Cursed Rain [咒雨]

Dream Kingdom - Flagship Store [夢遊王國旗艦館] (Taipei, Taiwan)

Time limit: 80 minutes

Age limit: 18+ (under 18 allowed if you contact them first and sign waiver)

Player limit: 3-6 (minimum 4 players on weekends)

Difficulty: Medium

Awards: Golden Escape Award (Taiwan) - Game of the Year (2nd place), Best Set Design Game, Best Mechanism Game, Best Narrative Game, Best Puzzle Game

Date visited: April 2026

Of all the games I booked on this Taiwan trip, none was more highly anticipated than Cursed Rain [咒語], which swept the local Golden Escape Awards in 2024, winning awards for set design, mechanisms, narrative, puzzles, as well as earning 2nd place for Game of the Year. Did one of the best games in all of Taiwan live up to expectations?

• To be honest, I think Cursed Rain actually exceeded my expectations. Knowing that Taiwan's escape rooms are typically limited by location size and budget, I did not expect such a big, polished room with such immersive theming and confident storytelling.

• Dream Kingdom categorises its rooms into different types of dreams, and despite its name, Cursed Rain is regarded as a good dream, meaning it's technically not a horror game, though there are definitely horror elements such as darkness, supernatural themes, moments of tension, as well as blood, gore, and violence. That said, there were no live actors and I think under 18s could easily play it without any issues.

• We really enjoyed the intro they gave us before entering the room. The video was projected onto the ceiling and we watched it lying on the ground, much like falling into a dream state.

• The story, set in feudal Japan, was absolutely one of the strongest points of the game. Most of the escape rooms we had played to date focused mainly on the puzzles and theming, with the narrative being a side character or even an afterthought. But in Cursed Rain, the story drove everything. Without giving away too much, there's war, loyalty, betrayal, family, and sacrifice — all wrapped up in a clever mystery that's gradually unveiled through gameplay.

• The Japanese theming was absolutely on point, making us feel like we had stepped into a samurai movie. The first thing we had to do upon entering the room was changing into slippers, which not only added to the immersion but kept the floors impeccably clean.

• The props were also well-made and sturdy, with nothing that felt cheap or showing obvious signs of wear and tear. The sound and lighting effects were smooth and timely, impressive but not ostentatious. The use of Japanese screen doors as projection screens was an especially nice touch.

• Another thing that surprised me was the size of the room, which was not enormous but felt spacious and had multiple areas and transitions. Every space remained aligned with the overall theme but had its own unique elements that made it feel different.

• The puzzles were so fun too, utilising many different solving techniques and requiring a wide variety of skills. They ranged from observation, logical deduction, and hunt and seek to mathematical and tactile. There were a handful of padlocks, but the majority of puzzles were mechanical or hi-tech, but the technology was hidden so well that it never broke immersion.

• Unfortunately for foreign players, some of the puzzles involved recognition of Chinese characters and in-depth reading. Even if you had a translator, they wouldn't be able to explain it so you could solve it — they would only be able to solve the puzzles for you.

• Despite the language challenge (with me being the only reliable reader), we really surprised ourselves by completing the room in 63 minutes without any clues, apparently quite a feat even for local players (though we were told by our GM that the owner does not like players to fail and would usually give extra time and lots of hints if needed so that everyone finishes).

• As usual, we didn't have much time to think about the story while we were playing the game, but at the end when it was explained to us (via a "quiz" from our GM), everything made sense. It delivered biggest non-puzzle related "aha" moment we've ever had in an escape room — everything that happened, everything we did, and every puzzle we solved was directly linked to the story, and it all came together in the end to reveal the mystery behind the "cursed rain". It was just really, really cool.

Escape time: 63 minutes out of 80

Theming	Atmosphere	Puzzles	Creativity	Fun
A+	A	A	A+	A+

Verdict: With an incredible set, immersive atmosphere, fun puzzles, cool mechanisms and special effects, plus a remarkable narrative thread that weaves itself through every aspect of the room, Cursed Rain is undoubtedly the best game we've played in Taiwan and one of the best games we've played anywhere to date.

OVERALL RANK:

H	E	Z	J
A+	A-	A+	A+