The chest is a cardboard container created to look like a real pirate chest. I decided not to let the kids play with the actual chest because it looks cute on the game shelf. (I don;t think kit would put up with a lot of abuse.)

The pieces that come inside are pretty fun and enough for up to three kids to role play.

I'm not sure how educational it is, but anything that keeps my son's interest for at least an hour (like this did) has to be a great toy. They can play out the scenes from Pirates of the Carribean pretty well!

The 'gold coins' turned into a counting game with no effort on my part as they divided them three ways. I like that the pirate gun is bright orange and has no risk of being confused for the real thing. They've played with the set many times in the short time we've had it.

So, I'm happy and would probably send one for a birthday gift next time I'm looking for something interesting. The value seems to be there because there are so many pieces.

This would be a really fun set to order for a pirate-theme party. Even adults could use some of the parts and others could be props.