If The Horseshoe Fits...

I’m doing things a bit out of order here from our Thanksgiving trip to the Ohio Valley. I can’t quite figure out how to approach the 2nd of three rooms that we visited, so today we’ll take a look at the third and final room that we visited.

I had been in touch with the owners over social media since I’m always getting not-so-subtle suggestions for Escape Rooms that I haven’t heard of yet. I want to add something about the owners that truly magnifies not only their passion for puzzles and escape games, but also their love for their community. These guys had held a town-wide scavenger hunt, with some fairly complex puzzles, a few weeks earlier. That, in itself, had already caught my attention.

Venue: Escape Works

Location: 3350 Pennsylvania Ave, Suite D, Weirton, WV 26062

​Website: www.escapeworks-ov.com/

Cost Per Person: Typically $25 but Beta Tested on the house

Game: The Horseshoe Club

Difficulty: 2.5 out of 5 (additional puzzles added since Beta Test)

I had only Beta Tested once before and I definitely have a preference for not only playing a finished/completed game but also financially supporting small businesses. In this case however, we didn’t have enough vacation days to stay in the area long enough to be around for the finished product, so we took the only opportunity we got…and we were the VERY FIRST PEOPLE (aside from the owners) TO SEE THE ROOM!!!

I was also nervous about Beta Testing since the first and only time I had done it I was so overwhelmed by the awesomeness of that previous room, that I really forgot to take mental notes. I was just like “yeah, that was freaking awesome. When are you opening the next room?” And not to take away from this venue, because this room also rocked!

The story was definitely a first for me. The Horseshoe Club is a Prohibition Era Speakeasy. It’s being run by mobster Bugsy Marlowe who hides $100 payments to other mobster Boss Tweed to help keep things running smoothly. In typical mobster fashion, the two get into a feud. Your job is to time travel back to 1929 and find the hidden payment before Boss Tweed gets to it AND return to the present. So pretty simple, find the money and get out of dodge before the mob gets to you. It is definitely simple and I say that in a very fond way. Sometimes stories are so complex, you really don’t know how to explain it. This isn’t the case here.

We’ve been to rooms where we had to time travel back to a different era and it’s a really cool idea when pulled off correctly. That is, I’m not sure I want to see an electric safe located in the 1700s. Doesn’t really mesh well. The Horseshoe Club has none of that. As soon as you step through the front door, you enter the Boomin’ Twenties. Seriously though, there was nothing in this environment that took you out of it.

Did I just start going into immersion? As stated before you enter a world that you’ve read about or even watched on the big screen. I’ve been to modern speakeasies and they just don’t come close to what The Horseshoe Club offered. A dance floor, some cocktail tables, a bar…wait erm, those are illegal in 1929…the room had it all. Whatever you thought should be in a mobster run, illegal bar in the 1920s, was there.

One last point about the immersion factor is the way that hints are delivered. I won’t spoil the fun for players because you really have to do this room if you’re in the area. The guys thought this one out and provide a fun/immersive hint delivery system. No spoilers!

But I really can’t dive completely into the room until I start describing the puzzles and how they blended seamlessly and cleverly with the story and the room. My goodness, some of the non-linear findings became PART of the setting…and even then, they assisted you with other puzzles. Does that make sense?

The game and puzzles were extremely story driven, in that almost every new puzzle was presented by new information that developed the story.

I always enjoy highlighting the puzzles that stood out to me but there were so many to choose from! And even though they were on the not-so-difficult side, they all made sense to the story and to the progression of events (i.e. no head scratchers).

One puzzle towards the end, which of course was story driven, provided a new twist to an old type of puzzle (think double-click to reset)…and it worked! It worked beautifully because the order and sequence of the puzzle was part of the Horseshoe Club World. Again, as much as I’d like to describe it, I’d like to preserve the secrets of this room.

At the end of the day, we were able to retrieve the stash of cash and come back to 2018 with around 25 minutes remaining. I can proudly say that we provided some very positive feedback to the owners and I know they were very thankful to hear our words, since we have played games in bigger cities. We were able to help them resolve a glitch that kept occurring within the room and again, they were very thankful for us accidentally finding it.

Although we found the puzzles to be on the easier side, we would totally say that this game was extremely fun and rewarding to enthusiasts most definitely due to the fact that the room made complete sense.

We are proud to say that “The Horseshoe Club” at Escape Works in Weirton, WV receives a 9 out of 10 rating from us. We highly recommend this room to anyone in this area.

Note: As stated throughout this review, our group was privileged to Beta Test this room. We have since been informed that additional puzzles have been added after our visit.

Note: Also, The Horseshoe Club is the only game/room at this venue. We have been told that rooms typically get rotated/replaced around every 7-8 months. We visited in November of 2018 and were the first customers, so you have until June/July?

Note: Keeping the immersion alive, the owners have created a fun way to retrieve a password to enter their awesome speakeasy. Makes sense and stays true to the story. Check them out on Facebook for more details.