Pirate rooms have really stepped up their game over the years. A ship’s hold is a natural fit for an escape room: you’re locked below deck, the clock is ticking, and there’s treasure to grab before someone comes back for you. The best ones we’ve played go all the way with wooden floors, great audio and lighting, and technology that’s hidden well enough that it never breaks the immersion.
This list covers every pirate room we’ve played, wherever it is, so you’ll find stops in Kingston, Ottawa and Mississauga. It’s ranked by our review scores and only includes rooms that are still open.
1. Neverland: Heist on the High Seas (Kingston)
Our score: 9.3/10 · Improbable Escapes
Captain Hook has you locked in the brig of the Jolly Roger, and you need to take the ship and set a course for Neverland before dawn. This room redefined the word “immersive” for us, with near-perfect audio, lighting and physical props, plus a wide variety of tricky puzzles that never felt repetitive. Our only complaints were nit-picky: a slight over-use of technology in one puzzle and one tweak we’d make to the exit door.
Read our review of Neverland: Heist on the High Seas
2. The Pirate’s Code (Ottawa)
Our score: 9.3/10 · Jigsaw
Once a month, under the full moon, a ghost pirate who plundered the Seven Seas comes back to walk among the living. This is one of the best rooms we’ve ever been in, packed with modern technical touches that add to the room without breaking the immersion. The puzzles blend physical challenges, riddles, spatial and memory work, and it plays well with anywhere from two to six people. Get there early to enjoy a beer, and make it a stop while you’re in the Byward Market.
Read our review of The Pirate’s Code
3. Shipwrecked (Ottawa)
Our score: 7.5/10 · Unlocked Adventures
You’ve finally found the ancient Red Rock ship, and you want to grab as much treasure as you can before the real archeologists show up. What sets this one apart is the scoring: you’re judged on how much treasure you haul out, not just your time left. The belly-of-the-ship build is believable and the host was a great storyteller, but one puzzle didn’t make sense to us and there were almost too many locks.
Read our review of Shipwrecked
4. Pieces of Eight (Mississauga)
Our score: 7.2/10 · Captive Kids
Blackbeard has thrown your crew in the belly of his sinking ship, and you’ll need to escape and piece together his treasure map. This is a room made for kids, and the difficulty was just right for ours (aged 10 to 17), who loved it, and so did we. It’s missing some finishing touches like matching floors and ceilings and ambient sound, and the story intro and wrap-up are light, which stands out since you pay the same price as other rooms.
