The Escape Warehouse - "SHHH!"
- Mike Schnurr
- 4 hours ago
- 4 min read
LOCATION: Ponchatoula, Louisiana, USA
Photo above is property of The Escape Warehouse
Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers
📝 ETR DECODER
🔑 GAME: SHHH!
📅 DATE PLAYED: October 12, 2025
🎬 GENRE: Horror
🧠 DIFFICULTY (Based on 2 ppl): 7/10
👥 TOTAL # OF PLAYERS: 2-8 ppl
🕒 LENGTH OF TIME: 90 Mins.
💰 PRICE: $34.99/ pp (Min. 2 ppl required)
☎️ BOOKING TYPE: Private
🔓 ESCAPED/ COMPLETED?: Yes
📖 THE STORY
You and your friends have joined a haunted tour through the outskirts of New Orleans, where your next stop is an abandoned schoolhouse shrouded in mystery. Decades ago, thirteen children vanished within its walls, and their bodies were never found. The locals still whisper that the building is cursed—and tonight, you’ll find out why.
What begins as a harmless ghost tour quickly turns into something much darker when you make contact with the spirit of one of the missing children. Guided by this ghostly companion, your group must piece together the truth behind the disappearances and uncover the tragic secrets that have kept the school’s halls haunted for generations
🎯 HIT THE BULLSEYE
"Shhh!" nails the fundamentals of good escape room design. The puzzle flow is excellent—cohesive, logical, and rewarding throughout. Despite being a longer experience than many of Escape Warehouse’s other offerings, it never drags or overstays its welcome. The designers struck a perfect balance between variety and challenge, offering plenty of different puzzle types that push the story forward while keeping teams engaged from start to finish.
The set design is also a standout feature. Every corner of this decrepit schoolhouse is packed with small, thoughtful details that make it feel authentic—aged furniture, weathered chalkboards, and eerie remnants of a long-forgotten classroom. Each new area feels distinct yet cohesive, and simply exploring each room becomes part of the fun. The designers clearly poured their passion into worldbuilding, and it shows in the level of polish across the entire experience.
🧩 MISSED THE MARK
While the story is engaging, some of the exposition comes across as more “tell” than “show.” The delivery of key story moments—particularly through dialogue—feels slightly forced and unnatural at times, which briefly pulls players out of the immersion. These moments don’t ruin the experience by any means, but a little more subtlety in the storytelling could elevate the emotional connection even further.
The other small drawback was the timekeeping mechanic. Because there’s no visible timer in the room, a child’s voice periodically provides updates every 15–20 minutes. While we appreciated the effort to integrate this diegetically, it occasionally interrupted puzzle-solving flow. A few times, our group paused mid-solve, thinking the update was story-related, only to realize it was just a time reminder. It’s a creative idea, but one that could use slight refinement to better blend with the gameplay pacing
🏹 TAKE A SHOT?
"Shhh!" is pure, haunting fun. It’s atmospheric, spooky, and full of personality. Escape Warehouse leans hard into the horror theme—teasing players with promises of frights—and delivers on them effectively without going overboard. The fact that there’s no in-room game master yet the room still maintains tension and immersion speaks volumes about the quality of design and automation. The scares are well-timed, the tone consistent, and the story’s dark mystery remains compelling until the end.
The puzzles fit naturally into the environment, making sense within the world of the schoolhouse. While not every puzzle contributes directly to the overarching narrative, each one reinforces the setting and keeps players engaged. A few moments caused unexpected reactions—like puzzles solving automatically or appearing solved before completion—but these were rare and didn’t detract much from the experience.
The set design deserves special recognition once again. The use of verticality and light physical interaction makes this game stand out among U.S. escape rooms. It’s refreshing to see a design that doesn’t shy away from giving players a more dynamic space to move through and explore.
One of the most exciting aspects of Escape Warehouse is their interconnected storytelling. Each of their games—while playable in any order—contributes to a larger universe of mysteries and lore. Shhh! deepens that world beautifully and showcases just how much this team continues to learn, innovate, and grow with every new creation.
Escape Warehouse has proven itself as a studio with creativity, ambition, and a love for storytelling. Shhh! is a strong example of what indie escape room creators can achieve with imagination and care. It’s eerie, smart, and full of surprises—an experience that leaves players both unsettled and smiling. If this is any indication of where Escape Warehouse is heading next, the future looks incredibly bright… and maybe just a little bit haunted.
Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers
Photos above are property of The Escape Warehouse
ℹ️ ADDITIONAL INFO
Game Specific
Basic physicality is recommended as there are stairs and crawl spaces
Venue Specific
Free Parking next to venue (Follow signs to correct door)
Lobby with plenty of space and drinks and merch for purchase
Private lockers for supplies during games
Located ~10mins off of highway 12 and 55 between Baton Rogue LA and New Orleans LA
Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers
(If you do decide to try this game, give us a shoutout or tag us on social media so we know you heard it from "ESCAPETHEROOMers"!)
Disclosure: We thank The Escape Warehouse for providing a media discount on the tickets for this game. Although discounted admission was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion of the review whatsoever.
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