Ninja Escape Room: Missão Ninja

Ninja Escape have a theme and they’ve run with it: not only are both their games Asian themed, the lobby and waiting room are packed with Oriental knick knacks, with anime songs playing on loop on a screen.

Mission Ninja was their first room, and likewise indulges in all the tropes of the theme. The setting is a traditional izakaya tavern, and you’re searching for an Elixir of Wisdom that will grant you ownership of the establishment. (At least, I think that was the story; our host read a translation from his phone, which would probably have been clearer and more dramatic in the Portuguese version.)

We got rapidly to work, only realising ten minutes later that we’d failed to notice the intended first puzzle and had instead solved a later puzzle without the clue that was meant to point us to it. It’s a classic mostly linear sequence of puzzles, mostly resolving to padlock codes, but also very solidly designed ones that varied from the straightforward to the more challenging.

The last puzzle was something of a sudden step up in difficulty, in that solving it required pulling together quite a number of different elements. I’ll admit we tried pretty much all of the possible simpler approaches before finding the right one, but I still liked this about the room, that it finished with a kind of ‘boss level’ challenge to finish off.

The company described it as the fun, easier option of their two rooms, and that seems right to me, even though we actually took longer in this one. It’s a cheerful puzzle-fest, light on story but strong on theming, with consistently good puzzle design, a pleasantly silly highlight partway through, and a satisfying finish – all in all, a thoroughly good time.