Ukiyo Melbourne

The escape rooms and stories they build at Ukiyo are incredibly detailed, immersive and well thought out. My friends and I have done all the rooms they currently have available - we’re super excited for them to release more and will be coming back as soon as they open!

Highly recommend everyone to go to Ukiyo - best escape rooms in Melbourne by a mile!

Workers were friendly and had superb service. The room we played was well thought out and very engaging. Looking forward to the next time I visit

Only reason I'm giving this 5 stars is because there's no option to break the rating scale, this was such a phenomenal experience unlike anything I've experienced across any role playing experience either in person or virtually. Without giving away anything we did, the characters and story telling in it was so immersive that not once did we have to suspend our disbelief. It genuinely made us feel real emotional connections to the characters and everything that was going on, only way I can describe it accurately is it was pure magic within reality.

Beautiful escape room that's perfect for Studio Ghibli nerds. We'll be coming back when the next chapters of the story come out!

Great experience with the crumbling prince part 1. Can't say much more to avoid spoiling the story but the aesthetic of the place is amazing

So good, went for deep space, stayed for deep space 2, booked for the first ep of the crumbling Prince. These escape rooms have an AI to guide you and are very storyline orientated. Staff are really kind and funny. Honestly such a good quality time with my friends and have recommended so much!

My group had an awesome experience at Ukiyo! Our host was friendly and personable and the Deep Space: Divinity experience was immersive, exciting and surprising. Everything ran smoothly and we loved interacting with the A. I Enkidu. We are excited to come back for the second part!

Really different from every escape room I've ever done. Story is interesting and divergent. A unique experience!

We visited for the first time and played the Crumbling Prince. Just the two of us but the experience was just amazing, we've done multiple escape rooms in Sydney and in other cities but this is definitely a standout and not your typical escape room, will definitely come back for more. Well constructed and thought through from the moment you are placed in the waiting room. Abit more higher priced than other escape room experiences out there but I assure you this does stand out above the rest so I think it's worth it. For those interested in rooms which offers a strong narrative rather than purely complex/technical puzzles. Finally thank you David for hosting the experience on the day!

Really friendly and accommodating staff, and a really different and unique escape room experience. I would recommend going in thinking of it as an immersive experience with intriguing puzzles to progress, rather than as a bunch of puzzles with a story tacked on (which many locked room scenarios are). Can't wait for the next experience!

We did Divinity.
What it a fun and unique experience? Yes.
Was it worth the money? I'm not sure.

For the price I sort of expected to be wowed the entire time, and that was not the case.

There's a lot of stuff you could do for six people with $500. It's hard to say this is the best option.

Went with someone near and dear on the 24th of January. The attending staff member was great and explained everything well. WHAT AN EXPERIENCE! This was legitimately an absolute blast. We will definitely be back and I assume will finish all of the stories for the rooms. AN AMAZING TIME WAS HAD!:) :)

Fantastic experience! Impressive use of technology and special effects, and great immersive storytelling.

The first experience we had at ukiyo was fantastic, the room and puzzles were very engaging and we booked part two on the spot, but having just completed part two - crumbling prince, I felt that it was a little bit lazy and repetitive. This added to the fact that there will now also be part three and four, I just don't think the story development warrants the extravengant price tag. We will try the space based escape room and perhaps will revise this rating depending on the experience there.

Absolutely mindblowing experience, wonderful atmosphere and Sandy is delightful 10/10 will be going back for more

LOVED this! Went on Valentines day and it was lovely! Had a great time in the Crumbling Prince episode 1! Only wish this went for longer, felt like we were just getting started and finished in only 50 minutes gosh darn! Great staff, thankyou David

We have been to all of the experiences at Ukiyo now and love them all! We went as a family with a 9 and 7yr old and I can say this is a true wonderful adventure for the family, the kids just had such a magical time and it really captures their imagination! I think maybe for some adults abit of “suspension of disbelieve” is required and then you will suddenly find your self experiencing the excitement of a child all over again!

It was such a great and unique experience! Recommend coming here to become part an amazing story! David made us feel welcome and deserves a raise!

Can’t wait to come back for part 2!

(TLDR: worth doing. More detailed review below)

I echo what many others have already said - the rooms are very immersive, designed with serious artistic focus. You won’t be seeing Bunnings 4 digit locks or laminated paper clues with italicised times new roman font here.

On that note, it is definitely not an ‘escape’ room in the sense of just solving puzzles to escape OUT of the room, but more of an escape in terms of escaping INTO a ‘world’ and diving into the narrative, the characters and the like.

Note: It’s not easy to write reviews on escape rooms because specificity would mean spoilers, but being too vague makes the review a bit less useful, so here is hopefully my balanced attempt at giving a helpful review that won’t spoil.

Crumbling Prince -

the pacing and tempo of the experience can best be summed up by my ending reflective comment ‘Oh, 80 minutes had passed already? ’.

I appreciated the tactile searching for items, which were hidden with thoughtful intent (meaning, it wasn’t just locked up somewhere.because it was locked up somewhere).

The AI Prince was very fascinating - a big deviation from the typical walkie talkie or some computer screen in the corner that spews out hints. His interaction pushed the story along and triggered various sensory elements (lights, music, hints). You are left with the feeling that this was a ’theatrical’ experience of sorts.

Part 2 delves deeper into the backstory and involves much more problem solving, and less dealing with the aforementioned AI Prince. It continues to give pleasant surprises in terms of intentional puzzles and using technology to enhance the experience.

To be honest, sequels are never easy to make happen (think movies) since it may not hold the allure of the initial world building + character development of the first instalment, but part 2 was an overall good job.

***

Deep space -

The AI is again a highlight. The dog connects with you and helps give a layer of depth to the escape - it wasn’t just ‘do a list of things’ on the spaceship. Perhaps this room is best described as those ‘choose your own adventure’ story books or games, where your choices have consequences.

Like the other rooms, the voiceovers and sound design is top notch - giving a very ’spatial’ feel to what space travel would feel, including distant sounds, cabin alarms etc. It is faithful to the genre and not just some random background music that just loops for the duration of the experience.

The puzzles were a variety - some tactile involving finding things hidden, sometimes certain compartments would open, sometimes you rebooted a system, sometimes decoding, sometimes using the intermediary airlock as a transfer hub.

(On our plays, a particular item that needs to be operated remotely was a recurring pain point for us due to its malfunctioning, but the game creators have graciously accepted our issues with that item.)

The different stakeholders of the deep space story was quite well crafted. It definitely got me thinking and conjecturing on what was going on. I always appreciate survival stories that involve conflict of interest and withholding information for a later reveal. (apologies I can’t be too specific otherwise it runs into spoiler territory).

Part 2 was not as littered with puzzles as the first part, and in some senses was less memorable than the first. One shining light though would be the antagonistic AI (not the aforementioned dog - he’s too wholesome) - in that, it’s not often that you are up against a passionately aggressive voice who wants to dictate your actions. Ukiyo did well in adjusting the different paths and outcomes through their design mapping.

***

Overall I’d recommend that you try all 4 rooms if you can.

If time and cost is an issue, try the first instalments of both.

Allow some time post-escape to chat and discuss about the story, about what puzzles who solved, and the vibe/world of the room.

A really great experience and a highlight of our trip to Melbourne! A really immersive and unique escape room that should not be missed out on. Host was really great and the Deep Space room was lots of fun. Highly recommend!