Tokyo Otaku Mode’s staff is no stranger to escape rooms, and our go-to place to play has been SCRAP’s Tokyo Mystery Circus venue in Shinjuku, Japan. From solving magical puzzles to escaping the curse of Sadako, SCRAP has created very memorable escape room experiences. Check out our previous escape room coverage here.
So when we heard they opened a new location in Shibuya called the “REAL ESCAPE GAME CROSSING Shibuya” on June 5, 2025, we were excited to check it out! SCRAP has created the newest venue to be more accessible for international visitors. While all three games can be played in Japanese, “Escape from The NINE ROOMS” and “Real Stealth Game: THE SECRET AGENT” can also be played in English and Chinese. The third game, “Escape from the Underwater Puzzle Challenge”, is also available in English.
Our expert team of puzzle solvers decided to try “Escape from the NINE ROOMS”, one of SCRAP’s classic escape rooms that they’ve brought back!
Note: We won’t spoil any puzzles or anything that you may experience during the game in this article, so feel free to keep reading.
All photos are official material and are not representative of the actual game.
Escape from The NINE ROOMS
We love how SCRAP designs their escape rooms to provide narrative context as to why your character ended up in their situation. One key thing to pay attention to is that nothing is random. Everything can have meaning to solving the solution, even information you’ve subconsciously seen.
The premise of “Escape from The NINE ROOMS” is simple. Your character wakes up in an unknown room, and you’ll need to solve puzzles in each room to proceed through and clear room nine.
There’s a 50 minute time limit for the entire game, so we felt the pressure to solve each room as quickly as possible. If you make it to the ninth room with more than 10 minutes left, the room will default down to 10 minutes. We weren’t sure if we’d be able to clear all nine rooms, but our goal was to see inside the ninth room.
Our group consisted of 4 players, and we received a tablet and emergency phone before heading into the first room. The tablet informs you about remaining time, gives you hints at the cost of time, and is how you input your answers.
Each room is its own contained puzzle, and we found a variety of gimmicks throughout the rooms that took advantage of their physical space and shape. The first three rooms were a breeze, but the fourth room slowed us down. However, our teamwork pulled us through, and we could make up time solving the next rooms! That is, until the eighth room. It stumped us for so long that we only had three minutes left to solve the ninth room.
If you don’t complete a room before your entire time expires, you can pay a small fee to try the room again. If you fail to pass the ninth room, you’ll receive a special card allowing you to start from the final room next time you play. Please remember that option still costs an additional fee.
We won’t spoil anything about the ninth room, other than it was a huge surprise with multiple puzzles inside. Even after using a continue in the ninth room for the full 10 minutes, we only solved about half of the solutions… that we know of.
Each room’s solution was fun to discover and very cleverly designed! You’ll also notice that the percentage of people who passed have been posted in each room. While it can be intimidating, it was a strong motivation for us to clear the room.
We were very happy with how physical the puzzles were. You need to move around, search the environment, arrange puzzles for solutions, and more to reach the solution. Plus, because there are a variety of themes present throughout the nine rooms, each person on your team has a chance to be the hero and solve a room!
Read more about “Escape from The NINE ROOMS”
https://realdgame.jp/9rooms/en/index.html
Real Stealth Game: THE SECRET AGENT
“Real Stealth Game: THE SECRET AGENT” is an infiltration game where you and your teammates will need to escape from a heavily-guarded base and evade detection from guards. That’s right, you’ll need to avoid the guards who are also searching for you. While we weren’t able to play this game, we’re extremely hopeful to try it in the future! It’s sure to be a standout experience that will test your stealth and reflexes.
Game Details
● Group size: 1-3 players
● Time limit: 45 min
Read more about “Real Stealth Game: THE SECRET AGENT”
https://realstealthgame.jp/thesecretagent/
Escape from the Underwater Puzzle Challenge
SCRAP does a great job of incorporating puzzles into the lobbies of their buildings, similar to the short quiz games we found in Tokyo Mystery Circus in Shinjuku. “Escape from the Underwater Puzzle Challenge” has you walk around the venue to find mini-puzzles to complete. It’s a fun challenge that can be played with younger children, as a family, or if you’re looking for a fun date night activity.
Game Details
● Group size: 2-4 players
● Time limit: 33 min
Read more about “Escape from the Underwater Puzzle Challenge”
https://realdgame.jp/shop/shibuya/events/nazodarake2/
We had an amazing time at “REAL ESCAPE GAME CROSSING Shibuya”! SCRAP’s latest venue is walk-in friendly for tourists, free to browse, and they have fun game kits to purchase and take home. Plus, it’s only five minutes from Shibuya Station, which makes it easily accessible in a city full of exciting events. Be sure to add the “REAL ESCAPE GAME CROSSING Shibuya” to your go-to list next time you're in Tokyo!
Purchase Game Tickets
https://realescapegame.jp/tickets/
Name:
REAL ESCAPE GAME CROSSING Shibuya
Address:
20-11 Udagawa-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Shibuya Mitsuba Building B1F 150-0042
This is a Tokyo Otaku Mode original article written by A. Morris.
from Tokyo Otaku Mode News https://ift.tt/1Q7gsxO
