Escape from puzzle rooms
Three companies play host to people who
have to use their wits and solve puzzles to get out of locked
rooms
Gamers looking at paintings for clues (left) in the Whisper
Of The Dead room and trying to piece together a puzzle (above) to
identify the mystery killer in the Chamber Of Secrets room at Xcape
Singapore; looking for hidden clues in books (below) in the Bail
Out Puzzle puzzle room at Lockdown.sg; and trying to unlock a box
(bottom) using a combination code found earlier in Think Your Way
Out escape room. ST PHOTOS; JAMIE KOH, RAJ NADARAJAN
Lisabel Ting
For an hour one recent evening, Ms Melissa Zheng found herself
trapped in a darkened room with three friends, surrounding by eerie
music, strange paintings and a series of jumbled numbers and
letters.
To get out, the 22-year-old economics graduate had
to solve an array of mind-boggling puzzles that required a
combination of wits, powers of reasoning and an observant eye.
No, she was not filming the next instalment of Saw.
Neither had she been kidnapped by a mad scientist.
In fact, she and her friends had happily paid $22
each to be locked up at Xcape Singapore, a company in Purvis Street
that features "puzzle rooms".
Even though they did not manage to get out of the
room before the one-hour limit, she says: "It was quite exciting
and things got a little scary towards the end."
Xcape is one of three companies here that host
puzzle rooms. All were set up this year and other is slated to open
officially later this month.
They charge $15 to $37.50 for one attempt to solve
puzzles in a room and this usually lasts an hour. Some sell drinks
on the premises, although these are not allowed to be taken into
the puzzle rooms.
All the rooms are equipped with a telephone or
button so that participants can seek help if need be.
They usually have about an hour to come up with
solutions to a series of challenges, with the ultimate goal of
escaping the room. Some of the challenges are physical, such as
retrieving a key from a hard-to-reach place in the room, while
others involve arithmetic brain teasers or breaking codes.
Mr Zoltan Jakab, who opened puzzle room company
Think Your Way Out at *Scape in July, says these rooms started
about three years ago in Japan and Hungary. In Budapest alone, he
says there are about 30 such rooms.
That puzzle-crazy city is the hometown of Mr Jakab,
29, who came to Singapore more than three years ago to work as a
trainer in positive psychology.
"In these rooms, you can have fun, be engaged and
focused. You feel like you are in the here-and-now and nothing else
matters," he says.
Think Your Way Out has only one room, which is set
up to look like an office from the 1980s with accessories from that
era, such as lamps and clocks.
On average, about one to two teams comprising two
to six people attempt it a day. Weekends usually draw about three
to four teams. So far, only about about 25 per cent of the teams
have managed to break out of the room before the time limit.
Mr Jon Ye, 29, spokesman for Lockdown.sg, another
puzzle room company which is officially opening later this month,
says puzzle chambers from different regions vary. "The Asian ones
focus more on pen-and-paper puzzles. After you clear one, you move
on to the next one," he adds.
In the European style, people start to searching
for clues once they enter the room and solving puzzles usually
requires the use of a prop. "The classic example is a screwdriver,"
he says. "If you find a screwdriver, you look for a screw to
unscrew, which might open a compartment. The compartment may hold a
magnet, which allows you to retrieve an object and so on, until you
find the key to unlock the door of the room."
The rooms in Singapore tend to lean more towards
the European style or are a combination of both.
Lockdown.sg in Eu Tong Sen Street has a total of
three rooms, each with different puzzles and story-lines. Mr Ye
says they cost a five-figure sum to set up.
Since the soft launch on Aug 8, about 100 teams
have tested two of the three rooms, with a successful escape rate
of 20 to 35 per cent.
To beat the time limit, some teams use brute force
to smash their way through locked boxes or get clues.
Mr Jakab recounts how one teams lifted a table
which was bolted to the floor, tearing it loose from its screws.
They did not have to pay for the damage but he says: "I always tell
them, it 'think your way out', not 'break your way out'."
Ms Teo Ke Huey, 28, co-founder of Xcape Singapore,
has also seen her fair share of overzealous customers. "One group
tried to remove the ceiling panels in the room," she recalls. "We
have also had people pouring water into places where water should
not be poured and destroyed some of the traps."
To deal with such damage, Xcape spends about $1,000
a month to maintain the props. So far, it has not asked errant
customers to make good the damage.
Where to find the rooms
LOCKDOWN.SG
Where: 03-51/52 The Central, 6 Eu Tong Sen
Street
Open: 11.30am to 10.30pm daily (it will open
officially later this month)
Number of rooms: Three
Recommended group size: Three to five
players
Admission: $19 a person on weekdays before 7pm,
$22 a person on weekdays after 7pm as well as on weekends and
public holidays.
Info: Go to www.lockdown.sg
THE ESCAPE ARTIST
Where: 11-02, Bukit Timah Shopping Centre, 170
Upper Bukit Timah Road
Open: Noon to midnight daily
Number of rooms: Four
Recommended group size: Two to eight
players
Admission: $15 a person on weekdays before 7pm,
$18 a person on weekdays after 7pm as well as on weekends and the
eve of public holidays.
Info: Go to www.theescapeartist.org
THINK YOUR WAY OUT
Where: 05-03, *Scape, 2 Orchard Link
Open: 9am to 10.30pm daily
Number of rooms: One
Recommended group size: Two to six people
Admission: $20 to $37.50 a person, depending on
the number of people
Info: Go to www.tywogames.com
XCAPE SINGAPORE
Where: 8 Purvis Street, 04-01
Open: Mondays to Thursdays, 11am to 11.30pm;
Fridays and Saturdays, 11am to 2am; Sundays, 11am to 1am
Number of rooms: Four
Recommended group size: Four to eight
people
Admission: $22 a person on weekdays before
6pm,$28 a person on weekdays after 6pm as well as on weekends,
public holidays and eve of public holidays
Info: Go to www.xcape.sg
Live, The Sunday Times, September 1, 2013, Pg 6
