10 escape rooms in Dubai to try this summer

Are you and your crew up to the challenge?

Love a challenge? Check out an escape room in Dubai. They can be enjoyed with family, friends and colleagues, and includes plenty of quick and smart thinking, laughter, possible screams of terror and even mild physical activity (from all the running around), but overall, heaps of fun.

Here’s a round-up of the cool escape rooms in Dubai 

Brain Game

It’s simple (or is it?). You and your mates have to escape a room packed with riddles and puzzles. Plenty of observation skills are needed here as the clue to escape is hidden in the fine details. In Se7en, Stalker Chocolate Factory and The Others, you will only have 60 minutes to escape. However, Brain Game also has a room where you have two hours to escape called Forever Alone – it is the first escape room based on a true story. Ooooh…

Book here. 

Jumeirah Terrace Building, Rooftop, Jumeirah 1, Dubai, Tel: (0)4 547 7993, @braingamedubai

Deep Dark Dubai

This one is for those horror-movie fans in Dubai (yeah yeah, we know, it doesn’t take a genius to figure it out from the name). Two words for you: live actors. That’s right – be prepared to be chilled to your bones. Deep Dark Dubai is a neat spot if you want to scare yourself (or a scaredy-cat friend) silly as you navigate through the room. It takes place in a pitch-dark villa *gulp*. You can pick from ‘Paranormal’ or ‘The Sinner’ room.

Book here. 

Deep Dark Dubai, Al Meydan Street, KML Business Center, Villa 7, Dubai, prices vary, Tel: (055) 954 9282. deepdarkdubai.ae 

Enter Mission

Love VR? At Entermission, the adventure pairs escape rooms with virtual reality for a unique experience. The games can be played by multiple players using VR technology headsets. You’ll need to use your hands (and your brainpower) to solve the mystery. There are a number of games to pick from including Alice, Chernobyl, Mission Sigma and more.

Book here. 

Escape Hunt Dubai

You and your team will have to complete some ground-breaking missions in order to escape. Work together to find clues, solve puzzles and complete all challenges before time runs out. There is a new room that’s just launched called Alice in Puzzleland where the Hatter has been accused of stealing the Queen’s Tarts. You have 60 minutes to work with your mates to help the Mad Hatter before it’s too late. Other rooms choices include Jack the Ripper, Aladdin and the Magic Vault and Prison Breakout. Escape Hunt even offers virtual reality rooms with computer-generated 3D escape rooms. Pick from Alice, Mission Sigma, Survival and Jungle Quest.

Book here.

Escape Hunt, RT26 Galleria Mall Al Wasl Road Jumeirah, Dubai, Tel: (0)4 334 4473. escapehunt.com

Escape the Room

Head here with a small ground of friends, family members, or coworkers and crack codes and solve ciphers to escape. There are five games to pick from including Z-Virus, Lost in Time, Nightmar, The Prison and Mafia Kingdom.

Book here. 

Game Over

The luxury mall on Palm Jumeirah is home to GAME OVER Escape Rooms and Board Game Café. The new thrilling escape room features 12 escape rooms, 11 meta-escape rooms which use VR headsets plus a board game cafe with more than 50 plus titles for board game fans. The escape rooms have been designed by professional animators and creators of dramatic alternative universes for films. Horror fans and adventure seekers are sure to get their thrills from the visuals, riddles, puzzles, original themes and storylines. Book your spots in advance  here.

Game Over Escape Rooms and Board Game Café, Nakheel Mall, Palm Jumeirah, Dubai, Tel: (0)4 577 3289. escapegameover.ae

Haunted Activity

There’s a new spooky escape room in town. Haunted Activity opened its doors in January this year and at the moment, offers two rooms with live actors called Ouija (nope, just… nope), and Jason’s Home. You’ll need a team of two to 10 brave friends (or a colleague you’d love to scare), find clues and solve the puzzle. The hiccup is, you need to escape in 60 minutes, else…well, you won’t know what will happen to you. Had a go at both rooms and want more? According to their website, there are two new rooms that will open its doors soon: Cemetery and The School.

Haunted Activity, Showroom 2, Reem Residency, Al Karama, Tel: (0)50 321 0541. hauntedactivityuae.com  

NoWayOut

Adventure, mystery, thriller, fantasy and more, NoWayOut already had several rooms for you to pick from including Horror Cinema, Circus (yes, with a creepy clown), Silent Place, Unknown, School of Magic and more. Beware, it can get pretty dark. ‘How dark…?’ you ask? Well, in the gruesome Maniac room you get kidnapped and put into a dark cell with a bag over your head before having to try and escape a maniac’s basement using puzzle-solving skills. Definitely not for the faint-hearted and probably not for children either. There are two venues to pick from – JLT and Citywalk.

Book here. 

NoWayOut Escape Room, JLT and Citywalk, prices start from Dhs112 per person. JLT tel: (0)4 243 8208, City Walk tel: (0)55 876  2465. nowayout.ae

Phobia

At Phobia Dubai, you will be locked in an underground bunker, house of a maniac, a modern museum, a detective’s apartment or another unusual place. Your mission is to escape in 60 minutes. There are six rooms to pick from including Sherlock vs Jack the Ripper, Impossible Mission and Battle of Wizards. A favourite here is Vault where you’re locked in an underground bunker after surviving a nuclear war and your oxygen is running out. If that isn’t bad enough, you have to escape a horde of zombies who break in.

Book here.

Phobia Dubai, Cluster X, Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai, prices start from Dhs115. Tel: (052) 7974916. phobia.ae