Room Escape Artist

Tao Room Escape: Japanese Massage Center is one of the best escape rooms in Barcelona. Here are our recommendations for other great escape rooms in Barcelona, Spain.

Clothing discouraged

Location:  Barcelona, Spain

Date Played: April 22, 2024

Team size: 2-7; we recommend 4-6

Duration: 90 minutes

Price: from €45 per player for teams of 2 to €23 per player for teams of 7

Ticketing: Private

Accessibility Consideration:  This game includes sitting on the floor, crawling, jumping, and a costume change.

Mess Meter:  0 (out of 5)

Emergency Exit Rating: [A] Push To Exit

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

For more on our trip to Spain, here’s our field report.

REA Reaction

After more than 1200 escape rooms, Tao Room Escape: Japanese Massage Center was a novel experience.

Structurally, this was an escape room, but the interactions were unusual. In the early game, it was the theming that made some of them memorable, but in the later game, the interactions themselves were very different. What the game asked of us was so constantly over the top and silly.

The tone was glib. The game poked fun at us from the opening moments. Players need to be comfortable with this in order to appreciate and enjoy the hilarity of the experience. The whole group has to be on board.

Beyond the tone, Tao Room Escape: Japanese Massage Center took risks with a foreign culture that won’t land for everyone. In fact, some players will find the theming downright offensive because it certainly feels like Virus Escape Room is leaning into the otherness of Japanese culture. For the most part we felt like the game was laughing at us, the players, far more than it laughed at anything else, which helped us stay in the moment.

I was able to take this all in stride, because at this point in my escape room playing journey, I value well-executed but different over comfort. That isn’t to say the execution was perfect. Parts of the game needed maintenance and there was opportunity for scenic improvement.

However, what lingers in my mind thinking about Tao Room Escape: Japanese Massage Center is the bizarre interactions, and how funny it was to laugh at ourselves trying to do these ridiculous things with a group of wonderful friends, all dressed in a rainbow of flowery kimonos. It’s weird, it’s funny, and I cannot imagine this flying in the US.

If you are in Barcelona, this one is a ways outside of town. However, if you are looking for novelty and humor, it’s worth the drive. Go in willing to embrace it 100% or don’t play at all.

Who is this for?

• Players looking for something different
• Players who can laugh at themselves
• Players who are comfortable in their own skin
• Any experience level

Why play?

• The unusual premise
• The glib tone
• To play an escape room in a kimono

Story

The premise of Tao Room Escape: Japanese Massage Center was straightforward: we were going to get a massage in the Japanese tradition. The center’s website advertised a unique setting with ancestral family objects, exquisite staff led by Matsumoto San, and secret massage techniques. This was just the relaxation we needed in the middle of our hectic Spanish travel schedule.

Setting

If we hadn’t known better, and hadn’t read the words “room escape” on the sign, we would have thought this was, in fact, a massage parlor, as we walked up to it on the street. From the plain walls to the style of the signage, it looked the part.

We first entered the changing area, where we’d store our belongings and don our traditional Japanese kimonos.

The escape room massage parlor was spacious, with minimal furniture and decor. The props were all thematic – either massage-focused, or Japanese. As we progressed in the experience, the sets were bolder – with more detailed decor and bigger props – and the spaces were less and less massage-like.

Gameplay

Virus Room Escape’s Tao Room Escape: Japanese Massage Center was an unusual escape room.

First, it was masquerading as a massage center.

Second, it suggested a costume change. We stripped down to our underwear and put on kimonos and branded socks. (Of note, there was nothing sexy about this; it was purely funny.)

Thirds, it was at first gentle, and calm, like a massage, but then it ramped up into some more physical challenges. At least one person will need to jump around a bit.

Core gameplay revolved around observing and solving puzzles.

Gameplay also required embracing the bizarre experience and a funny character who makes fun of the players.

Analysis

➕ Tao Room Escape: Japanese Massage Center was unique. It presented as massage parlor, layered on kimonos… and then changed tone and trolled us for 90 minutes, in a funny, playful, and sometimes crude manner.

➕ The tone of the game was telegraphed during the onboarding. The introduction was chaotic and amusing.

➕ The character at the heart of this game was hilarious. He made fun of us, but also improvised along with our reactions. The justification he offered for why we’d solve this escape room… fit like a glove.

➖ While the kimonos added to the experience (and we whole-heartedly recommend going all in on this), they presented some challenges. We would have appreciated more variety in kimono sizing. If you are significantly smaller or bigger than the average adult, the kimono won’t work great. We had to sit on the floor early on, which was challenging for some in this attire, especially the bigger folks. And this wasn’t the only scene that presented an opportunity for the wardrobe to… come up short. Also, the gamespace was too cold, especially considering the lack of clothing.

➕/➖ The puzzles were cute. They worked well. The massage-themed ones were funny. The Japanese-themed ones were forgettable. In general, the puzzles were mostly besides the point.

➖ The escape room-y mechanisms were janky and beat up by previous players. Places to touch and push needed maintenance.

➕ Mid-game the gameplay sprang into action with a wholly unexpected new space. Then it twisted in another direction, with another set and a different challenge.

➕ As the game progressed, the interactions escalated. The late-game interactions were the best part of Tao Room Escape: Japanese Massage Center. They were all so unusual, and funny. And yes, we were often the butt of the jokes… especially in the finale.

➖ The decor was minimalistic. In one space, it was nonexistent, with no in-world justification. There was opportunity to enhance some of the spaces and further enrich the experience.

➕ The front facade was realistic. Passersby will think this is a Japanese massage parlor.

❓ Tao Room Escape: Japanese Massage Center leaned into the stereotypes of Japanese culture. It was funny because of how it played into stereotypes. That said, it was not a culturally sensitive handling of another culture. We expect some players would be pretty offended by the entire experience.

Tips For Visiting

• There is street parking nearby, but leave time to find a spot.
• We recommend Golden Ramen for a nearby meal.
• This game is offered in Spanish, Catalan, or English.
• You do not need to undress to play this game. You can put the kimono on over your clothes. However, we strongly recommend you embrace the experience. Visit with teammates you don’t mind changing in front of and wear your good underwear!
• You will remove your shoes and play this escape room in the branded socks provided to you.
• This game leans into stereotypes of Japanese culture. It is not culturally sensitive.

Book your session with Virus Room Escape’s Tao Room Escape: Japanese Massage Center, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.