I’m a rare breed.
As an enthusiast and reviewer, I haven’t yet, planned my vacations around potential escape room venues. In fact, I’ve been to Baton Rouge twice for work and had been unaware, both times, of what could’ve been.
Despite what they may think, I love to visit my in-laws. They’re great people and it’s a relaxing area of the country, where I can turn off work and gain back a few years. Maybe 2 or 3 years ago, we were told of an escape room venue, across the Ohio River in (surprise) Ohio. This ended up being our first loss ever. I’m pretty sure I mentioned this on my previous write up on “Zaltana: Good vs. Evil”.
I’m also pretty sure I’ve mentioned that this venue is endearing to me. I don’t know what it is. I honestly can’t put my finger on it, but something about the rooms, I love. This doesn’t necessarily mean I love every aspect of the rooms, but I appreciate them on a grander scale.
Last June (2019) we scheduled probably one of our longest vacations up in Wheeling and we were able to sneak away to try out Escape Zone’s latest offer, “Gold Fever”. As a side note, this game replaced the “Insane Asylum” room that was previously offered there.
Venue: Escape Zone Ohio
Location: 2011 Belmont St. Bellaire, OH 43906
Website: http://www.escapezoneohio.com/
Cost Per Person: $25.00 per person (very public)
Game: Gold Fever
Difficulty: 3.5 out of 5 (per players’ perception)
Room Capacity: up to 6 allowed; 3 players optimal
Played By: John and Nicole
Game Duration: 60 Minutes
Type: Mostly Mechanical/Some Automation
Rooms at Venue: 4 Rooms
Rooms Completed: 63
As players are led up the stairs of the older building that is Escape Zone Ohio, they will quickly realize that the setting and mood are delivered prior to actually entering the Rusty Nickel Saloon. What saloon you may ask?
Yeah, let me get to the story. “Gold Fever” picks up where James Marshall’s legacy ends. You see James literally struck gold in 19th century California. James and his sudden fortune attracted all of the baddest outlaws the Wild West had to offer and in the “good old days”, how did we settle disputes? Well none other than a good old fashioned shoot out (or duel). Luck ran out for James as he unfortunately discovered he wasn’t the quickest draw. With James out of the equation, his stash of gold was up for grabs. Word on the street is he had hidden it somewhere in his favorite watering hole, the Rusty Nickel Saloon.
You and your team, if you’re up to the task, must find a way in and navigate your way around the saloon in search for the hidden gold.
My only gripe here, is that in the presentation of the story, no real antagonist or prompt is provided to the players aside from a 60 minute time limit. A simple fix to this would be to pit the players against James’s enemies in an attempt to keep the gold out of the bad guys’ hands. No worries though. We loved the video package for this regardless of the aforementioned “gripe”.
This game goes down as only the 2nd (at the time) room to actually start outside of the main setting. That is, you HAVE to break into the saloon first, which adds to the tension.
Having played now five games at Escape Zone Ohio, I can confidently say that the scenery and décor of the Rusty Nickel Saloon (for Gold Fever) was by far the most charming and ambitious the venue has to offer. This is in no way a knock against the other rooms and a compliment in every way to the attention to detail and thoughtfulness displayed. From Wanted Posters, to revolvers, to rustic furniture and worn down equipment, to an actual bar and what could quite possibly be a mounted skull of the infamous Jackelope. This saloon has it all and transported us from the Ohio Valley to the 19th century wild west once we stepped through the swinging doors.
The fun didn’t end with the décor or the setting though. We were on a mission to find the gold and James Marshall (er, Escape Zone Ohio) presented us with what I felt to be the most ambitious and daring puzzles offered, to date, at this venue. Most certainly, several of these puzzles I have not seen in my now, 76 games played.
The flow of the game actually started off very quick and our guard was down as the GM had told us this was one of their easier games. Having dismantled the last game at this venue, we were expecting a walk in the park but this definitely was NOT the case. The saloon is contained, very naturally, in a one room setting and similar to previous one room experiences, many of the locked areas were contained to a single space.
Psychologically, this drives me crazy (in a good way) as everything I need to get to is right in front of my face.
As recently mentioned, the initial game flow starts off fast and logically. From there, players kind of enter a drastic deceleration of game play, heavily relying on discovery and searching as options of where to go and what to do next feel sparse. The options and items to be discovered are most definitely available to the keen eye and steady hand, but you have to be willing to think outside of the box.
Several puzzles/sequences that we both loved:
1) An initial piece of information led us to perform an action behind the bar that progressed the story. We loved this simple task that felt like it completely belonged to the story.
2) I personally loved the final puzzle that involved a piece of information given at the beginning of your journey and culminates in finding an item towards the very end of the game. It also felt like it very much belonged in the story and helps players achieve the goal. Also, there was a little bit of a twist to what was required.
3) My wife really enjoyed one of the puzzles that involved making a connection between matching items within the room. The mechanics and acknowledgment of similar items were unlike anything we had seen before.
Lastly, there were some areas that we would improve, however, we have shared those thoughts and feelings with Escape Zone Ohio’s owners. As we stated towards them, these are our own opinions; we are not expert game designers and we certainly do not think that we have the capability to design a better game. It’s just that at certain times during the game, one or two of these puzzles had some logic leaps that left us wanting a bit more. The good thing is, we offered some ways to make the solutions to these puzzles less open to chance and more apt to logic. I specifically promised I wouldn’t mention (i.e. describe the puzzles or what we felt could be improved) or spoil either of these puzzles, to maintain the integrity of the game.
As I’m sure readers have already guessed, we were able to unravel all of the clues and solve all of James Marshall’s puzzles. At the end of the day, we left the Rusty Nickel Saloon with fatter pockets than when we had entered. We had retrieved the hidden stash of gold and high tailed it out of there.
I truly feel that “Gold Fever” is the best room that I have played at Escape Zone Ohio. It is a great sign because it is their newest offering. I have an appreciation for venues that continuously look for ways to approve and even become ambitious in some of the game’s mechanics.
If you’re in the West Virginia Panhandle or in the Ohio Valley, we certainly recommend stopping by Escape Zone Ohio. Not only is the hospitality top notch but the games are ever improving and fun through and through.
We thank Escape Zone Ohio for always going above and beyond with pre and post game chats, along with allowing me to re-explore and debrief my way around the room afterwards.
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