What a busy busy week it’s been here at Labyrinth Escape Rooms!!

We started construction on our very empty property and in just a few short days, we’ve managed to put up the timber frames, insulation, gyprock and plaster.  We’ve also been very fortunate to find a couple of amazing guys. Charlie from Mr AV who will start installing our cameras next week and his friend Daniel who will be putting in emergency exit buttons on every door (because, you know, it’s kinda illegal to lock people inside a room without an easy and direct exit route in case of emergencies!!).

I’m going to be honest and say that I really didn’t put much thought into building the walls.  I always assumed that would be the easiest part of the whole process, but having to personally do it myself makes me appreciate builders so much more.

You know those times when you have to stay calm and look like nothing’s bothering you, but inside your head, you’re screaming at yourself as loud as possible?? Well, that was me this week!! Let me tell you, base coating a wall isn’t fun when you only have 45 minutes to use the stuff before it dries out, or when more than half the bucket tips over or when you get it all over your hair, your clothes and shoes!! Not fun I tells ya.  Not fun!! But, there is a silver lining.  After doing a messy job of the base-coat, you get to sand it all down and it looks pretty damn good – almost like a professional did it. Almost!

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First time base-coating walls. More base-coat on the floors than the walls.

The day we picked up our keys was the most exciting day; until this past week.  Taking the top spot would have to go to the day when Frank and I drove from Sydney to Melbourne and back in 24hours to pick up our custom games that we had personally made.

It was 4 weeks of going back and forth on design ideas, game elements and solutions to bring the best puzzles we could possibly think of.

On one hand we didn’t want the puzzles too easy but at the same time, I don’t want players to go through them real quickly either.  Each game uses a different way of thinking; they’re not your classic hide and seek or picking padlocks type of puzzles.  At one stage, one of the games was almost impossible to solve.  So it was back to the drawing board, and together we worked out how to make it user friendly and I think we found that sweet spot between “That was too easy” and “This is way too hard!  I’m never going to escape!  Call my family and tell them I love them”!

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One of our custom made games; hope this doesn’t give too much away

I had a few people ask how we came up with our name. When we decided to start an Escape Room, we wrote down a list of words we thought would resonate with the business.  We came up with the lamest ideas!! I’m actually quite embarrassed to say them out loud now, but there we were asking our friend Jerome which name he liked best.  After sitting there for what seemed like forever waiting for his response, he said “What about Labyrinth?”.

AND that’s how simple our name came about! Thanks Jerome!! Without you, we’d probably be called “Gone in Sixty Minutes” (Yes, that was one of our ideas!! I did warn you they were lame!)

Once we were married to the name, we got to work on thinking of our logo.  We researched all about Labyrinths and we found that in Greek mythology, a Minotaur would be placed in the center of a Labyrinth to fight whoever tries to pass through.  These mythical creatures were strong and smart and knew their way around the Labyrinth they were protecting.  We loved the whole idea and that’s how our logo was born.

We contacted Tess from TNP Design and she went to work creating a whole heap of logos for us to choose.  At one stage I think we plagiarized Chicago Bulls haha but we quickly changed it to what you see today!! I love the way our website and logo has turned out and it wouldn’t have happened without her creative mind.

I read a funny quote the other day – “Anytime you see a turtle on a fence post, you know he had some help” – Alex Haley

Who helped you get there Mr Turtle?

Who helped you get there Mr Turtle?

These words couldn’t be more true with us and our business.  Frank and I are so grateful for all the help we’ve had along the way.  We’ve had amazing people guide us and give us great advice and we wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for all of those who believed in us and encouraged us throughout this journey.

Thank you to our readers and followers and to everyone who’s spreading the word.  We’re already starting to get emails and calls regarding bookings and I know all of this wouldn’t be possible without all of you talking about it.  So thank you again!! We really do appreciate it!!

We’re also in the process of designing our third room.  Leave us a comment with your ideas on what theme you’d like to see built and if yours gets chosen, we’ll let you and 5 of your friends do that room for free!!