The Sacrifice

FULL DISCLOSURE: I work for Escape This, a nearby escape room company. I honestly feel like I’m on drugs seeing the overwhelmingly positive reaction to this room on Morty. Did we play the same game? I’d like to state upfront that our games masters were lovely hosts. However the quality of the room, especially for a company with as much notoriety as Mission, was frankly embarrassing. Exposed wires and tech everywhere are not just a safety hazard but also a serious immersion breaker. The props and set felt cheap and have clearly not been very well maintained. There were constant rips, tears and chips throughout the room. A lot of the tech was also barely functional in game, props which are not only ripped up exposing the foam underneath, but also did not correctly function in the context of the puzzle and required excessive force to use. There was also a touchpad which did not work correctly, we inputted the correct code several times only to then be told over the radio that we had the right code and needed to put it in one more time, which is again a huge immersion breaker. One of the most egregious instances in our eyes, was when as soon as we finished a puzzle we were told over the radio to leave a set of candles on a desk without even having a chance to do anything. Then there’s the puzzles, which have absolutely no flow or logic to them whatsoever. For instance, during the intro we were explicitly told that we wouldn’t need anything from previous rooms to take into the next room. Only to be told over the radio that we had to go back into the previous room and use a picture on the wall. There was a very frustrating pattern of puzzles where you simply do something over and over again for an indeterminate amount of time until it feels like a GM arbitrarily decides that you’ve spent enough time on it. These puzzles all dragged on for far too long, and honestly felt as if the game was just trying to drag along so as to justify the 100 minute time. This would be maybe less aggravating if it weren’t for the substantial price point. $70 pp for that experience is mind boggling. I completely understand why Intruders is priced the way that it is, considering the numerous actors required. However in this game the actors are present for maybe 3 minutes total? There is absolutely no justification for this excessive price point especially when I could not for the life of me tell you where that money goes to.

Really good, enjoyable room. We did it with two people and there are a couple of parts that having less than the recommended minimum 3, shows. Great effects

Great theming especially after playing Silent Hill F and the scares were so fun. The puzzles were a low point personally, feeling a bit unrewarding and very linear. The escape room drags on a bit after the high intensity horror sections which i feel they should put at the end instead of the middle. Its more of an experience rather than a good escape room.

Easily the best escape room I’ve done in Sydney to date. Theming is beyond phenomenal, the story is gorgeous and the mild scares were thrilling. Best done in a group, this is an absolute MUST.

We found the puzzles quite challenging and hard. The atmosphere and story telling was really cool. Very much horror and absolutely scared the entire time so the live actors did a very good job. I am usually not the horror type but the Japanese ghost story really captivated my interest

The Sacrifice is probably the Mission room I’d heard the most about prior and based off some pretty good feedback I ended up having some high expectations which were definitely met in some areas but fell flat in others. The strongest element of this room is its expansiveness and exploration as there are so many unique areas to discover and move through, it really helped with general immersion and world building, with one transitional mech in particular a real standout. The lighting and sound also went off without a hitch which really helped create a sense of urgency and dread in certain areas. Nicely done. Unfortunately the puzzles and story were where I was a bit let down, with the first puzzle out the gate feeling strange and convoluted, it wasn’t a good sign for the rest; 3 different time-based puzzles, symbols galore and a bit of guesswork at the end didn’t feel super inspired in what is marketed as an epic 100-minute experience. The narrative which was meant to be the driving force for every puzzle became increasingly skewed and unclear which lead to our purpose from room to room falling apart pretty quickly. By the end it was difficult to know what we had achieved and why. I was also confused as to why in an experience with a live actor present players are asked to read the story intro themselves off a laminated A4 sheet of paper in the lobby? Very underwhelming storytelling, especially when it’s valued at $75 - $80pp. Even when the actor does make the odd appearance (executed very well btw) it’s very brief. I’ve heard whispers since that Intruders is actually Mission’s crown jewel in terms of immersion and fun so that might be next of the list. Overall very technically impressive but lacks substance. 7.9/10 🔏🧩

It's hard to play rooms in Sydney without having the games at Mission mentioned. After reading some reviews and hearing about the style of each game we decided on The Sacrifice. I don't know if my expectations were too high or I went in with the wrong mindset but I didn't love this game. The set is no doubt grand and impressive and the space itself feels pretty large. Beyond this though I didn't really feel engaged or immersed by the content. There were not a heap of puzzles which is fine but those that were in the room weren't really anything inspired with seemingly more than half just some form of Simon Says. There's a whole illustrious set design and then an "acromantula" that is a glorified K-Mart Halloween decoration glued to the ceiling. The gap between the good and the bad design is pretty stark. There's a lot of emphasis on the live actors in the room with this often being used to justify their pretty steep pricing. Out of the 80 odd minutes we spent in room maybe 15 seconds of those included any live actor. One moment was even so short a good portion of our group missed it happening. I also don't love being handed a story to read prior to the room beginning. You'd think given there are actors on site it could be presented by the staff in a more immersive way. I feel like even though we tried our best to follow along the story, we still found ourselves guessing the answers towards the end. Some cool moments but far from my favourite in Sydney.

Our favourite escape room we have ever done. Did it as a team of four and had an excellent experience. Puzzles were incredibly varied and interesting, storyline was excellent and scary Would highly recommend

Loaded with tricks, narrative, and a satisfying range of diegetic puzzles, ‘The Sacrifice’ is one of Mission Escape’s strongest escape rooms and a highlight within Sydney’s collection of escape experiences. ‘The Sacrifice’ delivers its narrative across an expansive series of rooms, with many strong puzzles tied directly to the story. A few surprising room transitions can be found within the experience, alongside tasteful — albeit mildly scary — live actor interactions. This blend of narrative-driven puzzles, set design, room transitions, and live performance results in an enthralling escape game. Form your team of three or more players and begin your trek to find your missing friend…

Such a massive room with so many different areas and cool moments! Incredible effects and clever use of lighting. The scares were not as bad or often as I had expected, so don't let the "scary room" label prevent you from playing it! Definitely a must-play if you visit Mission Escape.