Escape from the Haunted Manor

Real Escape Game Asakusa (Tokyo, Japan)

Time limit: 40 minutes

Age limit: Under 12 requires adult

Player limit: 2-6

Difficulty: Easy

Date visited: July 2026

It was E's birthday, so we gave her the day off to go shopping in Tokyo while I took the boys back to Asakusa to play a game we had wanted to play ever since we started researching Japanese escape rooms in 2024: Escape from the Haunted Manor. Back then, the kids were a bit young and we were somewhat wary of scary rooms, but now we were more than ready. Besides, the room was being retired at the end of August, so we knew it was now or never. So how was it?

• We're glad we managed to play this classic game before it closed down, but it was also easy to see why it was closing down. It's the kind of game that must have been considered terrifying and revolutionary when it was first released more than a decade ago, but by the end of its tenure, it had the look and feel of a game that was well past its prime.

• Located upstairs at Scrap's Asakusa venue, the game was literally set in what must have been a regular Japanese apartment once upon a time. It had a realistic-looking kitchen, toilet, real furniture, and even those traditional Japanese sliding-door closets. While not quite a "manor", it did look like we were playing inside a real house. In line with Japanese custom, we even had to take off our shoes and change into slippers before heading in.

• That said, the game did have some real immersion killers. For starters, there were quite a few "do not touch" stickers littered around the apartment. Secondly, there were two staff members standing there watching us the entire time, which is common for many of Scrap's games. They were not there to provide assistance or clues either. They were simply there to make sure you played by the rules and didn't damage anything.

• The gameplay was, sadly, underwhelming. The majority of the "puzzles" was just hunt and seek, looking for one hidden object after another, typically in dimly lit situations. In terms of real puzzles, I'd say you could count them on one hand, and none of them were particularly creative or challenging. Again, it should be restated that this game was designed a decade ago, and the escape room industry has come a long way since then.

• What added a much-needed layer of fun to the game was the presence of a live actor and a "kakurenbo" (hide and seek) mechanic, whereby we would be prompted by sounds/music to hide in one of the designated hiding spots while the "ghost" roamed around. We loved the tension whenever this happened, especially as the ghost would "find" one of you and lock you in a different room (in our case, it was J, the scaredy cat of the family!). The best part was that this mechanic was not overused and was actually an integral part of the story.

• Speaking of story, this was another strength of the room. The haunting was backed by a mystery, and you actually need to solve it in order to escape. At the end of the game, we were given a leaflet with a newspaper article explaining the mystery, which I thought was a pretty cool touch.

• As this was a public booking, our team of three ending up playing with a young Japanese couple. I thought there was no way others would book an early weekday afternoon slot on a scorching summer day, but I was wrong! Despite the language barrier, it worked out quite well as we managed to communicate through broken English and Japanese, without the need for the translation machine they provided. All of the pre-game instructions and post-game debrief were bilingual too.

• Was the room actually scary? Having played a lot of horror games now, we found it very tame. Despite the darkness, the constant presence of the staff affected the spooky atmosphere, and the horror props were pretty fake-looking so that didn't help either. Apart from that, it was just a couple of light jump scares from the live actor — though the screams from the Japanese girl in our team definitely enhanced the experience lol.

• Ultimately, we're glad to have played Escape from the Haunted Manor before it closed down, even though it wasn't a particularly memorable or impressive experience given its age. We are hoping to check out the new room replacing it, A Ninja Mission: Escape from the House of Tricks, the next time we visit Tokyo.

Escape time: 34 out of 40 minutes

Theming	Atmosphere	Puzzles	Creativity	Fun
B+	B+	C+	B	B

Verdict: A classic Japanese horror game with a fun hide-and-seek mechanic, but given its age, it was probably the right time to send it into retirement!

OVERALL RANK:

H	Z	J
B	B	B