Escape Boats: Convicts (Dublin)

Can we just stay on the boat?

Imprisoned on board a real life convict ship. Can you escape before the time runs out?

As you may have guessed from the company name, ‘Escape Boats’, the big selling point is that all their games are on legitimate, real life, floating in water, boats! I’m not sure on the definition between boat and ship, and I’m too lazy to look it up, but we have actually played games on boats before (looking at you, Hidden in Hamburg). One thing is for sure though, these were much more intimate boats than what we’d been on before, yet strangely, they were also oddly sizeable at the same time – like the Tardis?

Escape Boats had been on our radar for a while, both with their Dublin and Galway locations, but we’d never been able to find a way to make it happen. As fate would have it, we were invited to a wedding just off the coast of Galway! So we made sure to RSVP ‘yes’ and then planned a bit of extra time to hit up all the games that Escape Boats had!

We arrived in Dublin and easily found the venue – conveniently just over the river from a nice coffee shop that supplied us with sweet goods and coffee to wake us up. After a short stroll over the bridge, we spotted our GM, Marta, and asked for permission to climb aboard.

As you’d expect from a boat, space is at a premium, so the waiting area is on the cosier side, but it is certainly 100% authentic and we had no problems fitting in, even with our sizable luggage. I don’t recall being told of a toilet on board, so it’s probably best to find one before you arrive, just in case.

After a lovely little chat with Marta (who was suitably dressed in a boat/ship uniform, it was time to get down to business. First up for the day was Convicts, the oldest of the games at this venue. It’s worth noting that Convicts is generally designed for four players, but if you contact the venue, it can be played as a team of two (with some minor adjustments). We followed Marta down the dock and then jumped back on at the front of the boat (the bow, for you boat people). We descended the stairs, and entered our prison cell.

IMMERSION/ROOM DESIGN

The premise of this story is that you’ve been a bit naughty and are being shipped off to Australia – personally, I think that sounds quite nice, but apparently we still had to make an effort to escape. Shame. But as far as immersion goes, you can’t really beat it – according to the story, we were on a boat, and in real-life, we were on a boat! Nailed it.

If you’re playing as a team of four (or possibly three), then you’ll start this game with a split start. As we were just a two, we started in the same cell and worked on our escape from there.

First impressions were good and it was pretty much how I would expect a prison cell on a boat to be. Sparse, uncomfortable bed, dark, and no apparent way out.

When I say dark, it was never too dark to solve the puzzles and once our eyes adjusted, we were just fine. Once we were freed from our initial incarceration, lighting improved substantially.

I have a feeling that there were ambient noises being played at all times. But to be honest, I can’t remember now. Perhaps it was just generally boaty noises we were hearing and that’s why it sounded authentic?

This game is very much NOT accessible. In case I didn’t make it clear, it’s on a boat. So you need to step onto the boat, climb down steep steps into the boat, and at various points in the game you need to crouch/crawl/climb.

PUZZLES

An escape room is really only as good as the puzzle it contains, even if the theme is pretty nailed down. Fortunately, the puzzles in Convicts were enjoyable, fair, and logical.

Ok, if one was really on a prison boat, it’s unlikely we’d be able to solve things to escape. But this is an escape room, so let’s just remove that bit of disbelief for a moment.

Despite having now played over 600 games, it’s lovely when we see things we haven’t seen before – and there were a few new things to us in Convicts. One of which could really only be pulled off on a boat.

The puzzles were all closely linked to the fact that we were on a boat, and could be classed as: observation, searching, teamwork, communication, logic, and perhaps just following directions.

GM/CLUE SYSTEM

Our GM, Marta, was lovely and made us feel very welcome on the boat. We did have one or two moments where we needed a little affirmation that what we were about to do was ok to do, and she had to chime in on one occasion due to a tweak they had to make for us playing as a two.

Any help we needed, was timely, and generally got us back on track. Help came through a speaker system in the room(s), and we simply had to ask. Marta was paying attention though as she knew when to chime in without us needing to ask.

ANYTHING ELSE

If you search anywhere for ‘best escape rooms in Dublin’, Escape Boats is a name that you’ll see everywhere, and I’m not surprised. Convicts was a lot of fun, and the added novelty of being on a boat will certainly make it a winner for many.

Playing as a team of two worked fine, although I think to perhaps get the most out of this experience it would probably be better as a four. Escape Boats made it work, and at one point I was very confused by something that had happened – very clever!

Success / Failure

Final Rating:

Team: 2 players – escaped in around 44 mins, I think?

Address: Charlotte Quay Dock, Grand Canal Dock, Dublin 4, D04 PX26, Ireland

Website: https://escapeboats.ie

*Disclaimer: we weren’t charged for these tickets, but this has not influenced our review*