Lab 44

A sample was mishandled at 6:52 p.m. on sub-level 44, the doors dropped, and the decontamination cycle starts in sixty minutes. The antidote formula is in the room, in three pieces.

Sub-level 44 sits beneath a research tower on University Avenue, or at least that is what the signage in the elevator says. A sample was mishandled at 6:52 p.m., the containment doors dropped, and the building's decontamination system will flood the level in exactly sixty minutes. Your team was in the wrong corridor at the wrong moment. The good news is that the missing researcher left an antidote formula behind, in three pieces, in three different places she thought were safe.

The room is built around a real lab bench: glassware, a fume hood, a specimen fridge with a keypad, and a centrifuge that spins a sealed drum you will need to open. Nothing in the room is hazardous. The 'chemicals' are coloured water and food-safe dyes, and every mixing step is checked by a sensor rather than by chemistry, so nobody needs a background in science to play. Curiosity and a willingness to read labels carefully will do.

Lab 44 is our most parallel room after Aurora. From the first minute there are three things to work on at once, which is why we set the minimum at three players and why groups of six to eight tend to love it. Teams naturally split into a bench crew, a paperwork crew and someone who cannot stop pressing buttons on the intercom. That is fine. The intercom is part of the story.

Difficulty three of five. Roughly 62% of teams escape, and the ones who do not usually run out of time on the final lock, not on the science. Family Day and March Break bookings lean heavily towards this room because it suits a mix of adults and teenagers; kids under 12 can play with an adult in the room. The strobe and siren are on by default but your game master can switch them off before the briefing, no questions asked.

What to expect inside

A working lab bench with UV light, pipettes, litmus-style tests and a keypad fridge
Three parallel puzzle tracks that merge for the finale
Light physical tasks: reaching, pouring, spinning a drum
Siren and strobe effects (optional) and an intercom voice that talks back
Ideal team: 5 to 8 people who like dividing and conquering

Good to know

Lab 44 is the room most often booked by families, so a few notes for parents: nothing in it is sharp, hot or actually chemical, the strobe and siren can be switched off before you start, and a child of eight can reach every puzzle. The lab coats hanging by the door are part of the set and you are welcome to wear them; most groups do.