Escape rooms! Also known as puzzle rooms, room breaks, and mystery rooms.
You don't know someone for real until you've locked them in a room and watched them struggle with a 10-key for forty-five minutes. We've selected a handful from around town that are worth visiting at least once. Excuse the lack of photography at some. A couple of these places treat themselves like they're Fort Knox. They're not. Or are they?
SmartShanghai's Escape Room Pro-Tips
- All escape rooms in Shanghai require some degree of Mandarin proficiency.
- All of these places ask you to put your phones in a locker before entering the rooms.
- All of these places require you to book well in advance, particularly for those coveted weekend spots, and arrive ten minutes early. Check on Dianping / Meituan for the best deals.
- All of them are some degree of grimy, whether for ambience or for lack of care. Dress appropriately: sneakers and pants are your best bet.
MC Puzzle Room
580 Tianyaoqiao Lu, near Xietu Lu
天鑰橋路580號, 近斜土路
Price: 100-200rmb per person
How long do they give you: 60-80 mins
Group size: 4-8
MC has 4 different locations around the city (including one in Pudong!), and is quite cheap, at a measly 100-200rmb per person. Consequently, it's on the janky side: a fair number of puzzles involve peeling print-outs glued onto surfaces and rooms have "bookshelves" made of low resolution posters, but the physical puzzles are decently put-together. If there're a lot of people waiting, there's a good chance they'll team you up with another group to reach 8 per room.
Pulupulu
139 Miaojiang Lu, near Bansongyuan Lu
苗江路139號, 近半淞園路
Price Range: 138-288rmb per person
How long do they give you: Escape rooms are 60 mins, roleplay experiences take 80-90 mins
Group size: 2-9
One of the more expensive escape room options in Shanghai, but it's worth it — Pulupulu is known for the "immersive" horror escape room experience. Heavy on the horror ambiance. Genuinely terrifying actors and actresses involved. Not for the faint of heart. The space is large and well-decorated, with an impressive Harry Potteresque main hall. We tried it out back in 2016, and while those storylines aren't available anymore, the production quality hasn't dipped.
They currently have 13 different rooms with a variety of themes (including non-horror-y ones), but the most popular is the gruesome 編號29118. Some of the rooms are classic "escape room" style puzzles, while others are roleplay experiences, with actors guiding you through it. To get the full impact of the story lines, you're going to need Chinese skills.
RU Kidding
B1/F, 410-416 Wuning Nan Lu, near Yuyao Lu
武寧南路410-416號B1樓，近餘姚路
Price: 178rmb & 258rmb / person
How long do they give you: 90 mins, except for one 120 mins room
Group size: One room allows minimum 2. 4-12 for the others.
Popular, popular place, so make sure you reserve spots well in advance (particularly for the weekends). It's at a happy medium when it comes to production quality, not the best, but certainly not the worst. It's a little under the average price for its quality bracket. Plus, you can wrangle special deals for birthday parties, office groups, etc. Their signature room is the alchemy-themed 百年魔法師 room, with a lot of mechanical puzzles. Some call it "the gym of escape rooms" – lots of climbing and crawling around. Skirts not advised.
Mr. X
Bldg 1, 550 Jumen Lu, near Quxi Lu
局門路550號1號樓, 近瞿溪路
Price: 199rmb-329rmb per person
How long do they give you: Between 90-120mins
Group size: Minimum 6, but they're likely to match you with another group
A longstanding favorite amongst locals and expats alike, with good reason – the quality is consistently high and there's a wide variety of themes and storylines. The space is large, with a cafe-type lobby full of sofas. It's probably the most foreigner-friendly option in the city. You might remember Alcatraz as an excellent and atmospheric choice, while Silent Hill was disorienting, but not as scary as you'd like. If you haven't been back recently, now's a good time to go: they've gone through a major overhaul, offering four new themed rooms. Their most popular one is currently the 120 minute escape room 彌生1, an immersive supernatural murder mystery set in ancient Japan. They also released a "part 2". Both pricy, clocking in at 329rmb per person.
Definite downsides are the large minimum group size and the high likelihood they'll match you with another group to reach 10-12. If you want the room to yourself, you'll have to pay for the empty slots.
Mofang Secret Room
13/F, Block D, 618 Xikang Lu, near Changping Lu
西康路618號D座13樓, 近昌平路
Price: 180-240rmb per person
How long do they give you: 90-120 mins
Group size: 4-12, though staff suggest no more than 8.
Think Mr. X, but cheaper and less expat-friendly: they have six rooms, which vary widely in size, as well as English-friendliness. There are five different locations around town, but the most popular is this one in Jing'an. Their most popular one is Dungeon, a vampire themed room which is less audiovisual fancy foofery and more very tricky puzzles. Good if you're more interested in a brain-twister than a theatrical experience. Big, big plus here is that if you fail to complete a room within the allotted time, you can talk to the staff and they'll help you schedule another time for your group to play a second round free of charge. They've got a bunch of locations around town.
House of Kaidan
22/F, 41 Caoxi Bei Lu, near Hongqiao Lu
漕溪北路41號22樓, 近虹橋路
Price: 238rmb/person (during off-season, the price goes down to about 198rmb/person)
How long do they give you: 90 mins
Group size: 4-10
Though it's a little out of the way (you'll have to take a crowded elevator into a sketchy office block near Xujiahui) House of Kaidan manages to deliver with the small space that it has. There are three different themes with budget-creepy decorations and next to no light, creating an unsettling haunted house atmosphere. One is a more traditional escape room, where they separate one member from the party, and have an actual Sadako stalking the corridors. The other two are heavy on roleplay and require a lot of local knowledge. Clues and story lines are all in Chinese, but they said if you book in advance, they'd be happy to find someone who can translate. If your group is small, they might ask you if you could pair up with another group, but you're free to say no.
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Samajam 2: Kids Participatory Musical Experience
A 100% interactive musical experience where the audience is the show! Canadian performance troupe "Samajam" has introduced a show for families, creating musical happenings with the help of their audiences. After a successful tour, they're back in China and sweeping its audience through South America! The lively showleaders on stage will teach the audience basic music theory and lead parents and kids in percussive group performances with instruments provided.
Date: Jun 16, 2019 to Aug 17, 2019
Venue: ET Space
Address: 433 Yanan Dong Lu, near Xizang Lu