The Golden Hinde
Reviewed by The Landlubbers
5*****
Part escape room, part immersive theatre, Escape From the Golden Hinde is a swashbuckling brainteasing adventure for all the family.
Designed by Secret Studio, the game gives teams a unique opportunity to explore the replica of The Golden Hinde – in the company of pirates and ghosts! The replica of Sir Francis Drake’s famous ship sailed around the world in the 1970s, 400 years after the original’s voyage. Unfortunately, this means that ghosts from both eras are haunting the ship, and the pirate crew need help to find their captain and stop the ship sinking in 60 minutes.
With a secret codeword to board the ship, some piratical deck games and a quick rundown of historical facts vital to the mission, a pirate hands out some protective pirate headgear and the team ventures below deck to begin the adventure. The challenges are a great mix of physical and cryptic puzzles that need to be solved to journey through the ship and stop it sinking. If your team is in need of help, your pirate mate is on hand to steer you to the solution with helpful hints and reminders – and some very corny jokes. We were a family group, with 3 adults, a teen, a tween and a 6-year-old, and none of us were very experienced at escape rooms, but we managed to save the ship with 3 minutes left! (And LOTS of help – mostly from the children, who zipped around the cabins noticing EVERYTHING before the adults had even figured out what we were supposed to be doing.) More experienced gamers probably won’t need as much guidance as we did, but there are some tricky problems and I suspect their pirate mate would still be popping in with words of encouragement.
Solving puzzles below decks was a thrill, and not just for the children in our group. Ducking below the beams, finding golden coins under cannons, heaving on ropes and clambering up and down steps in the dim light below deck will make even the mildest landlubber feel like swinging a cutlass and singing a shanty. The ghosts you meet around the ship from both eras aren’t frightening for youngsters, and the wonderful actors made the game seem more urgent and exciting as they helped or hindered our quest. There are a few surprises that will make you jump, but our girls were laughing and enjoyed the thrills.
The design and attention to detail is glorious – with a delightful musical treat in the 1970’s cabin (and a very mysterious machine from the 70s that bamboozled our girls!) – this was the favourite cabin of the adults in our group (who doesn’t love a drinks party?), while the children LOVED trading barbs with the ghost of Sir Francis Drake. “He was weird!”
Escape From The Golden Hinde is a unique and enthralling escape adventure for families or adult groups, whatever their experience. An hour of fun solving fascinating, frustrating puzzles and playing pirates – let’s face it, after a long week at work the chance to run around shouting “Arrrrr” and drinking rum can be exactly what you need.
Head to the website to get on board: www.escapeintime.co.uk/goldenhinde/
Use this unique code to get a discount –
FAIRYSHIP
(20 % discount, can’t be combined with any other or discount, expires 15th November 2023)