For international visitors: Please note that this blog’s recs are intended for a Singapore-based audience. I wouldn’t recommend Singapore as a destination for escape room tourism; it has few must-plays on an international scale. (None of my personal top 10 still-operating rooms are in Singapore.)

Please use the Contact form if you have specific questions about which rooms to try, how scary/difficult a particular room is, etc.

I’ve also noticed people searching for walkthroughs. I won’t give spoilers for rooms. However, if you failed to escape from a room, don’t want to try again, and the escape room company didn’t tell you the answers, drop me a line and we can chat about it.

Not Your Business 关你密室 – 解剖

Their description: You are a new intern forensic doctor. You received a murder case which was initiated in a town. The deceased was a middle-aged woman. Due to special circumstances, her family strongly demanded that the deceased should not be allowed to leave the town for examination and could only be temporarily placed in the mortuary of the town hospital. So you followed your practical tutor to this remote township hospital for physical examination.

Similar to this company’s other 90-minute horror room, 解剖 is strong on storyline integration — perhaps even narrative-powered. To get the most out of this room, players should listen carefully and engage with the story, including what they learn in the process of puzzle-solving.

Players can choose whether to have a horror actor (NPC), with no difference in cost. We played with an NPC, who added some scares but not much to the story; if you’re not a horror fan, just play without one.

The room pulls off its horror atmosphere well, and has decent (if sometimes clunky) setpieces with special effects. Lighting is used effectively for signposting, and doesn’t pose an issue for readability (unlike in 诡校).

The room is relatively light on puzzles, and more about following the story, performing tasks, and figuring out the narrative. For the puzzles that do exist, there are two potential snags: the starting puzzle suffers from ambiguity in format (call the staff if you have an answer but it isn’t working) and one midgame puzzle is a bit unsatisfying.

Some materials are provided in both English and Chinese, and before the game begins, you can inform the staff if you want English audio (which is played after the original Mandarin voiceover). But some text in the room remains Chinese-only.

I enjoyed the narrative journey so much that I’d say this room is RECOMMENDED if you like figuring out a story (and also for horror fans). Otherwise, it’s still interesting enough to be WORTH A TRY.

Puzzle difficulty: 3/5
Puzzle logic: 4/5
Multimedia aspect of puzzles: 3/5

Atmosphere and setting: 4/5
Exciting flourishes, use of technology or physical aspects: 4/5
Storyline integration: 4.5/5

Their suggested number of players: 4 to 8
My suggested number of players: 4 to 6

The Escape Artist – Guardians of the Future

Their description: Uncover conservation truths with WWF-Singapore (World Wide Fund for Nature Singapore)

The effects of climate change are becoming more apparent as rising sea levels, melting ice caps and erratic weather patterns threaten our homes and our way of life.

Due to the torrential rain, water starts to seep into your home. Feeling helpless, you can’t help but wonder if there’s anything you can do to prevent the worse from happening.

As you pack your belongings to evacuate, you look out at the trees and start questioning if the answer to your survival has been right in front of you all along.

Will you be the key to our survival as guardians of the future?

I found this room most interesting as an example of a tie-up with an external body — in this case, WWF-Singapore. Apparently it opened in December but will close at the end of March (so this is the last chance to play it). Precisely because escape rooms/games require players to examine and absorb information, they can be good ways of conveying messages and raising awareness.

This room replaces Gatecrash, and retains many of its predecessor’s physical aspects, including puzzle-input mechanisms. However, the puzzles themselves are different, so teams which have already played Gatecrash can still play this one. There’s also some effort to redecorate in line with the ecological theme, including some nice background sound effects.

Apart from one early puzzle that felt slightly ambiguous, the puzzles are logical and the solving process is smooth. TEA rates this room at a low difficulty, which seems fair.

The ecological aspect runs throughout the entire room (apart from one midstage puzzle, though I could have just missed the link), with consistent conservation theming and various interesting facts. I did enjoy having to process and apply information in a couple of puzzles, beyond mere matching.

Overall, the room isn’t a must-play, but I think it’s particularly suitable for students, not least given the conservation theme. Beginners might enjoy it too. Otherwise, it’s still WORTH A TRY.

Puzzle difficulty: 3/5
Puzzle logic: 4/5
Multimedia aspect of puzzles: 2/5

Atmosphere and setting: 2.5/5
Exciting flourishes, use of technology or physical aspects: 2.5/5
Storyline integration: 3/5

Their suggested number of players: n/a
My suggested number of players: 2 to 4

Overall review: Not Your Business Escape Room 关你密室

Taking over Lockdown’s old space in Orchard Gateway, Not Your Business Escape Room 关你密室 has an excellently punny Chinese name… and rooms that were clearly created for Chinese-speaking players. There’s some helpful English text added to the room materials, and you can inform the staff before the game if you’d like English audio. Still, the solving process is smoother if you understand Chinese.

The rooms have good production values (especially by Singapore standards), with fancy mechanisms and no traditional locks — but the real selling points are probably 1) the dress-up option for the Tang dynasty-themed non-horror room, 2) the horror NPC options in the other two.

The puzzles themselves are solid, but they aren’t the main draw. I did enjoy how narrative-powered the rooms are, though — especially 解剖, which I’d recommend to players who enjoy figuring out a storyline.

Booking is via WeChat or WhatsApp. It seems that you can request any timing you want, with no fixed timeslots. The Orchard location does mean a pricing premium — perhaps worth it if you dress up or choose the live NPC option, but less so otherwise.

For beginners, horror fans, or groups that enjoy dramatic flourishes (including costumes and NPCs), Not Your Business could be RECOMMENDED. For puzzle-focused players, it’s still WORTH A TRY.

Staff: Friendly and helpful.

Hints: Available via walkie-talkie.

Will your group be combined with strangers? Possible (specify when booking)

Rooms tried: 3 out of 3

Recommended team size: Varies by room

Specific room reviews
盛唐谜案
诡校
解剖

Not Your Business Escape Room 关你密室
https://www.xiaohongshu.com/user/profile/55a51f943397db3c81899a30

Not Your Business 关你密室 – 诡校

Their description: Yushan high school was the best high school in Yushan. Inside Yushan high school, the best dormitory is dormitory 404. Dormitory 404 consist of many reputable students many years ago. However, 10 years ago, there was a big fire. Dormitory 404 disappeared since then. You were one of their classmate. After 10 years, you received a letter from this school, and you decided to pay a visit to the school out of curiosity.

This school-themed 90-minute horror room felt like it had the potential to be great — but various small annoyances keep me from recommending this wholeheartedly.

Players can choose whether to have a horror actor (NPC), with no difference in cost. This review is based on a playthrough without an NPC, but it’s probably worth playing the NPC version for the full experience.

Even without an NPC, the room pulls off its horror atmosphere well. The physical setting is large enough to provide a sense of exploration.

Unfortunately, deliberately poor lighting makes for a rough start, adding artificial difficulty to otherwise solid puzzles. The midgame can be confusing, with a risk of technical malfunctions and some unintuitive moves.

Things do smoothen out later, with lighting used to good effect in signposting the game flow. In general the room’s puzzles all had solid central ideas — yet we still had to resort to some trial-and-error.

诡校 is very strong on storyline integration, and players will get the most out of it if they really engage with the story. However, some key information is provided through one-time audio voiceovers, which is quite unforgiving.

Some materials are provided in both English and Chinese, and before the game begins, you can tell the staff whether you want English or Mandarin audio. Yet some text in the room remains Chinese-only.

Despite my complaints, I think this room is WORTH A TRY (perhaps RECOMMENDED for horror fans, if played with an NPC) — just be prepared for a less-than-smooth a solving experience.

Puzzle difficulty: 4/5
Puzzle logic: 3.5/5
Multimedia aspect of puzzles: 4/5

Atmosphere and setting: 4/5
Exciting flourishes, use of technology or physical aspects: 4/5
Storyline integration: 4.5/5

Their suggested number of players: 4 to 6
My suggested number of players: 4 to 6

Not Your Business 关你密室 – 盛唐谜案

Their description: Zuixianlou is the most famous restaurant in YangZhou. Many famous people have been here. But recently you heard that Zuixianlou’s boss stole the night pearl from foreign country. You are here to help the Dali Temple check.

At 60 minutes and meant for 2 to 5 players, 盛唐谜案 is smaller and shorter than Not Your Business’ two 90-minute horror rooms. Do pay attention to the synopsis before playing — it gives helpful narrative context.

The draw of 盛唐谜案 is probably that you can dress up in period-era clothing (and take photographs in the room after playing) for no additional cost. The decor is correspondingly photogenic, providing a decent sense of atmosphere.

Yet while there are multiple spaces, the total area isn’t large, and there aren’t many puzzles. The whole experience feels somehow small.

One plus is that the puzzles use interesting unlock mechanisms, with no traditional padlocks — though this does mean a risk of technical malfunction.

There’s a consistent effort to thread the storyline through the whole experience, but it’s conveyed through audio voiceovers, so players have to listen carefully. (Before the game begins, do tell the staff whether you want English or Mandarin audio.) There’s enough supporting English text to make the room playable for non-Chinese speakers.

The showy set and fun mechanisms might wow beginners and walk-ins, for whom this is WORTH A TRY. It’s not a bad room, per se, but veterans or puzzle-focused players should adjust their expectations.

Puzzle difficulty: 2.5/5
Puzzle logic: 3.5/5
Multimedia aspect of puzzles: 3/5

Atmosphere and setting: 3.5/5
Exciting flourishes, use of technology or physical aspects: 3/5
Storyline integration: 3.5/5

Their suggested number of players: 2 to 5
My suggested number of players: 2 to 5

Overall review: Inmers Escape Room

Inmers Escape Room has brought a glimpse of China’s cutting-edge escape room scene to Singapore, with two productions that are far ahead of anything else here: Break Through The Soil and The Medium. Either is a must-play (though I’d recommend Break Through The Soil more) if you’ve never tried China’s high-end NPC-driven horror rooms.

Besides those two large-scale immersive experiences, Inmers offers something on the other end of the scale: abstract 20-minute game The Floor Is Lava.

There are many social media videos showing the gameplay, but you really need to experience it for yourself. We enjoyed our first try enough to book two back-to-back sessions on another day — though a single session is enough of a workout! It helps that you can “save” your progress (take a photo of your ending screen) and resume from that level on your next visit.

Earlier levels tested agility and speed; Inmers has since updated the game with new variations, including a game mode that requires more thinking and less physical exertion.

All three games at Inmers are RECOMMENDED for being unlike anything else in Singapore — and thoroughly enjoyable in their own right. Don’t be put off by the steep price point of the horror rooms; it’s still cheaper than going to China, after all… 

Staff: Chill but friendly.

Hints: n/a

Will your group be combined with strangers? No

Rooms tried: 3 out of 3

Recommended team size: 4 or 5 people

Specific room reviews
Break Through The Soil
The Medium

Inmers Escape Room
https://www.inmersplay.com/

Inmers Escape Room – The Medium

After Inmers’ excellent must-play Break Through The Soil game, I was looking forward to The Medium. Unfortunately, The Medium isn’t as good — though it’s still RECOMMENDED as Singapore’s second-best immersive horror experience.

The Medium is just… less than Break Through The Soil. It lasts 80 minutes rather than 90 minutes. It has no puzzle-solving; a smaller space; fewer breathtaking visual setpieces; and narrative twists that aren’t as mindblowing.

But that’s all in comparison to its fellow Inmers room. Taken on its own merits, The Medium is still a compelling experience, and the closest thing (after Break Through The Soil) to China’s immersive NPC-led narrative mystery adventures.

The game has no puzzles, only a few simple tasks; the real challenge is figuring out the story. This felt more difficult than in Break Through The Soil, with less narrative clarity — but there are still delightfully chilling realisations in store, and a helpful recap at the end.

Production values are still miles ahead of other rooms, and the NPCs were truly impressive, on several levels. Whether you find it scarier than Break Through The Soil may depend on your personal scare factors and which individual tasks you take on (I personally found it less scary).

As before, my usual rubric for escape rooms doesn’t apply. While a step down from the other Inmers room, The Medium is still off the scale for atmosphere and setting; exciting flourishes, use of technology or physical aspects; and storyline integration (since it’s… mostly storyline).

Compared to Break Through The Soil, The Medium is friendlier towards players with mobility issues, with no physical obstacles apart from a few steps.

If you’re choosing between both rooms, definitely pick Break Through The Soil.
If you’ve played The Medium, then whether or not you enjoyed it, you should still try Break Through The Soil.
If you’ve played Break Through The Soil, then The Medium is still worth playing, but adjust your expectations.

Their suggested number of players: 4 to 8
My suggested number of players: 4 to 6; could get crowded with more