Escape Room Addict
Hi. My name is David and I am an escape room addict. I cannot get enough of escape and puzzle rooms. My “team”, consisting of my wife and another married couple close to us, take escape rooms seriously. We have even gone to extremes, such as not drinking a lot beforehand (gasp!), in our bid to successfully escape from the most difficult escape rooms. When we can’t find sitters, we play escape room style games around the dining room table. We are even planning an escape room marathon that entails as many escape rooms as we can fit in a day. Suffice to say, I love escape rooms.
What is an Escape Room?
For the uninitiated, an escape or room is essentially a room (or multiple room) sized puzzle that takes a team to solve. The goal? Escape. You do so by solving dozens of puzzles that can be as simple as turning on the lights to lining up lasers with mirrors to trigger a switch. Most puzzles require two or more people to work together to solve a solution. No puzzle is overly complex, especially with many people working on the solution, but the excitement of only having an hour to escape adds to the excitement and the challenge.
The best escape rooms have intricate themes and stories woven into the puzzle to create an incredible and memorable experience. So, when the Puzzle Room in downtown Reno invited the Reno Dads to check out their new Black Beard’s Treasure room with our kids, we jumped at the opportunity to initiate our sons into the exciting world of escape rooms. I hadn’t yet taken my boys to an escape room because, well, I have found escape rooms as the perfect no kids date night experience. However, my kids are now addicted also and won’t stop asking me to take them to another escape room.
The Puzzle Room in Reno
The Puzzle Room itself has five rooms and each are beautifully done so I expected no less than the best out of Black Beard’s Treasure, however, they certainly outdid themselves. As implied, I have done quite a few escape rooms, perhaps most of the rooms in the various escape room shops in Reno, and I have to say Black Beard’s Treasure might be my favorite themed puzzle room, especially for children.
The room fully immerses you, from the back story to the starting room, and feel the pressure to escape at all turns. Like many escape rooms, you are confined to a room with with only the goal is to get out. Blackbeard’s Treasure happens to start you in the brig of Blackbeard’s ship after being captured on the high seas. You hear a rumor of an incredible treasure stored on the ship, so when the ship anchors in a bay your team decides to escape and steal the treasure. Except you are handcuffed to the walls of the brig and need to escape the handcuffs first. And then escape from the prison cell. And so on, puzzle after puzzle, in an effort to find the treasure and then escape from the ship unnoticed.
Impressions of Black Beard’s Treasure
On a difficulty scale, I would say this specific room ranks as relatively easy, absolutely perfect for folks new to escape and puzzle rooms and especially ideal for those bringing their children to enjoy the experience. The room is beautifully built and feels like being in the hold of a ship. If anything, this is where you should start your escape room experience. Both of our nine year old boys had a fantastic time, as did the Reno Dads. We escaped with treasure in hand, which was fantastic.
I will forever cherish the sight of excitement on the kids’ faces as the game began and unfolded. I only regret not initiating my kids into the escape room world earlier! So much so, that my “team” took all our kids, ages 5-10, back the very next day. Perhaps five years old is too young to contribute anything meaningful, but he loved it just the same. Depending on your kid, seven or eight is probably the youngest to contribute anything meaningful to the solution.
Details and Discount Code
Generally speaking, the minimum number of players is three and some can handle upwards of eight (or more). For me, I have found the puzzles work best with four to six people, especially familiar with each other that can compliment each others’ strengths and weaknesses. The Puzzle Room rates are $23/person. If you use the discount code “RENODADS”, you can receive 15% off!
FULL DISCLOSURE: Puzzle Room invited the Reno Dads at no charge to experience their new room. While the article is the product of this relationship, the thoughts expressed in this review are 100% my own. I have been to almost every room at the Puzzle Room at my own cost and will happily continue to do so as they add new rooms and continue to provide an incredible experience.
If you enjoyed this article, check out our reviews of Eldorado’s new show The Unbelievables Christmas Spectacular and the UFC Gym in Reno. We are active dads in the Reno area and are all about getting involved in our children’s lives! Plus, we love to highlight great venues and activities in our community and share with you and will continue to hunt down places new and old to tell you about! As always, thanks for your support.
