Nut House Escape Rooms – The Hacker W.I.T.C.H. [Review]

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Location:  Rochester, New York

Date Played: February 19, 2022

Team Size: 4-10; we recommend 4-5

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: $32.99 per player

Ticketing: Private

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

Nut House Escape Rooms’ The Hacker W.I.T.C.H. was a solidly assembled room that highlighted an array of tech elements within a realistic space. The feedback was consistently on-point, with color effects and satisfying pops to draw your attention to a successful solve.

Server racks producing a laser maze of green beams.

One of the notable draws of this room is for groups that enjoy a robust, non-linear experience. With several paths to work towards, there were a fair amount of challenges for multiple, independent players to puzzle through at any one time.

On a related note, the amount of content available at the beginning made for a rather abrupt start and may be overwhelming for non-experienced teams. Similarly, the prevalence of incredibly similar alphanumeric locks and minimal mapping between puzzles and their associated locks provided for a bustling number of lock attempts throughout the hour.

The Hacker W.I.T.C.H. is one of the strongest escape games in the Rochester, New York region and is worth your time to play if you’re in the area.

Who is this for?

  • Puzzle lovers
  • IT aficionados
  • Best for players with at least some experience
  • Players who don’t need to be a part of every puzzle

Why play?

  • Varied type of puzzles
  • Thoughtful, approachable integration of tech concepts

Story

It was Gladys’ last day after 35 years working at the W.I.T.C.H (World Internet Traffic Central Hub)! We were on a tour of the facility when we suddenly found ourselves drafted to save the Internet on behalf of the entire world. No pressure.

Glowing sign for "W.I.T.C.H. World internet traffic central hub"

Setting

The Hacker W.I.T.C.H. takes place within an office building and attached server room with realistic hardware and a plethora of tech vibes and references.

A crate with symbols painted on the side. Atop is a rotating disk puzzle with assorted symbols .

Gameplay

Nut House Escape Rooms’ The Hacker W.I.T.C.H. was a standard escape room with a moderate level of difficulty. Core gameplay revolved around puzzling and drawing parallels between a variety of items in the space.

Analysis

➕ The Hacker W.I.T.C.H consisted of realistic puzzles that made use of computer elements to drive forward the storyline, with resined pieces that encouraged interaction in a realistic fashion.

➕ A fun call-back reference made us all smile towards the end of the experience.

➖ An early puzzle provided a potentially ambiguous experience and would have benefited from a clearer definition of the expected answer.

➕ We enjoyed particularly satisfying aha moments that directly related to a player’s physical interaction with the given space.

➖ There were a few red herrings and non-crisp audio clues spread throughout the experience that led to player frustration.

➕ The gamemaster was engaged, attentive, and provided just the right level of cluing to allow players to drive towards the solution themselves.

➖ The addition of another flashlight or two for dim areas may open up the amount of players that can interact in the space.

Tips For Visiting

  • Parking: There is ample parking directly in front of Nut House Escape Rooms’ entrance.
  • Restaurants: After enjoying your escape room, there are several great restaurants within ten or fifteen minutes of this location in Rochester. Try Good Luck (with a reservation at 50 Anderson Avenue), Napa Wood Fired Pizzeria & Bistro (573 S Clinton Avenue), or Dinosaur Bar-B-Que (99 Court Street).

Book your hour with Nut House Escape Rooms’ The Hacker W.I.T.C.H., and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

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