In recent years, the ultimate teen craze has been escape rooms! Though their popularity cannot be doubted, they are still shrouded in controversy. So … Are escape rooms really worth it? Are they safe? Too expensive?

You wondered, Beijing teens answered.

Let’s dive right in!

Safety?

While most reputable escape rooms are very safe to play in, there have been news reports of people getting injured at escape rooms. Though safety should not be a big problem, it’s important to understand and follow and safety precautions listed by the worker. For instance, those who are claustrophobic or have cardiovascular diseases should not participate.

“I personally don’t like escape rooms because I’m scared of the safety issues and also in most of the escape rooms there is very little space, so if anyone is claustrophobic then [they]should avoid going to the escape room,” says Kannika Mehrotra from ISB.

“The one I went to was quite expensive, but I think it was pretty worth it because of the quality. I could see where the expense came from because there were costumes and monitors and NPCs and props that had to be replaced after every group,” explains Tina Cui from THIS.

Expensive?

Usually, the cost for playing in an escape room ranges from RMB 100 to more than RMB 300 per person. But it really depends on the place you choose.

“I think it depends from person to person. Personally, I don’t think so that it’s worth paying because you’re literally paying to get scared, but I do understand that a lot of people enjoy such mystery and horror stuff, so for them it might be totally worth it,” says Mehrotra.

Selene Sun from Keystone Academy explains, “Personally I think they’re too expansive. Take the escape room Yin Yang Shi as an example. It’s RMB 500 for two hours per person. So when there’s five to six people, they’ll earn RMB 2,500-3,000 for a single round. That’s way too expensive, although the place is huge and there are many good-quality NPCs.”

Spend Time With Friends?

A large part of an escape room experience is solving puzzles or problems with your friends (for those who aren’t scared to death and at this point crying on the floor). Many enjoy this bonding experience as everyone gets terrified together, laughs together, and just has a good time together.

“It’s a nice place to kill time with friends and it’s also a chill place to hang out during summers,” says Mehrotra.

Cui says, “Every time my friends coerce me to go, I end up regretting it and wanting to leave the entire time. I’m miserable and pretty useless in solving tasks because I’m too scared to think properly. But afterward I usually don’t regret going because I can look back on the experience with humor.”

“You get to practice using your brain and just be happy with friends,” mentions Joyce Zhang from Keystone Academy.

“It’s a fun experience to be with friends and interact with a realistic storyline. It’s also a good place to hang out since often we don’t know where to go out with friends,” says Sun.

Popular escape rooms in Beijing for the daredevils:

1. Mr. X (X 先生密室逃脱)

Find it:
2/F, Shimao Plaza, 13 Gong Ti South Road, Chaoyang District
朝阳区工体北路13号世茂广场F2
Tel: 186 0004 9303
Hours: Open 24 hours. Average Price: RMB 249

2. It’s Young (异次元密室逃脱)

Find it (1):
2/F, Shimao Plaza, 13 Gong Ti South Road, Chaoyang District
朝阳区工体北路13号世茂广场F2
Tel: 8453 8041

Find it (2):
B1/F, Gui You Building, 5A Jianguomenwai Dajie, Chaoyang District
朝阳区建国门外大街甲5号贵友大厦B1
Tel: 131 2195 1558
Hours: 10am-10pm. Average price: RMB 97

3. Omescape (奥秘之家)

Find it:
B1/F, Bld. 12, Ban Dao International Compound, 18 Qu Tong East Road, Chaoyang District
朝阳区阜通东大街18号半岛国际公寓12号楼B1层
Tel: 173 4300 5634
Hours: 9.30am-10pm. Average price: RMB 115

Images: Pexels, Dazhong Dianping

Mr. X is a famous (although without context, slightly questionable) name among escape rooms in China, and after having finally experienced one of their rooms myself, I can confirm that they live up to their fame. For those of you who don’t know, escape rooms are exactly what they sound like: You and a group of friends are put into a room – or rather, a series of rooms usually – and you have to escape. Simple as that! At least it is on paper.

Along the way, you have to solve puzzles and uncover clues that will help you move on to the next room and eventually escape. What makes Mr. X’s rooms so unique is their commitment to theming, with an intriguing narrative that slowly reveals itself as you move through each stage. Most of Mr. X’s rooms are horror and mystery-themed, and with the addition of voice recordings and the occasional actor following along, each room can be an absolutely terrifying and challenging experience.

Mr. X currently features two English-language escape rooms, The House of Suicide and Alcatraz. You can easily book a room in advance via Dianping, book one in person, or simply show up the day of and see if they have a room available for you and your friends. The staff does speak some English, although even without it you’d get by. If you opt for one of the English-speaking rooms, once you’re in the room, all recordings and clues are fully in English. Having one Chinese speaker with you doesn’t hurt, however, just in case you’d have to translate some of the instructions beforehand. The waiting area is very large and comfy, with a chill and homey atmosphere, a stark contrast to the dark and scary rooms you are about to enter.

And if your entire group or just some of you do happen to speak Chinese, all the better! Along with the two English rooms, there’s an array of rooms based in Chinese. Likewise, they tend to be some of the more challenging options, often recommended for up to 10 people and should provide a good challenge for even experienced escapees.

My friends and I opted for The House of Suicide, and as a group of six, this was a good and challenging room. As it was my first time participating, I wasn’t sure what to expect and let my more experienced friends lead the way. As I’ve come to understand, the first step to any escape room is to scour the space for any potential items or clues that will assist in your escape. This could be anything from a simple note, a key, or, in our case, the music sheet for a functioning piano.

The first room that served as a kind of entryway was pitch dark, and we had to feel around with our hands to solve the first puzzle and gain access to the next room. Here is where the real escape room experiences began, as we immediately started to look around the more spacious and lavish study we found ourselves in. My friends who had done many of these rooms before immediately started feeling under chairs and flipping through books, hoping to find any sort of clue or mechanism we could potentially use to escape. Anything we found we brought over to the one dim lamp, which provided enough of a light source for reading over clues. At first, I wasn’t sure what to do and found myself looking around a table over and over again.

But after the first puzzle or so I found the flow as well! It was very easy to get the idea of what to do and what to look for early on – even as a complete escape room virgin – and having experienced friends along with me definitely helped. We thoroughly enjoyed our time and managed to escape with just minutes to spare. We’re planning to go back and check out one of their other options, now with more experience under our belts.

Overall, Mr. X is a great place to go if you’ve been looking for a good and scary escape room experience here in Beijing, especially if you’re looking for English-based rooms. This being my first escape room ever, I can confirm that they are fun for both new and experienced players, and you’ll most likely be able to find a room with a suitable difficulty for you and your group of friends.

Mr. X Beijing can be found at 2/F, Shimao Department Store, No.13 Gongti North Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China, (near Sanlitun), and most rooms will run you in between RMB 150 and RMB 250 per person.

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Images: dianping