St. Valentine's Day Massacre Escape Room

Five Families escape room guide · 2122 North Clark Street, Chicago · February 14, 1929

Seven men against a whitewashed wall, and one of them is still alive. The Clark Street Garage is one of the Five Families escape rooms: a 3D recreation of a real scene from mob history that you walk around as your own mobster, searching for evidence and cracking a four-digit padlock before the clock runs out. This guide covers the real story behind the room, what you'll find inside, and how to get out.

Inside the Clark Street Garage escape room.

The real story

The killers dressed as Chicago police. Two wore uniforms and two were in plain clothes, playing detectives.

SMC Cartage was a front: Bugs Moran's North Side gang used the garage to store bootleg whiskey and trucks.

Highball, mechanic John May's German shepherd, was tied up in the garage. Neighbours heard him howling after the shooting.

More than seventy rounds were fired from two Thompson submachine guns and a shotgun. The Tommy gun became the symbol of the gangster era.

Despite numerous witnesses and a clear trail of evidence, no one was ever charged for the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.

Al Capone was in Miami at the time of the massacre, having arranged an alibi in advance. He was never charged.

Read more on NCS

Setting the scene

Seven men are lined up against the whitewashed wall of the SMC Cartage garage. They think they're being arrested. The men holding guns are wearing police uniforms.

You're not in the room. You're outside, in the alley, waiting for the signal. Your job was to make sure the rear door was clear and stay at the back. Simple.

But something is wrong. One of the men inside — a Moran associate named Frank Gusenberg — isn't dead. He's been shot fourteen times and he's still breathing. If he talks before he dies, this comes back to Capone.

Clean up the alley, get in through the rear door, clear the garage, then out through the front office onto Clark Street. The front door is padlocked from the inside. Crack it before the real police arrive.

Before you get inside, you make your own way there. Walk up North Clark Street in the February cold, past the barber and the laundry, to the S-M-C Cartage garage. A green arrow shows you the door.

Getting to the Clark Street Garage in the game — The way in.

Three rooms in one

The Clark Street Garage isn't one room, it's three, and you only see the next one once you've earned it. Each has three things to search. Search everything in the room you're in and a door unlocks, a glowing arrow shows you the way through, and the next part of the scene opens up. The clock keeps running the whole time: 5 minutes for all three.

Room 1The alley1 digit of the code

Room 2The garage2 digits of the code

Room 3The front office1 digit of the code

The padlock code is spread across all three, so you can't escape from the alley. Move fast in the first room: the last room is where people run out of time.

What you'll find in each room

There are 9 things to search in the Clark Street Garage, three in each room. 4 of them hide a digit of the padlock code, 2 are dead ends put there to waste your time, and the rest fill in the story. The shell casings, the note in a coat and the spent casing stay locked until you've found 3 clues. The dispatch book, the front window and the front door stay locked until you've found 6 clues.

First room: The alley

Police Cap in the escape room — **Police Cap**The killers dressed as Chicago police.

Piece of Rope in the escape room — **Piece of Rope**SMC Cartage was a front: Bugs Moran's North Side gang used the garage to store bootleg whiskey and trucks.

The Rear Door in the escape room — **The Rear Door**Highball, mechanic John May's German shepherd, was tied up in the garage.

Second room: The garage

Shell Casings in the escape room — **Shell Casings**More than seventy rounds were fired from two Thompson submachine guns and a shotgun.

Note in a Coat in the escape room — **Note in a Coat**Frank Gusenberg lived for about three hours.

Spent Casing in the escape room — **Spent Casing**The guns were traced years later: ballistics expert Calvin Goddard matched two Tommy guns found at a Fred Burke hideout in Michigan in 1929.

Third room: The front office

Dispatch Book in the escape room — **Dispatch Book**Moran's men were at the garage waiting for a truckload of hijacked Canadian whiskey.

Front Window in the escape room — **Front Window**Moran was running late.

Front Door in the escape room — **Front Door**Nobody was ever convicted of the St.

Searching the Clark Street Garage for clues — Anything marked with a question mark can be searched.

Clark Street Garage escape room walkthrough

Take in the room. Drag to look around and walk with the stick or arrow keys. Question marks show everything you can search.
Clear each room. Search all three things in the alley and the way through to the garage unlocks. Clear that and you're into the front office. Follow the glowing arrow to the next door.
Find the four digits. Each piece of evidence that matters gives you one digit, and tells you which position it goes in. Stuck? The hints below point you to the right room, not the answer.
Ignore the red herrings. Some items look important and aren't. Don't spend the clock on them.
Open the padlock with the four digits in order, before the 5 minutes run out.
Make the call. You'll choose how it ends: Get in the car — your job is done; Clear the alley first — thirty seconds; Go back in — Gusenberg can't talk. Each ending tells you what really happened.

Hint: The alley

One digit of the code is hidden in the alley. Read everything you search there to the very last line.

Hint: The garage

Two digits of the code are hidden in the garage. Read everything you search there to the very last line.

Hint: The front office

One digit of the code is hidden in the front office. Read everything you search there to the very last line.

Tips for escaping

Read each piece of evidence to the end: the digit is usually in the last line.
If the clock's getting away from you, a hint costs 25 Mob Coins and an extra minute costs 50.
Holding a drink or a cigar from the Social Club gives you 20 extra seconds in every room.
On a phone, turn it sideways for a wider view. Your evidence, digits and the padlock are in the pull-out case file.

Play the Clark Street Garage escape room

Included with Made (7 days free), or unlock this room for £1.99. No download needed.

Play now →Or start free at the Ravenite

Questions

Is the Clark Street Garage escape room free?

Included with Made (7 days free), or unlock this room for £1.99. It plays in your web browser, and on iPhone and Android in the Five Families app.

How many rooms are in the Clark Street Garage escape room?

Three: the alley, the garage and the front office. You start in the alley. Search everything there and the way through to the garage unlocks, then on to the front office, where the last of the evidence is waiting.

How long do you get in the Clark Street Garage room?

The clock gives you 5 minutes to search the room, find the evidence and open the four-digit padlock.

How many clues are in the Clark Street Garage escape room?

There are 9 things to search. 4 of them hold a digit of the padlock code, 2 are red herrings, and 6 only open once you've found enough evidence.

Is the Clark Street Garage escape room based on a true story?

Yes. It's set at 2122 North Clark Street, Chicago on February 14, 1929, and every piece of evidence comes with the real history behind it.

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