We present the development and evaluation of "da Vinci's Curse", a chemistry escape room experience designed to consolidate laboratory skills in a fun and interactive setting. Inspired by the maestro, Leonardo da Vinci, the escape room challenges students to complete a series of puzzles in teams to escape "da Vinci's Curse". Guided in their journey by instructional riddles from da Vinci himself, these puzzles focus on practical laboratory techniques including liquid-liquid extraction, acid-base behavior of functional groups, infrared spectroscopy, and thin-layer chromatography. Evaluation of the effectiveness of "da Vinci's Curse" by a Likert methodology found that student confidence in a range of key laboratory, transferable, and employability skills increased significantly and that students enjoyed the experience of working with others in the laboratory.