Can you solve the mystery lurking in the tunnels under Tokyo?

Real escape game pioneers SCRAP and Tokyo Metro have teamed up again this year to offer their popular puzzle game The Underground Mysteries, which combines elements of scavenger hunts and lateral thinking challenges and sends you across the city in search of clues.

The game kits officially went on sale on October 1 and will be available until January 31, 2018. Each kit includes a 24-hour Tokyo Metro train pass in addition to the puzzle materials, and the handy carrying kit can be turned into a plastic file to keep as a souvenir. The kits cost 2,160 yen (about US$21.16) and can be purchased in Japanese or English at the commuter pass office at Ueno Station from 7:40 a.m.-8:00 p.m. every day.

New this year is a choose-your-own-adventure element, where you get different puzzles depending on the stations you choose to go to. There’s also a super cool new special effect that I unfortunately can’t tell you about without giving away too much, but I personally guarantee you will love it. Organizers have also made a few concessions to social media this time too, providing some fun photo spots along the way that don’t give away any hints for future players.

The game takes 4-6 hours to complete, but you are free take a break or do some sightseeing if you want to go at a more leisurely pace. Or if you are the competitive type, you can race another group to the solution for bragging rights or the night’s bar tab.

▼Our team about 5 hours in. Can you tell we are getting a bit loopy?

Travel time isn’t downtime either. Sometimes you don’t have a destination, just directions you have to follow to know when to get off the train. Other times, you have to hunt for particular visual clues while on board. Having played all three years, I can say the makers are getting better and better at integrating the puzzles to the real world.

If you get stuck along the way, SCRAP has a dedicated website that will give you hints. It’s also where you upload the solution to the final puzzle to see if you’ve gotten it right.

▼ Your first challenge will be actually locating the ticket office in sprawling Ueno station, but here’s a clue for you.

map-metro

And if you just can’t get enough of this kind of thing, check out SCRAP’s head-scratchingly difficult escape rooms, also available in English.

Photos ©SoraNews24