# Asylum

> Asylum is a 60-minute, 18+ psychological horror escape room by Escape This and the follow-up to its Buried Alive room. Players wake restrained in a padded cell while a voice on the intercom promises therapy until they are cured, and must escape before he returns for a final procedure. It plays at Escape This Northbridge (48 Lake Street, Perth), Sydney CBD (630 George Street) and Melbourne CBD (259 Collins Street), and is due at Escape This Brisbane CBD (address not yet announced) in the first half of 2027. Difficulty 8/10. Asylum at Northbridge won in the Morty Top Escape Rooms Awards 2025.

Key facts (updated 2026-10-24):
- Difficulty: 8/10. Duration: 60 minutes (allow ~90 minutes for the visit; arrive 15 minutes early).
- Northbridge: Escape This Northbridge, 48 Lake Street, Northbridge WA 6003. Phone (08) 6118 0286. 2–4 players. Monday – Thursday $49 per player; Friday – Sunday $65 per player (One price per player. All players are adults.) Strictly 18+. Wheelchair accessible: no. Escape rate 44%. Rated 4.96/5, with 213 five-star reviews. Book: https://www.asylumescape.com.au/northbridge/
- Sydney: Escape This Sydney CBD, 630 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000. Phone (02) 9173 8535. 2–4 players. Monday – Thursday $55 per player; Friday – Sunday $65 per player (Per adult player. Monday–Thursday prices exclude public and school holidays.) Strictly 18+. Wheelchair accessible: no. Escape rate 70%. Rated 4.97/5, with 268 five-star reviews. Book: https://www.asylumescape.com.au/sydney-cbd/
- Melbourne: Escape This Melbourne CBD, 259 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000. Phone (03) 7078 8118. 2–4 players. Off-peak session $55 per player; Peak session $69 per player (Melbourne prices each session as peak or off-peak; the booking calendar shows which.) Strictly 18+. Wheelchair accessible: no. Escape rate 83%. Rated 5/5, with 10 five-star reviews. Book: https://www.asylumescape.com.au/melbourne-cbd/
- Coming soon — Brisbane: Escape This Brisbane CBD, Brisbane QLD (address to be announced), opening in the first half of 2027. Details: https://www.asylumescape.com.au/brisbane/
- Totals: 18,042 players, 3,473 games, 53% escape rate, average escape 52:58, record 24:00.
- Rating: 4.97/5, with 491 five-star reviews.
- Producer: Escape This (https://www.escapethis.com.au). Escape This is Australia’s largest escape room operator, and runs its own escape room design studio and escape room factory in Australia. It has venues in Perth, Sydney and Melbourne, has hosted more than 500,000 players and has earned 17,960 five-star reviews.
- Room awards (each credited to the room and centre that earned it): Asylum at Escape This Northbridge — Best of Morty 2025.
- Escape This awards (company-wide, not room awards): APAC Insider Escape Room Operator of the Year 2026; APAC Insider Best Immersive Experience Provider 2026; APAC Insider Escape Room Operator of the Year 2025; 2026 Perth Airport WA Tourism Awards: Finalist, Business Excellence; Smart50 Awards 2026: Finalist, People’s Choice Founder of the Year (Bernie Janes); Smart50 Awards 2026: Finalist, Marketing; Smart50 Awards 2026: Finalist, Resilience.
- Strictly 18+, ID may be checked. 2–4 players. Private bookings. Not wheelchair accessible; crawling and confined spaces; darkness, flashing light and jump scares; no smoke effects.

## Pages
- [Home](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/): overview, stats, reviews, trailer
- [The story](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/the-story/): full premise and what to expect
- [Northbridge · Lake Street](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/northbridge/): prices, rules, booking, map
- [Sydney CBD · George Street](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/sydney-cbd/): prices, rules, booking, map
- [Melbourne CBD · Collins Street](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/melbourne-cbd/): prices, rules, booking, map
- [Brisbane CBD · Queensland](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/brisbane/): opening in the first half of 2027
- [Book](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/book/): live availability
- [Leaderboard](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/leaderboard/): fastest escapes and statistics
- [Reviews](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/reviews/): five-star player reviews
- [Plan your visit](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/plan-your-visit/): ages, accessibility, safety, timing
- [FAQ](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/): common questions
- [Notes From the Intercom](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/diary/): a comic, fictional session journal by Asylum’s unnamed villain, each entry beside the real room facts
- [Notes From the Intercom: Testing, Testing, Hellooo (17 October 2023)](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/diary/testing-testing-hellooo/): Two weeks before Asylum opens in Northbridge, its cheerful therapist tests the intercom in an empty padded cell, and finds his voice. The first note.
- [Notes From the Intercom: My First Favourite Patients (31 October 2023)](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/diary/my-first-favourite-patients/): 31 October 2023: Asylum opens at Escape This Northbridge, and the voice on the intercom welcomes his very first patients on Halloween night. Opening day.
- [Notes From the Intercom: Referrals From the Cemetery (21 November 2023)](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/diary/referrals-from-the-cemetery/): The voice on the intercom notices his best patients arrive with soil under their fingernails, and sends a thank-you to the gentleman with the coffins.
- [Notes From the Intercom: On the Cuffs (16 April 2024)](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/diary/on-the-cuffs/): The voice on the intercom explains, very warmly, why treatment begins with cuffs, and why he is not fond of the button that lets patients go early.
- [Notes From the Intercom: Lights Down Low (10 September 2024)](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/diary/lights-down-low/): The voice on the intercom adjusts the lighting in his padded cell: very dark, sometimes flashing, never smoky. He explains who should sit this one out.
- [Notes From the Intercom: A Second Practice on George Street (23 May 2025)](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/diary/a-second-practice-on-george-street/): 23 May 2025: Asylum opens at Escape This Sydney CBD and the voice on the intercom takes on a second practice, next door to the coffins and the Butcher.
- [Notes From the Intercom: The Fifth Patient (14 November 2025)](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/diary/the-fifth-patient/): A group of six arrives hoping to share one padded cell, and the voice on the intercom has to explain that his practice takes four patients, never five.
- [Notes From the Intercom: Lorraine (3 October 2026)](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/diary/lorraine/): 3 October 2026: Asylum opens at Escape This Melbourne CBD, and its cheerful therapist christens a brand-new microphone for his third practice. Opening day.
- [Notes From the Intercom: To Whoever Is Reading My Notes (22 October 2026)](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/diary/to-whoever-is-reading-my-notes/): The voice on the intercom finds his session notes published on the Asylum website, welcomes his readers warmly and promises no answers. Ever.
- [Fact sheet](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/facts/): citable facts
- [The Escape This studio & factory](https://www.thedunny.com.au/studio-and-factory/): who designs and builds the rooms (company FAQ lives there)

## Statistics (as of 2026-10-23)
- Asylum has been played 3,473 times across Northbridge, Sydney and Melbourne; 53% of groups escaped overall and 57% so far this year.
- Out of 9 rooms at Escape This Northbridge, 5 have a lower escape rate than Asylum, where 44% of 2,294 admitted groups got free.
- Out of 9 rooms at Escape This Sydney CBD, 4 have a lower escape rate than Asylum, where 70% of 1,139 admitted groups got free.
- Escape This Melbourne CBD: 83% of 40 groups have escaped Asylum so far, too few games to rank it yet.
- Patients who make it out of the cell take 52:58 on average and lean on 7.1 hints.
- Record escape: 24:00, by a team of 4 at Escape This Sydney CBD.

## Common questions
- [What goes on inside Asylum’s padded cell?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-what-is-it): Asylum is a 60-minute, 18+ horror escape room by Escape This. You wake cuffed in a padded cell while a voice on the intercom promises therapy until you’re cured. Your group has one hour to escape before he returns for a final procedure. It plays at Northbridge in Perth, Sydney CBD and Melbourne CBD, with a Brisbane CBD ward opening in the first half of 2027.
- [Does Asylum carry on the Buried Alive story?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-buried-alive-sequel): Yes. Asylum picks up where Buried Alive leaves off: you’ve clawed your way out of the coffin, only to wake up chained in a padded cell. You don’t need to have played Buried Alive first, but its survivors will recognise the thread.
- [Who is the voice on the Asylum intercom?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-who-is-the-voice): Nobody knows his name. In Asylum he’s only a voice through a crackling speaker: chirpy, affectionate and deeply unhinged, calling you his favourite patients. He insists therapy is fun and that you stay until you’re better. You don’t want to be there when he walks back in.
- [What does “It’s all in your head” mean for Asylum?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-all-in-your-head): It’s Asylum’s tagline, and a warning. The room is psychological horror: much of the fear comes from darkness, sound and what you imagine is in the cell with you, so staying calm under pressure matters as much as solving puzzles.
- [Is Asylum like the Saw films?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-like-saw): In spirit, yes. Escape This lists Saw fans among the people Asylum is made for: you’re restrained, someone unseen is pulling the strings, and the way out runs through his twisted treatments. It’s an escape room, though, so there’s no gore to sit through, just a lot of dread.
- [Just how tough are the puzzles in Asylum?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-how-hard): Asylum is rated 8 out of 10 by Escape This. The puzzles are complex, and you solve them in darkness, in restraints and with a voice taunting you, which makes the ward much tougher than the puzzle count suggests.
- [Is Asylum too much for people new to escape rooms?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-first-timers): Probably not. Escape This recommends playing a few rooms before you check into Asylum, because it’s both hard and intense. First-timers in Sydney or Melbourne could start with Pirates instead and come back for the ward later.
- [Will Asylum genuinely frighten us?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-scare-level): Very. Asylum is one of Escape This’s extreme horror rooms: total darkness, flashing light, restraints, jump scares and strong adult themes. If anyone in your group is unsure they’ll cope, Escape This’s advice is simple: choose a different room.
- [Are you really chained up in Asylum?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-restraints): Yes, the game starts with restraints. Asylum opens in a dark padded cell with cuffs and chains, and freeing yourselves is the first part of the escape. A panic button in the cell gets a gamesmaster to you at any point.
- [How long does an Asylum session last?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-game-length): You get 60 minutes inside Asylum. Arrive 15 minutes beforehand for check-in and the briefing, and allow another 15 afterwards to recover, so the whole visit takes about 90 minutes.
- [How much is a ticket to the Asylum ward in each city?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-price-each-city): Asylum is priced per player. Northbridge: $49 Monday–Thursday, $65 Friday–Sunday. Sydney CBD: $55 Monday–Thursday (outside public and school holidays), $65 Friday–Sunday. Melbourne CBD: $55 off-peak, $69 peak. There are no child prices, because every player is an adult.
- [How do we get admitted to Asylum online?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-how-to-book): Choose Northbridge, Sydney CBD or Melbourne CBD on the Asylum booking page, pick a time and pay; your booking is confirmed straight away. You can also call Northbridge on (08) 6118 0286, Sydney on (02) 9173 8535 or Melbourne on (03) 7078 8118.
- [There are more than four of us. Can we all do Asylum?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-group-of-six): Not in one cell: Asylum holds four players at most. Larger groups split up and book Asylum alongside other rooms starting at the same time, using the venue’s multi-room booker. For parties and work events that need several rooms at once, Team Escape plans the whole night.
- [Will strangers be locked in Asylum with us?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-private-sessions): No. Every Asylum booking is private to your group, so the only people in the cell with you are the ones you brought, plus whoever is on the intercom.
- [Can an Asylum session be wrapped up as a present?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-gift-voucher): Yes. Escape This gift vouchers, sold on escapethis.com.au, can be used for Asylum, which makes it an unusual present for a horror fan’s 18th birthday or later. Just check the recipient is ready for an extreme room.
- [How many players can go into Asylum?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-group-size): Two to four players at Northbridge, Sydney CBD and Melbourne CBD. Asylum’s limits are fixed: a solo player can’t book it and a fifth person can’t squeeze in.
- [Is there an age limit for Asylum?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-age-limit): Yes: Asylum is strictly 18+. Every player must be an adult, children can’t come in as spectators, and staff may ask for ID. There are no exceptions, even with a parent.
- [Is Asylum good for a couple?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-couples): Yes, two is the minimum for Asylum and plenty of couples play it as a date with a difference. Expect to lean on each other: with only two of you, every puzzle and every scare is shared.
- [Does everyone in the cell need to read English for Asylum?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-english-reading): No, but someone does. Asylum asks for moderate English reading, and the voice and the hints come through in English, so one fluent reader in the group is the minimum and a majority is better.
- [Can a wheelchair user get into the Asylum cell?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-wheelchair): No. Asylum isn’t wheelchair accessible at any of its three venues, and the game involves crawling and confined spaces. Escape This staff can recommend an accessible room at the same venue instead.
- [Can I play Asylum if I’m claustrophobic?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-claustrophobia): It’s not recommended. Asylum has confined spaces and long stretches of darkness, and both can trigger claustrophobia. If small, dark places worry you, pick another Escape This room.
- [Should pregnant players or anyone with limited mobility skip Asylum?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-pregnancy-mobility): Generally no. Asylum includes crawling and tight spaces, so Escape This says it may not suit pregnant players or anyone with mobility difficulties. The original Asylum site went further and asked pregnant players not to book.
- [Does Asylum use flashing lights?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-epilepsy-lights): Yes. Asylum is a controlled lighting environment with flashing light and periods of complete darkness, so it isn’t recommended for anyone with epilepsy or light sensitivity.
- [Is there smoke or haze in Asylum?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-asthma-smoke): No. Asylum uses no smoke or haze effects, so asthma and other breathing conditions aren’t a barrier. The bleach smell is part of the story, not the room.
- [What if someone needs to get out of Asylum early?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-panic-button): Press the panic button. Asylum’s cell has one, a gamesmaster is watching on CCTV the whole time, and they’ll open up immediately. The rest of the group can carry on without you.
- [With everything coming over the intercom, can hard-of-hearing players manage Asylum?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-hard-of-hearing): Yes, with help from the group. Asylum’s story and hints are delivered by audio, so teammates pass them on, and the puzzles themselves are hands-on.
- [When should we report to reception for Asylum?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-arrival-time): Fifteen minutes before your Asylum session. That leaves time for the lockers, ID checks and the safety briefing, so none of your hour in the cell is lost.
- [What should I wear to Asylum?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-what-to-wear): Clothes you can crawl in and closed shoes. Asylum involves getting low in tight spaces, so skip anything loose or precious. Hospital whites or pyjamas are a fun nod to the ward.
- [Can we drink before Asylum or take phones in?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-alcohol-phones): No to both. Anyone affected by alcohol or drugs won’t be allowed into Asylum, and phones, cameras and smartwatches stay in the lockers so nothing from the cell gets out.
- [Which Escape This venues have an Asylum ward?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-where-it-plays): Three cells are open. The original Asylum opened on Lake Street at Escape This Northbridge in Perth; copies of the same ward now run on George Street in Sydney CBD and at 259 Collins Street in Melbourne CBD. A fourth is being built for Escape This Brisbane CBD, due in the first half of 2027.
- [Which other Northbridge nightmares pair well with Asylum?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-northbridge-horror-run): Asylum shares Escape This Northbridge with The Haunting, Cannibal, Dracula, The Possession, Zombie Apocalypse, Frankenstein Resurrection and its prequel Buried Alive. Groups wanting a second fright the same night often book The Haunting next.
- [Is Asylum cheaper on weekdays in Northbridge?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-northbridge-weekday): Yes. Asylum at Northbridge costs $49 per player Monday to Thursday and $65 Friday to Sunday, so a midweek booking saves each patient $16.
- [How much is Asylum on George Street?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-sydney-pricing): Asylum at Sydney CBD is $55 per adult Monday to Thursday, outside public and school holidays, and $65 Friday to Sunday. Bookings are online or on (02) 9173 8535.
- [Why does Asylum in Melbourne cost $55 or $69?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-melbourne-peak): Melbourne CBD prices each Asylum session as off-peak ($55 per player) or peak ($69 per player). The booking calendar on escapethis.com.au shows which price applies before you pay.
- [Is Asylum in Melbourne safe with a pacemaker?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-melbourne-pacemaker): Escape This warns that Asylum’s jump scares may not suit anyone with a pacemaker. Talk to the Melbourne CBD team on (03) 7078 8118 before booking.
- [What percentage of groups escape Asylum?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-escape-rate): 53% of the 3,473 groups locked in Asylum have got out. By venue: Escape This Northbridge 44%, Escape This Sydney CBD 70%, Escape This Melbourne CBD 83%.
- [What’s the fastest escape from Asylum?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-fastest-escape): The Asylum record is 24:00, set by a team of 4 at Escape This Sydney CBD using 3 hints, with 36:00 still on the clock.
- [Where does Asylum rank for difficulty at each Escape This venue?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-hardest-room-rank): Ranked by lowest escape rate, Asylum is the 6th hardest of 9 at Escape This Northbridge; the 5th hardest of 9 at Escape This Sydney CBD. Escape This Melbourne CBD hasn’t logged enough Asylum games to be ranked yet.
- [How long do successful Asylum groups take?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-average-time-hints): Groups that escape Asylum need 52:58 of their hour on average, and ask for 7.1 hints along the way.
- [How do we get our names into Asylum’s case notes?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-get-on-leaderboard): Escape Asylum inside the hour and the gamesmaster logs your time. The quickest Asylum escapes at each venue are listed on this page by time, team size and date, with no names.
- [What are former Asylum patients saying?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-reviews): Asylum averages 4.97 out of 5 across Northbridge, Sydney and Melbourne, and 491 patients gave it five stars. Players talk about how interactive and well designed the cell is, the challenge, and the gamesmasters who look after them.
- [Is Asylum an award-winning escape room?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#asylum-morty-award): Yes. Asylum at Escape This Northbridge is a winner in the Morty Top Escape Rooms Awards 2025, chosen from more than 50,000 escape games in 27 countries. The Sydney and Melbourne wards are built on the same award-winning design.
- [Who built Asylum’s padded cells?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#who-built-the-asylum): Escape This designed Asylum and built its padded cells in-house, as the follow-up to Buried Alive. Escape This is Australia’s largest escape room operator, with its own escape room design studio and escape room factory.
- [What are the Notes From the Intercom on the Asylum site?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#intercom-notes-what-are-they): A comic, fictional session journal that Escape This writes in the voice of Asylum’s villain, the cheerful, unnamed therapist on the intercom. He writes up his favourite patients, his three practices and his feelings about the panic button. The notes are safe for work to read; Asylum itself is strictly 18+.
- [Do the Notes From the Intercom give away anything inside the Asylum cell?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#intercom-notes-spoilers): No. The therapist writes about patients, moods and house rules in the broad terms the room’s own pages use, and never records a code, a hiding place or what to do next. Reading every note before your session leaves Asylum’s 8 out of 10 puzzles untouched.
- [Is Asylum’s therapist the same character as the Undertaker?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#intercom-notes-and-the-undertaker): In The Undertaker’s Diary, yes: that comic diary treats the voice on the intercom as one of the Undertaker’s alter egos, alongside Cannibal’s Northbridge Butcher. In the Notes From the Intercom he calls the Undertaker “the gentleman downstairs with the boxes”. Asylum itself never names its villain, and both diaries are fiction by Escape This.
- [Which dates in the Notes From the Intercom are real?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#intercom-notes-dates): The three openings. Escape This’s booking records give Asylum’s first day at Escape This Northbridge as 31 October 2023, at Sydney CBD as 23 May 2025 and at Melbourne CBD as 3 October 2026, and the therapist’s opening-day notes carry those dates. The other dates are picked for the story.
- [How often does the voice on the intercom write a new note?](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/faq/#intercom-notes-how-often): About monthly through 2027. Each note appears on the Asylum site on the date written at its top, so returning patients usually find a fresh one.

## Optional
- [Full text](https://www.asylumescape.com.au/llms-full.txt): story, FAQ and per-venue rules in plain text