Room Escape Artist

Whiskey business

Location: Prague, Czech Republic

Date Played: April 8, 2026

Team Size: 2-5; we recommend 2-4

Duration: 77 minutes

Price:  540 CZK – 1200 CZK per person (about $26 – $58 per person), depending on team size

Ticketing: Private

Accessibility Consideration: One player has to crawl

Mess Meter: 🧹🧹🧹🧹🧹🧹 (out of 5) … yes you counted those brooms correctly

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

A couple of years ago, the REA team implemented the Filthiness Scale or mess meter for our reviews. In that field report, we expressed regret that games that were so lovingly built had not been maintained with the same level of care. But our experience in Safe: The Secret of Jack Daniel was the first time we encountered a room that broke the scale to a degree that we can’t recommend the game due to the condition it was in on the day we played it.

The game was located downstairs beneath a clean, cozy cafe. We entered the gamespace and found a peaceful outdoor scene, with trees and other greenery, a small pond, and mulch covering a large part of the ground. It was picturesque – at first glance. We started coughing after a few minutes, but chalked it up to dust from the mulch. But as the game unfolded we also encountered filthy surfaces, stagnant pond water, rotten fruit, and sticky, leaking bottles. Some of these were used in actual puzzles. It wasn’t until we finished the game and returned to the outdoor space that I looked up and noticed dense white cobwebs on the ceiling. It was not decor.

The decision to not recommend this game did not come lightly. We enjoyed the underlying gameplay and detailed story. The cabin was an interesting build with plenty to explore. And our game host was delightful, especially during the fun ending that highlighted Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey. We could understand how it had been a fan favorite for several years, and we were disappointed in what we experienced.

We can only hope that The Padlock team takes this feedback to heart and does right by their fans by restoring Safe: The Secret of Jack Daniel to the safe, playable condition it once was. 

Who is this for?

• Story seekers
• Any experience level
• Whiskey connoisseurs
• Best for players with at least some experience

Why play?

• At this time, we can’t recommend this game.

Story

There’s a story told ’round the hollers about a missing safe, one owned by Jack Daniel, the famous purveyor of the best whiskey in Tennessee. For some people, finding the safe became a bit of an obsession. Some believed that old Jack died because of the contents of that safe. Who knows? But maybe our team could find the safe and uncover Jack Daniel’s secret…

Setting

Our search for Jack Daniel’s safe began outside a wooden clapboard cabin in the woods, with a wraparound porch and a huge pile of firewood. Soot-covered windows, an old shed, and some rusty tools added to the feeling that the cabin had been abandoned long ago.   

Gameplay

The Padlock’s Safe: The Secret of Jack Daniel was a standard escape room with a moderate level of difficulty. 

Core gameplay revolved around searching, observing, making connections, and puzzling.

Analysis

➕ The story of Jack Daniel and his famous whiskey was smoothly integrated into gameplay. 

➖ The set was spacious, with rustic details and plenty of areas to explore. However, the lack of cleanliness throughout the gamespace made puzzling awkward and less than enjoyable. Though we didn’t see actual insects, we were squeamish nonetheless. (Several other teams that played about 6 weeks later reported seeing multiple different types of insects, including wood-boring beetles that were turning the set into sawdust.)

➕ Puzzling often incorporated specific features of the cabin and surrounding area in interesting and unexpected ways. A late gamespace gave us a chance to use what we’d learned earlier in the game.

➖  One puzzle required a player to touch standing pond water, which if used, should be disinfected and/ or changed frequently. This puzzle could be reworked to avoid this interaction altogether. 

➖ We struggled with a mid-game puzzle that was not intuitive and lacked adequate cluing to know how to interact with its components.

➕Another challenge had us searching the front yard and on the rocks. It was a neat concept that incorporated scenery with a splash. We took a shot at a solution, but we were straight up wrong. 

➕ While the Jack Daniel’s brand was featured prominently both before and during the experience, it didn’t feel like one long ad. There was plenty of gameplay that focused on the mystery of the missing safe and what treasure might be hidden inside.

🥃 According to The Padlock’s website, this game was made in collaboration with Jack Daniel’s Whiskey.

Tips For Visiting

• The game is playable in English or Czech
• We were instructed to meet our host at Kafe v Presu, The Padlock’s cafe, where we enjoyed a coffee and snack prior to our game start.
• The Padlock has two locations in Prague. This game is at Kubelíkova 1778/25. 
• Prague has an excellent public transit system with numerous trams and Metro Line A stopping near this location.

Disclosure: The Padlock provided a media discount.