
Our favourite at Hidden in Hamburg
THE RICKMER RICKMERS NO LONGER TRAVELS THE SEAS OF THIS WORLD.
As a visitor of the famous museum ship in the Port of Hamburg, you will explore a secret room on board that was found during the latest restoration. As you enter the room, you notice this strange whisper. The sea god Neptune is calling you. He’s asking for his trident, which the Captain of the Rickmers stole from him a long time ago.
The door falls into the castle, you’re trapped and Neptune has you fully under control. Fulfil his wish or Neptune and the Rickmers will drag you to the bottom of the Elbe…This room is for ambitious beginners with 6 to 7 players as well as experienced groups. It is not suitable for groups of children.
We flew into Hamburg purely for escape rooms, and Hidden in Hamburg has to have some of the coolest venues of any escape room company we visited. All of their games (at the time of writing this) are housed on one of two museum ships docked in Hamburg’s port. But in addition to your game(s), when you book one of Hidden in Hamburg’s escape rooms, you also gain entry to the museum of whichever ship your game is on.
Our first day of escaping in Hamburg began with the games located on the Cap San Diego: Master of Time, The Golden Skull, and The Forbidden Game, but after all of our adventures there, not to mention exploring that ship, and sneaking away to enjoy a currywurst, we were looking forward to checking out what was in store for us aboard the Rickmer Rickmers.
The Rickmer Rickmers is older than the Cap San Diego, and had some interesting exhibits, as well as a restaurant, on board, so it’s well worth taking a little bit of time to just have a look around, even if you’re not at all interested in maritime history. But once we’d had a good wander around the ship, it was time to make our way down to the poop deck (yes, really), and settle into the seats to await the arrival of our host.
Unlike on board Cap San Diego, the Rickmer Rickmers venue doesn’t have loads of little puzzles adorning the walls to occupy teams while they await their adventures, but luckily, our GM, Jess, appeared exactly on time. We locked away our belongings in the provided chest, and resettled to make sure all of the health and safety necessities were covered before setting off. Neptune’s Curse is located towards the bow of the ship in the old crew quarters, so like a pack of little ducklings, we followed along, as Jess gave us the lowdown on a few more important details specific to Neptune’s Curse.
With our mission firmly in mind, we stepped through the door into the captain’s quarters, and the door closed behind us. But just as we started to explore, the booming sound of Neptune’s voice invaded our ears, and then our adventure truly began.
IMMERSION/ROOM DESIGN
Unlike the Hidden in Hamburg games housed on the Cap San Diego, Neptune’s Curse plays on the fact that the game is built on a ship. The narrative revolves around the Rickmer Rickmers, and the set uses the ship to its full advantage, with an impressive utilisation of the available space. The deeper we went into the game, the further we went into the ship, and it did truly feel like we were on a mission and an adventure.
The atmospheric soundtrack, interspersed with the moments of exposition from Neptune, combined with some impressive theatrical moments to give Neptune’s Curse a fast pace. The game flowed easily from one task to the next, and although it was quite linear, the multi-layered puzzles kept the team busy throughout, as the game built in intensity all the way up to the final, dramatic conclusion.
PUZZLES
Hidden in Hamburg certainly seemed to have “favourites” when it came to puzzle styles and designs. It was almost formulaic in that the more games we played by the company, the more we noticed similarities in the types of tasks that we might be asked to complete. Now that’s not to say that the games were all the same – they certainly weren’t. But they did have certain similarities that were very apparent after playing four games by the company in rather quick succession.
Neptune’s Curse had a few of the old escape room staple: padlocks. But it was also full of chunky, tactile set pieces that required physical interaction in order to progress the game. Of course, these puzzles still required plenty of communication and team work – not to mention logic and observation, but the blend of puzzle styles ensured that the game never felt repetitive. The puzzles were fair, and well sign posted, giving the game some very satisfying solves to compliment the theatrical narrative moments.
GM/CLUE SYSTEM
Although he was threatening to drown us in the event we were unable to recover his trident, Neptune did really want us to succeed, and his voice would come through the loudspeaker both to further the story and provide exposition (or taunts), but also to provide guidance in those times where we needed them.
Of course, we all know Neptune was really triggered by our GMs, Jess and later Jason, and they clearly knew their jobs well, leaving us to it, but ensuring that every clue or important story piece was perfectly timed. Not only that, but both were welcoming and friendly, and in Jason’s case, happy to provide a thorough debrief following our successful escape.
ANYTHING ELSE
Neptune’s Curse aboard the Rickmer Rickmers was my favourite of all the games we played at Hidden in Hamburg. With a narrative that took full advantage of its unique venue, plus some pretty solid puzzling, this game stood out amongst the other options at Hidden in Hamburg.
Success/Failed
Final Rating:
| Operation | |
| Puzzles | |
| Room Design | |
| GM/Clues | |
| Excitement |
Team Size: 4 people – 41 minutes
Address: Rickmer Rickmers – Landungsbrücken, Ponton 1a, 20359 Hamburg




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