The Show Must Go On

This rooms felt more like an experience than a typical escape room and quite different to the other rooms at Next Level. Since you are stagehands for this, this whole room only consists of the trap area of the theatre but they definitely decorated the set nicely! This is marketed as their easiest room and it is certainly true as we went through the room with 20 minutes left to spare. More experience players will definitely have no problem with the room and maybe find it too easy but I think this is perfect for brand new players. In between the puzzles, there are moments where you are meant to stand around and listen to the audio of what is happening on the stage, often in the form of voice overs. I think this hinders the room a bit. One of the best parts of Next Level is the player and game master interaction and due to the voice overs, the game master is unable to jump in as often. The final part is a great time and they even provide a video of it so you can cringe at it afterwards!

This one wasn’t really my vibe. Still a very clever story and concept, but probably my least favourite of the rooms at Next Level. It is quite story-driven, so if that isn’t your vibe you’d be better off with any of the other rooms. The ending was very fun!

Super linear room. Great character acting! Had fun to dip my toe back into ERs after 2 month hiatus. Thank you Stuart for being an awesome GM

Fun and good for a small group! GM was super engaging

It was super fun and I’d definitely recommend it. Our gm, Stuart, was friendly, warm, & entertaining. We would be happy to have him as our gm again. The puzzles themselves were easy, but interesting and a good time. We finished in 55 minutes out of 75. My recommendation would be to take your time, enjoy the breaks between puzzles, & enjoy the show!

Another Next Level escape room down, another amazing experience with the staff/GM! This is very much a story room and not a puzzle heavy room. I went with 4 of us, all with differing levels of experience with escape rooms (more beginners). I wanted to show them a more chill and story-driven room, with GMs who make you part of the play. You will do puzzles when prompted as the story goes on. Our GM Matt was absolutely fantastic! We almost made him break character but they were an awesome GM and made us laugh on several occasions. Puzzles are very easy but we were very much there to be involved in the story, which they did perfectly.

Slightly different room in that there's a lot of GM driven activity, almost like they're playing a part in a show. Our GM, Croz, was very good in this and was adding lots of situation specific humour and commentary to our actions. Room is linear and had no weird or obtuse puzzles, so nice and relaxed.

From one show into another, The Show Must Go On is a well-executed, lighthearted room absolutely perfect for families and beginners alike. For a reasonably small space, there's so many clever puzzles and easter eggs squeezed in that even in a group of 6 my team were always discovering new and ridiculous things to play with and solve. I noticed that comparative to all other Next Level experiences, there's probably the biggest contrast between the story beats and the puzzle solving elements which I found to be (most times) super engaging with other instances maybe overstaying their welcome a touch. Nothing crazy but might not be best suited for the hardcore puzzle-orientated enthusiasts. I suspect this would be the vast minority though, it's really fun. Overall still an amazing room with such a unique ending, special thanks to our GM/Stage Manager Brodie who went all out and made the experience infinitely better. Legend. Wonderful. 10/10.

It's all falling apart but do not be alarmed, we've arrived. Our second of the day at Next Level and thanks to some immediate high energy game mastering we were awakened and ready to put on a show. Some fun puzzles in this one alongside interlinking story audio that played once you completed set tasks, a fun vibe. Can feel a little stop-start due to these in-character interruptions and "the show" literally going on above you. Probably the most story heavy game at Next Level so if that's not your vibe maybe opt for one of the others. A very cool interactive finale and a surprise gift for us to take home? Hell yeah. Our GM Brodie was an awesome addition to our game, interacting with our dumb bits and helping us put on one of the shows ever.

Not your normal escape room. This is heavily story driven and there are periods of standing around listening to the story. A great fun and interactive experience. Highly recommended.