Dead Man's Chest
Retired · closed November 2024

The cursed chest that ended the pirate trilogy

Chapter three of the pirate trilogy · Perth CBD · January 2024 – November 2024

Play the pirate rooms still openRead the legend
An Escape This production

In short: Dead Man's Chest was the third and final chapter of the Escape This pirate trilogy, a race to open Calico Jack's cursed chest before Davy Jones claimed it. It ran only at Escape This Perth CBD, from January 2024 to November 2024, hosted 773 people and is now retired. Pirates and Pirate Island are still playing.

The legend

A chest the sea was meant to keep

Every captain hoards one prize he will never share. Calico Jack's was a chest of salt-stained oak and iron, cut with his own mark and sunk where no honest sailor would go looking.

Crews who had already slipped out of his brig and stripped his island came to Perth CBD in 2024 for the last leg of the hunt. Between them and the treasure stood a curse, a riddle in every lock and the drowned keeper who claims what the sea is owed.

That final voyage has ended. Dead Man's Chest closed in November 2024, but its legend is set down here, along with its record and the two pirate rooms where Calico Jack still waits.

Read the whole legend →

A gold-filled treasure chest glowing in a dark sea cave, the kind of cursed hoard at the heart of Dead Man's Chest
Three chapters, one captain

The pirate trilogy, in order

Each chapter put the same crew up against Calico Jack. Dead Man's Chest was the last, and the only one you can no longer play.

Chapter three

Dead Man's Chest

Retired November 2024

The cursed chest he trusted to the sea, a siren's riddle in every lock and Davy Jones waiting below.

Two pirate ships duelling through burning seas, artwork used for the Dead Man's Chest Head-to-Head race
Two crews, two chests

A race between rival crews

Bring five to eight players to Dead Man's Chest and the night changed shape. The gamesmaster split the group into two crews, gave each an identical cursed chest and started one clock for both.

Whoever broke the curse first took the bragging rights. It was the only chapter of the trilogy you could play against your own friends.

How Head-to-Head worked →

On the record

Dead Man's Chest by the numbers

Straight from Escape This's booking system: how long the chest sat on the floor at Perth CBD between January 2024 and November 2024, and how many players came to try it.

773
people hosted over the whole run
11 Jan
first sessions, 2024 · Perth CBD
23 Nov
last sessions, 2024
317
days on the floor at Perth CBD

No player reviews are linked to Dead Man's Chest in Escape This's records, and none of the published Perth CBD reviews name it, so none are quoted here.

People hosted is the party size of every booking that went ahead. Figures from ER-OS, 24 October 2026.

Who built it

Made by the studio behind the whole saga

Dead Man's Chest came out of the same Escape This studio that designed Pirates and Pirate Island, which is why Calico Jack, his ship and his island all lead to the same chest.

Escape This is Australia’s largest escape room operator, and runs its own escape room design studio and escape room factory in Australia. It has venues in Perth, Sydney and Melbourne, has hosted more than 500,000 players and has earned 17,942 five-star reviews. It was named Escape Room Operator of the Year in 2025 and 2026 (APAC Insider Australia Business Awards). Inside the studio and factory →

FAQ

Questions people still ask

What was Dead Man's Chest at Escape This?

Dead Man's Chest was a pirate escape game that Escape This ran at its Perth CBD venue from January 2024 to November 2024. As the third and final chapter of the studio's pirate trilogy, it challenged crews to open Calico Jack's cursed chest before the ghost of Davy Jones could claim it. The game has since been retired.

Is Dead Man's Chest coming back?

Nothing says so. Escape This has made no announcement about Dead Man's Chest returning, and it isn't among the rooms the studio lists as in production, so the honest answer is to treat it as closed. Players who missed it can still take on chapters one and two of the pirate trilogy.

Why does deadmanschest.com.au still exist if the room has closed?

So the story and record of Dead Man's Chest don't vanish, and so anyone looking for it learns straight away that it has closed and where the pirate saga continues. deadmanschest.com.au is run by Escape This, the company that made the room, and takes its figures from Escape This's booking system.

What was Head-to-Head mode in Dead Man's Chest?

Head-to-Head was the competitive way to play Dead Man's Chest. A booking of five to eight people was divided by the gamesmaster into two rival crews, each handed an identical cursed chest, and both raced the same countdown. The first crew to lift the curse won, so your friends were opponents as well as the clock.

How many players did Dead Man's Chest host before it closed?

773 people. That's the total Escape This's booking system counts for Dead Man's Chest over its whole run at Perth CBD, from January 2024 to November 2024. It adds up the party size of every booking that went ahead, as recorded on 24 October 2026.

All questions about Dead Man's Chest →

The saga sails on

Calico Jack is still taking prisoners

Dead Man's Chest has gone, but its first two chapters are open in Perth, Sydney and Melbourne. Pick a room, pick a venue and see live session times.

See pirate rooms you can bookPirates ↗Pirate Island ↗