The Magician's Workshop

Was told this was a game with no locks, but it had two locks. At least 75% of the tech didn’t work properly. One puzzle was just wrong, I even helped them change the combination afterward so it would be right. Screws, nails, and exposed wiring just sticking out everywhere. Scraped my arm on some screws sticking out of a door that you can’t see because it’s dark. Apparently two things were “red herrings”. I personally hate red herrings, but they more seemed like something electronic that was supposed to work, but didn’t, so they left it in there and called it a red herring. Great potential in the story and game, just very poorly executed.

The fact that there were no bike locks in the whole room was amazing. There was a recent flood that messed with some if the electrical things made it a little less refined, but they are not to blame since they informed us of this before hand. The puzzles were clever and unique. Very nice room!

This has some neat ideas. While I think this game lacks some polish in flow and execution, I enjoyed seeing a different approach t several things I hadn't seen before, and I really think it has some potential. I think the owner would do well to get some more experienced players in to play test to help with the flow issues. One note: the owner came into the room multiple times during the game: to swap out an item, to check whether we had done XYZ with XYZ item (even if we hadn't, it workshop be game breaking) and to help us with something that couldve been provided via the clue system. The owner was super friendly, but this was distracting to the experience. I hope they can figure out a way to make things flow without the interruptions. (The swapped out item had been damaged in a recent flooding event - so I assume that's a one-time thing that will be resolved ASAP, but the other two times were not necessary as far as we could see, so we were a little confused!)

Fun, unique room. Flowed well.

This was a well put together room with puzzles that made sense. I would say that one part is linear and another isn’t. I don’t feel that we had to “reach” to make a puzzle make sense.

My friends and I had the opportunity to beta test a unique escape room located at the oceanfront of Virginia Beach, a bustling and touristy area. This experience was unlike many local escape rooms. Instead of traditional locks, the room featured actual magic and impressive mechanics, with magic props that added to the experience. The room was not linear, which meant our group of six could split into pairs and tackle multiple puzzles simultaneously. This made the experience engaging for everyone. The room was creative and well-thought-out. We did encounter a few kinks but that’s all part of the beta testing. I also learned this room has multiple endings which intrigues me. I can’t wait to come back to solve this room again. For where this escape room is located in the heart of Virginia Beach’s tourist area, I think it will do well.