In the year 1540, Spanish conquistador Francisco Coronado gathered his men and began his quest for the mythical SEVEN cities of gold. Upon discovering an untapped mine in the mountains of Arizona they began mining gold, but soon after the men started to die. Their demise was unexplained. Some of them were decapitated, disemboweled and burned alive. Coronado and his remaining men left quickly, empty handed with only tales of death by spirits. 300 years later in the mid 1800’s, a group of Mexican miners named the Peralta family discovered the same mine and began extracting hundreds of pounds of gold only to meet the same fate as Coronado’s men. Nearly the entire Peralta family was massacred with the exception of a few who vowed to return later to collect their spoils. They created a stone map and hid its whereabouts from everyone so that they could one day use it to find the Mysterious Mine once again. Superstition has it that the Apache tribe were responsible for the carnage. Anyone who desecrates the mine will feel the wrath of the spirit of the mine held sacred by the Apache tribe. Two decades later, a German miner named Jacob Waltz (nicknamed The Lost Dutchman) accidentally finds the Peralta Stone Map and navigates to the same mine. Legend has it that Jacob killed several men just to keep his mine a secret. Your goal is to continue where Jacob Waltz left off in search of the coveted “MotherLode” and escape unscathed.
“The Lost Dutchman’s Mine does an impressive job of making you feel like a modern-day treasure hunter. The set design is atmospheric: rugged mine shafts, cryptic stone markings, and just enough flickering lantern lights to keep you second guessing on what might be hiding in the shadows. The designers clearly poured much love into the world-building here. Make sure to wear clothes you do not mind getting dirty afterwards.
The puzzles themselves are well integrated into the story. You do feel like you’re piecing together a map, navigating the dangers of the traps left behind, and following the footsteps of people long gone. I appreciate how tactile this room is. As we moved deeper “underground,” the tone shifts from curiosity to urgency.
Speaking of urgency - the pace of this room is no joke. Like the other experiences from this venue, the Lost Dutchman’s Mine is intentionally designed to be fast-paced. If you’re the type like me who wants to savor every detail, you may find yourself torn. The set begs to appreciated but time is running out. The ground will literally shake beneath your feet.”
