[187] Next Level Escape: Forest of Echoes

Date: 08/12/2023

Company Name: Next Level Escape

Room: Forest of Echoes

Cost: $60 per person (Team of 4)

Time Allowed: 90 Minutes

Website Link: https://www.nextlevelescape.com.au/rooms/forest-of-echoes/

Location: Lower Ground, 23 O'Connell St, Sydney, NSW 2000

Best Parking: Wilson Parking - 2 Chifley Square, Sydney NSW 2000 (On the corner of Kent St. just before turning onto Phillip Lane)

Succeeded: Yes

Rating: 

• Hospitality/Gamesmaster: 7
• Room Quality: 9
• Immersion: 6
• Puzzle Design: 7 
• Fun Factor: 8

Overall: 7.40/10

Room Description: 

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!

Comments:
Kyle: The Forest of Echoes is Next Level's newest room and it shows - in a good way. The technology, the mechanics, the puzzles and the narrative just all make sense. This room was beautifully crafted, aesthetically it was absolutely spot on. Early on you got a sort of eerie sense that there may be some sort of jump scares inbound, however as you progress through the room and have the (very cool) ability to change the time of day manually that element tends to dissipate. It was probably our first room that we've been bound to the single room, and I would say the only draw back was the nature of how these puzzles worked was the fact we couldn't exactly divide and conquer which is what we have normally structured our rooms around. That said, we finished the room in 71 minutes which, from what we were told, was a really good time as this room was initially set as a 75 minute room on release, however due to the amount of teams failing that time they had pushed it to a 90 minute room. So props to the boys as we came with our A game. Overall an enjoyable room, not exactly going to feature in my top rooms but overall a happy experience once again from Next Level and topped with a nice new choice of dinner plans which did not disappoint as we headed to 'Stacked' afterward. 

Simon: After completing "The Game" we were back at our next escape room by Next Level Escape. Despite the 16+ age rating, if it weren't for a few sexual and drug references in the narrative, this room is very family friendly. I anticipated this room would possibly be scarier than I thought but it wasn't a scary affair. The runtime is 90 minutes, however that is more indicative of the length of storytelling and the nature in which the puzzles are designed, rather than it being overly difficult. There were a couple of puzzles which were unique, but largely they were a similar to what we have encountered before. I would say it's definitely a good room for beginners.

Luke: Did not attend.