Rush Escape Games - Da Vinci Down Under Review

My group of friends (4 adults) checked out Rush Escape Game’s Da Vinci Down Under room in November 2015.  This was our 21^st escape room so far in Australia and our first escape room in Melbourne.

The foyer area looks great.  We were greeted by the very enthusiastic Chloe who gave us a briefing before taking us in to start the escape.

They currently have 3 rooms – Da Vinci Down Under, Lost in Paradise and Mission Possible.  We tried all 3 rooms back to back (and we did them in that order, being the order in which the rooms were opened to the public). 

First off, I'll say what I enjoyed most about Da Vinci Down Under:

• it was a lot of fun and a great start to our weekend full of escape rooms;
• the room design is clever (although simple);
• there are a really good variety of puzzles – all of which really match the theme well;
• there is a good mix of “hunt and seek” fun and puzzles (which were challenging but not overly difficult).  We managed to escape in 45 minutes and we asked for one hint (we always do poorly on the hunt and seek aspect of the room and this occasion was no different);
• the theming was great - the props were all perfect, they made sense and really added to the overall feel of the room;
• the use of walkie talkies for communication was simple but effective;
• I think they have the right number of puzzles for this room (unlike many other escape room outfits who just don’t have enough puzzles to fill out an hour);
• the owners are very passionate about their rooms and it shows from the quality of this room; and 
• having done all 3 of their rooms back to back, we really liked how different each of the rooms are (very different themes and quite different puzzles in each).

As for some of the things that could be improved in this room:

• there isn't much to say here - it's a really high quality room;
• of their 3 rooms, I liked this particular theme the least (mainly because I have tried other Da Vinci rooms in Sydney and I feel that the theme is not a particularly novel one).  That being said, this was by far the best Da Vinci themed room we have seen;
• there was no real “wow” moment for me in this room.  It was a lot of fun and all of the puzzles and theming were of a truly excellent quality – but it didn’t have any truly standout moments for me; and
• one or two high tech (or slightly high tech) puzzles would be a great addition to this room I think.

Overall, we really enjoyed this room.  Based on the amount of time it took us to escape each of their three rooms, I think this is one of their more difficult rooms.  However, it really does depend on your team - I find that my team does best with linear escape rooms (where there is a clear order in which to solve puzzles), rather than rooms like this that are less ordered.

I would definitely recommend this room!

Where:                   Suite 4 – 230 Toorak Road, South Yarra 

Duration:                60 minutes

Themes:                 3 themes 

Cost:                       $128 (4 players)

Overall Summary:  Awesome but lacks the “wow factor”.

More details:          http://rushescapegame.com.au/