Solve an Ace Attorney case at a mystery cafe (7/26/19 – 12/15/19)

Oh man, am I excited about this one! Nazo Tomo Cafe “Mystery-Friends Cafe” is doing a collab with Ace Attorney — an event titled “Gyakuten Saiban: Gyakuten no Time Limit” (逆転裁判 逆転のタイムリミット). Based on the “How it Works” (I’ve translated it below), it actually seems to be a pretty intensive mystery-solving experience.
Pro tip
I’m assuming this is 100% in Japanese, so if you’re going, bring a friend who can translate.
Ace Attorney? Count me in!

Here’s a rough translation of their deets:
Title | Ace Attorney: Turnabout Time Limit |
---|---|
Difficulty | ★★★★☆ |
Genre | Exciting, investigation, imagination (? not sure what that means lol) |
Price | 2,160 yen per person (CUBE can have 1-4 people in there at a time) |
Time Limits | Detective part 5 min Court part 10 min * No time limit for investigation in the cafe space |
Created by | Bandai Namco Core Amusement |
Locations | Shinjuku, Shibuya, Kyoto, Nagoya, Namba |
How it works
Here’s a rough translation of their instructions, so you can get a better feel for how things would work out.
- Buy the special mystery kit at the counter
- Watch the opening movie from the 2D code in the kit
- Start solving the mystery from the kit, and when you get the answer, go to the counter again
- Receive the next kit, and you’ll be able to see the scene 5 min after reading the story (you can see this part max twice – but you can just take a photo)
- Continue investigations in the cafe corner, and when you’ve found the true culprit, go the the counter
- When you’re ready, go to the CUBE for the Court part (you can reserve a time slot)
- Court battle in the CUBE! If you’re able to prove your client innocent, mission complete. (If you lose and need to try the court battle again, it’s 500 yen per play)
Some other notes…
Based on the FAQ (Japanese), you don’t need a reservation, and you should expect to spend an hour and a half. They also recommend that players be 16 and older. (Not sure why, but that’s what their page says.)
They also have a drink menu, which I’m assuming you have to order from…? In that case, I’d estimate the budget for this to be about 3,160 yen (about $30 USD).

What’s Nazo Toki Cafe?

They have two locations in Tokyo, specifically, Shinjuku and Shibuya. I kind of laughed when I saw that the Shibuya location is inside Hooters, and that the Shinjuku one’s inside the Don Quixote. Who would’ve thought?
If your Japanese skills are good enough to solve mysteries, and you’re able to go with some friends, it might be a fun experience!
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