Skull Island DIY Escape Room Kit

Are you ready for some pirate fun? I made this kid friendly escape room for one of my children’s birthday a few years ago. Completely went to town with setting this game up. Added props, had music playing, and had a huge dressing-up box set up so they could all dress like pirates when the kids arrived.

This is how the pirate escape story goes. “You have been invited to join Blackbeard’s infamous pirate gang and share in the loot, but to prove you are worthy you must discover the secret pirate words. Fail and you must walk the plank and become shark bait!”

Kid Friendly Escape Room

The kids were between 6-9 years old at the party; the younger ones, to be honest, were only interested in dressing up like pirates and running around pretending to walk the plank! But the older ones wanted to find the puzzles and get stuck in.

PIRATE CODE PUZZLE

This is a twist on the pig pen cypher. The puzzle can be a bit tricky if the kids haven’t seen it before. It does look pretty strange. I have written an example word onto the poster so the kids can see what the code looks like. During the game the players will find a message written in the pigpen code. Have the Pirate code poster pinned to a wall so the players can easily spot the cypher.

Should you see they are stuck on this puzzle, get each of them to write their name in the pigpen code. So they can see how it works. Then let them solve the puzzle. That way, they have done all the hard work themselves. Thats a win win result!

PIRATE CYPHER WHEEL

I love cypher wheels. They are so easy to use and look quite impressive. I made my own font just for this clue. I’m never happy just using regular stuff. In this puzzle, players need to decode the message on the barrel using the cypher disk. To do so, they have to find out how to align the wheels to reveal their message. It’s a nice simple puzzle, but you can easily add complexity by locking some of the pieces of the puzzle into locked boxes. Don’t worry; I have a whole pirate-themed mini puzzle kit included to help you add these easily into your game.

WHAT KINDS OF PUZZLES ARE THERE?

There are various puzzles in the kid friendly escape room. Players must search for gold coins, solve cyphers, decode messages and navigate around a map. With all the puzzles solved, they will reveal the secret pirate words. Now I like adding locks to my games, but I know not everyone has a box full of them just lying around. So you can reveal the game in a few ways, using a locked box/room/treasure chest. Or utilise the online reveal system. If you really want to go the extra mile play the role of Blackbeard and have them tell you the answer.

SET THE SCENE WITH PROPS

This is probably my favourite part of setting up an escape room party at home, SETTING THE SCENE. I love dressing the rooms. Finding props and music to add to the ambiance is great fun. I am also a crafter so I have a bad habit of making extra work for myself and end up with my elbows deep in paper and glue. BUT I love all that. 

If you not the crafty type you can probably find some things lying around your home. For music I like to head over to youtube and find a video to play in the background. Now for pops here are some of my favourites.

1. Gold coins
2. Bag of Bones 
3. Wood Grain Tablecloth
4. Netting
5. Jolly Roger flag

I have several bags of bones, I use these a lot in my games. I like to tie clues onto them. It’s fun to watch the kids rummage through the bones to find clues. I wold definitely give this a try in your game, it’s a lot of fun!

HOW LONG WILL THE GAME TAKE

This is a really tough question to answer as everyone sets up their game differently. The kid friendly escape room game should be about an hour long, depending on the player’s ability and if you choose to hide the puzzle pieces and offer hints to the players. You may want to make the game harder by including some of the printable lock codes included in the kit. You may just want it to be super easy and just print everything out and place the game onto a table top. I know not the best answer, SORRY!

HOW MANY PEOPLE CAN PLAY?

I get asked this question all the time about the printable escape games. There is no perfect answer. On the whole setting up a game for my kids, I would have no more than eight players at once. There are a few reasons:

1. Some quieter kids won’t get involved if there are lot of players.
2. The more people working on the puzzles, the quicker it may take them to complete the game.
3. The more children, the more difficult it is to keep an eye on them.
4. The game can sometimes take longer if they don’t play nicely together. 

In truth, you are the best judge of how many people can play the game. Consider splitting into teams if you have a large group, say ten plus people. Set up two rooms and see which team escapes first. It will mean printing out two game sets, but it is a great way to let everybody get in on the action.

WHAT IF PLAYERS GET STUCK

As game master your role is step in if you see the players are getting stuck. You can step in and lend a hand if they need it.  summing up my best piece of advice though is to let the kids try to work on a puzzle for a little while before stepping in. You will find a few ways to helpI included in the kit. There is a mini book (folded from one piece of paper) and access to an online animated help guide that can be access via QR code.  

BUY the kid friendly escape room

So there it is a little bit about the Skull Island escape room kit. If you are looking for an easy to set up escape game with all the hard work done for you then grab the kit now. Throw in some props and few looks and some tasty food and you have a fab Pirate party even Blackbeard himself would be proud of!