Beginner escape room with friends in Hapjeong: Pyramid at Cube Escape

My close friends and I have gotten hooked on escape rooms lately, and we've done two recently, haha! This time it was the 'Pyramid' theme at Cube Escape Hongdae Branch (큐브이스케이프 홍대점). If you're a total beginner you might worry the puzzles will be too hard, but Pyramid is an adventure-genre theme that's fairly easy to take on, so I think I can recommend it to first-timers too! Okay, let me start the full Cube Escape Hongdae Branch review-!

• Location: 15 Yanghwa-ro 16-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul, Mugwang Building 4th floor
• Opening hours: 12:00-22:40 (opens at 10:00 on weekends)
• Parking: Not available

Getting to Cube Escape Hongdae Branch: is it easy to find?

Cube Escape Hongdae Branch is roughly halfway between Hongik Univ. Station and Hapjeong Station, so it's a walkable distance from either one. It's a great spot if you're meeting friends or planning a date around here!

There's a big Cube Escape escape room café sign on the outside of Mugwang Building, so as long as you know it's on the 4th floor, it's easy to find. The elevator also has the shop name written right on it, which I liked, haha.

Inside Cube Escape Hongdae Branch and the waiting area

Once you step inside Cube Escape Hongdae Branch, there's a waiting area where you can sit before your game starts. It has several tables and chairs, so it was a good place to wait until our booked time. The interior is mostly dark-toned with lighting added, giving it that classic escape room café atmosphere.

Of course, there are also lockers on one side for your belongings. You can't take your phone or personal items into the room, so storing them is a must!

Before we went in, the owner had us fill out a consent form, and showed us a QR code for a kind of taster game? before the theme, saying that if we tried it out briefly first, the escape room would be much easier. Thoughtful little touches like this seem perfect for beginners doing their first escape room!

Cube Escape Hongdae Branch prices and how to book

The price at Cube Escape Hongdae Branch varies a little depending on the number of people.

• 2 people: ₩22,500 per person
• 3 people: ₩20,000 per person
• 4 people: ₩19,000 per person
• 5 people: ₩18,000 per person
• Groups of 15 or more: by inquiry

The more people, the lower the price per person, so it's actually a better deal when you come with a bunch of friends! Prices and discount events can change, though, so please check the latest info on the official website before booking-!

Booking was actually convenient too: you go to the official website and pick the branch, date, number of people, theme and time slot.

There are 8 themes in total, and each has a good description, so it's easy to pick one that suits your taste and level!

Pyramid theme basics and difficulty

• Theme name: Pyramid
• Genre: Adventure
• Play time: 60 minutes
• Official difficulty: 3 / 5
• Price: ₩60,000 for 3 people
• Recommended players: 2-3

Pyramid at Cube Escape Hongdae Branch is an adventure theme where you've been exploring an Egyptian pyramid, get trapped, and have to find clues in the room to escape-! The time limit is 60 minutes! You have to find clues and solve the puzzles within that time.

If you're new to escape rooms or don't have much experience, it can be hard to decide which theme to pick. Choosing something too hard and barely solving anything is a bummer (the theme my friends and I picked somewhere else before was so hard that we only got through about 30%) hahahaha. Pyramid is introduced as a relatively easy theme, so I think it's good for people trying an escape room for the first time!

Of course, an easy difficulty doesn't mean everything just flows without a hitch, right? haha. Rather than trying to find answers alone, it was more fun to look around carefully and talk through the clues you find with your group, haha. Also, knowing the answers or the mechanisms ahead of time can ruin the fun of an escape room, so I won't spoil the puzzle details!

Pyramid result: 3 hints, and the escape slipped away on the last puzzle

On my second-ever escape room, we used about 3 of the 4 hints in Pyramid and got all the way to the last puzzle, but we didn't escape. With a bit of experience plus an easy difficulty, we got right up to the escape, but unfortunately an unexpected(?) issue came up on the final puzzle and we didn't get out. We really, truly solved everything though,,,!? So it stung even more and all that, but,,,well, we comforted each other thinking we still did pretty well^_^

The puzzles really aren't that hard, so it felt like harder than I expected but still easy? lol. Anyway, beginners can definitely give it a go!

Is the Pyramid theme scary?

We're total scaredy-cats who can't do scary stuff at all, but Pyramid has almost no scares, just maybe one or two small startles? Which actually made it feel more thrilling and fun, I think, haha.

Verdict: Pyramid in Hongdae for beginners and scaredy-cats

The Pyramid theme at Cube Escape Hongdae Branch was a great Hongdae escape room outing to enjoy with friends. I'd recommend it to beginners who aren't used to escape rooms yet like me, or to anyone who finds scary themes a burden but still wants the fun of reasoning and solving puzzles!! There were a few moments where we got slightly startled, but personally I liked that it wasn't too scary. Above all, it's a theme that leaves me wistful because we almost escaped and then didn't, lol.