Monkey Mind Escape Rooms - "Legend of the Shoals"

Updated: Apr 12

LOCATION:  Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA

Photo above is property of Monkey Mind Escape Rooms

Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

📝 ETR DECODER

🔑 GAME: Legend of the Shoals
📅 DATE PLAYED: October 1, 2021
🎬 GENRE: Pirate, Adventure
🧠 DIFFICULTY (Based on 2 PPL): 5/10
👥 TOTAL # OF PLAYERS: 1-6 ppl
🕒 LENGTH OF TIME: 60 Mins
💰 PRICE: $30/PP
☎️ BOOKINGTYPE: Private
🔓 ESCAPED/ COMPLETED?: Yes

📖 THE STORY

Based on local lore, "Legend of the Shoals" explores Captain John Quelch's secret hideout. Relive his adventures by unlocking the mystery of his map and retrieving his precious crystal skull!!

Video above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

🎯 HIT THE BULLSEYE

The "Legend of the Shoals" is based on an actual local pirate - Captain John Quelch who looted on the high seas back in the 1700's. Legend has it, Quelch’s men deposited their treasure at the Isles of Shoals in New Hampshire. We love how Monkey Mind built the game off of a less popular buccaneer for us to learn more about his story.
The set design bought us right into a section of a pirate's ship and instantly we felt like characters in the "Pirates of the Caribbean"! The layout was spacious, giving us room to spread out and work on different puzzles separately.
Most of the puzzle reveals were controlled by tech. There were a few moments during the game where sound and lighting worked perfectly together to grasp our attention.

🧩 MISSED THE MARK

A majority of the puzzles were straight forward and we were blazing through most of the room. However, one of the puzzles was a bit of a logic leap on HOW it was to be used (definitely not the typical logic that we've seen in other rooms). This puzzle also had us question if it's safe to use during COVID period. I'm sure the room sanitizes everything prior to game play but it still made me feel a bit uncomfortable due to how close we had to stand to operate on the puzzle.

🏹 TAKE A SHOT?

Although they have informed us that this game is their most difficult, we thought this one was a lot easier than The Antidote. Kids would love this room for the cinematic feel. The gameplay for "Legend of the Shoals" is mostly non-linear so you and your team can spread out and start solving things on your own. You can't go wrong with pirate-themed games, especially when the set design felt like we were onset of a Disney attraction. It bought back some memories of "Goonies" and their quest to find One-Eyed Willy's ship - "Inferno"!

Additional Info

Parking lot in the area or metered parking
lobby area with seating and games
Merchandise available for purchase

Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

BOOK NOW

(If you do decide to try this game, give us a shoutout or tag us on social media so we know you heard it from "ESCAPETHEROOMers"!)

Disclosure: We thank Monkey Mind Escape Rooms for comping our tickets for this game. Although complimentary admission was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever.