Next Level Escapes: The Graveyard (Hamilton, ON)

A spacious graveyard

Over 150 years ago, in the small town of MaComb, Ontario, 3 women who were discovered to be witches, were burned at the stake.

A few days later, a woman claiming that her body was being possessed, entered the town’s graveyard, where witnesses said that it appeared she was casting a curse on the town and its ancestors. Since that day, the MaComb water has run red.

Legend has it, by simply entering the graveyard you become cursed and unable to leave unless you can solve the graveyard’s mysteries. You must end the curse on MaComb and find the key to escape the graveyard. You have 60 minutes, or your soul will be swallowed by the graveyard forever.

What to do when you fly halfway across the world to visit friends and family, and the friend you’re staying with has never played an escape room, but lives less than ten minutes away from one? Well, the only answer to that is to coerce said friend into a game (…or six). We had actually already convinced him to play three rooms in one day later in the week, but as it would be his first time, we thought it would be a good idea to ease in gently with one, just to get a taste for them (and definitely not because we’re obsessed). Especially since Next Level Escapes was so close by and happened to have good availability for a last minute booking.

We arrived in plenty of time for Next Level’s requested 15 minutes early and found plenty of parking on site. Opening the door to the venue caused a little bit of confusion as we found ourselves in a pharmacy, but we quickly figured it out and made our way up to the next level (Ahh, I do love a good pun.) In reception we received a friendly welcome from the staff, most notably, our GM for The Graveyard, Cameron.

We settled our things in the lockers provided, and turned our attention to Cameron for our briefing. After covering some basic rules and health and safety, we set off down the hall, coming to a halt in front of the door at the end. Here, Cameron told us the story of MaComb and the curse, offered up a few tips, and then ushered us into The Graveyard.

**It’s worth noting that The Graveyard is recommended for 4-6 players (although you can book for up to ten), and cannot be accomplished by teams of two without GM intervention. This is purely down to a couple puzzles and/or tasks that require at least three people, one of which is much simpler if you do actually have four players.

IMMERSION/ROOM DESIGN

As our eyes adjusted to the gloom, we found ourselves outside the gate to a cemetery. The scene was eerie, but not frightening, and the atmosphere reinforced the creep factor. We were slow to get started, but as soon as we found that starting point, the game took off. The Graveyard started off in a very linear manner, but quickly opened up with parallel puzzle paths that then converged back into a linear game as we progressed.

The set was expansive, and while I’m not sure there’s enough content to keep the maximum number of players (10!) that could be playing at one time busy, there certainly would be enough space for them. The game kept a good pace, never lagging, and we always seemed to be moving forward. There were plenty of opportunities to explore, with a few surprises and fun reveals, all culminating in the satisfying conclusion as we broke the curse and completed our mission.

PUZZLES

As escape room enthusiasts that have played over 400 games, we’ve seen a great many puzzles, but it never ceases to surprise me how there have never been two that are exactly alike, although we have seen similar puzzles. But the best thing was playing with someone who had never played a game before. He noticed things we didn’t, and didn’t overthink things. We probably would have needed more than just one nudge if it weren’t for our friend with his fresh eyes.

The puzzles we encountered were a combination of more tactile/physical tasks, and solving for padlock codes. Logic, searching, pattern recognition, and even a little bit of lateral thinking all came into play, creating a game with interesting and varied challenges that kept us guessing. But everything we encountered, although sometimes challenging, was perfectly fair, giving the game a good pace, as we didn’t often find ourselves floundering for what came next.

GM/CLUE SYSTEM

Cameron was friendly and helpful, giving a thorough health and safety briefing, as well as some back story on our adventure/curse breaking, before pointing out the timer located within the game and making his exit. The Graveyard was fair and logical, so he didn’t really have much of a chance to show off his GM skills though, as we only needed one nudge early on, to stop us being dim.

That nudge was delivered via walkie talkie. It’s a tried and true method, although not without its downsides. In this case however, it was perfectly fine, and our one nudge, although it was given perhaps a little earlier than necessary, certainly kept us from frustration, as I’m not sure we would have thought to do it.

ANYTHING ELSE

The Graveyard was a solid game, with challenging puzzles, an immersive and beautifully designed set, and a good amount of atmosphere. In short, while The Graveyard is unlikely to “wow” enthusiasts, it is a perfect example of what an escape room should be.

Success / Failure

Final Rating:

Team: 2 players – escaped in 26mins

Address: 1039 Upper James St Level #2, Hamilton, ON L9C 3A6, Canada

Website: https://nextlevelescaperooms.ca/