Escape Room Review–Save Milwaukee
Save Milwaukee has changed a lot over the years. It has two locations, one several floors up in an office building in the Third Ward, the second in an independent freestanding location on Brady Street. Two rooms are currently available: “The Device” in the Third Ward, and “McSnooty’s Gallery of Fine Art” on Brady Street. I thoroughly enjoyed both rooms, even though my teams and I didn’t finish in time, though we came close.
The premise of “The Device” is that a mad scientist, Dr. Watson Dangerfield, has created a fusion device, that could provide a lot of energy if used properly, but it also could destroy Wisconsin if used as a weapon. Now, the disgruntled scientist, feeling he never got his due, will detonate his device in one hour unless you deactivate it.
It’s a really interesting room, with lots of puzzles of a type I’ve never seen in any other room. Some are rather high-tech, others lower-tech. Without going into details or spoilers, Save Milwaukee uses some puzzles that go against the traditional “rush, rush, rush” in order to beat the clock. To solve some of Save Milwaukee’s puzzles, you must allow for time and patience, because the solution requires thinking and acting in a way different from any other room I’ve played in the past.
In terms of production values, it’s an office space filled with items. That doesn’t make it bad, just not the same level of immersion some rooms feature. Unlike most rooms, there’s no countdown clock in the room, so you must rely on your own watch. You can’t ask for clues like in most places. Clues and hints are written down on pieces of paper and shoved under the door. The biggest problem with the room is that some critical hints are played over a speaker, and they’re just too soft to hear sometimes. I missed crucial words on multiple occasions, and they weren’t replayed.
I should point out that I played an earlier version of the room. After the pandemic started, the second room in the Third Ward was dismantled and “The Device” was expanded so players could be spaced out– social distancing changed the layout. I have not seen “The Device 2.0.”
The second room on Brady Street, looks very much like an ordinary business from the outside. “McSnooty’s” is subtly marked as an escape room, but at first glance it looks like an ordinary art gallery. The premise is that McSnooty uses technology to steal people’s credit card information. You must find evidence of wrongdoing. The room is filled with some really interesting pieces of art that are actually puzzles. It was meant to be a room for parties of at least ten, even twenty, but after the pandemic it was adjust so teams of four or five could play it. The basic puzzles are clever, but the tech behind some of them is wearing out– some audio clues are hard to hear, and other mechanisms have to be adjusted just so in order to work. Even though we needed a little more time if we were to win, I had a great time.
At least two rooms are currently defunct. In the runup into the 2016 election, there was a voting-themed room involving a ballot box, which closed down shortly after all of the actual votes were tabulated. This room was not played by me. My friends and I did play “The Tailgate,” which used to be the second room at the Brady Street location until it was removed so “The Device” could expand for distancing purposes. In “The Tailgate,” you search a room for a key in order to open a locked fridge, so you can take the drinks inside to a sports game (I understand the theme shifted from baseball to football depending on the season). It was a small room, but definitely entertaining with a wide variety of puzzles. One problem was one key. It was carefully hidden, but a thin, inch-long key is easily lost, and that’s an easy way for people to get stuck. We won just tin time, but this was the closest my friends and I have ever been– we won with probably a couple seconds to spare.
I understand that Save Milwaukee was sold recently, and ther are plans to renovate the rooms further and replace old equipment. If there are any significant changes or new rooms, I’d love to go back.
–Chris Chan
Chris Chan’s anthology Of Course He Pushed Him and Other Sherlock Holmes Stories Volumes 1 & 2 was released on June 22nd. His first novel, Sherlock’s Secretary, was released by MX Publishing. His Agatha-nominated book Murder Most Grotesque: The Comedic Crime Fiction of Joyce Porter was published by Level Best Books. His first non-fiction book, Sherlock & Irene: The Secret Truth Behind “A Scandal in Bohemia” is available for sale at Amazon.com and the MX Publishing website, as well as at Book Depository (with free worldwide shipping there). It is also available in a Kindle edition.
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