Definitely no April Fools jokes in this newsletter! Just new rooms opening, news stories and podcasts อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ โ€Œ  อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ อ โ€Œ:  อ อ อ อ อ

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A very happy April to you all!

I once again (as I always do each year) fell for many escape room related April Fools jokes this year. But I think I've finally parsed through all the news pieces and isolated the ones which are real. Probably..!

And what are those big stories? Well this month we have both the Game On conference to look forward to in the UK, and an online Escape Rooms in Education event next month. Head down to the "Other News" section to read all about things going on around the world, interesting articles, and of course new rooms opening this month.

As always, we couldn't compile this newsletter without your help and support. If you have any feedback that'll help us improve, please don't hesitate to let us know by hitting "reply" to this email at any time.

Until next time! ๐Ÿ‘‹

Mairi Nolan
Editor of Escape Industry News

 

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๐Ÿงฉ Trending Now

Escape Rooms in Education Showcase 2025

In collaboration between Heriot-Watt University and the University of Indianapolis, the Escape Rooms in Education Showcase will take place online next month. This is the second year (of hopefully many) the team runs the event, and it's aimed at education professionals, researchers, and enthusiasts.

Learn More

The Game On Escape Room Conference will take place in Canterbury, UK later this month

Aimed at escape room owners, the folks at Zolitopia have been organising the Game On conference to take place in Canterbury, UK from April 29 - 30th later this month. There's a whole host of workshops and presentations planned, and the team behind the Escape Industry Newsletter will be there too - so come say hi!

Learn More

Escape Rooms Australia has published their first issue of 2025

Technically not huge news, but the last was published in September 2024 and I'm excited to share a bumper issue of new rooms opening all over the country. If you're based in Australia, or planning a trip, definitely check this resource out.

Learn More

๐Ÿงพ In Other News

โ€ข The LockMe Awards for the best escape rooms in Poland were announced last month. You can read all about them here.
โ€ข I was going to add a "go buy tickets for Escape, Immerse, Explore Netherlands" but they've all sold out - so instead you can read a
heartwarming story about the organisation here.
โ€ข
RECON Remote 25 has opened up sponsorship opportunities.
โ€ข Ryan Brady recently posted an article on
playing escape rooms in English in Seoul.

Not quite an escape room but we think you'll be interested in...

โ€ข An interesting paper titled
The Collaborative Sensemaking Play of Jubensha Games: A Deconstruction, Taxonomy, and Analysis can be read here.
โ€ข Blooloop recently did a writeup of the
Beat the Bomb experience and things like it.
โ€ข If you like Challenge Arcades, as always check out
this resource for the latest news.
โ€ข I did a write up of an escape room-like game,
YOUR HOUSE for Thinky Games last month.
โ€ข I also again wrote the
Thinky Third Thursday, rounding up last month's best video games.
โ€ข Applications for the
Black Immersive Creators Grant are now open.
โ€ข If you've ever wanted to see Myst in graph form,
here it is.
โ€ข And in the spirit of April Fools, here's
LockPickingLawyer's video this year. Slightly NSFW.

 

๐Ÿ“† Upcoming Dates for your Diary

April 29th - 30th
Game On Conference
Canterbury, UK

April 27th
Escape Room Awards
Madrid, Spain

May 15th - 16th
Escape Rooms in Education Showcase
Online

May 29th - June 5th
The Cerebral Puzzle Showcase
Online (Steam)

June 28th
ER Champ Qualifiers
Online

August 17th - 18th
RECON Remote 25
Online

October 19th - 20th
ER Champ Finale
Sofia, Bulgaria

 

๐Ÿ”‘ Recent Doors Unlocked

It's a quiet one for new openings this month! Which is a shame. As always, if you spot any rooms in your local area popping up - please let us know. No news is too big or too small :)

๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ

CA

Breakout Studios has opened a new room, Conspiracy of Silicon Valley in San Jose.
Escape the Box are hosting a pop-up escape room in San Diego this month.
Hijinks Hotel is opening a site in Irvine.
MPower has opened a new room, Blackthorne Manor, in Morgan Hill.

MO

Grimm's Escape Games has opened a new room, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, in Springfield, MO.

NH

Break Free Escape Games has opened a new room, Haunted Manor, in Nashua.

NY

The Escape Game are hosting a Jonas brothers themed escape room at JonasCon.

WA

Conundroom have opened a new room, Frankenstein in Redmond.

WI

Redacted Escape Rooms has announced they're opening in Milwaukee.

๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง/๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ช

Midlands

Break Escape has opened a new room, Wickedly Oz in Loughborough.
Exciting Game will be opening a new room, Jigsaw's Trial, in Birmingham.
LevelUp Escapes has opened a new room, Shrewsbury Express, in Shrewsbury.
Tension Twisted Realities has opened up a new room, The Last Appointment, in Lincoln.
The National Justice Museum has reopened Guilty? in Nottingham.
XscapeNow has opened a new room, Battleships, in Telford.

North England

Houdini's has opened a new branch with three rooms in Leeds.
Lakes Escapes has opened a new room, No Place Like Gnome in Workington.
Mystery Quest is opening a new venue with two rooms in Crewe.
The Escape Lounge has opened a new game, Egyptian Tomb Raider, in Ashington.

Scotland

Locked In Glasgow has opened a new room, Frankenstein, in Glasgow.

South England

All Stars Escape Room will soon open a new room, The Bletchley Project in Weston-super-Mare.
Dreadlock has opened a new room, The Great EGGscape in Bodmin.
Locked In A Room has opened a new room, Wallace and Gromit, in Southampton.
Mary Shelley's House of Frankenstein is hosting a "Big Lock In" event in May.
Operation Escape has reopened with two new rooms, in West Wickham.
Pier Pressure are opening a new room, The Lucky Escape, in Newhaven Fort.
The Panic Room has opened a new room, CSI - Death at the Disco, in Gravesend.

Wales

Mansion of Mystery has opened a new room, The Time Machine, in Carmarthenshire.

๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ/๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฟ

New South Wales

Be Escape has opened a new room, Eternal Night, in Haymarket.
Escape This has opened several new rooms in Sydney.
Scarborough Fair has opened a new room, Saknussemm's Trail, in Caringbah.
Scram Escape Rooms has opened a new room, Prison Island, in Penrith.
Strange World has opened a new room, Mrs Claws, in Darlinghurst.

South Australia

Escaplex has opened a new room, Transfusion, in Klemzig.

Western Australia

Escape This has opened a new room, Frankenstein Resurrection in Northbridge.
Escape This has also opened a new room, Hotel Murder Mystery, in Perth.

Victoria

Escape Reality Berwick has opened multiple new rooms in Berwick.
Excape has opened a new room, Kidnapped, in Frankston.
Time is Key Escape Rooms has opened a new room, The Dollmaker, in Ringwood.

A shout out to the resources & individuals who were a huge help this month: Escape the Review (UK), Rich Bragg (USA).

 

๐Ÿ”Š Listen

Last month in Podcasts, Radio & Live Shows

Escape This Podcast
"A show thatโ€™s a mix of escape room puzzles and tabletop role-playing."

โ€ข Podcast This Escape - The Spa Who Loved Me Mar 5
โ€ข
Room 223 ft. Julian O'Shea and Rueben Berg Mar 12
โ€ข
Podcast This Escape - Room 223 Mar 19
โ€ข
Spaghetti Sabotage ft. Eloise Corvo Mar 26

Escapuzzled Podcast
"Your one stop shop for all things escape rooms, immersive experiences, puzzles, virtual and tabletop escapes. In this podcast we'll be delving into all things escape rooms and talking to industry leading owners, creatives and designers to unlock the secrets behind these experiences."

โ€ข Fran Penney and Richard Mooney - NOMAD Escape / Escape Envelope Mar 12

The Infinite Escape Room
"The puzzling podcast where a gaggle of geographically diverse chums come together, have a drink - and work together to solve a home made escape room of the ears.โ€‹"

โ€ข Embrace the chaos: Mike, Jon & Jamie on the Escapuzzled podcast Mar 2
โ€ข
Nursery Crimes: Humpty Dumpty splat off the wall Mar 6
โ€ข
Nursery Crimes: There was an old lady who swallowed a truffle Mar 16
โ€ข
Nursery Crimes: The King, The Queen and The Knave. Mar 23
โ€ข
An Improvised drink at the Cat and Fiddle Mar 30

The Cager Express: Escape Break
"Welcome to the Cager Express: Home to Southern California's favorite Escape Room Podcast: Escape Break featuring Ezekiel Cager Ky and Beth Divel: . Sit down with us as we recap fun rooms, interviews and bizarre topics!"

โ€ข The Death of the ER Mar 14

Aurelius Whitlock's Murder Museum
"Join Marcus and Nathan as we play through murder mysteries of our own devising, playing curator, murderer, and detective. Listen along as we unravel the Museum's many secrets... What mysteries will you be able to solve?"

โ€ข The Lighthouse Exhibit - Post Show Discussion Mar 5
โ€ข
Death of a Swinger and Other Mysteries (ft. Reality Escape Pod) Mar 21

The following podcasts didn't release a new episode this month, but you should definitely check them out anyway:

  • Reality Escape Podcast
 

๐Ÿ”Ž April's Puzzle

A nice and simple one for you this month. What comes next in the sequence:

7, 8, 5, 5, 3, 4, 4, ?


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