Step onto a pirate galleon in the middle of a battle for control of the High Seas. Your captain, the terrifying Blackbeard, has just been killed and his ship is shot to pieces and sinking fast.
Rating: Swashbuckling
Completion Time: 41:40
Date Played: October 2019
Party Size: 3
Recommended For: Everybody
Another edition in my “I played this ~1 year ago but only got around to writing it up now” series. Well, it’s been a long year. Better late than never, eh? Plus, since October 2019 I have actually played Blackbeard’s Treasure at another site so *hair swish* I guess I’m an expert on this room? Just kidding!
The tale of Blackbeard’s Treasure goes – you and your team find yourself stranded on a sinking pirate ship. Sure, you could immediately jump ship and row your way across the ocean to safety but where would be the fun in that? Plus, rumour has it there is treasure aboard. The legendary Blackbeard’s Treasure. It’s hidden somewhere inside his personal quarters and its your job to find it and get to safety before the ship sinks.
Our escapade onto Blackbeard’s pirate ship was run by the enigmatic Games Master at their Reading branch: Hamish who provided a yarrghh-larious accent over the speaker to keep us moving along when we asked for clues. Blackbeard’s Treasure is available at quite a few other locations across the UK with minor variations, but we played at the closest branch to London: Reading!
In terms of gameplay, Blackbeard’s Treasure is fairly linear. You start in one room, unlocking the next, and finally unlocking the treasure. Although, I say “unlocking” very loosely, as there aren’t actually any locks in this game! The puzzles instead rely on less usual solutions and most surprisingly – rely on 4 of your 5 senses. See, I actually enjoy lock puzzles and think locks work very well in a pirate universe, but Escape Hunt manages to pull it off without breaking the immersion.
However, one puzzle in particular is absolutely fiendish. If “Polly the Parrot” rings terror into the hearts of anyone reading this who have already played the game, you’ll know what I mean! Haha! I don’t wish to give any spoilers, but if I never hear Polly the Parrot’s song again, I’ll be happy. We got there in the end and finished the room in a respectable 41 minutes!
Overall, Blackbeard’s Treasure is good fun! It’s one of my favourite from Escape Hunt and has buckets of charm. If any of my previous reviews are to go on, I’m also a sucker for a good pirate theme. With this one, I reckon it would be a good room to bring someone who has never played an escape room before. The puzzles are intuitive, exciting, but not too tricky as to put anyone off.
Blackbeard’s Treasure can be booked for £25 + per person on Escape Hunt’s website.
[…] escape rooms and I can safely say that Escape the Wild West is my favourite, followed by Blackbeard’s Treasure. If you’re looking for a family friendly day out and are in one of the many cities Escape […]