Introduction: Silence… In the movies they don’t mention that in space there is no sound. The deafening silence of all the machines turning off at once made us freeze. We knew immediately that we were in trouble…

Your commander in chief, Major Tom has been restrained. The medical officer has informed you that he has contracted some kind of Martian virus.

The last three days his condition has worsened. He started off doodling funny shapes, and forgetting our names, small things really. But now he has doomed us all. Driven mad by this alien virus, our commander is trying to kill us, and he may just succeed.

The only light now is the red warning light telling us that the oxygenator has been disabled. We must enter the maintenance annex outside the facility and fix this in order to save ourselves…. The annex is a temporary structure with only 1 hour’s worth of oxygen.

We must survive.

Location: Escape The Vault

Address: 1/376 Swan St, Richmond VIC 3121

Parking: Street Parking

Date Completed: December 28, 2017

Number of Escape Artists: 2 (including 1 newbie)

Hint System: Unlimited via Walkie Talkie

Result: ESCAPED -  32 minutes 30 seconds

Creativity: 5

Difficulty: 2

Immersiveness: 4

Fun Factor: 5

OVERALL: 4

Note. For OVERALL means, 1 = WTF?; 2 = Take a gander; 3 = You can book it; 4 = You should book it now; 5 = OMG! You should've booked it yesterday!

Summary

• Recommend 2-4 escape artists
• Good for beginners
• Don't overthink as the puzzles are pretty concrete
• Veteran escape artists shouldn't need a hint

To tell you the truth, I'm a 'lil biased with this room because it's the first room my father and I tried together. It was my father's first escape room and he was nervous, which is normal to all first-timers. 

What I loved about this room was that it was a mix of abstract thinking and physical teamwork to complete the escape room. The room felt like we were in Mars because it was HELLA cold. LOL. 

We finished in record time, considering that the previous record-holders were a team of 4 people. We beat their record by 5 minutes. I was very proud of my dad and I.

Critically, I think this is a great room for beginners. There are things in this room that can throw you off, so keep that in mind if you are a new escape artist.