RATING: 5 Keys          RESULT: Win          REMAINING: 14:09

Who would’ve thought that a secret society obsessed with death could feel so welcoming?

The famous Ripperologist, Professor William Cluefinder traveling from London, believed he has broken the Jack the Ripper case wide open. After extensive research he has discovered that the long abandoned 19th century Whitechapel Club is in the basement of this building and holds the true identity of Jack the Ripper. The building is scheduled to be demolished today with only 60 minutes to spare! He needs a team of up and coming Ripperologists to sneak into the club, collect the evidence, and abort the demolition to save the historical site from becoming luxury condominiums. Can your team discover the real face of this serial killer before it’s too late?

The Whitechapel Club was an infamous secret society in Chicago that was filled with people who were obsessed with the macabre. The walls were filled with grisly reminders of various deaths and murders, there were skulls scattered throughout the place and some were even used as cups. The majority of members were newspapermen but the club had members from all sorts of walks of life (psychics, politicians, celebrities and even convicted murderers).

The president was Jack the Ripper himself but since his true identity was never known he was only an honorary leader. However, there have been rumors for years that the Whitechapel Club knew much more than they led on. The actual location of this club has remained hidden for decades until Professor Cluefinder was able to decipher it’s coordinates. The building is set to be demolished shortly so unfortunately he can’t get there in time. The team of amateur sleuths have been dispatched to hopefully solve the centuries old mystery of who Jack the Ripper really was.

The adventure starts at a demolition site just outside where the club is believed to have been. Teams are given vests so they don’t look out of place walking around and snooping about which does a good job of setting the tone. There are a few boxes that look like they are some type of explosives and some garbage thrown about.

It’s a mild opening that leads to much more interesting sets once inside the building, but considering the fact that this is just supposed to be an alley it gets the job done just fine.

Once amateur Ripperologists enter the Whitechapel Club things really get going. There’s an old-timey viewing machine in one corner, case files thrown about, masks on the walls and a giant table in the center. The other rooms you enter are even more macabre. One is jam packed with dozens of skulls and even has a furnace filled with bones and body parts. After learning a little bit about the history of the Whitechapel Club it quickly becomes obvious that these sets seem to be great interpretations of what it might’ve actually looked like (even though it all is so over the top but in a good way). Each room is jam packed with interesting things to see and nothing appears out of place.

Puzzles are where Outatime Games really separate themselves from other escape game venues. Everything that has to be done makes perfect sense in the story world and the whole game has a fantastic logic flow.

There’s plenty of varying tasks to do at the same time, so bigger groups will be kept busy. Once entering the infamous Whitechapel Club, it becomes apparent that there are a few different possibilities (each one was actually suspected to be Jack the Ripper at some point which is a great touch of reality) as to who Jack the Ripper could be. As you complete each puzzle you find clues that allow you to start crossing off people from your list to narrow it down and identify who Jack truly was.

The old timey viewing machine is part of a puzzle that’s common place among escape games, but given a fresh and unique makeover it becomes much more interesting and fun. Even after solving the puzzle, sleuths may want to use the machine for their own amusement.

This is Outatime Games first room and they’ve already proven that they just get it.  The concept is a great unique take on an overdone theme making it fresh and exciting. Having a reason to solve puzzles and cross off suspects one by one is a lot more fun than just completing tasks and finding out who Jack was on just a slip of paper in a lock box or something to that affect.

Outatime Games even mixes up who Jack ends up being each time the room is reset as a simple yet effective way of saying that we’ll never really know who he was. It was fascinating to learn facts about the case and suspects the further along we got. This is one secret society well worth gaining membership to.

#HunterForgotToTakeaPicture

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Venue: Outatime Games

Location: Wilmette, IL

Number of Games: 2

GAME SPECIFIC INFORMATION:

Duration: 60 minutes

Capacity: 12 people

Group Type: Public / You may be paired with strangers.

Cost: $35 per person