Scare-free escape room in Hongdae: 3-hint escape at Cube Escape

Today I escaped the heat with an indoor date course in Hongdae — I did an escape room at Cube Escape Hongdae Branch!

Where is Cube Escape Hongdae Branch and how do you get there?

Cube Escape Hongdae Branch is a 6-minute walk from Hongik University Station Exit 9, on the 4th floor of the Mugwang Building on Yanghwa-ro 16-gil. I'd strongly recommend it as an indoor date course for hot or cold weather!

Ever since I did an escape room with Hyorbin, I've been hooked and do one every so often whenever the mood strikes. I came to Hongdae and it was just too hot to be outside, so I stopped by. There's an elevator so you can go up comfortably!

Cube Escape prices, student and Naver review discounts

Cube Escape Hongdae Branch's prices are laid out like this on the store's signage. But there are various discount events, so let me introduce them:

• Elementary/middle/high school discount: verify with student ID, youth ID, e-Alimi, etc. → ₩2,000 off per person (※ not applicable on weekends or public holidays, not combinable with other discounts)
• Naver review event: verify with a Naver receipt for 20% off themes before 1pm or after 10pm, ₩4,000 off other times (※ discount on the total amount, not combinable)
• Group discount for 20+ people: inquire in detail by phone

Since these are all available, might as well take whichever discount you can get, right?

Chargers, slippers and luggage storage: amenities at Cube Escape

Cube Escape Hongdae Branch had a phone charger, slippers, luggage storage space, water purifier, and gender-separated restrooms all in the waiting area. You absolutely cannot use your phone during the escape room, so having a charger set up outside meant I could just plug it in and comfortably head inside.

There were slippers prepared too, so if you come in uncomfortable shoes it seemed like a good idea to change into them before starting. (This flip-flop-wearing troll passed on that though haha)

Luggage storage was convenient too, and there was a restroom and water purifier inside the store so I could comfortably use the bathroom and drink water before starting haha. The restroom was also gender-separated so it felt safe to use!

Why Hansel and Gretel was the scare-free pick among 8 themes

Cube Escape Hongdae Branch has 8 themes total, each with a slightly different difficulty and content, so quite a lot of people visit to clear them all like a checklist! I'm such a scaredy-cat that I don't even watch horror movies, so I only ever clear the fright-free themes... (to give you an idea of how scared I get — I even flinch when the door opens to the next room...) Anyway, that's why I picked the Hansel and Gretel theme. It seemed like a cute theme with zero fright factor haha.

I got a simple explanation and checked out the prizes for a successful escape! For a no-hint escape, they even take a Polaroid photo for you. The more hints you use, the smaller the prize gets... Hyorbin's and my goal was a no-hint escape! We always fail to escape, so this time I gritted my teeth haha.

I watched a simple explanation video and filled out the customer pledge form, which wasn't hard to write. Once you fill out the pledge form, you're ready :) A staff member came and explained how to open the locks and how to use hints, and then we went straight into the room haha.

Hansel and Gretel difficulty and how the 3-hint escape went

Hansel and Gretel is a Fairy Tale Adventure genre theme with a difficulty of ★★★★. My review of Cube Escape's Hansel and Gretel: it was fun first of all! No fright factor, and the puzzle difficulty was decent.

I'd read a review saying to look around carefully, so I really did, and the first puzzle got solved, and it seems like we solved up through puzzles 5-6 pretty smoothly! There was even an unknown-variable calculation puzzle, and the puzzles themselves were genuinely fun haha. There were 3 puzzles in the middle that I truly had no idea about, so I used hints //// for one of them I regretted using a hint, thinking I should've thought about it just a bit more !!! but honestly, even now, 2 of the puzzles I just could never have figured out with my own brain... T.T

Anyway, we used all 3 hints and successfully escaped. Hehe 🌀

Marking a first escape at the Cube Escape photo zone

Cube Escape Hongdae Branch also has a photo zone, so we took some pictures there. We didn't manage a no-hint escape, but Hyorbin and I still celebrated our first escape together, hehe. A refreshing, cooling break from a hot day.