*** What is The Matrix? The Matrix is control, Neo. What is Mr. X? It's like... it's kind of like The Matrix but fun, I guess? Maybe? Start over. Mr. X is a giant puzzle house. Mr. X is a giant, real-life escape game. Mr. X is a giant, real-life fantasy puzzle escape game. It works like this: You and a group of friends are locked in a room together -- you're trapped in some kind of fantasy scenario together -- no smartphones, no cameras, nothing in your pockets -- and your only task is to get out. Your task is beat the game, which has one objective: escape. How? That's for you to figure out. Clues and useful objects are strewn about the rooms. They can come in the form of keys, building blocks, metal gears, cryptic graffiti and symbols on the wall, strange tools -- even the stuff you can see out the window on the street can be used. Even the stuff you're wearing can factor into your escape. You have to use your powers of observation, pattern recognition, and logic to find the connections and correlations, overcoming obstacles thrown in your path to escape the scenario and finish the game. You have exactly one hour. The ominous red digital clock on the wall is counting down. Click. Click. Click. Do everything right and the answers are revealed to you until you eventually find the key to unlock the door to freedom. Yes, this is rad, wicked, cheesy, awesome, and amazing. This is the door you go through to choose your fantasy scenario... ...but we'll back up a bit and fill in some blanks. *** With already 12 outlets all over China, after a two-year germination period, Mr. X in Beijing is finally open, right in the heart of the city (ish), in Shimao Shopping Mall, 13 Gongti Beilu. That's the one that's right at the corner of Xindong Lu and Gongti. They're currently offering four distinct scenarios with two more opening next week. In broad strokes, the rooms take cues from popular movies and computer games. Indiana Jones. Resident Evil. Myst. Saw. Um... The Goonies. Thematic motifs runs from the realistic to the occult, from sci-fi and fantasy to thriller and action movie genres. The difficulty ranges from easy to medium to damn near impossible. To give you an idea of how involved it all is, here's a few pictures of the puzzle rooms, presented without context. Don't want to ruin the reveal... We tried out a prison break-mad scientist scenario. Without giving too much away, we were digging for clues down toilets, scurrying down ventilation shafts like Die Hard, scouring for symbols in skeletal autopsy chambers, and rafting across water barriers. Shifting walls and hatchways unlock to reveal brand new puzzle rooms and new challenges to face and overcome. It's like some millionaire built a giant, real-life computer game. The prison break scenario was a "medium" difficulty. We tried. We failed. This shit is not easy. On getting stuck: They've got cameras all over the facilities, so if you get stumped, you can wave a flag at the camera and ask for a hint. Yeah, it adds to the experience, the sense that you're being watched from some evil control room somewhere like a rat in a maze. For life-lines, you can't do it very often though. If you get stuck enough times, you're SOL, and you've got to try it again some other time. On the difficulty of the game, they say the easiest one, about 80% of the people manage to complete it. The medium scenarios, it's about 50-50, and the hardest one, only about 30% of the people who try it manage to finish it. For the harder ones, people come back multiple times to try to beat it. Oh, yeah, dude, there's a giant robot. DUDE. Oh, yes. Guess what you have to do with this thing... KLATU! VERATA! NICTU! Okay, logistical details. Every scenario takes an hour. You've got to go with a group of six to nine people. Four or five people is pushing it. Above ten, you should probably just split into two groups. The whole thing is a fun thing to do for someone's birthday. It's a groups-of-friends, kind of thing. Or for like a team building thing for your work. As a concept, it's basically just a really rad alternative to KTV -- just a unique way to interact with your friends or colleagues. Cost-wise it's 120rmb per person for non-peak hours; 150rmb at peak times. But, yeah, from start to finish, it's just a whole experience. This is their lobby area. It's done up like some kind of 18th century explorer's clubhouse. Look at this place: You're waiting here to begin your game, and then they take you to a locker area, confiscate your phones, empty your pockets, and run a metal detector over you. It's super serious stuff. And, of course, good cheesy fun. Anyways, I've said too much! I've said too much! I'm trying to free your mind, Neo! I'm trying to free your mind! Tickets: You've got to get them in advance. You can do so online, if you can read Chinese. Go to their website and book and pay online. You can also call them at their hotline -- 4008-598-298 -- this is their own booking hotline. No English when you call it, but press 1 and then press 03. That should direct you to their Beijing venue and they have staff that speak English. On finding it: Mr. X is on the second floor of Shimao Shopping Mall, 13 Gongti Beilu, at the south end of that floor. There's no signage. (OooOOooOo!) Look for this entrance way: That opens into this: Good luck! Mu-ah-ha-ha-ha-haaaaaa.....* *** Mr. X is at the south end, 2/F, Shimao Shopping Mall, 13 Gongti Beilu. They're open daily from 10am to 2am.