Unreal Escapes - "Battleship"

Dave Bristol
8 hours ago
3 min read

LOCATION:  Staten Island, NYC, New York, USA

Photo above is property of Unreal Escapes

Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

📝 ETR DECODER

🔑 GAME: Battleship
📅 DATE PLAYED: November 18, 2025
🎬 GENRE: War, Thriller
🧠 DIFFICULTY (Based on 3 ppl): 6/10
👥 TOTAL # OF PLAYERS: 2-11 ppl
🕒 LENGTH OF TIME: 60 Mins.
💰 PRICE: $80.00/ pp (2 ppl), $53.33/ pp (3 ppl), $40.00/ pp (4-11 ppl)
☎️ BOOKING TYPE: Private
🔓 ESCAPED/ COMPLETED?: Yes

📖 THE STORY

World War III has broken out as a result of global political unrest. All currently active battleships have been destroyed, along with our brave servicemen and women. America's survival depends on your motley crew's ability to get an old, decommissioned warship back in fighting trim and on the water in time to defeat the enemies gathering nearby. Can you save America - and the world? You've only got 60 minutes before the attacking fleet will reach America's shores. Get up and at 'em, your country needs you!

Video above is property of Unreal Escapes

🎯 HIT THE BULLSEYE

Highly immersive set design: The USS New Jersey is the inspiration for this set, and the replication is highly detailed and well-researched. However, we never felt overwhelmed or confused by the environment. The challenges you face are replicas of the actual processes Navy sailors perform when faced with a battle situation, and you'll feel like you're really one of them.
Satisfying puzzles: The puzzles themselves often involve multiple components and do a great job of blending the challenging 'figure it out' aspect of a great escape room with the joy that come with manipulating realistic objects in a set that transports you to the ocean, both visually and aurally.
Accurate lighting, well implemented: A common flaw in ship-themed escape rooms is that the accuracy of the dim lighting makes the fundamental act of reading difficult. Not so here! The realistic lighting (supplemented by a few well-placed flashlights) was both true to form as well as being sufficient for frustration-free solving.
Well-modulated tension: There is a cinematic element to this game, and our hearts were often pounding with the realistic intensity of our mission! Yet, they do a great job of maintaining the sense of urgency while also interspersing some calmer moments between those that are more immediately fraught with peril.
Sound and light cues: Another way the design helped avoid the frustration that often comes with intricately designed sets was the thoughtful use of both lighting and sound cues to indicate when a puzzle had been completed or a hidden compartment had opened.

🧩 MISSED THE MARK

Triggers for adaptive difficulty: We're big fans of adaptive difficulty to make an experience rewarding for a wide variety of players, so we love that it's incorporated in this room. However, we didn't trigger the additional elements, despite finishing with 18 minutes to spare (without hints). Given that those extra components are already programmed into the game, it would make sense to trigger them at a lower threshold.
Minor ambiguity: Overall, this a really well done room, but if we have to pick a few nits, there were a couple of elements that resulted in a bit of trial and error, which could be eliminated with a bit more signposting.

🏹 TAKE A SHOT?

Battleship is a nearly watertight room with a lot to offer. The somewhat smaller confines and relatively linear gameplay make it ideal for smaller groups of dedicated escape artists. The combination of well-structured, challenging puzzles, a clear narrative, and highly immersive environment make it an appealing excursion for escape room fans with at least a little experience. I probably wouldn't recommend it as someone's first, but this would be an ideal opportunity to up skills and heart rate for those with a few under their belt, while also unlocking some unforgettable achievement badges. Highly recommended to tackle this mission if you're in the area.

🔎 HINT

Look closely…even what appears to be set dressing may prove useful.

ℹ️ ADDITIONAL INFO

It is easy to find, with plenty of signage out front and parking around the side of the building. There is a well decorated lobby with places to sit and plenty of fun escape room adjacent ephemera! It has a bathroom and coatroom, but no lockers.

Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

BOOK NOW

(If you do decide to try this game, give us a shoutout or tag us on social media so we know you heard it from "ESCAPETHEROOMers"!)

Disclosure: We thank Unreal Escapes for providing us with a media discount for this game. Although a media discount was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever.