Headlock Escape Rooms: The Wizard’s Apothecary | Review

A mad wizard named Nebo has combined science with magic. The results of his experiments have leaked into the world causing havoc. Six curses Nebo made but only 3 he unleashed. It is up to you to find the 3 sp1hidden by the mad Nebo to expel the curses forever.

Rating: Good Fun!
Completion Time: 46 minutes 49 seconds
Date Played: 29th November 2020
Party Size: 7
Recommended For: Everyone

The Wizard’s Apothecary by Headlock Escape Rooms is a classic remote avatar experience over Zoom for teams of up to 6 (oops, yes I just realised we were a 7 with 5 connections!). The idea is simple – you work as a team to help Wizard Nebo find three cures to three deadly curses unleashed on the world.

The whole thing takes place in a relatively small tabletop area designed by the creative genius Joel. Everything you need is literally right in front of you, and you can direct your host around to poke things, open drawers, and take a closer look.

Wizard Joe- I mean, Nebo has woken up from a deep sleep only to discover he has erased his own memories! But not all is lost. Somewhere, hidden among the items in front of you, the notes and glass boxes on his desk, are the keys to the cures.

A Magical Challenge

Our little remote escape room team took on The Wizard’s Apothecary challenge on a relaxed Sunday evening. Well, relaxed for me! The rest of the team had just come from another room but, despite that, we managed to absolutely ace the room in under an hour with very few hiccups. That’s right Wizard Nebo, we’re not just pretty faces, eh?

Overall, this escape room experience was packed with fun puzzles. Mostly straightforward – or at least, we spotted what you needed to complete them after a little bit of ‘hum’ and ‘hah’. Gatekeeping each puzzle were a series of locks – 4 digit, 3 digit, directional and so on. Each puzzle led to the next solution and we were thankful to be gently nudged by our host in the right direction.

In particular, one puzzle involved sand in a surprising and creative way, which was really fun to experience. We even got a sneak peek of the mechanism behind this puzzle at the end. This is just part of the experience Joel provides, if you ever have any questions he’ll be sure to give you the full rundown after and the exact mechanisms to each puzzle may be more surprising than you think!

The theming of the experience was a lot of fun too – magical, creative and yes probably exactly the kind of things on a desk that a wizard would have. Including a tantalisingly locked away antidote vial, just waiting to be unlocked.

Overall, good fun had all round. The creative folks at Headlock Escape Rooms have outdone themselves. Apparently this game rates a little harder than their other two remote experiences – which I’ve yet to try, but am looking forward to.

The Wizard’s Apothecary can be booked for £35 for a team of 6 on Headlock Escape Rooms’ website.