Military horror escape room in Hongdae: Romeo Point at Cube Escape

Today I really, really, really wanted to do an escape room with a friend, so I searched for escape rooms in Hongdae and went for it!

Honestly the weather's been so wishy-washy lately (hot one day, cool the next, back and forth ugh), but going to cafés and watching movies every single day gets boring, you know? So craving a little dopamine, I visited Cube Escape Hongdae, one of the most famous escape room cafés in the Hongdae area.

Romeo Point at Cube Escape Hongdae Branch: difficulty and horror level

The theme we tackled was Romeo Point. It was listed as medium-high difficulty, medium horror level. For reference, we've done escape rooms about 10 times before, so we're not total beginners, but we're not experts either!

• Difficulty: medium-high
• Horror level: medium

Inside Cube Escape Hongdae Branch: the atmosphere

Cube Escape Hongdae Branch is on the 4th floor of the Mugwang Building, so you take the elevator up, and the moment the door opens, there's this oddly eerie, tense atmosphere right from the entrance haha

There are several escape room theme posters on the walls, so if you're on the fence, you could come here first, check out the storylines, and book on the spot!

Overall the vibe is slightly dark but neatly organized. There are tables to wait at, and the theme descriptions are put together like a scrapbook, so it's fun to read about the other themes' storylines while you wait.

We read through them while waiting, and the Monkey House theme looked fun, so I'm planning to try that one next!

There's also a row of lockers, and the cabinet has huge text saying "Phones MUST be on silent," which was so blunt it made me laugh. You could really feel the owner's earnest plea in that message 🥵 Before entering, make sure to put all your belongings including your phone in the locker and set it to silent — that's the smart move.

Before the game: play the mini-game for 1 extra hint

Before starting the escape room, Cube Escape Hongdae Branch has you play a simple mobile escape-room mini-game as prep, and if you complete it, you get one extra hint.

Honestly the idea was way better than I expected. It's genuinely fun, like doing an extra mini-game on top of the main one!

And on top of that, they give you an extra hint too, so it's a total win, right?? Haha

Romeo Point's storyline, inspired by the film R-Point

Romeo Point is an escape room theme whose story is based on the old horror film Alpoint. A friend of mine had actually seen that movie.

If you've seen the film Alpoint, you'd probably enjoy this even more, haha.

How to get hints at Cube Escape Hongdae Branch

You get hints by using the phone in the room to ask staff for whatever hint you need.

One tip: if you take the example method shown and apply it exactly as-is to the actual puzzle, you'll be able to solve it easily.

After you escape, you can freely take commemorative photos holding a sign, which was such a nice touch. We held the sign and took selfies ourselves, haha.

How hard Romeo Point really felt, and how the escape ended

Since Romeo Point was listed as medium-high difficulty, we walked in pretty scared honestly... but luckily the room theme wasn't as intense as we expected!

Honestly, I'd say the difficulty felt more like medium rather than medium-high. That's because we used three hints and still escaped with over 20 minutes to spare, haha. We don't always manage to escape, so escaping with 20 minutes left made me think we were just in good form that day, haha.

Who should book Romeo Point at Cube Escape Hongdae Branch

If you've felt discouraged from never escaping before, Cube Escape Hongdae Branch's Romeo Point could be where you finally find your confidence.

And if you want to enjoy an escape room with a solid, coherent storyline that makes you feel like you've stepped into a drama, definitely give Cube Escape Hongdae a visit, haha.