Review: Bear Towne Escape Room - Pirate Prison Escape

RATING: 2 Keys RESULT: Win REMAINING: 2:12

Fear not, scallywags! There be festive lighting and carpet in this prison.

Story

While searching for lost treasures on the coast of NC you are captured by pirates and imprisoned. First, you’ll have to figure out how to break out of the prison before going on to find the long-lost stolen artifacts! Can you get past the traps these pirates have set in your way?

It seems that we have gotten ourselves into some trouble of the pirate variety. While combing the North Carolina coastline in an attempt to find treasure, we were captured by the master marauders and now find ourselves imprisoned in their holding cell. Not deterred by our captivity, we are still determined to go after the booty as soon as we manage to escape the prison. Our determination, although seriously misguided, gives deeper meaning to the phrase, “go for the gold.”

Bear Towne Escape Room presents a simple journey for players to embark upon: we are treasure hunters caught in the act of stealing from those known best for stealing from others. The story begins just after we’ve been tossed in the slammer and likely left for dead, but at least they did not make us walk the plank where we would certainly have ended up as shark bait. Taking advantage of our sporting chance we’ve been given, we set sail on this adventure and follow it all the way to the next room.

Scenic

First, we would like to thank the pirates for the nice accommodations they have so graciously provided inside the prison walls: carpeting, nice patio lights and hip and rustic wine barrel tables. Perhaps this particular band of pirates upgraded their ship and installed carpet in their jails. We went into this adventure thinking we were on a ship, but at some point realized that perhaps we were on an island or coastal fort of some sort – we’re really not sure judging from the scenic surroundings. We would have liked to at least have seen some wood planks or dirt on the floor, giving some kind of indication where the location was.

The walls, comprised of a brick pattern, is another confusing indicator that we are either in some kind of land structure, or the pirates somehow figured out how to build a ship out of bricks without it sinking. We would have liked to see the patio lights replaced with rustic-looking lights more fitting of the setting and story since we’re pretty sure pirate prisons – whether on land or at sea – didn’t have electricity.

The second area of the gamespace was a “room” which honestly not too much going on scenic-wise to share. Our light sources in this space appeared to be more standard – even office – lighting. Again, we would have loved to see some flickering old lights or faux torches, anything that would pull us closer to the appropriate scenery we’d expect to see in such a game. Some wooden structures draped with large, thick ropes dominated the center of the room in an attempt to draw attention away from the walls, perhaps.

Overall, the scenic elements seemed a little too modern-day inspired and could have used a number of improvements that would have greatly helped establish a more authentic setting.

Puzzles

Pirate Prison Escape at Bear Towne Escape

The puzzles in Pirate Prison Escape were not terrible but did not stand out as anything truly special or unique that we haven’t seen before. In the prison chamber, we put some basic physical dexterity to use to extract a key and had some moderate fun trying to loot for … booty? In a prison? Wait, that can’t be right. First carpet, now some spending money? These pirates are obviously wanting a great review on Trip Advisor, because their attention to detail and focus on making our stay both comfortable and rewarding is to be commended.

After working our way through the basic challenges in the prison room, we made our way past the barred door into the prison … lobby, where we took on more additional tasks and puzzles the pirates had thrown our way. There, we did encounter tasks using rigging and elements found on a ship or at a dock.

Nothing truly was so memorable that it warrants high praise in the area of puzzles, but the gameplay proceeded at a steady pace typical of most of the average rooms we have played.

Overall

As one of Bear Towne Escape Room’s initial offerings, Pirate Prison Escape was not terrible but nothing to get overly excited about. Nestled near the North Carolina coast, the story definitely fit the locale and offered families a commonly-loved theme to play together.

We would have liked to see more authenticity in the scenery and more “pirate” in the puzzles, but again this level of execution is typical for most rooms we have deemed as average. This game, now retired, was a starter offering for this venue. In talking to the owners, their new rooms and future plans do have our interest piqued to revisit the more advanced and current adventures in Bear Towne.