Sibling escape room in Hongdae, Seoul: all hints used at Cube Escape

Hongdae escape room recommendation, an honest review of Hansel and Gretel at Cube Escape Hongdae Branch (with discount tips)

Where is Cube Escape Hongdae Branch, and what are the hours?

• Address: 15 Yanghwa-ro 16-gil, Mugwang Building 4F, Mapo-gu, Seoul (402m from Hongik University Station Exit 9)
• Hours: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu 11:00-23:45 / Fri, Sat 10:00-00:05 / Sun 10:00-23:45 (10:00-00:00 day before holidays)
• Amenities: reservations, group bookings available, Wi-Fi, separate men's/women's restrooms

Back in an escape room with my sister after 10 years

I've been really into escape rooms again lately and have been on a bit of an escape room run~ Ten years ago my sister and I used to be escape room mates, we'd even travel to Seoul from Chuncheon just to do them haha. But both of us basically took a decade off while job hunting, and it wasn't until she got a job and a year passed that we finally had the time and energy to go do the comeback escape room we'd been wanting to do for so long.

Today's escape room is Cube Escape Hongdae Branch on the 4th floor of the Mugwang Building in Hongdae ~ let's go

Walking into the store

Apparently this place is famous as a long-standing landmark in Hongdae's escape room scene, and the walls are covered in signatures from famous celebrities — there's even one from Gaeko of Dynamic Duo and one from Daisy of MOMOLAND, so it's definitely a certified hot spot 🔥🔥

How much does Cube Escape cost, and how do you get the discount?

💁 Pricing by group size

• 2 people: ₩45,000 (₩22,500 per person)
• 3 people: ₩60,000 (₩20,000 per person)
• 4 people: ₩76,000 (₩19,000 per person)
• 5 people: ₩90,000 (₩18,000 per person)
• 6 people: ₩102,000 (₩17,000 per person)
• 7 people: ₩119,000 (₩17,000 per person)

🥳 Discount events

• 1. Elementary/middle/high school student discount — ₩2,000 off per person, not available weekends and holidays, cannot be combined with other discounts
• 2. Naver review event (receipt verification) — 20% off themes starting before 1pm, 20% off themes starting after 10pm, ₩4,000 off at other times. Applied to the total amount, available on weekends and holidays, cannot be combined with other discounts
• 3. Group discount for 20+ people — must contact the store in advance and confirm reservation (deposit required), discount rate may vary depending on group size

Inside the waiting area: slippers, props and photo corners

I heard this escape room café has actually been around for quite a while, but the interior is so stylish and clean I thought it was newly opened~

While waiting I took a good look around the whole store, and there are a lot of thoughtful little touches

It's really awkward doing an escape room in heels or uncomfortable shoes, but they have indoor slippers laid out in sizes from 240 to 280 that you can comfortably change into (not required, wear at your own discretion). So even if you decide on a spontaneous escape room while out in Hongdae, no problem (an escape room café where introverts don't need to worry either!!)

(I put a sticker over it to avoid spoiling the jump scare 😘) There's a creepy nun mannequin leaning against the wall, and even my scaredy-cat sister found this one scary and squeezed her eyes shut haha. Every corner is decorated with props, so there's plenty to look at

Which themes can you pick, and why we chose Hansel and Gretel

TOWERING, GESTAPO, DELIVER, ROMEO POINT, MONKEY MAGIC, Secret of the Pyramid, and more — a whole lineup of heart-pounding fun themes. The genres are so varied there are lots of options to choose according to your taste, so I was already brimming with excitement before we even started

After careful deliberation, the theme we picked was Hansel and Gretel.

Hansel and Gretel is medium-low difficulty, and since my sister absolutely cannot do horror escape rooms, I picked the adventure theme with zero horror at all!! The setting is a house made of candy and a mysterious witch's cottage, with a story where you must escape the witch's secret cottage within just 60 minutes

Before the 60 minutes start: challenge mission, memo pad and hint phone

Before starting the escape room proper, we scanned a QR code to fill out a customer consent form

Completing the challenge mission gives you +1 extra hint

How to participate: Scan QR code → complete all steps under [Learn] → show the 'challenge complete' screen to staff. It's quite good for getting a feel for things, so I'd recommend beginners try it

They also give you an electronic memo pad that you can write on and erase, totally a lifesaver item for solving puzzles (escape rooms have gotten so smart these days)

There's a dedicated hint phone where you enter a hint code to use a hint ~ you can also check the time remaining right on the phone

After storing our bags and charging our phone batteries, we closed our eyes and entered the Hansel and Gretel room!!

Did the sisters escape, and what prize did they win?

• No-hint escape: Polaroid + discount coupon + yakgwa (Korean honey cookie)
• 1-hint escape: discount coupon + yakgwa
• 2-hint escape: yakgwa only
• 3+ hints: oatmeal cookie only

I can't say what the story inside the room was since that would be a spoiler, but my sister, who'd been away from escape rooms for so long, seemed a little lost at first before quickly getting back into her old form and having a great time fully immersed

The result: we escaped successfully!!🤓 But we used up every single hint, so all we got was an oatmeal cookie haha. The puzzles were fun too, so the whole way home my sister and I kept saying 'that was crazy' and recapping the whole thing (recapping the puzzles after it's over is honestly half the fun of escape rooms). It had been so long since I'd had this much fun with my sister, and we already promised to try another theme next time!!!! If you're looking for a quality, guaranteed-fun offbeat date idea, give Cube Escape, the Hongdae escape room café, a visit 💖