There’s a new one-of-a-kind experience now open in the Ohio Valley that will transport you to other cultures. 

While you learn about history, you’ll also be solving a mystery. 

“The Last Queen of Hawaii” escape room is now open in Wheeling.

It’s the first in a series of Culturally Specific Escape Rooms created by the YWCA Wheeling.  

Ron Scott Jr., the Director of Cultural Diversity and Community Outreach at the YWCA Wheeling, said he was inspired to think of a new way to get his message across.

No matter how cool the power point might be, that isn’t how they learn or how they’ll get it. So we thought if we can come up with something that’s more hands-on or immersive that I think there’d be a whole group of folks we could link in. So, we decided to put the message into something like an escape room.RON SCOTT JR., DIRECTOR OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY & COMMUNITY OUTREACH, YWCA WHEELING

This first room is dedicated to Hawaiian and Polynesian culture. 

The YWCA Wheeling partnered with the company Glass Eye Worx to make it happen.

“It “The Last Queen of Hawaii” immerses participants in a specific scenario, giving them a hands-on way to learn about different cultures that exist in our communities. 

Scott said participants don’t even realize they are learning because they’re having so much fun solving the room’s puzzles.

There’s still a lot of that history that is very personal and very emotional to the people from Hawaii. Events like this you really get a chance to examine that and talk to folks about it. Not one group has gone through yet that didn’t’ still have questions when they were done.RON SCOTT JR., DIRECTOR OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY & COMMUNITY OUTREACH, YWCA WHEELING

The Last Queen of Hawaii Escape room is now open inside the former book store at West Virginia Northern Community College at 1704 Market Street in Wheeling.

It will be there until April 30 before being transformed into a new culture. 

Groups of three to six people are ideal for the room size and puzzles.

The escape room is $10 per person and $5 per student under 12. A portion of the proceeds go back to the YWCA Wheeling to support its mission and programs.

If you’d like to sign-up for a time slot follow the QR code attached to the flyer.