Cici Cao
- Dec 2, 2019
- 2 min read

13th Hour Escape Rooms - "The Cookhouse"

Updated: Apr 14

LOCATION:  Wharton, New Jersey, USA

Photo + Video property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

📝 ETR DECODER

🔑 GAME: The Cookhouse
📅 DATE PLAYED: December 2, 2019
🎬 GENRE: Horror
🧠 DIFFICULTY (Based on 2 ppl): 9/10
👥 TOTAL # OF PLAYERS: Up To 6PPL
🕒 LENGTH OF TIME: 60 Mins
💰 PRICE: $29/PP ($174/Private)
☎️ BOOKING TYPE: Public/Private
🔓 ESCAPED/ COMPLETED?: No

📖 THE STORY

There’s a hurricane that’s coming our way and this is our last chance to find out what happened in the cookhouse at the Hayden’s farm. This is where the disembodiment of all the victims took place. Can we make it in time?

🎯 HIT THE BULLSEYE

The kitchen looks like it went through a fire catastrophe but only the look. The actual props are not “dirty” which we appreciate very much. We have been to locations where they're justifying that the set design is supposed to be dirty, but all in all, it’s just not sanitary.
Most items are bolted down which eliminated a lot of red herrings.
Lots of fun moments of discovery.
One particular prop resembled real life situations with sound and action. We were pleasantly surprised at how it was incorporated in the puzzle.

🧩 MISSED THE MARK

The story was a bit vague. We are not sure why we had to do the ending puzzle and the reveal was also just a give away on the code. It would be great if they could incorporate a “why” and “what” did we do to earn our escape.
A few hard to see moments for me due to height for some puzzles but Brandon was able to assist with that so having a taller person does help in this case but it would be great if height could be considered when designing puzzles.
Some music elements could help with the immersion especially in the latter part of the game.
We are unsure why we had to do a particular puzzle in a “together” way as there were no clues telling us to do so. We did have to get a hint for that, but it would be great if there was some sort of logic behind this.

🏹 TAKE A SHOT?

This was quite a challenge for two people. We were one puzzle away from getting out. There was a lot of puzzles and searching elements that added an extra level of difficulty to the room. We recommend a minimum of 4 people for this room. Think you are good in the kitchen and you know your “tools”? Try your luck in "The Cookhouse".