[187] Paniq Room: Sen3es

Date: 04/05/2024

Company Name: Paniq Room

Room: Sen3es

Cost:  $55 per person (Team of 4)

Time Allowed: 60 Minutes

Website Link: https://paniqroom.com.au/our-rooms-paniqroom/

Location: 13 Cambridge St, The Rocks NSW 2000

Best Parking: Wilson Parking - 75 Harrington St, The Rocks NSW 2000

Succeeded: Yes, with a 4 minute time extension.

Rating: 

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

Overall: 6.60/10

Room Description: 

You enter the abandoned house of a mysterious magician in search of his lost book of secrets. As you continue, the doors close behind you and there doesn’t seem to be a way back.

Is the magician still around? Don’t let him mess with your mind. You need to overcome the magician’s tricks and escape using your senses.

Comments:
After a long hiatus, our team, with Dale filling in for Luke, ventured out to Paniq Room. Our last experience at Supercell 117 back in January '23, coupled with a plethora of other rooms on our list, and a less-than-desirable first encounter at Paniq, had left us hesitant to rush back to the establishment. Nevertheless, after reading numerous reviews and my unwavering determination to convince the rest of the team, we found ourselves taking on Sen3es.

Things started off well as we were greeted by a smiling staff member on a gloomy Saturday night. We were welcomed in, and as usual, we arrived early, fortunate enough to be inside when the rain started again. While not the largest pre-lobby, it made excellent use of the available space, with two other teams waiting alongside us.

Sen3es marked our team's 30th room, which we managed to navigate through with a couple of hints and a slight time extension. The room itself wasn't particularly remarkable, feeling somewhat dated compared to many others out there. Given that it was first released close to 10 years ago, its age was evident. While many puzzles made sense in the space, there were a few red herrings thrown in that our team thankfully didn't spend too much time on, as well as some genuinely challenging puzzles that fit well with the theme. The flow through the rooms felt a bit like an arm-wrestle at times, with instructions to move through the rooms closing doors behind us and taking nothing, only luckily remembering that we were told we needed to take a couple of items back after finishing the third room.

The communication system utilized a "Voice of God" setup where you talk to the walls, and they respond. While this system worked well overall, there were moments when I personally felt our Gamesmaster may have been distracted or not following as closely as we would have liked. On one occasion, he gave us a hint on a puzzle that we had already partially completed, and on another, it seemed he may not have heard us properly.

And finally, the standout moment of the room wasn't a puzzle or theme-related—it was a moment we can now hold against our beloved teammate, Josh. After getting stuck trying to make our way back through the room, Josh had the key to open the door. However, to our surprise, he struggled to use it. After our Gamesmaster hinted that we needed to use the key, I swiftly took it from Josh and tried the door lock again. Lo and behold, the lock clicked, and we were through. The look of disappointment on my face when turning back to glare at Josh, who we usually consider our most reliable and somewhat flawless leader was priceless.

In conclusion, we had a good time as we always do. The room was decent, bordering on just okay. It wasn't a bad room by any means and could potentially be improved with a few tweaks in the game design itself and from the Gamesmaster we had on the night.