Mutiny on the High Seas

Xcape Wellington (Lower Hutt, New Zealand)

Time limit: 60 minutes

Player limit: 2-8

Age limit: Under 14s require adult in the room

Difficulty: 9/10

Date visited: December 2025

This was the fourth of our 5 rooms in one day at Xcape — one of the highest rated escape room establishments in New Zealand — situated in Lower Hutt, about 15 minutes north of Wellington.

Here are my thoughts:

• Pirate rooms are hard to get right in terms of theming and puzzles, but I think Xcape did a commendable job here.

• As with their other rooms, there was floor-to-ceiling immersion, with wooden boards, props, and décor all throughout. It was probably as close as we’ve felt to being in a pirate ship compared to the other handful of maritime-themed rooms we’ve played to date.

• This was Xcape’s only room where the players start off split into two teams across from each other, and communication and sharing of information was essential to getting through the first phase.

• As with their other rooms, there was a mixture of puzzles, many of which were infused by clever tech and accompanied by excellent sound design.

• I felt like the puzzles here were a little more abstract (probably due to the theme), but the overall difficulty was about the same except for the final puzzle, which may stump teams as it could be interpreted in several ways and had a lot of interconnected steps, so every attempt ate up a lot of time. It took us a few tries and we weren’t sure whether we were on the right track until we finally solved it.

• We thought we needed a clue near the very beginning, but it turned out to be a minor tech issue where the inputs had to be slower and with longer gaps in between. Sometimes I wonder if it’s better to provide a written explanation to players at the expense of immersion.

• Xcape utilised a hybrid hint system in which our GM could see and hear us at all times, and there was also a screen inside the room that showed our remaining game time and any hints the GM wanted to deliver.

• Out GM told us that the owners of Xcape purchased the venue next door and are in the process of building a brand new set of rooms that promises to be even bigger and better!

Escape time: 44 minutes and 44 seconds

Theming	Atmosphere	Puzzles	Creativity	Fun
B+	B+	B+	B+	B+

Verdict: A quality pirate-themed room with an added teamwork element at the very start. A spacious, multi-area set, with solid theming, tech, and sound design.

OVERALL RANK:

H	E	Z	J
B+	B	B+	A-