Review: Poppa Plock’s Wonky Workshop Escape Room

I have to admit I have been late to the party when it comes to escape rooms and when it came to my recent first ever escape room experience thanks to Handmade Mysteries I was part nervous, part excited and intrigued to see what all the fuss was about.

An escape room is a bit like you’re taking part in the Crystal Maze. Have you ever seen it on TV? I have been a big fan of the Crystal Maze since I watched the original series and had pictured that an escape room would be similar to the challenges on the tv program and I wasn’t wrong.

Poppa Plock’s Wonky Workshop escape room is located within a secret room of The Depot pub in Islington and the theme of the game focuses around a twisted toy-maker Poppa Plock who has died and the challenge is to finish his final masterpiece; Roy, the ultimate toy, a life-sized action figure.

The experience begins when you are introduced to Wynne (an actor), a self-proclaimed inferior toy soldier made by Poppa Plock come to life. He explains to you that the toymaker was found dead in his workshop and that the participants’ challenge is to solve various clues in order to unlock Roy’s various body parts and put him together in under 60 minutes.

You and your friends are not alone in this endeavour, however, as another of Poppa Plock’s creations, OKI an outrageous ventriloquist dummy, guides you through the challenges with clues although they can be a little cryptic.

The challenges in the game were a mix of brains teasers which tests teamwork, observation and deduction skills and patience. We found ourselves getting stuck a couple of times and were able to call out to Wynne for some extra support.

Happily, we finished the game in just under the 60 minutes time limit, yippee! We had a great time solving the clues and working together to achieve the final goal of putting Roy together.

At the end of the game, Wynne presented us with our scorecard so we could see where we did well and where we didn’t do so well. Of course, asking Wynne for help dropped a couple of points but we had a couple of bonus points thrown in which was great!

A couple of hints for getting some additional points: be sure to come up with a clever team name, don’t be afraid to take your drinks in with you and be sure to have a good old fashioned celebration when you solve a clue.

I definitely recommend Poppa Plock’s Wonky Workshop escape room, especially as a day out with friends. I went as part of a birthday party for my friend and it really made for a great celebration.

I am happy to award Poppa Plock’s Wonky Workshop escape room 5 out of 5 stars. I hope you enjoy the photos below from our experience!