Today, four friends and I scrambled our brains to unravel the clues to be winners at the Pirate’s Puzzle Escape Room in Edgartown. Although I like Sudoku, I’m masterful only at the easy ones. Crossword puzzles leave me stumped. I’m miserable at Wordle. So I approached our outing with some trepidation. But I figured I had four friends with me who were very bright. Between us, we have a good number of advanced degrees; for goodness’ sake, we could do this.
I only vaguely knew what an escape room was. I learned they have an ancient history dating back to the 16th century, when hedge mazes became popular in European royal gardens. The first modern versions were online virtual games, which inspired Takao Kato, the creator of the first physical escape room, to build one in Japan. Escape rooms became popular in Japan, and migrated to other Asian countries. They eventually hit the U.S. between 2012 and 2014, with several brands gradually gaining traction in San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, New York City, and Nashville.
They arrived on our shores in 2019 when Kris Zylich, who had been coming to the Vineyard for decades, discovered that there wasn’t a lot for families to do here other than go to the beach during the summer. “We found a kind of entertainment void, and I wanted to help fill it for families. I had done an escape room, and thought it would do well in a tourist area.”
Zylich has created two rooms, and given the season, we chose the Winter Wonderland Pop-Up Game, which runs through March. Before entering, he told us we were part of an elite North Pole task force, Elf Team 6. Evil King Winterfrost and his henchmen had kidnapped Santa and trapped him in an ice cave somewhere in the North Pole. Fortunately, the careless henchmen had left clues to his location. We were to go forth, and had 45 minutes to follow the clues, solve the puzzles, and find Santa to win a prize from the gift shop. Zylich also said we could ask for three hints during the game, and his only specific instructions were to try and determine the first clue.
With great group spirit, we entered the small room, which was completely transformed. Images covered the walls, and “snow” covered the ground. Holiday lights sparkled, and straight ahead, there was a large, two-story house sporting windows with little locks. There were also other locked items, such as a small safe on the desk, along with other curious objects. There were gift bags with nothing inside but gift tags on the handles. We observed other things –– but no spoilers here, for anyone curious to try the game.
We stumbled about for a while, trying this and that, with one person’s idea sparking another’s. Then, through an intercom, Zylich gave us our first hint, and we finally uncovered the first clue. Throughout, our brains were buzzing, and we broke into smaller teams as time ticked by. Ultimately, Zylich took pity on us, and gave us more than three hints to help us move along. There was lots of hilarity, too, as we made fun of how stumped we were at times, and there were triumphant cries as we unlocked subsequent puzzles. It was quite the challenge, but eventually, and only through teamwork –– and Zylich’s kindness –– were we able to finally rescue Santa.
The Winter Wonderland Room will be open only through March, but the ongoing room next to it is Shark Hunters, which is based on, not surprisingly, “Jaws.” This escape room takes place inside a replica of the boat Brody, Quint, and Hooper used to defeat Jaws. In this game, you are playing the role of the shark hunters, and have to solve clues that tie into the “Jaws” and Martha’s Vineyard themes. Your goal is to save the town of Amity by finding and defeating the monster shark within the allotted 45 minutes.
Although the games are great for all ages, Zylich notes that kids can help solve some of the puzzles independently, while other games will require the assistance of a teenager or adult. However, we “older kids” figured the younger folks might be more nimble at solving the clues.
Zylich actually employs youth to help out, two of whom are 10th graders at the high school. Jasper Grow tells me, “I met Kris at a job fair, and this was the only business I felt would be fun to work at. Some groups are more chatty or memorable than others, but it’s always pleasant.”
Asked for advice, Grow responds, “I think it’s important for groups to know their skill level, but we always want them to win, so in the end, they should just know that they are coming to have fun, and we’ll put in some work to keep everything on track anyhow.”
Hollis Holley clearly is also rooting for the players: “I usually take note of the energy of people who come in and out of the escape room. I like to take note of this since it helps me gauge how to present my intros and outros with our customers, and tweak it to how I think they will enjoy it better.”
Holley adds, “I think it’s important for readers interested in doing one of the rooms to have fun, and try to get the best they can from the experience. I love it when I hear groups laughing in the room, or boasting about how much they enjoyed it afterward. I think that it’s a great opportunity to bond and work on teamwork, along with time management skills.”
Pirate’s Puzzle Escape Room is at 23 Winter St., No. 15, Edgartown. Open Saturdays through the winter. You can bring up to five people per room, and play in both rooms if you like. Through March, it’s 50 percent off for Martha’s Vineyard residents. Enter code THANKYOU50 and use a Martha’s Vineyard billing address for the credit card payment. marthasvineyardescaperoom.com. For more information, email piratespuzzleroom@gmail.com, or call 508-988-5228.
