The Best Escape Rooms in Abu Dhabi: A New Experience 

We reviewed the best escape rooms in Abu Dhabi, spoiler alert: There are none! We noted down our experiences without spoiling any of the gameplay and occurrences that you might encounter in the escape rooms, all while giving our best reviews to each place, with our honest opinions as students who are looking to enjoy their time. So you might be wondering, are escape rooms THAT scary and fun? Scroll down and read the reviews to find out for yourself, we promise you’ll find something that you would like!

What is an Escape Room?

An escape room or escape game is a challenging game that combines solving puzzles, live actors, scary music, and a team under one horror escape room in a limited time, with a simple main objective… ESCAPE THE ROOM!

Blackout – The Most Terrifying Horror Escape Room in Abu Dhabi

The most terrifying escape room experience goes to Blackout. Trying an escape game in Blackout is the most unique experience you will ever have with your group. You’re given options to choose between five different escape rooms which are Exorcism, Hotel 666, The Circus, Psychiatric, and Dungeon. Each one of these has a different story. Decoration and live actors’ uniforms will be based on the decision you made. Also, you can play with the level of scariness, the number of live actors, and the puzzle’s difficulty.

Our Experience

You might ask, how long do escape rooms last? Blackout escape rooms last around 40 to 60 minutes, so make sure you seize every minute wisely. You can enter the escape game if you are above 18 years old, but children between the ages of 14-18 must enter with an adult. Make sure to find a parking spot near the place as you can only drop off in front of Blackout. We were four with one kid, so we chose the easiest level difficulty, as escape rooms are already scary enough, but if you are looking for a more challenging game we recommend harder difficulty.

The live actors take into consideration our requests, and act on it. Although having live actors in all rooms is mandatory except for Dungeon, you can ask Blackout’s staff to only solve the puzzles. However, the staff always recommend that you play with one actor at least, so you can truly experience the escape game.

Instructions were given by the guide on how escape rooms work, how to find keys, and unlock next levels. Phones are strictly not allowed. Blackout’s staff communicated with us through mics and speakers during the escape game. The effects of scary music vary over time, which are indications on how close you are to win the escape game. You should solve all the puzzles, but in case you decide to leave during the game, the guide can be communicated with to be escorted out. After the challenge, you can reward yourself with a cup of coffee from blackout’s cafe where they serve cold and hot beverages.

Our Opinion

From our perspective, Blackout is the scariest escape room not only in Abu Dhabi, but it’s one of the best escape rooms in the UAE! It is a challenging game, but you will be able to solve all the escape rooms within the time limit. Besides solving puzzles, Blackout has a unique taste in choosing the scary music in the background. The award for the most terrifying escape room in our opinion definitely goes to Blackout.

Make sure you visit Blackout’s website to book your escape room now. 

More information about Blackout:

Location: 

Al Rihab Tower, Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Street, Al Manhal W14-20, Abu Dhabi

Opening hours: 

Every day from 10am to 2am. 

Prices:

Dungeon room: 

• 100 AED per person. 

Other escape rooms: 

• 2 players (210 AED each)
• 3 players (190 AED each)
• 4 players (180 AED each)
• 5 players (170 AED each)
• 6 players (160 AED each)

Exclusive discount for October by 30% on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

Dark Room – The Most Spine-tingling Escape Room in Abu Dhabi

At Dark Room Escape Room, you’ll find some of the most frightening and hair-raising games. Using your problem-solving skills, look for the hidden clues and solve the puzzles in all of the creepy rooms. From the first ever escape rooms in Abu Dhabi, this place won’t let you down – although it might make your knees weak from its terrifying atmosphere. Dark room includes three different experiences that would suit your taste including: The Ritual, The Basement and The Hillhouse.

Our Experience

The adventure, in contrast to those played on a computer, takes place in several rooms with physical interaction within a certain amount of time. During the 60 minutes, the players will be given a specific task to complete for each escape room while being guided by a spine-chilling voiceover. A few hints will be given for the group playing, however a couple of twists may be added to the game! The announcer might ask two or three players to head back to a specific room to finish a task before completing the next. This will definitely send chills down your spine from the screams of your teammates. The players should rush before getting caught by the live actor because remember you’ll never be alone.

The staff are very friendly and will inform you about the do’s and don’ts at the beginning of the game. While solving through the different problems and puzzles, you and your team will be filmed by the cameras in each of the rooms and will be provided a one minute video of how your thrilling adventure at Dark Room went! 

Our Opinion

From our point of view, Dark Room is definitely one of the must-try escape rooms in Abu Dhabi, offering some puzzles that would test your intelligence and quick thinking although they aren’t too difficult to solve. The scare-o-meter on The Ritual escape room would break, so be sure to grab as many friends and family members as you can!

For booking and more info visit Dark Room’s website

More information about Dark Room:

Location: 

Al Bateen, Abu Dhabi

Opening hours:

Every day from 10AM to 2AM

Prices:

• 2 players (210 AED each)
• 3 players (200 AED each)
• 4 players (180 AED each)
• 5 players (165 AED each)
• 6 players (150 AED each)
• 7-9 players (140 AED each)
• 10 players (130 AED each)

Haunted Activity – The Most Nerve Wracking Escape Room in Abu Dhabi

Searching for any adrenaline rush horror-filled experience escape rooms in Abu Dhabi? Then the Haunted Activity escape room is definitely a must-go! Haunted Activity is a place that offers two escape rooms, which are House of Evil and The Morgue, both different in stories, puzzles, and riddles to go through, whilst also having live actors present in the rooms.

Our Experience

We were offered two game modes upon our arrival, both have 5 different rooms and challenges that need to be ran through in only 60 minutes. We recommend any of the two stories since they are both very interesting, it just comes down to taste. You will be able to choose the difficulty level, so if you end up struggling, the staff will be assisting and communicating with you.

Coming in with as many family or friends is undoubtedly a great idea, we went in as a group, which ultimately helped us save some cash, so if you’re on a budget, prices will be reduced with more people entering the escape room together, so the more, the merrier. In addition to that, prices for students are different on Mondays. We were not aware of this offer, so we missed out by not bringing our ID cards, so definitely make sure to present your student ID at registration.

Rules and instructions on how to solve the escape rooms are presented before starting the challenge, that being said phones and personal items can be stored in the lockers that they offer, therefore taking videos is not allowed inside the rooms, which was a total bummer, but rules are rules.

We were told that they are able to host a birthday party as a special event type of offer, and it’s all during the challenge. Sounds completely crazy, but it’s not every day you celebrate in a horror escape room, so get your birthday cakes ready and get to celebrating!

Our Opinion

In our opinion, the experience was pretty nerve-wracking and scary, but definitely, an unforgettable evening, coming from an easily jump-scared group of people’s point of view. Even though the game mode’s difficulty was greatly decreased and the live actors’ appearances were limited, we were still able to enjoy our time, so never let your fears get the best of you!

For booking and more information, don’t hesitate to visit Haunted Activity’s website.

More information about Haunted Activity:

Location:

Al Danah, Abu Dhabi

Opening hours:

Every day from 12PM to 12AM

Prices:

• 2 Players (200 AED each)
• 3 Players (190 AED each)
• 4 Players (180 AED each)
• 5 Players (170 AED each)
• 6 Players (160 AED each)
• 7+ Players (150 AED each)
• Special Discounts: Student discount (100 AED each)

Prison Island – The Best Family-Friendly Escape Room in Abu Dhabi!

If you’re looking for a very enjoyable experience at an escape room to break the routine, Prison Island Abu Dhabi is the perfect choice, being very different compared to other escape rooms we reviewed in Abu Dhabi. Prison Island brings an indoor adventure with 26 cells with different challenges to solve. Each room is designed with different challenges and various types of skills, tactics, techniques, and physics which really makes the experience unique!

Our Experience

We booked the 2-hour slot one day before on their website. The staff greeted us warmly, registered us with our team name and handed the electronic key to us. They have changing rooms and lockers, we stored our personal items there, but guess what? The phones were allowed inside the escape room, and that’s perfect for capturing memories!

Prison Island staff explained the board that will be found beside each cell that explains the room information we need to know, like the room name, minimum number of people, maximum possible points to collect, stress level, and skills level.

You’d ask yourself how long does an escape room take? Each room lasts for only 2-3 minutes, the countdown starts once we open the door with the electronic key. We were rushing to solve the challenges and collect the maximum points to win the escape room. We succeeded in some rooms but we also failed some, but repeating the rooms is possible in any order we like. The time passed by so fast since we really enjoyed this routine changer experience in Prison Island Abu Dhabi. 

Before leaving, we had a lovely chat with the staff, they informed us that all ages from 8 – 80 years old are welcome, but the ages between 8-11 must have an adult with them. There is also a party room for celebrations, and they provide decorations as per request. They have a new game other than the escape room which is “Boxed in Think in”, a race against time of 90 minutes where you should crack the code and puzzles of 12 boxes and +80 challenges. 

Our Opinion

From our point of view, Prison Island is the most enjoyable escape room we went to, it is ideal to break from the weekly routine, it’s not scary at all unlike the other escape rooms. But, kids might feel uncomfortable due to the loud noises and lighting. Other than that, the rooms were very fun and we highly recommend the prison, flipper, wire, joker and tilt rooms. We won’t forget to give credit to the staff as well, they were so friendly and helpful. We’ll definitely go there again! 

Book your slot on Prison Island’s website now to break your routine!

More information about Prison Island:

Location: 

Abu Dhabi Mall, level 3, next to the food court. 

Opening hours: 

• Sunday – Thursday: 10AM to 10PM
• Friday and Saturday: 10AM – 12:00AM. 

Prices: 

• 1 hour (Adults 125 AED – Kids 105)
• 2 hours (Adults 199 AED – Kids 159)
• 3 hours (Adults 249 AED – Kids 199)
• Family pass ( 2 hours – 2 Adults, 2 Kids) 569 AED
• Family pass ( 2 hours – 2 Adults, 3 Kids) 599 AED
• Family pass ( 2 hours – 2 Adults, 4 Kids) 659 AED

Our recommendation

There is no dress code, however we recommend wearing sneakers to safely run away from the creepy live actors!

Escape Rooms would definitely make you feel like time passes by so quickly and would most probably leave you hungry and parched, so check out the Best Restaurants with a view in Abu Dhabi!

We hope you enjoyed our review and give one of these escape rooms a go! To receive more reviews in the future don’t hesitate to subscribe to our newsletter! We promise we won’t spam.