Bangkok, Jul 2026
I’d heard of this game before playing it, but not here; the original version is in Osaka, and this is apparently an official and faithful reproduction of that one. Escape Portal’s website states that they will be opening other such licensed copies of acclaimed escape rooms from other parts of the globe, so I’m curious to see what else they bring to Bangkok in the future.
But for now, Shadow Zen is the only room at the venue, and reflects its origins in the Japanese theming. You’re in 1920s Japan, where a young monk has gone missing while searching for the secret of an old temple; and right from the briefing you’re surrounded by a tasteful and evocative imagining of that setting (with a few tongue-in-cheek intentional anachronisms). While the game rules were delivered out of character, they were followed by a delightfully different style of intro video.
This is a game that evolves both story and puzzle style as it progresses, in ways that I won’t spoil, and I felt swept through it at an energetic pace. Although it was quite stylishly dramatic at points, especially earlier on, this is not a game that takes itself too seriously; at its core I thought it was a light-hearted and playful experience. While it starts off with classic escape room style puzzles, it later goes in a more experimental direction – which may not suit everyone, but which we had a lot of fun with (though which is probably better suited to smaller teams). At all stages though, the puzzles were clever and interesting, and absolutely solid in the logic of their design.
I only really had one grumble, which was that when we completed it in forty minutes it felt a bit slight, particularly after some of the monster-sized escape rooms now available in other countries. That’s not really a fair criticism – there was a decent amount to do, it just went quickly for us because it was so well structured and flowed so logically. And of course the cost is pretty reasonable compared to other parts of the world.
I’ve now played a broad but shallow selection of rooms throughout Southeast Asia, and the majority of the games I tried in the region didn’t inspire me to binge my way through them in greater numbers. Shadow Zen is a shining exception to that – it’s a beautiful and energetically charming game that we thoroughly enjoyed playing, and it should be a must-play if you’re visiting Bangkok. 
