Review: HeadzUp Las Vegas - The Smokin' Gun

RATING: 5 Keys RESULT: Win REMAINING: 43:12

A ruthless gang of outlaws are planning to rob a bank? Who better to stop them but us.

Story

The year is 1879, you and your family have traveled down south to the quaint little town of Smokin Gun in Las Vegas, New Mexico. There are rumors spreading around town that a band of thieves are thinking of robbing the Smokin Gun Bank. Not much is known about the bunch, but their leader Dave Burrough has been known to be the fastest gun slinger down south. Our new sheriff in town is cautiously waiting for the day that they ride into Las Vegas. While being welcomed by the sheriff, you see a mysterious figure walk into the bank and you can tell that it is up to no good. It is up to you and your team to find where the notorious gangs hideout is using clues left behind around the town.

As soon as city slickers step foot into the town of Smokin’ Gun they’re greeted by a ruthless outlaw who was about to rob a bank. After being tossed into a jail cell and locked up, amateur sheriffs have to find their way out and stop the gang from finishing their master plan.

Luckily, the real sheriff has infiltrated the group and was able to leave clues scattered throughout the sleepy town to help out. Teams have an hour and a half to discover where their hideout is and find a way to keep the bank safe.

Scenic

From the moment cowboys step foot into Smokin’ Gun the immersion kicks in. There’s a full stage coach, old lanterns, and wagon wheels right at the entrance to the pre-room where the mission is relayed. After that, city slickers step into Smokin’ Gun and, make no mistake about it, this isn’t just another well decorated escape room. The scenic creates a believale real small town set in the old west.

HeadzUp Las Vegas has built stand alone small buildings throughout the town representing the bank, the jail, a general store, a saloon, and even a hardware store. On the other side of town there’s a small graveyard set up and even a water tower in the middle of it all. The floors are done in such a way that it appears to just be dry dirt. The attention to detail is amazing, every lock and item that gunslingers interact with would be right at home in the old west.

Puzzles

The Smokin’ Gun is filled with fun, creative and thoughtful puzzles. After figuring out how to get out of the handcuffs and escape the jail, the sheriff leaves a note saying he has infiltrated the gang and has left clues throughout the town that lead to their hideout. Of course the sheriff can’t flat out tell where it is otherwise he would be in mortal danger. What follows is a wonderful mix of tech and lock based puzzles that all fit the story world perfectly.

It’s hard to pick anything that particularly stands out because the entire game was fun from start to finish. The flow was exceptional and it was a blast solving a puzzle in the general store that made us run over the graveyard and end up in the saloon.

Even though we escaped with plenty of time left there is a lot to do in this game and cowboys will find themselves crisscrossing the town the entire time. Everything comes to a very satisfying conclusion to the story as well.

Overall

HeadzUp Las Vegas is a very interesting venue that’s tucked away into the corner of a mall. They have ax throwing, a trick art museum, a boxing museum and a number of escape games. Their sets are extremely well done and the rooms are filled with fun puzzles.

The Smokin’ Gun is their only private game and does have a 3 person minimum. There are live actors in this game that are used in a very clever way. The Smokin’ Gun is a must do room in the Vegas market. This is an old west town worth passing through.