Running Out of Time With ‘The Clock Tower’ (A NoPro Escape)

Can we escape the time loop and find our way back home?

(Minor spoilers follow.)

We’re all students of a timekeeper, arriving for our final exam… except our instructor is nowhere to be found! Well, it sounds like our teacher’s in trouble and the only way to rescue him is to solve the mysteries he’s left in this very room. Your time starts… now.

And with that, the gamemaster left my friends and I in a room filled with clocks. Clocks everywhere. Dial-shaped things that looked like clocks but weren’t. Hands without dials and dials without hands. Clocks that were turned off; clocks that were stuck; clocks that weren’t telling us anything useful. What was this strange painting on the wall, displaying an impossible clock? Was this picture of a Tardis merely a wink and a nudge to fellow nerds or a clue for a puzzle?

In a world where most people tell the time using their smartphones, who would have predicted that an escape room themed around clock could be so interesting? (For those of us who do use our phones to tell the time, well, let’s just say that dusting off those dial-reading skills can be a little rough at first.)

The Clock Tower, one of several rooms at Escape the Room NYC, is a dynamic, challenging escape room which uses a steampunk theme to engage its players in a set of clever, interrelated puzzles without relying upon typical escape room tropes. The few combination locks and paper-based clues were put to good use; the gameplay varied between number-based, word-based, and physical puzzles, drawing upon the strengths of various teammates throughout the experience. The temptation for a time and clock-themed escape room might have been to rely too much on math puzzles but The Clock Tower successfully avoids falling into this rut.

While the first room felt a bit small for my group of seven (eight is the maximum for The Clock Tower), my team also greatly enjoyed the centerpieces of chapters two and three of the experience: a giant, life-sized metal contraption full of gears and machinery that took up a huge portion in the center of the room (i.e. what it would look like inside a real clock tower), as well as an interactive model of the solar system with multiple planets and the sun. Both of these pieces which played a key physical role in the puzzling as opposed to being merely fun, period-appropriate set dressing. And behind the scenes, a great deal of technological sophistication was at work, but this was well-integrated into both the set and the puzzles in a way that didn’t unduly draw attention to itself. One particular innovation I enjoyed was the gamemaster’s ability to send messages to the players on an LCD screen, without having to physically enter the space.

And while not obvious in the heat of the moment, the world of The Clock Tower had a pleasing internal logic as multiple puzzles built upon and expanded the room’s theme in succession. It’s always a pleasure to realize that you’re slowly being handed different parts that fit together perfectly over the course of an entire hour, with the clues doled out in a way that feels natural. One of the best parts of doing any escape room with a group of friends is how a single person can suddenly have a flash of inspiration and become the hero of a puzzle, and well-designed experiences allow for these moments to happen multiple times within the span of an hour, capitalizing on different skill sets possessed by those within the group. The best escape rooms really do leave you feeling like you and your friends are the smartest people in the world.

So did we make it out? I’m pleased to report that my friends rose to the occasion and had a fantastic time doing so in The Clock Tower. We pressed buttons, cranked gears, measured weights, deciphered instructions, and yes, we did make it out… with time to spare.

The Clock Tower is currently running in NYC; tickets are $28.

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