Mystery, intrigue, puzzle solving and surprises: We've got just the thing to get your tweens and teens smiling (and possibly screaming!) this summer...
Finding things to do with the kids in Singapore is pretty easy with so much fun on our doorstep. Indoor play centres? We’ve got plenty. Adventures in the great outdoors while the sun is shining? Absolutely. But what about that awkward bunch of kids who are way harder to entertain, feed and generally lure a smile from? Yep, teenagers! And we think the best to way get their brain matter firing on all cylinders is with a challenge. Enter the awesome world of the escape room. Throw a bunch of teens (and adults – we tried and loved it too) into a room and make them earn their way out by actually speaking to one another and using some logic…
XCape
With 11 escape rooms to choose from, there’s something for everyone at XCape: we recently tried The Morgue (suitable for kids age 14 and up) and, despite our failure to actually, well, escape, we had a great time. If you have a thing for logic, don’t mind eery noises coming from dead bodies and are okay with the odd jump scare, this makes for a great indoor activity on a rainy day. Choose from themes including teen horror movie fave, Annabelle, a brand new virtual reality combined with role play type escape room, Shanghai 1943 or family-feel good pick, Kung Fu Panda. Rooms all have their own rules and regs, including age restrictions, so do check before booking.
XCape, Bugis Village, 160A Rochor Road, 188435; www.xcape.sg
The Escape Artist
Each room comes ranked with its own rating for difficulty, fear factor and physical exertion levels for the eight challenges across two outlets of The Escape Artist. Team players will get 50 minutes locked in a specially designed themed room to solve puzzles, unravel secrets and possibly be subjected to the odd moment of terror along the way… Groups of teens will love Flashpoint where they’ll have to stop a nefarious villain from blowing up the city by finding and disarming the explosive in a dilapidated warehouse, or maybe try proving how brave they really are when they have to reach an evacuation point through zombie infested lands in Outpost X: Zombie Apocalypse.
The Escape Artist, 52 Telok Blangah Road, #01-01, Singapore 098829 and #01-01, 52A Prinsep St, Singapore 188683; www.theescapeartist.sg
Captivate Escape Room
With six escape rooms to choose from, you’re encouraged to unleash your hidden escapology talents in a 75 minute chance to prove your skills at Captivate Escape Room. Created by professional puzzle designers (how cool is that for a job?), if you’re looking for the ultimate challenge then try Labyrinth: Dead Man Walking, an escape room that only 5% of teams have managed to complete without using hints! You’ll be hired by the Chief of Police to go undercover as a prisoner in Changi Prison on Death Row, and solve the mystery behind bodies disappearing from the prison morgue… or face execution yourself! We’re happy to report that no one has ever really been executed at this escape room (or any others!).
Captivate Escape Room, #06-28, 190 Clemenceau Ave, 239924; www.captivateescaperooms.com
Trapped Escape Room Singapore
For the brave amongst you, enter the set of iconic slasher movie, Friday the 13th (suitable for teens age 13 and up) to help rescue kids from the clutches of infamous horror characters, Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger – or risk becoming a victim yourself. For those of you who haven’t recovered from the actual movie yet, despite seeing it decades ago in your own teens (erm, me), alternatively Escape from Tekong Army Bunk is pitched as a good challenge for families, where you’ll take on a mission to find out what has happened to the disappeared CO stationed on Pulau Tekong. Not to be confused with Pulau Ubin, where there are zero jump scares or locked doors to worry about.
Trapped Escape Room Singapore, SCAPE, 2 Orchard Link, #02-20/21/22, Singapore 237978; www.trapped.sg
Lost Escape Room SG
Race against time across five different challenge rooms at Lost SG where the baffled and the bemused teen folk will have a great time solving mysteries and tackling puzzles in a bid to escape a Japanese suicide forest, biblical Egypt or Chinese mausoleum!
Lost Escape Room SG 1 Sophia Road, #03-01/02/03 Peace Centre, Singapore 228149; www.lost.sg
Freeing SG
Taking inspiration from video games, movies and even Singapore’s own ghost stories, Freeing SG has themes and plots that will transport you straight to a film set. Cool picks include a step for dino-fans into the world of Jurassic to escape the facility before the dinosaurs make a meal of you, while Twi-hards need to rescue their love interest over in Twilight (Team Edward all the way!). For something a little creepier (and closer to home) nerves will be tested over at Old Changi Hospital.
Freeing SG, The Cathay and Plaza Singapura; freeingsg.com
Living Legends
Home grown Living Legends brings escape rooms into the 21st century with tech-augmented rooms designed to fully immerse you in carefully-crafted worlds. The selection is a little slim at the moment, but immerse yourself in Jeremiah’s Manor to save a haunted soul and keep an eye out for more to come.
Living Legends, 1 Sophia Road Peace Centre #02-07, Singapore 228149; livinglegends.sg
Escape Hunt
Escape Hunt is based in over 25 countries across the world and boasts over 100 games to date. It prides itself on providing hotel-style customer service that guarantees to transport you into an intricately planned story. Designed with a unique Asian-European atmosphere, solve the mystery of Jack the Ripper, save yourself from the unexplained mystery of the 27 Club or stop a nuclear war from happening.
Escape Hunt, 100 Orchard Road, Concorde Hotel & Shopping Mall, #02-43, Singapore 238840; singapore.escapehunt.com
Lockdown SG
With seven cleverly designed rooms from spy mysteries to zombie apocalypses and even one for CSI fans, you’ll be scratching your head over these riddles and clues. But we have to give Lockdown a special shoutout for having an added VR escape experience that will see you trying to escape from an abandoned mine before you run out of oxygen! Lockdown also holds escape events like the recent Code of Silence, an escape adventure based in Fort Canning Park. Keep your eyes peeled for more events!
Lockdown, Clarke Quay Central, 6 Eu Tong Sen Street, #02-33, Singapore 059817 and Jurong East JCube (only Virtual Reality Escape), 2 Jurong East Central 1, #02-11, Singapore 609731; lockdown.sg
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