Escape game
Most peopleThe default name here, and the one 12,100 Singapore searches a month use. Correct, as long as you drop the assumption that there is a room.
See the gamesPuzzle hunts, Singapore
The puzzle hunt, at the size of your whole company.
A puzzle hunt is an escape game with the room taken away. Same clock, same chain of puzzles, played across a fort, a museum, a wildlife park or a street of shophouses, so 10 people or 1,000 can run it at once. We have been building them in Singapore since 2013.
- What it is
- Escape game, no room
- Scale
- 10 to 1,000+ pax
- Where
- Nine Singapore venues
- Runs for
- 90 to 150 mins
10 to 1,000+ People per event
11+ Games and venues
2013 Established
~$23 Per pax, from (SGD)
Definition
What a puzzle hunt actually is.
A puzzle hunt is a timed game in which teams solve a chain of linked puzzles, each answer opening the next, until one of them finishes the story. Nothing is locked. The puzzles sit out in a real place, in props, on walls, in the hands of someone in costume who will not break character, and the teams move between them. That single change, taking the puzzles out of the room, is what lets a whole department play the same game at the same time.
We came to it the long way round. The Escape Artist built and ran physical escape rooms in Singapore from 2013, at HarbourFront and before that elsewhere, six to eight players at a time behind a locked door. The puzzle craft is the same. What changed is that a company of 400 cannot book a room, so we took the game to them: to Fort Siloso, Haw Par Villa, River Wonders, the Asian Civilisations Museum, the Battlebox, VivoCity, Chinatown and the Singapore Maritime Gallery, and to plenty of office function rooms in between.
If you are looking for a room you can book by the hour for two people on a Saturday, this is not it, and we would rather say so than sell you the wrong thing. Our retail partner Lockdown Escape at Marina Square runs those.
Same game, four names
What you call it depends on where you met it.
Four phrases land in our inbox for one product. None of them is wrong exactly, but they come with different pictures attached, and the picture is what decides whether the day goes the way you imagined. Here is the decoder.
Puzzle hunt
People who play themThe precise name. A chain of linked puzzles solved against a clock, spread across a real place. If you have done one before, this is probably the word you use.
Large-scale escape game
The tradeWhat the format is called when it takes a whole company instead of six friends. Singapore has a handful of operators who can run one; Lockdown Escape and ourselves built the category here.
How the scale worksAmazing race
People new to itUsually a memory of the TV show rather than a description of what they want. We run a genuine race, but nine times out of ten the brief behind the phrase is a puzzle hunt.
The race formatThe one worth pausing on is the last. If you have asked three vendors for an amazing race quote, check what you actually want out of the two hours: teams sprinting between checkpoints, or teams arguing over a cipher until someone gets it. Both are good days. They are not the same day, and only one of them still works when it rains.
Not sure which one you want
Describe the day you are picturing in a sentence or two. We will tell you which format you are actually asking for, even when the answer is the cheaper one.
Large-scale escape games
Ten people is a puzzle hunt. Six hundred is a run sheet.
The reason most escape game companies stop at forty people is not the puzzles. It is the traffic. Put 600 people on one clue chain and they arrive at the same prop in one wave, and the game becomes a queue with a story attached.
- 01
Teams of five to eight
Everyone plays, nobody spectates. A group of 10 runs as two teams racing each other; 600 runs as roughly 90.
- 02
Staggered route orders
Teams start on different points of the chain and move in different directions, so the same puzzle is never crowded.
- 03
Released in waves
Not everyone starts at once. Waves go out on a timed sheet our host runs from the front, which is also what keeps the finish tight.
- 04
Facilitators on the ground
People, not an app. They hold timing at each point, give escalating hints instead of answers, and keep a stuck team moving.
That is what a large-scale escape game is: the same puzzle chain, engineered so the hundredth team has as good a game as the first. Three of ours take up to 1,000 pax (River Lockdown at River Wonders, Journey to the End and Back at Haw Par Villa and Lost Treasure of Sarang Rimau at Fort Siloso), and the smallest booking we take is 10.
Already have a headcount
The estimate works out the game fee for your exact group size in about thirty seconds, so you can see how the rate per head falls before you talk to anyone.
The case files
Every hunt we run, by format.
All of them are puzzle hunts. The format is the shape it takes on the day, and it is usually decided by the place rather than by us. Filter the full list by group size, venue and setting, or read them in order here.
Escape game
7 gamesA story, a clock and a chain of puzzles, played across a venue instead of inside a locked room.
Two Pieces
Two Pieces is our newest offsite escape game, at the Singapore Maritime Gallery, where teams race to decipher a two-piece artefact pulled from a secret chamber beneath the old Fullerton Lighthouse.
Venue Singapore Maritime GalleryMax players Up to 200 pax
Wonderland
An offsite escape game across VivoCity for up to 120, following the clues Alice left behind before the portal closes.
Venue VivoCityMax players Up to 120 pax
Artefact Temporis
A museum escape game at the Asian Civilisations Museum for up to 150, solving puzzles among the galleries to reconnect a lost rover.
Venue Asian Civilisations MuseumMax players Up to 150 pax
Journey into the Unknown
An indoor sci-fi escape game for up to 300 at your own venue, racing 90 minutes to repair the escape pods before life support fails.
Venue Any indoor venueMax players Up to 300 paxFormat Immersive only
Code of Silence
A wartime escape game inside the Battlebox bunker at Fort Canning for up to 120, sending a secret code before the fall of Singapore.
Venue Battlebox, Fort CanningMax players Up to 120 paxNote Venue hire requiredFormat Immersive only
Heart of the Ocean
A large-group offsite escape game at the Oceanarium for up to 150, where an enchanted board game turns the exhibits into a living adventure.
Venue OceanariumMax players Up to 150 paxNote Admission ticket required
River Lockdown
Our largest-scale outdoor escape game, for up to 1,000 at River Wonders, where an ancient board game brings the park's creatures to life.
Venue River WondersMax players Up to 1,000 paxNote Admission ticket required
Heritage trail
2 gamesThe same puzzle chain, walked through a real Singapore neighbourhood or heritage site, with its history built into the answers.
Whisper of the Guardians
An outdoor heritage escape game through Chinatown for up to 200, racing to decipher a wartime scroll before rival treasure hunters.
Venue ChinatownMax players Up to 200 paxType Heritage trail
Journey to the End and Back
A large-group outdoor escape game at Haw Par Villa for up to 1,000, racing the underworld to rescue a friend before he forgets everything.
Venue Haw Par VillaMax players Up to 1,000 paxNote Venue hire requiredType Heritage trail
Treasure hunt
1 gameA clue chain where each answer points to the next place, ending at something worth finding.
Amazing race
1 gameCheckpoints with a task at each one, scored on time, teams racing each other as well as the clock.
Dining escape game
1 gamePuzzles solved at the table between courses, so the game and the meal are the same booking.
Shortlisted a couple
Send us two or three you like with a rough date. We will check what the venues have open and come back with a proposal for the one that actually fits your group.
Where they run
The hunt is built around the place.
A puzzle hunt written for Chinatown does not transfer to Sentosa. The route, the props and half the answers come out of the ground it is played on, which is why each venue has its own game rather than the same game in a different shirt.
- Sentosa Heart of the Ocean, Lost Treasure of Sarang Rimau
- Marina South Two Pieces
- HarbourFront Wonderland
- Civic District Artefact Temporis
- Chinatown Whisper of the Guardians
- Fort Canning Code of Silence
- Mandai River Lockdown
- Pasir Panjang Journey to the End and Back
- Your own venue Journey into the Unknown, Race to Infinity
Venue dates go first
Fort Siloso, Haw Par Villa and the museums book out well ahead, and the date usually decides the game rather than the other way round. Tell us roughly when and we will check what is open.
Who we run these for
Booked by companies, ministries and schools.
The hunt does not change much between them. The briefing, the pacing and the paperwork do.
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Corporate teams
Company D&D, department offsites, town halls and staff appreciation days. Team building and team bonding for ten people or a thousand, at your venue or one of ours.
Corporate team building -
Government and public sector
Ministries, statutory boards, agencies and schools under MOE. We are registered on Vendors@Gov and quote through GeBIZ, with the paperwork done properly.
Government team building -
Schools and institutes
Learning journeys at museums and heritage sites, orientation camps, VIA projects, post-exam programmes and cohort bonding, from one class to a whole level.
School learning journeys -
Individuals and families
A few times a year we open a game to the public at a museum, a park or a fort. Anyone can buy a ticket to those, no company or school required.
Public games and events
What it costs
Priced as one event, not per seat.
A puzzle hunt is a fixed game fee plus SGD 20 per person: SGD 300 fixed on Standard, self-guided on our MazeFox web app with one of our staff hosting, or SGD 1,100 fixed on Immersive, which adds cosplay facilitators around the venue. Because only half of it is fixed, the rate per head falls as the group grows, to about SGD 23 a person on larger self-guided groups. We are non-GST registered, so there is no GST on top.
The full price table is published, or the instant estimate works out your number in about thirty seconds.
- 01
Choose your game
Pick from 11 games and venues, or tell us your headcount and we will match one.
- 02
Add any extras
Catering, transport, prizes, extra activities. Build the day you want.
- 03
Receive a proposal
Our events team sends a tailored proposal with pricing and logistics.
- 04
Confirm the event
Lock the date and venue. We handle facilitators, props and set-up.
- 05
Game day
Turn up and play. Our hosts run everything, in costume.
In good company
What teams say
Reviewed where it counts.
★★★★★
We had a great experience with The Escape Artist. They offered a variety of well-planned packages for us to choose from and were very accommodating with advance bookings. Their briefing was clear and helpful, and everything went smoothly on the day of our event.
★★★★★
The puzzles were mostly logical and very interesting with a good mixture of keys, locks and mechanisms which we enjoyed. The space was also sufficient and clues largely clear enough to proceed. The staff was also very helpful and patient. We had a wonderful experience!
★★★★★
Had a great time with my friends... The team was very patient and walked us through the remaining puzzles that we did not manage to complete after our 1 hour was up. The room itself was great, a lot of details went into the decor and the clues were all in good condition.
Good questions
Puzzle hunt FAQ
What is a puzzle hunt?
A puzzle hunt is a timed game where teams work through a chain of linked puzzles, each answer opening the next, until someone finishes the story. It is the same craft as an escape room, without the room: the puzzles are spread across a venue, a neighbourhood or a park, so hundreds of people can play the same game at the same time. Most people in Singapore call it an escape game. Puzzle hunt is the name used by people who play them for fun.
Is a puzzle hunt the same as an escape room?
Nearly. A retail escape room locks 6 to 8 people in a themed set for 60 minutes. A puzzle hunt takes the same puzzle chain outside and runs it for 10 to 1,000 people at once, at a museum, a fort, a wildlife park or your own office. Nobody is locked in, the teams move, and the clock still runs. We built and ran physical escape rooms in Singapore from 2013 before we moved the games offsite, so the puzzles come from the same workshop.
What is the difference between a puzzle hunt and an amazing race?
An amazing race is scored on how fast you get between checkpoints and finish the task waiting at each one. A puzzle hunt is scored on solving: the next location is the answer to the last puzzle, so a team that thinks well beats a team that runs fast. Plenty of Singapore companies ask us for an amazing race and describe a puzzle hunt, because the race is the name they know from television. We run both, and we will tell you which one your brief is actually describing.
What is a large-scale escape game?
An escape game built for a whole company rather than one team. The puzzle chain is spread across a venue so teams of 5 to 8 play in parallel, released in waves on staggered route orders, with facilitators holding the timing at each point. That is how 600 people at Fort Siloso is a run sheet rather than a queue. Singapore has only a handful of operators running games at this size; we have been doing it since 2013.
How many people do you need for a puzzle hunt?
Ten is our minimum and 1,000-plus is the largest we have run. A team is 5 to 8 people, so a group of 10 plays as two teams racing each other, and a group of 600 plays as roughly 90 teams released in waves. The game fee is a fixed fee plus a per-person rate, so the cost per head falls as the group grows.
Do you need to be good at puzzles to enjoy one?
No. The puzzles are built so that a mixed team gets further than a team of specialists: some need observation, some need someone willing to talk to a stranger in costume, some need someone who reads instructions properly. Facilitators give escalating hints rather than answers, so nobody is stuck long enough to check out of the game.
Request a proposal
Tell us the group and the date
Headcount, rough date and whether you want it indoors or out. We reply within one business day with a proposal and a run sheet outline.