Aug 8, 20193 min read

Entermission Sydney - "Mad Mind"

Updated: Apr 17

Video property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

📝 ETR DECODER

🔑 GAME: Mad Mind
📅 DATE PLAYED: August 8, 2019
🎬 GENRE: Space
🧠 DIFFICULTY (Based on 4 ppl): 7/10
👥 TOTAL # OF PLAYERS: Up to 6ppl
🕒 LENGTH OF TIME: 60 Mins.
💰 PRICE: Pending on the location
☎️ BOOKING TYPE: Private
🔓 ESCAPED/ COMPLETED?: Yes

We had the privilege to meet the master mind behind "Entermission" at the "TRANSWORLD Room Escape Conference & Tour 2019" in San Antonio, Texas - (Video: https://youtu.be/jskcssGMLhI ). This new company’s headquarter is located in PA. The owner has co-founded VR rooms in Sydney, Australia and owns Escape Hunt in Sydney. She also supports 6 franchised Escape Hunt branches in Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Perth, Adelaide and Auckland.

Entermission’s goal is to be able to fit more players in smaller spaces while still being able to enjoy VR games with its full effect. This way the owners can also profit more from a smaller space rental and fewer attendants per guest. Coming from a real estate background, I totally understand the cost behind rent especially in a prime location... this is a great concept!!

We had the chance to try a 15-minute test run of their “Mad Mind” game at the show. The hygiene was great as we were each given a one-time use eye mask to put on before we put on the VR glasses. The chair were very comfortable, but we couldn’t comfortably lay our head back since there’s a plastic piece that sticks out in the back. It would be great if the design element allowed more comfort in the future on the head device since sitting straight for the entire hour could get a bit tiring. Sitting along besides us were four other players and we each typed in a name prior so we can identify each other in the game. As the game started, we were transported into another realm where we are agents sent into a mad man’s brain in order to discover where he kept the innocent child that he kidnapped. There were a lot of obstacles to go through to get to the finish line. The experience felt very real as they have incorporated vibration, smell, temperature (wind and heat) sources along the way. The puzzles were fun, but we didn’t really feel that it connected with the storyline like how it would in a real escape room. I would maybe want to see flash backs of where the kidnapping took place, maybe chase after them or search for clues along the way for shoe or fingerprints. The graphics were done really well and we especially enjoyed the rollercoaster experience although once again we didn’t feel like it correlated with the storyline. There was one part that was also hard to maneuver with the VR hands, but I think that takes some time to adjust. I did feel a bit lightheaded at times, but Brandon felt perfectly fine throughout the experience, so I think it depends on the person. I think if the puzzles can be improved to feel more like an actual escape room thought process, this could be a complete package.

We can’t wait to see what other games Entermission will come out with in the future. We really hope to see a VR company that can intertwine real escape room challenges within the VR games so that it becomes the best of both worlds. Perhaps escaping on the moon is not too far away in the future?