Head to head escape rooms in Melbourne
Above six players you are taking more than one room anyway. The only question is whether you treat that as a scheduling inconvenience or as the point, and treating it as the point produces a considerably better afternoon.
Split the group, take a room each, start together, and put the two clocks up against each other afterwards. It is the format that turns an activity into a result, and it is the reason large groups often have a better time here than small ones.
A fair race needs a matched pair
The thing that ruins a head to head is an uneven draw. If one team gets a three out of five and the other gets a five, the result means nothing and everybody knows it before they start.
These are the pairings where both rooms share a difficulty rating and a capacity, at the same venue, so the two teams are genuinely running the same race.
Da Vinci Down Under against Mission:Possible
Chadstone. Both 5 of 5, both capped at four playersNothing else we run is this closely matched, so book it when the outcome genuinely matters. Identical rating, identical capacity, neither with any fright element. Four a side, eight people total.
Game of the Dragon against Secret Agent Man
South Yarra. Both 4 of 5, both up to six playersThe best match for a larger group that wants a serious game. A fantasy infiltration against a spy assessment, twelve people across the two, no scares in either.
The Conjoining against The Last of Them
St Kilda. Both 4 of 5, both up to six playersFor a group that wants the race and the fear. One is top of the scare scale and sixteen and over, the other is intense rather than frightening, so check who is going where before you split.
Cluemanji against Monsterz
South Yarra. Both 3 of 5, both up to six playersThe family version. Two all-ages rooms with no fright rating, matched on difficulty, which makes it the fairest race you can run with children in both teams.
Alice in Wonderland against Treasure Island
St Kilda. Both 3 of 5, both up to six playersMatched on difficulty with completely different atmospheres. One is spooky, one has no fright rating at all, so a mixed group can split by nerve and still race evenly.
Every rating for both axes is on the scare scale, so building your own pairing is straightforward if none of these fit.
What each venue can run simultaneously
South Yarra. Six rooms, so up to three races at once, or a single large field. Nowhere else absorbs a crowd in one sitting.
St Kilda. Four rooms, two races side by side, and more fright levels to draw on than anywhere.
Hawthorn. Three rooms. One race with a spare, or three teams scored against each other instead of paired off.
Chadstone. Three rooms, including the best-matched pair in the network, though two of the three seat four.
Numbers per venue are set out on the venue group booking pages.
Running it so the result is worth having
- Start both rooms at the same time. Obvious, and the thing most groups get wrong by booking sessions an hour apart and losing the comparison entirely.
- Balance the teams before you balance the friendships. Two people who have played a lot on the same side is not a race, it is a demonstration.
- Agree what counts. Finishing time is the obvious measure. If one team escapes and the other does not, the race is already over, so decide in advance whether hints count against you.
- Do not swap rooms afterwards to settle it. The second team through a room already knows too much. If you want a rematch, take a different pairing.
- Book through us above two rooms. Three or more sessions locked to one start time is not something the online grid does well.
Questions
We have twelve people.
Two rooms of six at South Yarra or St Kilda, matched on rating, same start. Game of the Dragon against Secret Agent Man is the pairing to ask for.
Can three teams race?
Yes, at any venue with three rooms free. Matching gets harder with three, so expect one team to have drawn slightly better and agree that up front.
Is this good for a work team?
It is what most corporate groups land on, because it leaves the team with a result rather than an anecdote. Daytime weekday sessions are quoted per room on team building.
What if the teams are uneven in size?
Five against five beats six against four. Split evenly before you split by anything else, and put the spare person on the team with less experience.
Can we do it as a bucks or hens group?
It is the most requested format for both. Bucks parties and hens parties cover how to split those groups specifically.
Racing is one way to use sixteen rooms across four venues. These are the others.