Escape the Golden Hinde
11 February 2022
Golden Hinde
3.5 out of 5.0 stars
I recently was invited by The Escaperoomer to join them in trying out the brand new escape experience on the Golden Hinde. On second thought, I might have invited myself along, but who’s going to keep track of these things. Let’s get to the review!
The Golden Hinde is a reconstruction of the ship Francis Drake sailed around the world in the late 1570s. The newer version of the ship also circumnavigated the globe, some 400 years later in the 1970. There’s a variety of events on this ship, and the newest is Secret Studio’s newest escape experience in London! It’s still being tested and refined, but once it opens, there will be a few different difficulty levels to choose from. We played the only one available to test, which was definitely on the easier side, especially for experienced escape room fanatics. Though I do have to mention that the company advertises it as an immersive theatrical adventure, which is definitely a better category to use than escape room!
While there are escape elements, the focus is definitely on the story, tailored to the ship and its rich history, with several live actors impersonating crew from both above mentioned voyages, and a fun piratey twist. Escapologists might be a little disappointed with the escape part of the experience, but if you’re in it for a fun, location specific adventure on an old ship with heaps of character, this one’s for you!
That being said, I’m very glad they provide helmets for all players, as some of the rooms inside the ship are VERY LOW. I’m not particularly tall, but had to bend and crouch for most of the game. Ouch.
Still, I had a lot of fun, and we set a game record with 40 minutes to escape the ship! Not sure it’s worth the very high price tag, but definitely a good bit of fun.