CU Adventures Solve Our Shirts: The Treasure Trove of Pirate Cove

Inspectors' Review:

• So you're saying if I wear this tattoo, I'll be a pirate?!?!?

• Oh, a message in a bottle?! A much better form of communication than texting as it takes away from focus on me...I'm looking at you, boss!

• Did you know chewing on a gold coin proves it is gold? Well, now you do!

• Does this colour blue bring out the colour of my eyes?

• Cloth is the new paper - 4/4 paws!

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Boss' Review:

Solve Our Shirts produces shirt-based puzzle experience and is an off shoot of the company, CU Adventures, which is run by husband and wife duo Chris and Anne Lukeman. They launched their first shirt last year, Escape the Maze of the Minotaur, and I had so much fun with this experience that I ended up ordering one of their mail puzzle experience, The Lost Temple. When I heard they were launching a new shirt this holiday season I just had to have it and Chris and Anne were very kind to provide a media rate for this experience. Now, let’s dive in to see how this experience measures up!

Story:

The Treasure Trove of Pirate’s Cove follows you coming across a strange map in a bottle that will begin to guide you on your adventure. Your goal is to find buried treasure, which you would think would be easy and straightforward, right? WRONG! Finding a crew, proving your worth as a pirate, and searching the far reaches of the island reveal that pirating is hard work! The story for this particular experience is very light and I would say think of this as an escape room on a shirt than a narrative puzzle experience. There is good pacing that guides you throughout, using the online interface, and some AMAZING musical sound score that made this game shine. Honestly, I had to stop and send a message to the creators (while listening to the sea chanty) to tell them how much I loved the musical addition. This game is more about the exploration, theme, and puzzling and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I also greatly appreciated that the light story that did exist was well structured and worked to guide players.

Puzzles:

In terms of puzzling, this experience was a little lighter than the previous Solve Our Shirts but not in a bad way. There are more puzzles, but they are lighter and thus allows for completion in the estimated 60-90 minutes they suggest. Puzzles consist of logic, observation, searching, ciphers, and light manipulation. You spend quite a bit of time going back and forth between searching the shirt and connecting it back to the computer and other items available so I recommend laying the shirt on a flat surface to comb over or having someone wear it who doesn’t mind being move around a lot.

My favourite puzzle included ones that layered their reveals so you received three “aha” moments within one puzzle. The puzzles best fit an escape room style of playing as they require no outside research, and everything is presented to you is all you need. There was one puzzle I found a little awkward to work with but once you had a good idea of what you were looking for it made the solution easier to collect. It just took a bit of trouble shooting. As said, a flat surface is best for this experience despite the medium being a t-shirt. Overall, the puzzles are well structured and cater to those who enjoy escape rooms; I enjoyed how the online site was used to give players the satisfaction of opening locks and inserting codes while the puzzling itself encourages players to really explore the shirt and additional components. The rewards at the end of each solution were made that much sweeter.

Customer Service:

In terms of customer service, I did mention that this game was partially discounted by the company, which was very kind of them. The game shipped promptly and arrived in about 10 days to Canada. The package was double bag, which I appreciated especially for international shipping, given the uncertainly of packages in the postal system sometimes. I also want to highlight the quality of the shirt. I admit, I was initially cautious as the shirts are slightly different than the Escape from the Minotaur (they offered women’s cuts in that shirt), but I am happy to report the feel of them is just a nice and I expect it will be a routine shirt for my after-work loungewear. In addition, the hint system is good. I do wish there was just one additional hit to start players towards the solution (like the first part of the answer) or a full explanation of what to do without the solution as I find there’s a bit of a jump from the final clue to solution. That said, given the lightness of the puzzling, there likely aren’t many people getting to the stage but I always appreciate hint systems.

Conclusion:

To conclude, The Treasure Trove of Pirate’s Cove is a swash-buckling adventure across an unlikely medium that continues to showcase Solve Our Shirts as an excellent option for those looking for the fun and theming of an escape room without having to step inside. The puzzles are engaging and the amount of detail for players to pour over is something to appreciate. I recommend this for those who want a refreshing escape room experience in their home, have a love for pirates, and enjoy having some cool merch as a reward at the end. I will be eagerly waiting to discover what next year’s shirt will be!!

Check our Solve Our Shirts here!