No-horror spy escape room in Hongdae, Seoul: Gestapo at Cube Escape

While out in Hongdae, I stopped by Cube Escape Hongdae Branch, one of the original first-generation escape room cafés that's still going strong! Here's my review of playing the spy-themed 'Gestapo' room, one of Cube Escape's themes ☺️

Where is Cube Escape Hongdae Branch? 4th floor above Harmony Mart

Cube Escape Hongdae Branch, an escape room café located on Hongdae's main street, is a 5-minute walk from Exit 9 of Hongik University Station.

It's on the 4th floor of the Harmony Mart building! Head to the far right side of Harmony Mart and you'll find the entrance to the building. Take the elevator up to the 4th floor — it's on the right side!

Alright, shall we go escape?!!!

The waiting area, lockers and slippers on a Friday afternoon

Even though I visited on a Friday afternoon, several teams were already playing or waiting to play! Luckily the waiting area was spacious, haha.

The types of locks used at Cube Escape Hongdae Branch are similar to other escape room cafés — letter locks, number locks, direction locks, and so on. Slippers are provided but not required; you can just play in your own shoes if you prefer ⭐️

All 8 Cube Escape Hongdae themes and prices by group size

Cube Escape Hongdae Branch has a total of 8 themes!

• Pyramid — Difficulty: Low / Horror: None
• Gestapo — Difficulty: Medium / Horror: None
• Towering — Difficulty: Medium / Horror: None
• Romeo Point — Difficulty: Medium-High / Horror: Medium
• Monkey House — Difficulty: Low / Horror: High
• Organ Trafficking — Difficulty: Highest / Horror: Medium-Low
• Hansel and Gretel — Difficulty: Medium-Low / Horror: None
• Deliver — Difficulty: Medium / Horror: High

There's a guideline for those who find it hard to pick a theme! Beginners should try Pyramid, if you're past beginner but not yet advanced go for Gestapo or Towering, and if you're with kids Hansel and Gretel or Pyramid are helpful choices ☺️

::Cube Escape Hongdae Branch pricing::

• 2 people: ₩22,500 per person
• 3 people: ₩20,000 per person
• 4 people: ₩19,000 per person

The price per person gets cheaper as your group size grows, so you can enjoy the escape room for less!

📍How to book Cube Escape Hongdae Branch

You can reserve through the official website! Payment happens on-site after you arrive.

After arriving at Cube Escape, a staff member checks your reservation name and guides you through the process. Don't store your belongings ahead of time — staff will let you know when to do that right before the game starts, so just follow their lead!

Up to 4 hints, plus a bonus hint event

After filling out an individual consent form via QR code, staff guided us through participating in an event — looked like some kind of tutoring site — that gives you one extra hint ticket if you join ⭐️ Things got a little awkward starting from the tutoring sign-up part and the staff kindly walked us through it, haha, made me wonder if we'd even manage to escape...

🚨At Cube Escape Hongdae Branch, using up to 4 hints still counts as a successful escape!🚨 If you're new to escape rooms, definitely take part in the bonus hint event~

Escape prizes change with the number of hints you use

There's also a prize event for successfully escaping!

• No hints used: Polaroid photo + discount coupon + yakgwa (traditional Korean cookie)
• 1 hint used: Discount coupon + yakgwa
• 2 hints used: Yakgwa
• 3+ hints used: Oatmeal cookie

Even if you don't get a Polaroid photo, there are props set up in one corner of the café for successful escapees to take pictures with, so make use of them!

Why we chose the Gestapo theme, and its synopsis

I've done over 10 escape rooms, and my partner around 5! Since we don't like horror and wanted something moderately challenging, we picked the spy-themed Gestapo. Play time is 60 minutes.

You are an agent of the secret police organization GESTAPO. Along with your colleague Müller, you were heading to catch a train to Amsterdam to carry out a mission. On your way to the meeting point to receive orders, you're suddenly surrounded by mysterious men. "Now it's your turn to pay the price!" Your vision goes dark, and when you open your eyes, you're inside a train bound for Amsterdam. Your colleague Müller lies collapsed in front of you, and a bomb set for 1 hour sits right before your eyes. You have 1 hour! You must take revenge on the enemies who cornered you and your colleague before the bomb goes off!

How did Gestapo end? 3 hints and an escape with 20 minutes left

So how did it go~~~?

Escape successful 🌸 We used 3 hints and escaped with 20 minutes to spare! Since we used 3 hints, we received an oatmeal cookie as our prize, haha.

Just as described, Gestapo really has zero horror!!! I'm a total scaredy-cat who's even scared of dark atmospheres, and I loved that Gestapo wasn't scary at all, haha. The Gestapo theme definitely has 2-3 puzzles that require you to actually think and use your head! I used hints because I was worried about running out of time, but we ended up with more time left than expected, so I kind of regret not thinking a bit harder, haha, ugh.

The space isn't cramped, so it's totally fine to do this with 3-4 people. It's a theme with puzzles that require thinking and a bit of observation ⭐️ Reading the synopsis beforehand will help you figure out which direction to take!!

It's a bit of a shame we had to use hints, but we escaped successfully from Cube Escape Hongdae Branch's 'Gestapo' theme. Next time I want to try Hansel and Gretel, or the disaster-themed Towering!