Recently, I went to Incheon for an escape room with the members of ZERO. Our goal was a slasher, but we didn't want to go far and come back with only one, so we decided to do a trifecta of dystopia, rendering, and slasher. Since I had to go from cafe to cafe, I calculated the time in advance, made a schedule, and tried to make a reservation according to the opening time of the theme! Fortunately, I succeeded in making a reservation at the first time and was able to escape the room as planned without changing the schedule. I guess I'm good at making reservations (self-congratulatory🤔).
Introduction to Doom Escapes
Concept for Doom Escape #2
Doom Escape is an escape room cafe located in Incheon. With a dystopian theme, the second location, S-CLASS, means that the fun of the first location's theme has been upgraded to a higher level by adding special features. All the themed stories share one worldview, and each story is an omnibus. The list of themes is as follows (as of September 2023)
- Fate
- Dystopia
- 罪
- Inbyte
Doom Escape Location 2
Doom'scape 2 is located near Incheon Terminal Station on subway line 1. It's about a 10-minute walk from exit 2. The subway station and Lotte Department Store Incheon are connected underground, and we grabbed lunch at the department store upon arrival.
Introduction to the Dystopia theme
About Play
Genre: Horror
- Doom Escape Official Website
Price: KRW 72,000 for 3 people (via bank transfer)
Playtime: 70 minutes
Difficulty : ★★★★★
Theme synopsis
Ashley, a new singer, wakes up after a disturbing dream...
- Doom Escape Official Website
A different kind of waiting room... for my dreams!
But there's a horror ahead of you...!
The word dystopia is said to refer to a fictionalized world that is negative and contrasted with utopia, which is an idealized world. As the main character is Ashley, a new singer who wakes up from a nightmare in a waiting room, I expected the setting to be a waiting room or a broadcasting station.
The other poster I brought with me showed a woman hanging. I thought it might be haunted because someone was presumed dead. (Scary as hell... more than an escape room ghost.)
Escape Room Reviews
Player Information
3 Player - Tang 1 / Zool 2
The last time we played Zero, it was a three-man team: one Tang, one Zhol, and me (Zhol). I think it was a good configuration, but I think it would have been a bit confusing with four people because there is a narrow space in the middle. Mixing is physically impossible (minimum of two people required).
Difficulty Level
★★★★★
There are no puzzles, but you still have to be pretty good at allocating your time. We went over our allotted time because we arrived early and went straight in, so we got extra play time and barely escaped. We saw the ending, but we didn't escape... 🥲 Apart from a few difficult ones, the rest of the questions are clear and well guided, but the atmosphere is scary, so your brain shuts down and it takes you a long time to find the clues... Those of you who have played horror themed games know what I mean!
And there's one more thing that makes the dystopia even more challenging: there are no hint phones. (Hmm?) If you get stuck on a problem, you have to call the intercom in the room to get a hint, and even then, it doesn't give you the answer right away, you have to take the hint and figure out the answer yourself... Since there are no hint phones, you can't even self-check how far you've progressed during the game. It's all about time allocation, right?
Activity
★★★☆☆
Longer bottoms are recommended because I tend to be active. No short skirts! I'm going to spoil it for you, so that's it... woohoo.
Fear
★★★★☆
In Dystopia, you can choose between high and low fear levels before entering. From what I heard, there is a lot of difference depending on the difficulty level selection. Since I have already played, I can roughly estimate when and where to make a difference in the fear level. If you imagine solving the problem except for those few factors, it will definitely be less scary. I'm nervous, but I'm there to do something scary, so I have to enjoy the content. So I thought I was getting a 'prize' for fear, so I went to the restroom and didn't know... Later, I saw a photo taken by another member and it said 'best'? (Who is it...) That's why I was so scared...🫠
As soon as we started, there were some heart-stopping moments where I was like, "Is this really going to be okay, is this going to go on for over an hour?" There are quite a few scares, so you have to be prepared to be scared. But when it's scary, it's really scary, and when it's not, it's a little bit relaxing... Overall, the scares are well paced, so I was able to get through it.
Interior
★★☆☆☆☆
It's a good enough theme to get a feel for the atmosphere, but it's still a bit dated, and it's true that it doesn't have the interior or scale of some of the newer premium themes.
Device Ratio
Lock: Device - 6: 4
I don't remember exactly because I was scared out of my wits... but I think there were more locks than devices. (The keypad for pressing and opening the front door password was included in the locks.) Still, the problem was intuitive enough that I didn't find the process of unlocking the locks frustrating.
The problem was with the devices, one of the devices wasn't working, it was old and I had to do some very elaborate setup and eventually a staff member came in and helped me. I think the older devices need to be fixed because it's not as immersive when the flow of play is interrupted like that.
Stories
★★☆☆☆☆
There's a story, but it doesn't leave a lasting impression. It just sticks to the dystopian theme of the setting to connect the interior and the world. There was a part in the middle where I was like, "Why did this just pop up?" but they said that it would make sense if I played the other themes in Doom Escape. If I played the other themes together, my assessment might change, but the dystopia alone didn't have a complicated narrative that made it plausible.
Final Evaluation
Dirt - Grass - "grassy path" - Flower Road - Life Theme
Originally, we had only four sections: dirt road, grass road, flower road, and life theme, but this time, we added a full flower road. The reason is that there was an ambiguous part of the dystopia. If you look at the horror level, it would definitely be "flower road," but there were some parts that I didn't like. Device errors, repetitive production, and story are what left me disappointed.
I think those who are simply focused on scares will be satisfied, and those who value other elements will find it as gray area as I did. Regardless, I think Dystopia is a first-generation horror theme that's well worth exploring, and I'd love to play the rest of the world-connected themes next time I get a chance.
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