The Krazy Kat Speakeasy

Using Speakeasy as a room theme seems like it would be more common than it is, as I can only recall one other among the sea of serial killer dens and haunted locations. Axxiom has been a bit more adventurous lately, and the Newark location is steadfast becoming one of my favorites. One that at least repurposes their rooms on a semi regular basis. Taking over the nearly 4 year tenure of the "seasonal" Fate of the North Pole, the Krazy Kat thankfully bears no resemblance or recycled elements of the room's former occupant. Your elements are all fairly standard and on theme. Roaring 20s period artwork and style, public smoking and cigarette advertisements share equal space with the vices of booze and gambling. It's a believable and fittingly cramped location, even if I would have enjoyed an element of having to find a way into the bar in the first place. There's not much in the way of sound isolation unfortunately. There's a more than a few instances of having to listen to audio clues, and the shrill ping of the hint notification from the next door Sorcerer's Quest carried almost better than the Speakeasy's "awoooga" horn, and neither was made easy with the... enthusiastic crowd going through another room. Puzzles were a lot better and less esoteric than usual, and the Axxiom staple of "getting items for a near endgame puzzle" as well as a few "red herring" items are present, but in a more "fair" feeling way. There's still a few moments of esoteric design, but most puzzles felt obvious as they revealed themselves. The first room was a lot more logical than the second, but there was nothing along the lines of "rub the thing on the thing" in desperation. My personal favorite puzzles involved interacting with the bar even though the locks required for opening them are not as often seen in escape rooms and could be tricky to open if you're not familiar with it. One technical hiccup involved a not at all period appropriate speaker needing to be plugged into an aux port, and this speaker wasn't in the best condition, so even an incoming hint warned us it would likely need some tweaking to get to work. Overall I recommend the room for those looking for a simpler time, but it's not among an all time favorite for me.