We're 4 years old today! Inside this issue: RECON Remote, ER Champ Results, 100 Episodes of REPOD, escape room conference talks and more. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ‌  ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ‌:  ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

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Happy July everyone!

Did you know, July is the anniversary of when we first started writing the Escape Industry Newsletter? We're 4 years old today!

Our very first issue was in August 2021, which now looks incredibly bare bones to me. But I love looking back on old issues, like our one year, two year, and three year issues to see how far the industry has come in such a short amount of time.

Anyway, I'm nothing if not a girl of habit and so:
I do believe es-cake is in order!

(actual footage of me in the 'Escape Industry Newsletter' HQ)

So what are the top stories from this month?

We recently saw the qualifier round of the World Escape Room Championship come to a close. 12 teams made it through, congratulations! This was a tricky qualifier round for sure!

Elsewhere, we're gearing up for RECON Remote. Tickets are still available, and I'll be attending as a part of Buzzshot, so do come (virtually) say hello!

Last but not least I spotted in a lot of thought pieces and articles this month, playtesting seemed to be the topic du jour among designers, owners and enthusiasts.

I always enjoy that in among the news, podcasts, and new rooms opening we report on, we get a lot of nice comments from folks enjoying the design articles too. So if you ever spot anything (or write anything yourself) feel free to send it out way!

Until next time! 👋

Mairi Nolan
Editor of Escape Industry News

P.S. If a friend has forwarded you this email, please consider subscribing!

 

🧩 Trending Now

ER Champ Qualifiers Official Results Announced

The Qualifier round of the World Escape Room Championship are now over, and the results have been announced. This year there'll be 12 teams making it through to the finale, which you can read all about by tapping the link below. Additionally, tickets are on sale for the Finals, After Party, and Escape Room Conference in Sofia, Bulgaria taking place October 20th.

Learn More

REPOD publishes 100 episodes! 🎉

We love to see it- or rather, hear it! Congratulations REPOD. To celebrate, the team have released a round-up episode diving into some of the most noteworthy clips from the past 100 episodes. In an exerpt from their blog post about it:

"Each of these clips fundamentally changed how we think about something. Maybe it gave us a new perspective on leadership, like Elan Lee’s clip about “other people’s work.” Or perhaps it was Christine Barger going against industry norms by allowing filming in her escape room. Others were more philosophical, like Alexander Gierholz’s musings on the dissonance of escapism. Many of these clips helped shape the way we think about immersive design, such as Linda Klein talking about “experiential mixers” or Tommy Honton’s “adrenaline map.”"

Learn More

The talks from Game On 25 Escape Room Conference are now online

To access, you'll have to sign up to the Zolitopia newsletter - but once you're in there, you should be able to see all of the talks from this year's conference (including one panel on the future of immersive featuring yours truly!)

Watch Here

🧾 In Other News

• The June edition of ERA (Escape Rooms Australia) Magazine is now live. Read it here.
• Only one month and a bit until Reality Escape Convention remote. If you haven't got your tickets yet,
you can do so here.
• Society of Curiosities recently posted an interesting blog post about their playtesting process,
which you can read here.
• Lock Me are running a competition where if you leave reviews of Polish escape rooms, you can win prizes each month,
as reported in their blog.
• Richard Burns has written a fantastic piece for Room Escape Artist on
the importance of feeling seen in escape rooms.
• Elsewhere on the Room Escape Artist blog, Matt Stein publishes several interesting thought pieces including one on
playtesting story in escape rooms, one on escape room team photos and one on original soundtrack scores for escape rooms.
• Massive Impact are running a series of free workshops for escape room owners on a range of topics. You can find out more and
sign up here.
• Doors of Divergence seem to be doing an
ARG of sorts... I haven't yet solved it, but I'm intrigued. There's also coverage on ARGN.

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

• Blooloop's
Top Immersive Experiences roundup has been published, and features several escape room like experiences.
•
Challenge Arcades' monthly roundup of challenge rooms is live - always worth a read!
• And the same with
Thinky Third Thursday if you like video games.
• The Steam Summer Sale is on, and
Thinky Games published an article on the best puzzle game discounts you can get in the sale.
• Escape Academy 2: Back 2 School
dropped a preview during the Summer Game Fest.
• Scarlet Envelope, creators of tabletop puzzle games are
launching a new Kickstarter soon.

 

📆 Upcoming Dates for your Diary

August 1st - 3rd
The Next Stage
Pasadena, CA, USA

August 17th - 18th
RECON Remote 25
Online

October 6th
Le Salon de L'Escape Game
Paris, France

October 20th
ER Champ Finale
Sofia, Bulgaria

October 20th - 21st
Immersive Experience Network Summit 25
London, UK

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

 

🔑 Recent Doors Unlocked

🇺🇸

AZ

Activate have opened a new venue with an escape room-like activity in Scottsdale.

CA

The Curiosity Escapes has opened a new version of their room The Curse Awakened, in Menifee.
The Grape Escape has opened a new room, Moonstone Apothecary in Napa.
The Great Escape has opened a new room, Cosmic Crisis, in San Jose.

CO

House of Immersions has opened a new room, The Journalist, in Denver.

MD

Trapped Escape Rooms has opened a new room, Lost Temple, in Ocean City.

MO

Deadlock Escape has opened a new room, Zombie Outbreak in St. Charles.

NC

Keepers of Balance are soon to open their newest room, in Charlotte.

NJ

Bam Kazam has opened an escape room-like experience in American Dream.

OH

Escape Room Cleveland has opened a new room, Souls of the Sewer, in Cleveland.

OR

Cornered Escape Rooms opened with two rooms in Newburg.

🇨🇦

Enigma Escapes has opened a new room, Pele Goddess of Fire, in Winnipeg.
Escape Club has opened a new room, Fowl Play, in Regina, SK.

🇬🇧/🇮🇪

East of England

Cryptx has opened a new room, A Fete Worse Than Death, in Cambridge.
Escape Basildon has opened a new room, The Cleaners, in Basildon.
Mimic Escape has opened a new room, The Great Train Robbery, in Leighton Buzzard.

Midlands

Houdini’s has opened a new location with 3 rooms in Redditch.
Top Escape Rooms has opened a new room, The Curse of Blackthorn Manor, in Worcester.
The Puzzle Room Cannock has opened a new room, Mayhem at the Departure Gate, in Cannock.

North England

Cryptic Escape Rooms has opened a new room, Drew and the Magic Crystals, in Hull.
Cryptology has opened a new room, The Great Henderson’s Heist, in Sheffield.
Escapable has opened a new room, For Sale’m, in Wakefield.
Houdini’s has opened a new location in Harpurhey.
Locked In Games has opened a new room, Shops and Robbers, in Leeds.
Lucardo has opened a new room, Wizard’s Chest, in Rawtenstall.
Pirate Escape has opened a new room, The Ogre’s Cabin, in Whitley Bay.
The Great Escape Game has opened a new room, Abducted: Chapter Two, in Sheffield.
West Kirby Escape Room has opened a new room, The Jurassic Factor, in Wirral.

Scotland

Escape Hunt Glasgow has opened a new room, Dracula, in Glasgow.
Escape the Past has opened a new city trail, A Trail of Burke & Hare, in Edinburgh.
Xcape Room Glasgow has opened a new room, The Devil Below, in Glasgow.

South England

Escape From The Room has opened a new room, Operation Sealion, in High Wycombe.
Escape Room Sussex has opened a new room, The Cursed Tomb, in Hellingly.
Other World Escapes has opened two new rooms in Portsmouth.
Reynard’s Adventures has opened a new room, Eye of the Peacock, in Taunton.
Room Lockdown Hornchurch has opened a new room, Medusa’s Secret Passages, in Hornchurch.

Wales

Scuba Scape has opened a new room, Submerged Escape Room, in Llanberis.
Treforest Escape Rooms has opened a new room, The Heist, in Pontypridd.

🇦🇺/🇳🇿

*Note, there's always a lot of new rooms to update when the new ERA mag launches but a lot of these may have opened in the past few months and not just June!

NSW, Australia

Breakout Bar has opened a new room, Deadwood Heist, in Wollongong.
Mission has opened a new room, The Unplayed Melody, in Sydney.
Scram Escape Rooms has opened a new room, Plagued, in Penrith.

QLD, Australia

Escape Room Townsville has opened a new room, Pyramid, in Townsville.
Other World HQ and Padlock'd have opened a new room, The Forgotten Arcade, in Surfer's Paradise.
Red Lock has opened a new room, Lost in Wonderland, in Sunshine Coast.
Red Lock has also opened a new room, Game of Stones, in North Lakes.

SA, Australia

Escape Hunt has opened a new room, Aladdin, in Adelaide.
Mindshift Escape Rooms has opened a new room, Knight in the Museum, in Adelaide.
The Great Escape has opened a new site with 6 rooms in Klemzig.

TAS, Australia

Entombed Escape Rooms has opened a new room, A Sweet Escape, in Launceton.

VIC, Australia

Dr. Q Escape Room has opened a new room, Bloodline, in Melbourne.
Escape Games Melbourne has opened a new room, End of Days, in Melbourne.
RUSH has opened a new room, hackSAW:REMASTERED in Chadstone.
The Great Escape has opened a new room, Gotham's Knight - The Riddler's Game, in Carlton.
The Great Escape has also opened a new site with a bunch of new rooms in Bendigo.

WA, Australia

Time's Up has opened a new room, A Blackwood Murder, in Perth.
Time's Up has opened a new room, Undercover, in Bunbury.

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

 

🔊 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."

• You Wouldn't Escape A Room ft. Save Your Game June 4th
•
Podcast This Escape - You Wouldn't Escape A Room June 11th
•
Allegory of the Caves - ft. Bill and Dani June 18th
•
Podcast This Escape - Allegory of the Caves June 25th

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

• The Rise of the Golden Idol June 2nd
•
Ye Olden Days of Escape Rooms with Amanda Harris June 9th
•
Spoilers Club: How Miss Jezebel Trolled Escpe Room Players June 14th
•
Untangling Quantum Mechanics - Paul Kwait of LabEscape June 16th
•
Top Takeaways from 100 Espidoes of REPOD June 23rd

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!

• Ghosts, Guilds and Games June 22nd

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.​"

• London Jolley: Cold Opens and Cold Drinks at the Dirty Dicks June 1st
•
London Jolley: There's A-Latte Trouble Brewing June 8th
•
Summer Solstice: Rock Bottom Prices feat. Aurelius Whitlock's Murder Museum June 15
•
Summer Solstice: Time Stands Still at Stonehenge feat. Aurelius Whitlock's Murder Museum June 20th
•
Summer Solstice: The Lav of the Land feat: Aurelius Whitlock's Murder Museum June 29th

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

  • The Escapuzzled Podcast
 

🔎 July's Puzzle

Rather than share a puzzle for July, I'd like to share an entry to the Thinky Puzzle Game Jam 5 that caught my eye. It's called Cat and it's by icely, and long-time readers of the Escape Industry Newsletter will know it's exactly my sort of thing haha.

Additionally, and a bit of shameless self promotion, if you're interested in seeing some other Thinky Jam entries, see if you can spot the sokoban game I worked on with two fantastic friends, who you may also recognise from the escape room industry 😉


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