Tokyo Lab

Fun room, the decor was great. The intro felt a little weak and the very first part of the room felt really phoned in. The puzzles in the first half were more traditional escape room, while in the second half a lot more game/arcade style.

A solid start and set set our expectations high, but it fizzled out in the second half for me

we had fun there was a technical problem with one of the puzzles towards the end, but it was eventually resolved we really appreciated the interior design

Tokyo Lab by Escape Rush was the final stop on our mini escape tour in Belgium, and we went in with high expectations. While the environment and decoration were of an exceptionally high standard, and the variety of settings and puzzle types kept things fresh, the puzzle style didn’t quite click with our group. The clues leaned more on intuition than strict logic, which made some moments feel less satisfying. That said, one puzzle stood out as particularly unique, using innovative visual technology that impressed us. Despite not finishing in time and missing the final puzzle, the overall quality of the room was undeniable, and it’s still an experience worth recommending. A notable downside to Escape Rush as a whole is its operational structure, which seems focused on getting as many groups through as possible during the day. With a single shared entrance for all groups and strict adherence to time slots, the experience feels more like a business than a personalized adventure. Additionally, while the hosts were dressed in character as tailors, their engagement lacked depth and didn’t fully enhance the immersion. We’re looking forward to returning in the future to try The Botanist Manor!

Visually impressive set. Played as a two and we were kept busy. Last puzzle was broken but fine after a reset. Didn't spoil the game, these things happen. Prepare to run about a bit!

Tokyo lab was very fun… we started out slow… but once we got on track it was a lot of fun… we had issues with 2 puzzles but the were able to do a work around an we got through it…

This is the only room in Brussels to make it into the 2022 TERPECAs top 100 (it fell out in 2023) and it's pretty good, although I expected something better for its ranking. Now, to be clear: this room is grandiose. The spaces are huge and beautifully decorated, especially the Japanese street that you can see in the photo. They are huge to the point where I question whether the space could not have been taken better advantage of: at the start you get ushered down along corridor into a room with a projector that is like a small seatless cinema just to watch an intro video after the GM has already briefed you on the mission. But the street room has the ceiling so high it actually gives you the feeling you're outdoors. And the lab entrance ceiling is even taller and makes the lab AI feel like it towers over you. So if you like big grandiose rooms, this is the game for you. On a more ciritcal note, it feels like it's trying to stitch too many different themes together. The Japanese setting is quickly forgotten once you reach inside the laboratory, at which point you're introduced to an AI guarding the lab which is a rip-off of GLaDOS from Portal - they even use exact voicelines from the game. Extravagantly executed but lacks originality. The puzzles in the street are few and some of them are not working very well. We've seen a residential street setting much better executed in terms of puzzles at The Game's Tremblement de Terre in Paris, and that is nowhere near the TERPECA lists. The puzzle at the lab entrance where you quid pro quo with the prisoners is probably the best aspect of the room because it's telling a story through a puzzle. The bit where GLaDOS pits the players head-to-head in some reaction speed games was not so heartfelt for me because it just felt like they were trying to pad the game time (and sneak in another joke from Portal) in a way that doesn't necessarily make sense for the story. The final section in the lab proper is my second favorite as it has some pretty solid logical puzzles. In conclusion, this is a good room but could have been better especially considering the steep price!