Soul House

This is a review of the Escape Room “Soul House” offered by Umeplay x INS in Shanghai, China.
  • ⭐️ 9.5/10
  • 🌡 Easy
  • ⏳ 65 Minutes
  • 👥 5 – 8 Person

We went to Soul House on the last night of our Shanghai’s trip, partly to celebrate the end of the Shanghai leg. Soul House opened during the summer and has been fully booked since, but luckily KK managed to get slot there for us. I had no idea what to expect, other than that it would be some kind of immersive bar experience, not so much a traditional escape room. We arrived at the ordinary-looking cocktail bar at the end of the evening and sat down at a table to wait for what was to come.

Soul House is a collaborative experience between INSLAND and UMEPLAY, where you explore eight rooms and meet eight strange people who offer you eight different drinks. Don’t worry about, who they are or try to understand what they’re doing. Just remember one thing – have fun.

I don’t go to bars often, but after this experience I said that I don’t want to go to normal bar anymore. The experience was visually impressive, it contained several mechanics, that are typical of China. The game also has replayability, because you can’t see everything in one playthrough. The game’s tempo was really fast and there was always something new to see and experience, and there was never any time to get bored. The atmosphere of the game is mainly comical, but there is also a touch of horror/excitement.

The drinks were also good and fit the theme well. Before the game, we were asked about allergies or restrictions, but apparently you can’t influence the drinks in the game. You can just leave out any drinks you are allergic to or don’t want to drink for some reason.

In addition, after Soul House, we got to play KK’s (and Umeplay’s and INS’) 5-minutes Undeveloped Memory one by one. It is also part of Soul House, if you manage to find the key to this extra room during the game. Undeveloped Memory moved me, because I was grateful for the fun evening and everything we had experienced together and it was great way to end the day.

I just hope that there would be more immersive bar experiences like this, also in Europe. But meanwhile, gather your friends and put your funny shoes on and go to Soul House. You will have a great night there.

Picture of Juho

Juho

Escape room enthusiast from Finland. I played first room 2014 and now over 1100 rooms later still looking for the next great experience. I am also owner of Rollagga escape room and we have escape room travel account @rollagat_maailmalla (instagram).