A secret room's blueprint design (XINHUA)

The room was dark, quiet and empty except for a single couch, a book shelf, and a few very peculiar posters—we had 60 minutes to escape. My friends and I feverishly began searching the place for clues on how to get out of the locked room, announcing anything suspicious to try and help each other out.

But don't worry; we'd paid for the experience ahead of time. We were playing a game called "escape the room," or mishi taotuo in Mandarin Chinese, which translates to "secret escape room." Escape rooms are live action games in which up to 10 participants are locked in a room and are left to find and solve clues in order to leave successfully. One game usually involves a series of areas, all under the same theme and all leading up to the ultimate challenge of escaping the final room.

I had never heard of escape rooms before coming to China. As such, my experience at the Mr. X escape room in Beijing was my first. My four friends and I were paired up with another group who'd come in, so that we'd meet the minimum number of participants per game.

We were then led into a dark, mysterious room and given our first clue. After this the door behind us was locked, and the timer above our heads began to count down. We looked around the ominous, almost barren room and began searching frantically for our next clue. Much time passed, but we were eventually able to find and unlock a second door, which was hidden from view.

The second room proved to be even more challenging than the first, and with each clue we discovered, we found ourselves having to complete one task after another to move forward. Our efforts nonetheless bore fruit in time and we were finally able to move to the third room with just 15 minutes to spare.

The pressure was high, and tension was palpable, but we'd made it so far together that we were determined to use teamwork to escape the final room in time. After what felt like an endless amount of searching for clues that could lead to our escape route, we finally solved the puzzle and unlocked the last door. We'd done it—We'd escaped!

If you have never been to an escape room before, then you may be a bit confused. You might be skeptical and ask, "So, people get together and pay a fee (usually around $25-30) so that they can be locked in a room together and then try to escape?"

Well, dear reader, the answer is yes. The games have in fact been used as team building exercises by many companies such as Google and Facebook, and are also a common source of fun for friends. Some say that the appeal is in allowing participants to escape the realities of their busy and stressful lives.

Others suggest that the games are a great form of interactive entertainment as opposed to the mundane stimulation provided by cellphones and social media—dim in comparison to the intensity and excitement of breaking out of the rooms.

Escape room games have received worldwide attention. It is estimated that there are about 3,000 escape rooms across the world, but the industry is growing fast, so the real number could be larger.

Even so, I first heard of these games while studying in China. My Chinese friends and classmates had participated in them several times, and I learned that they are especially popular in Asia. I later discovered that there are indeed one or two escape rooms near my hometown, Lithia Springs, in the United States' south.

Having begun in Asia, this phenomenon can now be found in countries all over the world. They are nonetheless still uncommon in some places. As such, escape rooms are one of the many fun things one might discover while living in China, and I for one, will definitely be playing again.

The author is an American living in China

Copyedited by Bryan Michael Galvan

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