1957 · about 40 minutes · 5 watches

The Last Watch of the Cormorant

Five watches of one day's log, and a ship that would not leave.

Buy the link for your group$5for the whole group
~40 minfor a group that talks1 to 6players, one linkNo appany phone or laptopMedium

Latchkeys › Escape rooms › The Last Watch of the Cormorant

The situation

You are standing at the chart table of the weather ship Cormorant with the master's rough log in your hands, the whole day of it in his pencil, in words and bells, and his order to write it up fair before midnight. At the foot of the day is the last signal, the one thing the operator sent that was not a weather group, and the last signal is what you are here to find, because a fair log is closed in order and the shore station will ask about that line before any other. At midnight the day closes and the master signs whatever is on the page, and a signal under her call sign that nobody awake can read goes to the shore unexplained, and from the shore to the Board. You are the junior observer; you came up a quarter of an hour ago, and the operator went below as you came.

OBJECTIVE  Find the last signal before midnight closes the day.
CLOCK      The day closes at midnight, when the master signs it. It is half past nine, and the day's log is still in pencil.
PRIZE      The last signal, and why a ship that was ordered home stayed to send it.
  • weather ship
  • 1957
  • a ship's log
  • the North Atlantic
  • five watches
  • online escape room
The chart table of a weather ship at night, a linocut in three inks on rough paper: a log book lying open beside a hurricane lantern, a pencil across the page, a barometer on the bulkhead, and a porthole full of black sea cut in heavy lines. Nobody in the room.The wheelhouse of a weather ship, a linocut in three inks: the wheel in the foreground, a small brass fitting on the sill, rigging and a rope ladder outside the left-hand window, and beyond the glass a grey sea under a broken sky carved as rough cut texture. Nobody at the wheel.A ship's bell under the wheelhouse overhang, a woodblock print in two inks: the bell and its lanyard against a sky cut as driving rain, a rail and a lifebuoy below, and a heavy grey sea beyond. Nobody on deck.

Play it with your group

$5for the whole groupBuy the link for your group

You get a link. It works for everyone in your group, on any device, and it does not expire.

  • About 40 minutes
  • 1 to 6 players, one price for the group
  • Phone or laptop, nothing to install
  • No account, nothing tracked
  • A key on every step if you get stuck
  • The link does not expire

Questions people ask

Can we play it together over Zoom or a call?

Yes. One purchase is one link, and the link works for everyone in your group at once. Share your screen or all open it; there is nothing to sync, because the puzzle is the pages and the answers you work out together.

Does it work on a phone?

Yes. It was built for a phone first: every lock is a text box or buttons you tap, nothing needs a keyboard, a mouse or a printer.

How long does it take?

About 40 minutes for a group that talks; longer if you like arguing. There is no timer and nothing is scored.

What if we get stuck?

Every step has its own key: a nudge first, then a harder nudge, and the answer only if you ask for it. Wrong answers say something in the story rather than just no.

Do we need an account or an app?

No. The link opens in any browser and nothing is installed. Nothing is tracked while you play, either.

Is it suitable for children?

The stories are eerie and never cruel; nobody dies on the page. The puzzles need reading and a little arithmetic, so about twelve and up on their own, younger with an adult.

Can I play it alone?

Yes. It was written in the second person, so it works for one as well as for six.

What if it does not work for us?

Write and say so, and you will have your money back. The link does not expire, so there is no rush to use it.