Get Lost to Escape: A Game of Thinking & Teamwork for Families

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Ever since we walked past an Escape Room shop in a mall last year, Ayd has been badgering me to bring him to one. In case you didn't know, Escape Rooms are real-world games that imprison participants in a room with friends, where you are then forced to hunt for clues within the room, using logic and teamwork to free yourselves in a race against the clock.

So when the chance came to bring the entire family down to pit our wits against one such room, it was an offer the monkies (and I) could not refuse.

Opened late last year, Lost SG originated from Hong Kong and is the top rated escape room franchise there. While most escape rooms depend on a traditional lock-and-key concept to advance in the game, Lost SG banks on automation and simulation technology, which gives them an edge over other escape rooms in Singapore. 

There are a total of 5 escape games to choose from, and we were tasked with Alcatraz, which was given a 4.5 out of 6 difficulty rating - the lowest of the 5 games. Only 4.5 stars??? I scoffed at being allocated with the easiest challenge of the lot. Or so I thought.

After watching a chort video clip to set the premise of the story, we were thrown into prison. Literally.

Actually, the suspense began even before that. We were all blindfolded as we were led to our room and when told to remove our blindfolds, we found ourselves behind bars, with nothing in our cell except for a bench, a locked box and some props.

There were 3 cells in total, with all of us were separated and locked up in individual cells. Time was of the essence - we were given 60 minutes to escape - and we got down to work immediately.

To be honest, the puzzles were harder than I thought. Or it could be due to the fact that we did not sit on the puzzles long enough.

Some required a basic level of arithmetic skills, while other puzzles called for a large amount of teamwork - yes, we had to swap certain items through the cell bars to free ourselves from the prison cells.

After we successfully freed ourselves, we had to converge and figure out a way to escape from the room. I would not want to spoil the fun, but let me just say I was impressed with the use of technology in the room, and how it was incorporated with many of the mechanisms that we had to utilise to move on to the next clue.

Also, not all of the room's puzzles bordered on locks and number combinations. We had to scour the room for clues, read every single line of the documents and use our eyes to look out for the slightest hint.

So... the answer to the big question remain: Did we manage to escape in time?

I suppose the photo above is evident enough. We ran out of time but we did manage to crack the code in the end - after an extra 5 minutes.

And naturally, I suppose the next big question is: Is Lost SG for families with kids?

For Alcatraz, it was devoid of any scary element. Sure, it was dimly lit and Ale was initially a tad scared when she found herself locked in a cell. But as the game progressed, she slowly warmed up to it. In fact, the 5 themed rooms do not feature any haunted themes, making it suitable for families with children.

Even though we did not manage to escape, we still lots of fun attempting to solve the innovative puzzles which are nicely balanced with the relevancy of the storyline. But I guess the best testimonial came from the boys, who cannot wait to take on another room! I think that means we will be back for another round then... and this time, we shall be victorious. I hope.



Useful Information

Lost SG

Address: Peace Centre, 1 Sophia Road, #03-01/02/03, Singapore 228149

Opening Hours: Sun – Thur 11am - 11pm | Fri & Sat 11am – 1am

Price:

Off Peak: Weekdays 11am – 5.45pm $20.90 per person

Peak: Weekends, Eve of PHs & PHs, Weekday (from 6pm onwards) $26.90 per person

Website: lost.sg