The Upside-Down Room [顛倒の室]

Stupid Particle - Nanjing E. Road Branch (Taipei, Taiwan)

Time limit: 70 minutes

Age limit: 6+ (ages 6-12 require an adult)

Player limit: Recommend 6-8 (min. 4)

Difficulty: Expert

Date visited: July 2025

When I first started researching escape rooms in Taipei on Morty, one of the top rooms that came up was 顛倒の室 (there is no official English translation, but it basically means The Upside-Down Room) at Stupid Particle, one of the more higher-rated establishments for enthusiasts and the personal recommendation of our GM at Limitless Escape. However, The Upside-Down House does not have an English version — in fact, Stupid Particle doesn’t even have an English website or English names for most of their rooms. We did find out after playing the game that Stupid Particle does offer English versions or assistance for some of their rooms, though we would recommend that you email them in advance (stupidparticle@gmail.com) to inquire.

Anyway, back to The Upside-Down House. In short, we were thoroughly impressed with this one. This is an enthusiasts room made with genuine attention to detail and incredible puzzles that delivered multiple “a-ha” moments, all wrapped in a surprisingly tender and moving story. Unfortunately for most people reading this, it’s also a room that is impossible to play unless you have team members who can read and understand Chinese characters, as a portion of the puzzles require a high level of Chinese proficiency.

We started off in a small briefing room where we watched an instructional video and were given the basic rules. Unlike most escape rooms, the goal at The Upside-Down Room was not to escape within the time limit, but to find specific objects in the room (only accessible upon solving puzzles) and unravel its mysteries. We were given a clipboard with a series of questions that we had to fill out as we went along, and at the very end, our GM tabulated our responses to come to a final score, which effectively determined how successful we were. Additionally, our GM was in the room with us the entire time, though mostly off to the side or in the corner somewhere, offering clues when she thought we needed it or when we proactively asked. This is because they have no space for a dedicated GM control room, and probably because the room is so challenging that most regular teams will likely need quite a few clues.

Now, re-reading the above paragraph, none of it sounds ideal for an escape room experience. But honestly, it was a unique and very cool experience. First off, the theming and design of the room was incredible. Set in Japan around the time of World War II, the room was decorated like a traditional Japanese house, complete with wooden sliding doors, bonsai trees, tea sets, and even samurai swords. And obviously, the “twist” is given away in the name of the room, but what made it amazing was how this concept was integrated into the story and the puzzles. The way everything is symbiotically tied together into a cohesive, overarching narrative was truly a masterstroke of design.

Usually, for our family, the “story” of an escape room inevitably takes a back seat as we’re all too busy trying to solve the puzzles, but the tale of The Upside-Down Room turned out to be a rare exception. A big part of the reason was because many of the puzzles themselves led to us discovering additional pieces to the story, one that gradually revealed itself as we put everything together. Many story-driven rooms force players to sit through videos and narration, hoping that they will care; The Upside-Down Room made us care by making the mystery and story essential to the puzzles and the ultimate goal of the game. By the end, we were thoroughly impressed with not just the challenge the room gave us, but the story it had to tell.

PS: If we ever go back to Stupid Particle, the room we would play next would likely be 深處 (meaning “Deep Within” or “The Depths”), which apparently has no reading or language-related puzzles.

Escape score: 86 out of 100 (which was apparently very good!)

Theming	Atmosphere	Puzzles	Creativity	Fun
A-	A-	A	A	B+

Verdict: A brilliantly designed and challenging room that impresses with its theming and storyline — but is unfortunately not for foreigners unless your team has a player proficient in Chinese.

OVERALL RANK:

H	E	Z	J
B+	B+	B+	A