Review: Houdini’s Workshop, PanIQ Room, NYC
Fun Factor 6
PanIQ Room
39 W 32nd St, 4th Floor, NY, NY 10001
Date we played was December 2, 2024
Booking size 2 to 10; We recommend 2 to 4
Game time: 60 minutes
Objective: Travel back in time to Houdini’s workshop to retrieve a historical artifact.
Difficulty: Intermediate
We recommend Houdini’s Workshop by PanIQ Room, NYC with a Fun Fator of 6 because of its varied, clean puzzles which effectively lean into the magic themed room. Your mission is to go back in time and retrieve an artifact that Houdini left in his workshop that was protected by puzzles and magic. This room is well-maintained and everything functioned - it is an older room but did not show unusual signs of its age. The puzzles are clean and fun - a couple of the puzzles required more advanced puzzle solving which might not make this a good choice for new escape room players. We enjoyed the progression of how the set opened up as we solved puzzles - there is one time that one player will need to crawl.
This is the current New York City location of the international PanIQ Room franchise. This location is a legacy location that was twice under different ownership and thus operated under a different name. We have played other “acquired” rooms in other PanIQ locations - and although these games were not developed by Paniq, the rooms we played (Houdini’s Workshop and Pirates of the Bermuda Triangle) were both fine escape rooms that we recommend. PanIQ Room previously had a different NYC location with 4 rooms that enjoyed that had more tech and newer, higher quality sets, but that location was closed as a result of major fire regulation/building code reforms shut down 2 of it’s rooms. So kudos to PanIQ Room for finding a way to keep this location open and its game guides employed.
Houdini’s workshop has many keys and combos but also effectively uses some electronic triggers and effects. A cautionary word about our rating - the day we played Houdini’s Workshop was a cold day in NYC…and like many older buildings in NYC this space was particualrly uncomfortably warm….to the point that it impacted our fun. We came back a couple of days after this to play another room “The Pirates of the Bermuda Triangle” and we were pleased to find that room properly air-conditioned.
This looks more ominous in the photo than it was in real life - but it is a set piece referring to Houdini’s escape artist fame.
Houdini’s Workshop has a satisfying variety of puzzle solving techniques - some which use the Houdini/Magic theme very well - there is a moderate level of seraching the space to find clues. We also enjoyed the tactile nature of several of the puzzles - one of the final sequences of puzzles does an outstanding and organically clever job of literally bringing to life a magical illusion which is kinda performed for your team…I don’t want to say more and spoil things…but we found this to be unique puzzle we have not encountered before and it is a rare treat to be exposed to something we have not seen.
All of the employees we met at PanIQ Room NYC were friendly escape room enthusiasts. We enjoyed talking to them and sharing escape room stories. PanIQ Room NYC is located in an older, smaller office building on 32nd Street, around the corner from the Empire State Building. If you are playing escape rooms in Manhattan, hopefully, you are not driving a car, as parking is hard to find or very expensive.
This room can be booked from 2 to 10. We believe a group of 3 to 5 is about right for this game - the room is very playable by two experienced players.
The temperature control was problematic; we recommend the room with a Fun Factor of 6. A comfortable temperature would have increased our fun for a Fun Factor of 7. If you visit - and we recommend you do - please let us know if the temperature control issues are resolved.