Pirates Curse

Aye, Mateys, I do enjoy a good pirate game and this here be a good one! Impeccable sets, fun "host" and the added layer of the bonus puzzles really helped this Curse feel more like a Blessing. Main puzzles layer over each other nicely. I like when later puzzles require info from earlier in the game and this has at least one of those. Like all 60 to Escape games, nothing is superfluous, it's all useful, so this was a real exercise in not overlooking anything....that can be hard for my old eyes, which failed to see a few details that would have helped me with the last two bonus puzzles. Ah well, at least I didn't have to walk a plank!

We really enjoyed the bonus puzzles. The room would have ended too quickly without them.

We LOVED this room. We solved all 5 extra games and had tons of time left. Our game master said it was the fastest and best she’s seen a group get all the extra games done (toot toot. that’s me tooting my own horn.). The room is not hard— we basically got through it in about 20ish minutes. But the extra games add a nice bonus. And the theming is awesome as in all 60 to escape rooms. Super fun and worth the drive.

Rating: 4/5 - Great set and special effects Pros: ➕Beautiful and immersive set, items were weathered and were very high quality for a pirate theme ➕Lots of cool special effects and good use of lighting ➕Multiple rooms to explore ➕Some comedic moments, doesn't take itself too seriously ➕Use of an animatronic character ➕All the main/mandatory puzzles had tech (sensors and maglocks) and no padlocks ➕Puzzles were decently fun and many involved tactile/physical inputs. Though nothing stood out to me as particularly interesting or unique. ➕GM was friendly and helpful Could be better: ➖The story is a bit generic and too similar to other pirate rooms ➖The optional puzzles were all padlocked boxes and had no tech. The modern looking combo locks took away from the immersion. ➖The main game is too short since they want to give you enough time to solve the optional puzzles. This kind of killed the flow/climax since you divert away from completing the game to do the optional stuff. I'm glad the rest of 60 to Escape's rooms do not have these types of optional puzzles. ➖Despite the unlimited hints, our GM could not give hints for the optional puzzles and said he was not allowed to tell us the solutions for the optional ones once the game is over. I'd recommend 2-4 enthusiasts. We played as a team of 2 and completed the mandatory puzzles with almost 20 min left then finished 3 out of 5 of the optional puzzles, we had enough time to finish everything, we just couldn't figure out the last two puzzles without a hint. My ranking of 60 to Escape rooms (all locations) so far starting with my favorite. 1. Lockbuster Video ❤️ 2. Cheesie's Pizza Party ❤️ 3. Invasion ❤️ 4. Pirates Curse ❤️ 5. Mystery Manor ❤️ 6. Hidden Temple ❤️ 7. Blast From The Past 👍 8. Jurassic Outpost 👍 9. Arctic Expedition 👍 10. Magic Heist 👍

The set design in this room is incredible. From the first moment the attention to detail is fantastic and the immersion is perfect. The gameplay is a lot of fun and there are several legitimately funny moments! My only complaint is the way the gameplay is structured. At the beginning of the game they let you know that there will be bonus puzzles throughout that will be optional but that must be completed before the end of the narrative to count. We finished the narrative with 25 minutes remaining, which was honestly a little disappointing, but we didn’t end up finishing the bonus puzzles in the time remaining and just decided to finish the narrative at the last second. Idk it was a bit of an anticlimactic structure for a game. Puzzle flow was good and the puzzles were the consistently solid ones I’ve come to expect from 60 to escape. This one is a worth your time for the set design alone, and with the puzzles being a good time, the gameplay isn’t too much of a drawback. I’d recommend this one!

This was my second favorite game at any of the three 60 to Escape locations. The plot/set wasn't as good as my favorite (The Storm), but there was more puzzle-y things to do in this room that was satisfying in a very different way. While pirate games are a common escape room staple, I liked this game's humorous twist. The set was large and encouraged a feeling of exploration and discovery as we progressed. From a game design perspective, I appreciate games that have variable difficulty - I think everyone should finish, but advanced teams also shouldn't run out of stuff to do. Pirate's Curse did this with less-clued bonus puzzles, which I wasn't expecting but went well for us. There were some aspects I didn't love - for example, we wasted some time poking at an odd spot that turned out to be a fog machine vent (and the GM had to tell us not to stick things in it). It would have been better if the vent had been concealed better so we never got distracted by it. As another example, we accidentally stumbled across a cubby that was intended to open after an interaction that we hadn't yet triggered, and should probably have been maglock'd shut. We then got confused later when we solved the puzzle that should have done this and nothing happened. As another example, the sets could have been more convincing - a couple rooms were decent but not great.

Went into this with reasonably high expectations based on the reviews but I’d say it was just okay. The set is good and the puzzles are fairly novel but there were a bunch of somewhat random leaps of logic and we didn’t think it fit together all that well. They have bonus puzzles, which is kind of a nice mechanism to give you more to do if you finish the room early. Unfortunately it also has the effect of leaving you slightly disappointed even if you do escape.