Next Level Escape — Attraction in Sydney

Our session at The Artefact was one of the most immersive and entertaining escape room experiences we’ve ever had — and it turned our entire trip around.

The night before, we had a really disappointing experience at another escape room venue on Pitt Street, and we were feeling disheartened about escape rooms in general. This was our final night in Sydney before flying home the next morning — and the 9pm session at Next Level Escape was our last chance to redeem the experience. We’re so, so glad we went.

From the moment our Game Master, Croz, came down to pick us up at the lobby (the building entrance was locked), the roleplay began. His sharp wit and banter already had us smiling, and the immersion carried right through the briefing and into the room.

Unlike other escape venues, Next Level Escape is in a league of its own. This isn’t just about tech (though The Artefact has some very cool tech); it’s about storytelling, immersion, and interaction. The moment the game started, we weren’t just solving puzzles — we were inside a narrative.

Croz was absolutely brilliant. He played the role of the in-game AI with hilarious delivery, clever improvisation, and incredible timing. The AI interacted with us constantly through speakers — cracking jokes, reacting to what we were doing, and keeping us on our toes. It was funny, sarcastic, and perfectly in-character, making us feel like we were genuinely in a futuristic alien lab.

What really impressed us was how subtle the guidance was. The AI never blatantly gave us hints — instead, if we were off-track, it would gently mock or banter with us in a way that nudged us back on course without ever breaking immersion. It never felt like we were “using hints” — it felt like the AI was just messing with us (in the best way possible). That’s a huge difference compared to other rooms where hint systems can feel intrusive or hand-holdy.

The puzzles themselves were fantastic — creative, non-linear, and highly engaging. With just two of us, the room was intense (we now understand why they recommend 3–5 players), but the experience was so well-designed that we were able to divide and conquer and stay constantly busy. There were moments where we had to really think fast and solve quickly — but the pacing felt great, and we loved the variety of puzzle types.

After the session, Croz delivered one of the best debriefs we’ve had at any escape room — a full breakdown of what we did well, how we solved certain puzzles in unexpected ways, and some great behind-the-scenes insights. He even threw in some praise that made our night, and gave us recommendations for other rooms to check out in Sydney.

In short: Croz completely saved our escape room experience in Sydney. We went in feeling disappointed and doubtful — and left laughing, buzzing with adrenaline, and excited to do more rooms in the future.

This wasn’t just a great escape room — this was a reminder of how powerful good design, immersive storytelling, and a great Game Master can be.

Thank you, Croz, and thank you Next Level Escape. You made our last night in Sydney...

WHAT A BLAST!! My partner and I have done quite a few escape rooms, and this is definitely a top experience for us. We did Forest of Echoes at 2 players.

The room itself was high-quality, with a very special central mechanic (that I won't spoil here). Eventually, you reach a point where you can tackle multiple threads at once, which means you're never bottlenecked by being unable to advance (and I'd imagine this would mitigate alpha gaming at higher player counts). The way hints are delivered means you can always double-check your logic at any point.

This room is STORY-FOCUSED (think Ukiyo in Melbourne or The Case of The Golden Idol video game), so teams that ignore the plot will miss hints and logic inherent to the puzzles themselves (also it tells a nice emotional tale)!

We finished in 68:32 (our guide told us the room averages around 65 minutes).

Speaking of, our Scoutmaster Matt greeted us enthusiastically and immediately set the tone for what was going to be a great time! They walked us through things in-character, and it made the experience even more immersive and playful :)

You can tell these folks care about the experience (it's so rare to see an escape room website not only provide puzzle accessibility notes, but also credit their voice artists??), and that 5 stars on Google is legit!

We will absolutely be back to tackle the other rooms next time we're...

My wife and I are in Sydney after a conference. We love visiting escape rooms in new cities, and Next Level set a high bar. We did the Ex Libris room and it was amazing. So many puzzles, with references to all sorts of fun franchises. Our game master, Stuart, was amazing and his character perfectly fit the vibe for our experience. He interacted with us during the game if we had questions, and trolled us a bit using our names. Definitely give it a visit if you're in town. One of the best rooms we've done in a while. We loved our experience so much, that we decided to go back to try another room! Stuart recommended that we try the Forest of Echoes and it was really cool. Much more narrative driven, which is ok, but the mechanics in that room were very cool. Not just locks and codes. Lots of magnets and other mechanisms. We got out in record time, and our game master, Nikki, spent a lot of time afterwards debriefing on how some of the mechanics worked, which is the exact kind of nerding out we like to do. Nikki was very enthusiastic and interacted with us, as well, during the game by name, and was quick on her feat; she needed to adjust and improvise her script on the fly depending on our answers and reactions to certain parts of the game. All in all, an amazing experience. Go here if you love...