Geelong's escape room experience, The Mystery Rooms, are more than solving a puzzle; they are a life lesson, birthed of adventure.
Thomas Hudson was stuck in a world of routine and predictability. An investment banker in London, Hudson was the back-office guy, sitting behind a desk in departments tucked away from view – forgotten and tired, far from the flashiness and appeal of the current song of summer “I’m looking for a man in finance. Trust fund. 6ft 5″. Blue eyes. Finance.”
The monotony of that world was erased in a flash when Hudson met his partner, Jodie Burton.
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“One day I met my partner and life changed. We resigned, bought bicycles and cycled across the world to start a new life in Melbourne. One way trip, she’d never even been to Australia,” recalls Hudson.
Detailed in a co-written book by the couple titled A Journey To Leave You With Odd Shaped Balls, a hilarious play on words that also references a rugby charity, the two started a life of adventure together, living for the bucket list and daring to be dangerous.
Hudson restored an old wooden rowboat in 2015 which he would use to cross from New York to England across a 98 day journey he titled ‘Dare to Dream’, gaining a Guinness World Record for the ‘longest distance rowed in 24 hours’, whilst attempting to inspire thousands of students across Australia.
It was that brazen brain power that led to his next life adventure. On a spontaneous $50 flight from England to Lithuania, Hudson would flick through the in-flight guide to find his calling; Escape Rooms.
Daring, entertaining and most of all exhilarating, Escape Rooms run on adrenaline – transporting players into a scenario where fight or flight is heightened, where time is the enemy and where problem solving is key to escaping. A simulated horror movie experience, without the gore of the Saw franchise, where being trapped is the threat, Escape Rooms became wildly popular as an entertainment experience for friends, families and dates to test their problem solving skills.
It’s this adventure appeal that enticed Hudson and Burton to establish their own escape room experience. Setting up The Mystery Rooms in Collingwood and Fitzroy, and expanding to Geelong in 2022, The Mystery Rooms have become one of the best and most immersive escape room experiences.
Unlike traditional escape rooms, you are not locked in, but led into the beginning of a mystery that requires solving to delve deeper into the experience. Designed by local film set producers, writers and artists, The Mystery Rooms is all about providing you with a night you will never forget, one set to reignite the fire of adventure in even the most timid players.
“Recently, I’ve tried to reconnect with the initial inspiration to how it all started for The Mystery Rooms. The simple reason was that I genuinely wanted to be able to take friends and families away on a micro-adventure, even just for an hour. It wasn’t a ‘game’; it was an ‘experience’. It was supposed to feel real, be exciting and create something that would be talked about and reflected on afterwards, like I did with my friends when I first discovered them in Lithuania,” he says.
Across five rooms – Puddington’s Toy Shop, Jurassic Island, Dragon Magic: CUBE, School of Magic: CUBE and Galaxy Rebellion: CUBE – The Mystery Rooms taps into the brain space of your inner Sherlock Holmes; a space of inquisitive identification, tolerance testing and problem probing.
But for Hudson, the experience is so much more than a fun time. Like getting a tattoo, bungy jumping, or skydiving, The Mystery Rooms aim to create a bucket list moment of accomplishment and bring it back around to the adventure element.
“In keeping with my inspirational role models, Beau Miles and Alastair Humphries – I really just want to advocate and challenge my local community to not overlook the chance for a safe and accessible micro-adventure with their friends and families. That’s what escape rooms are. They’re simply a way of disappearing for an hour into the unknown, taking yourselves out of your comfort zones in a safe way. Adults ask me 50 times a week “is it suitable for my kids?”. The question they should really be asking is – “is it suitable for me?”.”
Add The Mystery Rooms to your list of bucket list items – one that is easy to tick off – and book a session for your most adventurous friends, family and/or loved ones today.
Further information on The Mystery Rooms can be found here.
This article was made in partnership with The Mystery Rooms.
