Beginner family escape room in Hongdae, Seoul: Cube Escape

My mom, my sister and I were out enjoying a day in Seoul, and we decided to try something a little different from our usual routine! We headed to Cube Escape Hongdae Branch, an escape room café in Hongdae. Honestly, all three of us were escape room virgins, so I was a bit nervous, and since I really, really hate scary stuff haha, I went looking for a zero-horror theme. That's how I landed on Hansel and Gretel, a fantasy fairytale concept with relatively easy difficulty.

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

Cube Escape Hongdae Branch is located on the 4th floor of the Mugwang Building, 15 Yanghwa-ro 16-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul. It's a comfortable walk from Hongik University Station, so it's easy to pair with a meal or café stop in Hongdae.

It's on the 4th floor, so you just take the elevator up. If it's your first visit, I'd recommend arriving a bit early before your reservation time!

What are the lobby and waiting area like?

Walking into Cube Escape Hongdae Branch, the waiting area was bigger and cleaner than I expected. There were escape room theme posters up too, which were fun to look at, and I was already feeling a bit of excitement before we even started haha.

Our reservation was for 12:55 PM and we arrived about 10 minutes early. A staff member walked us through how everything works and the precautions step by step, so even as complete beginners we understood it without any trouble.

Before you enter: phone storage and the spare hint phone

Before the game started, we had to store all our electronics, phones included. Going in without a smartphone actually made us focus fully on the game!

Instead, we were given a spare phone to use inside the room for checking hints. It was a real lifesaver for us beginners whenever we were truly stuck on a puzzle haha.

Is the Hansel and Gretel theme scary at all?

Hansel and Gretel has a fantasy fairytale vibe, so there was almost none of the horror element I was most worried about. Even a scaredy-cat like me could enjoy it without any pressure, so I'd recommend it to fellow scaredy-cats too haha.

The escape room finally began! Since it was our first time, at first I was like, "Wait, what are we even supposed to do?" haha, but as we slowly looked around the room and connected clues one by one, we got absorbed pretty quickly. I genuinely felt like a detective!!

Little things I'd normally just walk past all started looking suspicious, and going through the puzzles with my mom and sister — saying things like "Is it this?" and "Check over there!" — was so much fun on its own.

Difficulty and hints: escaping with 10 minutes left

Even though the difficulty was on the easier side, since it was our very first escape room, there were definitely spots where we got stuck. Rather than burning all our time on one puzzle, we used hints wisely as we went.

There were plenty of "Ahh!!! How did I miss that!" moments after checking hints, and honestly that was fun too haha. Every puzzle we solved gave us a real sense of accomplishment! And in the end, we escaped with 10 minutes to spare!! Succeeding on our very first try had all three of us completely thrilled haha — it was way more fun than I expected.

Verdict: is Cube Escape Hongdae a good first room for families?

At first I wondered if my mom and sister would even enjoy it, but once we got going, all three of us were genuinely into hunting for clues and solving puzzles, which was hilarious haha. It wasn't just about solving puzzles alone in a room — there was a real process of sharing ideas and working things out together, which made it great for a family outing.

If you're new to escape rooms like I was, absolutely hate horror themes, or find overly difficult themes intimidating, Hansel and Gretel could be a great way to start.

Escaping with 10 minutes left gave me so much confidence that I want to try a harder difficulty level next time! If you're looking for something different to do in Hongdae besides cafés or restaurants, I'd recommend Cube Escape :)