A treasure trove of puzzles!
Ahoy Matey! The dastardly Blackbeard kidnapped Redbeard and stole all of his gold. As Redbeard’s fearless crew, can you sneak onto your rival’s ship, rescue your captain and reclaim the precious treasure?
This game has a mild amount of physical activity so at least one player in the team will need to have full mobility.
Back in March we found ourselves in Newport, and had a wonderful time when we visited Exit60’s first game, Banged Up. So, when we once again found ourselves in Newport, it was inevitable that we would be paying another visit to Exit60, especially since they had a brand new game, and it’s one of Gordon’s favourite themes: Pirates.
We had already played a couple games that day, paying visits to the surrounding companies, Puzzled and Rhondda Escape Rooms, and of course, we stopped off at the Newport Market across the street from Exit60 for a bit of a relax and some food before putting our puzzle brains back on.
Full of food, and with a box of cheesecake for later, the time came to cross the street and get locked up once more. This time we were greeted not just by Tom, but also Rob, who would be taking on the task of hosting us together. Rob and Tom are just as enthusiastic about escape rooms as we are, so of course we sat down for a bit of a chat first. Eventually however, it was time to wind down the conversation and begin our adventure. With our belongings safely stowed in the lockers in reception, we followed Rob down the hall, and prepared to help Redbeard get his revenge.
IMMERSION/ROOM DESIGN
The team at Exit60 have taken a great deal of time and care in crafting the set of Redbeard’s Revenge, and it shows. We stepped through the nondescript black door from the hallway and into another world. The sounds of the sounds of the sea surrounded us as the pirate ship loomed in front of us, and we were off on our adventure. As the adventure progressed the music also changed and perfectly suited our surroundings, especially at the finale.
And it was most certainly an adventure, for despite the smaller footprint of the game, there is actually an incredible amount of space to explore. Players should probably note that although the disclaimer on Exit60’s website claims that there is a mild amount of physical activity and at least one player will need to have full mobility, I’d argue that really it’s at least two: Someone will need to be mobile enough to manage a small set of stairs, someone will need to be able to crawl, and unfortunately, it’s not really possible for for that someone to be one person – although we are aware of one person who has fully completed this room solo, so it could be.
Thanks to the background music helping to add extra atmosphere to the lovely set, and the sheer volume of puzzles, Redbeard’s Revenge had an almost frenetic pace, that only seemed to increase the further we made our way through the game, until it seemed to explode into a frantic race to the finish and an ultimately very satisfying conclusion.
PUZZLES
Puzzles, puzzles, puzzles! Redbeard’s Revenge felt like puzzle palooza, with an inordinate amount of content. We had no idea what to expect, or how much we would need to solve, so we made sure to take advantage of the totally open design that allowed us to separate and solve puzzles independently from one another, coming together at the inevitable choke points and any challenges that required communication.
The puzzles were as varied as they were plentiful, with logic, wordplay, spatial relations, observation, physical and tactile tasks – if you can think of it, there’s a pretty good chance there was some variation of it in Redbeard’s Revenge. I will say there was one puzzle that I dread to see in an escape room, and really should just go back to Facebook where it belongs, but even that one couldn’t put a damper on the fun, especially since you can always leave it and come back to it later if you want. (Or in Gordon’s case, ditch it entirely and leave it to me.) Either way, it’s safe to say, there’s something in this game to suit everyone’s strengths.
GM/CLUE SYSTEM
Despite the fact that the puzzles were totally fair and logical, we did still need a little help after I failed to notice an extra piece of information linking two things together, and we found ourselves at a standstill. Thankfully, Tom and Rob were paying close attention, and chimed in when it was clear that we would not be going back to the things that we I had discarded. Just a tiny nudge in the right direction, and we were back on track.
That nudge was perfectly timed to avoid any frustration, and came in the form of a disembodied voice over the loudspeaker system. Of course, we were addressed as “shipmates” to help prevent too much loss of immersion, and the voices were in your stereotypical pirate voice (with added humour thrown in occasionally for good measure).
ANYTHING ELSE
Redbeard’s Revenge is jam packed full of puzzles, and is just plain fun. Despite the vast amount of content, the game is family friendly and totally appropriate, and achievable, for puzzlers of all abilities, from escape room enthusiasts to the total newbie.
In terms of escape rooms, Newport is finally and firmly on the map thanks to Exit60!
Success / Failure
Final Rating:
Operation | |
Puzzles | |
Room Design | |
GM/Clues | |
Excitement |
Team: Team of 2 – broke out in 36:46
Address: 5 Market St, Newport NP20 1FU
Website: https://www.exit60.co.uk/
*Disclaimer: we weren’t charged for this experience, but this has not influenced our review
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