Are you a fan of solving puzzles and riddles? Do you enjoy watching paranormal reality shows and studying unexplained occurrences along with the investigators? Now this is your chance to become a paranormal investigator in Asakusa! Last week, I had the scariest immersive experience of being locked in a haunted house, racking my brains while racing against time and keeping my cool among the happenings at the Real Escape Room.

Asakusa is one of the most popular sightseeing spots in Tokyo among both local and international tourists. You have probably heard of must see attractions in the area such as the Sensoji temples and Nakamise-dori. If you are looking for an off the tourist path experience, why not add the Real Escape Room to your visit and challenge a thrilling Japanese style escape room?

 

Located just 4 minutes from Asakusa Station, Real Escape Room offers you an hour of fun with a unique Japanese horror storyline. Upon reaching the place, we were greeted by friendly English speaking Japanese staff that showed us to the waiting area where we could keep our belongings in the lockers and change into comfortable slippers. We then received a newspaper article introducing the background stories of the room that we were entering.

In this game, we were all paranormal investigators, tasked to enter the haunted rooms to uncover the truth behind a series of missing people reports. After a short wait, a staff member introduced himself as the Lead Paranormal Investigator that would guide us during the mission.

 

“Are you ready? Let’s begin our investigation!” With that, we followed him up and the dark eerie flight of stairs to the haunted house and experienced a total change of atmosphere. As soon as we were told to start, we scrambled around frantically, one of us searching the room while the other helped in deciphering the riddle.

 

I would say I am good at solving riddles, however I definitely overestimated my ability this time. They were surprisingly challenging and tricky! Coupled with the ticking time, our brains just couldn't seem to function in the spooky terrifying atmosphere.

In the rooms, we were told not to run, keep calm and solve the riddles within 1 hour. We also have to react fast and appropriately to sudden unexpected events in order to stay alive. Our progress was pretty slow in the beginning but we gradually got the hang of it and picked up speed. We opened room after room, uncovering more stories that led us closer to the truth.

 

“3 more minutes!” We were that close to unfolding the mystery when the staff yelled to warn us about the remaining time. The game will end in 1 hour so either you manage to succeed or… you end up like us… We panicked and embarked on the last mission in a flustered manner, making some careless mistakes that cost us our “lives”.

The game did not just end with us being “killed” and leaving the room dejectedly. The staff gave us some thought provoking questions to figure out where we went wrong. We were all enlightened at the end and amazed at how well thought out the entire story was!

There are also other activities located at The Real Escape Room besides “Survive the Urban Legend” which was more of a horror theme. “The Red Room” and “The Mummy Escape Game” lean more towards suspense. Also, fret not about language barriers as these games are created by SCRAP Corporation with the needs of Non-Japanese Speakers in mind!

 

Overall, this was a really scary experience that got my insides churning throughout the game! Nonetheless, just like the adrenaline you get from a roller coaster ride, it was by far the most entertaining and exciting experience I have had in Japan and would definitely recommend this to others!

At-the-door ticket sales are available however there is no guarantee of a slot due to the limited capacity. Therefore, I recommended calling or booking online at http://realescapegame.jp/tickets/. The Real Escape Room is your go-to choice for an hour of problem solving adventure and a test of your wits and courage!