Thursday 2 December 2021 · Buried Alive

Notes on the Ideal Pair

In short: The Undertaker sketches the perfect pair for Buried Alive, which takes exactly two players aged 18 or over. It is rated 8 out of 10 for difficulty, suits experienced players and isn’t recommended for anyone claustrophobic.

2 December 2021

Thursday. A list, because the gamesmasters keep asking who I am “for”.

The ideal pair has done a few escape rooms before. My puzzles are rated eight out of ten and I will not apologise for a single point. First-timers are welcome to try, but they ought to know I do not do warm-ups.

The ideal pair trusts each other, or believes it does. Couples, siblings, best friends, colleagues who have shared a desk long enough to finish each other’s sentences. I find out quickly which it is.

The ideal pair is happy in the dark, lying down, in a space measured with a tailor’s tape. Two metres long, seventy centimetres wide, half a metre deep. Anybody who dislikes tight spaces should choose one of my roomier works instead. Anyone above about 196 centimetres should do the same; my lids are not negotiable.

The ideal pair is two. Not three. Not “two plus a friend who will watch”. Two.

The ideal pair is grown up, eighteen at the very least, with identification. I am a serious artist.

— U.

The Undertaker’s mulberry wax seal, stamped with a U

Out of character

Questions this entry raises

How many players does each of The Undertaker’s rooms take?

Buried Alive takes 2 players; Asylum takes 2–4 players; Cannibal takes 2–6 at Northbridge and 2–8 at Sydney CBD; Meat Grinder takes 2–8 players (four minimum on Saturdays). Buried Alive is never more or fewer than two, because there are two coffins. Team sizes for Murder Van and Death Row have not been announced.

Would The Undertaker’s rooms suit a first-ever escape room?

They are a big first step. All four rooms are rated 8 out of 10 for difficulty and Buried Alive is meant for experienced players, though gamesmasters give hints whenever you ask. Newcomers may find Cannibal or Meat Grinder the gentler way into The Undertaker’s world, since both take bigger groups and have no crawling.

Every question about The Undertaker →