney. Their reputation for being one of the best escape room companies is well deserved. Even though we disappointingly weren't able to complete this room, we knew we would definitely be coming back to Mission Escape. There were several points where you actually feel like you are in a movie and I think that alone was something that makes this room well worth experiencing.  

Luke: Did not attend.