Escape Games Fukuoka opened with just one room back in October 2017, and boy oh boy it was a tricky one! Since then they’ve added two more rooms including “The Hangover Room” and late last year, just in time for Christmas, they opened “Mr. Grey’s Room.” On behalf of all the other curious couples in Fukuoka, Isla Phillips and her boyfriend gave it a try and filed this report.
It was my boyfriend’s birthday recently, so what did we do? Well, we went to a “Fifty Shades of Grey”-themed escape room, of course. He was a bit shocked when I revealed the surprise. What were we going to have to do? How is a BDSM-themed escape room going to be set-up? Would it be a bit weird? However, having already played the ‘Hangover’ room and met Paul and Moses, who run Escape Games Fukuoka, I was confident we were in for a fun time.
Escape Games Fukuoka has been open for about a year and is one of the few places you can try an escape room in Japan. It’s a little bit different from their European Escape room cousins in that the rooms avoid using language as part of the game. This means that the games are accessible for anyone and everyone. For those who don’t know, an escape room is a simple idea; you’ll be locked in a room and you have an hour to escape. Sound easy? Well, it might be, if you’re a genius. If not you’ll have to spend your time wisely, working as a team, if you want to escape. Disclaimer: you can, of course, leave whenever you want to if there’s an emergency, or like my boyfriend, you need to go to the bathroom.
Escape rooms are super fun because they are live physical adventures and have a theme, or some type of storyline, to follow. It’s also challenging, fun and forces you to work together to try and find clues and solve puzzles. I was excited to take my boyfriend because he’s never played an escape game before, and I knew that he’d love the creative thinking and collaborative aspects of the experience.
When I last came with a group of friends to play the Hangover Room, Paul and Moses mentioned that their third room was soon to open. It was very cool because we got to see the new room in its building process. The floorboards were up, wiring was being laid, and various props and furnishings were being accumulated. When they explained the theme, Shades of Grey, I was very intrigued and decided that I wanted to bring my boyfriend when he visits Japan.
Two months later, I’m on their website making the reservation. The process was very easy, with an online form, and when I told them it was my boyfriend’s birthday they even offered to personalize our experience. I had the opportunity to bring along a gift and have it hidden in the room as part of the game! In the future, they’re considering making this more of a permanent feature of this particular room because they want couples to be able to really enjoy the atmosphere, perhaps by enjoying some food and drink as part of the experience.
As you might have guessed, “Mr. Grey’s Room” is designed with couples in mind. It is a room that purposefully requires you to use all of your senses. If you can’t imagine how you’d use smell or sound to solve puzzles, then you’re just going to have to go try it! We were really impressed by the ingenuity of the range and types of puzzles and the clever ways they made us work together as a pair. So whether you’ve never been to an escape room before or if you’ve been to hundreds, I would totally recommend trying out Mr. Grey’s Room; I don’t think you’ll be disappointed!
Even if you don’t have a romantic partner to go with I think this game would be great fun with a close friend. The theme is intimate but ultimately the balance is struck really well, avoiding anything awkward or embarrassing. Neither myself nor my boyfriend really knew what to expect from the room but we came away impressed with the experience. Unlike the Hangover Room, this room doesn’t really follow a storyline but instead is focused on the atmosphere, with flickering dim lights and sexy music. A perfect date destination.
Unfortunately, we didn’t quite make it out of the room in an hour. Our sense of hearing slowed us down with the final puzzle and meant that we ran about six minutes over. Apparently, this sort of time is the average for the room so we didn’t feel too bad about our time. What’s nice about Escape Games Fukuoka is that at the moment at least, they let players complete the game even if they don’t quite beat the clock.
I’m certainly hoping to go back to Escape Games Fukuoka to try their other room, ‘The Wherehouse,’ and I’m eagerly anticipating the opening of their fourth room, which will be themed around Alice in Wonderland.
Intrigued? Go ahead and make your reservation!
SPECIAL OFFER!
Mention “Fukuoka Now” when you make a reservation and get an extra 10 minutes (free of charge). Offer valid for reservations up to Mar. 14, 2019.
Read our previous reports on Escape Games Fukuoka too!
Breakout! – Trialing Escape Games Fukuoka
The Hangover Room Report at Escape Games Fukuoka
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, Fukuoka
• https://www.escapegamesfukuoka.com/
Report by Isla Philips
