Found on the first level of a commercial office building, the Mystery Puzzle is suitably placed to capture the corporate market at the business end of the city. On arrival we’re presented with a dressing up box of pirate hats, fat cat pinstripes, wench blouses and oversized hats. Side-stepping the potentially mathematically challenging Casino Revenge room, we gung-ho for the family-friendly Pirate Adventure.
Inside, we're introduced to the story: a young merchant sailor has found a map that guides her to a hidden island of pirate treasure. Looking around the room (which still feels like an office space) there are books, treasure chests and a seat facing a flat-screen TV mounted to the wall. Frantically, we search for clues to unlock the padlocked chests.
Everyone’s forgotten about Sam the merchant sailor and her missing treasure. Unrequested, a clue pops up on the TV screen to point us in the right direction. Apparently, pirates hide things in red books. Who knew?
It takes five people to piece together the first set of numbers to unlock the box. After that, a few players were left redundant as the more intricate challenges required just one or two people to move us on to the next stage. Aside from a surprise puzzle box, much of the game seemed to rely on the same skills and a couple of glitches in the puzzles caused some frustration. In the end, we smashed it out of there with 15 minutes to spare.