Argh, me hearties! There be a treasure waitin’ for ye. But only the smartest, most cunning pirate team can get thee hands on it! Will it be your crew, or will your opponents beat ye to the punch? Get to outwitting! Those shiny gold doubloons wait for no one!

What Is It?

A competitive escape room style game for 2 teams where the teams are working to solve puzzles in order to earn gold and ultimately be named worthy pirate captains. The puzzles act as sort of “mini-games;” only the fastest solving team has a chance to solve each puzzle, so players must think on their feet, since a wrong answer will cost them dearly. Each puzzle is worth a certain amount of gold, and at the end of the game, the team with the most gold wins!

Who Is It For?

  • Ages 12+
  • Fans of escape room games, who want to try them in a competitive way
  • Bigger groups because of being split into two teams (works well 4+)

Components / Quality

Very few components in this one, very short and sweet!

64 Card Deck – Extra large cards, nice quality, nice art, and everything is clear on them (that’s supposed to be, obviously some things are hidden within puzzles).

Box – Perfect size for the deck, and more great art.

PROS

  • Can play with a larger group since you split into two teams, so 6 players aren’t all working off of the same card at once. Most escape room games don’t really work with more than 4 in my opinion.
  • I liked the race element of the puzzles – wanting to beat the other team to the answer for a chance at more gold.
  • Aesthetically pleasing, really nice art on all the cards.

CONS

  • No hint system – if you were unsure about a puzzle, there was nothing to put you on the right track, which could lead to wrong answers, which are a big deal in this one.
  • While the race element was unique and neat, it fell flat for me. If you were right, you got the reward – makes sense. But if you were wrong, the opponent got the reward…without having to solve the puzzle, and that was so disappointing, for both teams.
  • Only 1 puzzle card for both teams to share – made it hard to reference, especially with the added pressure of wanting to solve it first. Needed 2 copies of each puzzle, or 2 decks.
  • Puzzles were worth different amounts of coins for what seemed like no reason.

Final Thoughts

I was really excited for this game because it seemed like a fresh idea for the escape room genre, and it was, but ultimately it just didn’t work for me and my group, and it just frustrated us all. The #1 issue we had was the reward system. It seemed unfair and disappointing that a wrong answer meant your opponents just got the reward without doing anything. Even the team that got coins off a wrong answer was disappointed because they were left without the satisfaction of solving the puzzle and really earning the reward, which is what we typically look for in these types of games. Maybe it was meant to fit in with the theme, but it didn’t work for us. We felt like the game needed an answer “lock-in” system – so the first team to finish had first grabs at the reward, but if they were wrong, the other team still had to solve it, and if both were wrong, no one gets coins.

If you like escape room games and want to try that mechanic in a different way, because they are usually not competitive, then maybe this would work for you. Personally, I would recommend the other Deckscape games instead, as I think that system works well with the same components, and this one just missed the mark.

My Final Ratings:
Overall Game – 3/10
Replay Value – 1/10
Difficulty – 5/10
Aesthetics – 7/10

Additional Information:
Designers – Martino Chiacchiera, Silvano Sorrentino
Artist – Alberto Bontempi
Publisher – dV Giochi
MSRP – € 10,90 ($13.10 USD)
Website

*I was provided a copy of this game to do this review*

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