We've escaped 2025! Here's all the latest new from the escape room world over the December break ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ‌  ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ‌:  ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

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We've escaped 2025! ✨

(...And onto the not-so-secret second room that is 2026)

Looking back on December, that's a wrap on the TERPECAs. I hope you all enjoyed playing, and in particular enjoyed the cameo from me, announcing the award for one of my favourite games I played last year.

We've also got some great industry analyses in this newsletter. Check out the US Industry Report from Room Escape Artist, and multiple UK round-up style ones from Emerge from the Room, Escape the Review, and Review the Room.

January is always a fairly quiet issue of this newsletter, but read on for some of the highlights from the last month. New rooms opening, podcasts podcasting, and some nice stories from the puzzle world.

I don't know about you but I'm very excited for the escape room industry in 2026.

Mairi 
Editor of Escape Industry News

 

🧩 Trending Now

The TERPECA 2025 Winners Announced

This year's top 5 positions went to:

#1 Top Room: Magnifico by Escaparium (Canada)
#2 Top Room: Magic Universe by Madland / Mad Mansion (Spain)
#3 Top Room: Monster Mashers (Dark Mode) by Tales of Torchdale (Belgium)
#4 Top Room: The Krugger's Secret by Insomnia Corporation (Spain)
#5 Top Room: Ctrl Alt Reboot by Escaparium (Canada)

You can check out the full results and watch the recorded show here:

Learn More

Room Escape Artist's 2025 USA Escape Room Industry Report has been published

As is standard for the past 11 years, Room Escape Artist has published their annual US industry report. Headline: The number of escape room facilities in the US has remained stable over the past 3.5 years, but there are a few underlying trends of note. The first is consolidation of ownership. The second is an expansion of immersive gaming business models. This report will explore these trends in depth.

Read More

🧾 In Other News

• Emerge from the Room has posted their annual industry UK round-up post. This is an incredibly detailed analysis and I look forward to reading it each year.
• Escape the Review has published the
100 best escape rooms in the UK 2025.
•
Review the Room has posted a TERPECA top UK rooms round-up.

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

• Thinky Third Thursday will be posting their
GOTY edition this Thursday with a giveaway to win keys for various (and some escape roomey) videogames.
• The nominees for the
2025 Thinky Awards have been announced, with the livestream to follow soon.
• No Proscenium has shared their
favourite immersive experiences and shows of 2025 in their latest article.
• Thinky Games posted a
Christmas gift guide, and a team member's GOTY article.

I normally list the following in "Other News" but I think they deserve their own spaces:

Challenge Arcades Monthly Update
Thinky Third Thursday

 

📆 Upcoming Dates for your Diary

March 1st - 31st
Enigmarch
Online

March 26th - 29th 2026
TransWorld Interactive Entertainment Show
St. Louis, MO, USA

April 19th - 21st 2026
LEAG
Bottrop, Germany

April 2026
Escape Room Awards
Madrid, Spain

August 16th - 17th
RECON 26
Laval, QC, Canada

 

🔑 Recent Doors Unlocked

🇺🇸

Diablo Escapes has opened a new VR room, Cyberspace, in Walnut Creek, CA.
MPower has (re)opened their room The Secret Experiment in Morgan Hill, CA.
SMoCA has opened a new room, The Case of the Whispering Walls, in Scottsdale, AZ.
The Escape Game has opened a new room, Great Big Game Show, in San Jose, CA.

🇨🇦

No new openings spotted this month. Know of one? Let us know!

🇬🇧/🇮🇪

South England

clueQuest have opened a new room, IAMAI, in London.
Dream Vault have opened a new site with one room, Smuggler's Grove, in Reading.
Mazer Zone have opened a new room, Demon's Domain, in London.
Tempo have opened a new room, Raiders of the Lost Art in Bath.

Yorkshire & the North of England

Escape Room Scarborough has opened a new room, Spyfall: War Room 2 in Scarborough.
The Escapologist has opened a new room, CLU3D0 in Leeds.
The Strategy has opened a new room, The Chocolate Factory, in Sunderland.

Midlands

Escape Coalville has opened a new room, Arctic Mayday, in Coalwille.
Tension Twisted Realities has opened a new room, New Theatre Royal Room - Robin Hood, in Lincoln.

Wales

Puzzled Escape Rooms will be opening a new room, Going Up, in Cardiff.

Scotland

Escape Stirling has opened a new room, The Bunker, in Stirling.

🇦🇺/🇳🇿

Time's Up has opened a new room, Operation: Sugar Shack in Wanneroo, Perth.

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

 

🔊 Listen

Last month in Podcasts, Radio & Live Shows

Escape This Podcast
"A show that’s a mix of escape room puzzles and tabletop role-playing."

• Podcast This Escape - Bill & Dani's Excellent Adventure Dec 31
•
Night at the Clue-seum - pt 10: Bill & Dani's Excellent Adventure Dec 24
•
Podcast This Escape - Raiders of the Lost Archive Dec 17
•
Night at the Clue-seum - pt 9: Raiders of the Lost Archive Dec 10
•
Podcast This Escape - Planes, Trains and Elevators Dec 3

Reality Escape Podcast
"Your hosts David Spira & Peih-Gee Law explore immersive gaming from all angles."

• State of the Escapes with Lisa Spira Dec 29
•
Holiday Special (ft. The REA Team) Dec 22
•
BLOT, the RECON Game - starring Lyra Levin, Yannick Trapman-O’Brien, & Mark Larson Dec 15
•
Zach Sherwin, Creator of The Crossword Show Dec 8
•
Legendary Disney Imagineer: Doris Hardoon Dec 1

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

  • The Escapuzzled Podcast
  • The Cager Express: Escape Break
  • The Infinite Escape Room
  • Tori With A Story
 

🔎 January's Puzzle

This one is a nice simple one from GCHQ:

If R + B = P and R + Y = O then B + Y = what?


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