Imagine you were trapped inside a space full of obscure codes and puzzles, and had one hour time to find your way out. What would you do?
An escape room, also known as an exit game, is a type of physical game where participants search for clues and unlock layers of mystery to ultimately break out of a locked room within a time limit. It requires logic and attention to detail, as well as creative thinking and collaboration. For the first time, the concept is about to land in Kyushu as a permanent facility, following the anticipated launch of Escape Games Fukuoka in the coming weeks. Before the official opening, Fukuoka Now had a chance to meet the founders, wrack our brains and try to flee from one of the rooms.
A bit of background
It all started when Moses Yamane was wandering around the streets of Copenhagen during a recent trip to Europe and crossed the sign of ExitGames CPH. After trying out his first ever escape room, something clicked, and even before he finished the trip, the idea of bringing such a concept back to Fukuoka started to form in his mind. For the remainder of his trip, Moses continued to test escape games in Berlin and Budapest and other cities to get a flavor of the industry.
Upon his return to Japan, Moses reached out to his long time buddy Paul, with whom he shares 23 years of running the The Dark Room bar together on Oyafuko-dori in Tenjin. Moses was confident that such experience would help them understand the escape game market likewise. Since April this year, the two have worked intensively to design puzzles, build props and develop themes to bring the game of logic and problem solving to life. Six months later, Escape Games Fukuoka is set to open its doors to the locals and visitors in Kyushu.
What’s inside?
Escape Games Fukuoka has a vision of offering rooms suitable for different audiences; no English or Japanese language ability necessary to play. It envisages four rooms in total, namely Wherehouse, Hangover, Mr. Grey’s Room and Alice. The latter three are soon to come, and they boast interesting storylines, sensuality and psychedelics respectively. Wherehouse, on the other hand, is complete with its intricate engineering and awaits ambitious players in the heart of Fukuoka City.
You wake up in an empty warehouse with little recollection as to how you ended up here. There is a relentless timer and a steadily increasing sense of foreboding in the air. You feel urged to act immediately – perhaps it is best to leave this place before time runs out…
Wherehouse is an escape room game teeming with sound effects, detailed props, logical challenges and mechanical puzzles. It is puzzle-intensive with a simple background story, and the ultimate goal is to unlock the door leading out of the room. With three levels of difficulty, up to six players can choose their own gaming experience: Easy comes with a directional manual that introduces the concept of escape rooms to new players; Challenging assumes prior experience but leaves clues around for subtle guidance; Tough is the ultimate challenge for experienced escapees. The design team worked back and forth to ensure that players follow a logical path, while guaranteeing maximum freedom to experiment and explore.
Our experience
For three amateurs who secretly thought we were going to breeze through the game, Wherehouse in Tough level was too challenging without external help – we were not able to complete the task within the hour. Putting aside our bruised egos, the rich setting of the room still intrigued and awed us. The experience provided the right balance of physical action and mental exercise. Wherehouse had a very thoughtful design, with precisely engineered mechanic props and clues of various nature; the space is used creatively and encourages feeling, reaching, bending and kneeling. Sometimes the link between a clue and its use is not obvious, and may require a trial-and-error approach. However, thinking back, the connections were generally reasonable.
The Wherehouse theme is quite neutral, so it would suit groups of friends and colleagues likewise. Even though the game begins from stepping into a dark room, the overall experience is not scary. Rather, the atmosphere turns somewhat frustrating as time passes by, the same feeling that you would have when stuck solving a problem in algebra. Generally though, with every game, your understanding of the designer’s train of thought increases. In our case, the experience has certainly broadened our ideas for how to search for a clue and what it can tell.
Finally, some advice from us: work with your teammates, pay attention to details, but most importantly – enjoy yourselves!
Escape Games Fukuoka
• 10:00~22:00 (approximate hours)
• Open every day but reservations via their website required
• 302 Daifuku Building, 2-8-19 Daimyo, Chuo-ku
• https://www.escapegamesfukuoka.com/
Report by Ludi Wang and Alicia Chou.
