RECON this weekend! Two months of conferences, a note on fire safety, and new openings from July. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ‌  ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ‌:  ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

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Hello Escapees!

It's August, and this time of year is always so exciting for escape room news. For starters, we have RECON Remote 25 kicking off this very weekend followed by two months of excellent in-person events too. From Le Salon de L'Escape Game in Paris, to ERIC at the Immersive Experience Network Summit in London, the conference at the World Escape Room Championships in Sofia, and Puzzolcon in Memphis. I can't wait!

There's also a more serious note in this newsletter, as one of the most discussed topics across the industry was fire safety. A difficult, but incredibly important thing we should be discussing as owners and enthusiasts, and you can read more about it below.

As always, I hope you find this newsletter informative! I really enjoy compiling every news piece, every new room opening, and every podcast episode about our industry each month. As always, if you spot anything newsworthy - no matter how big or small - please send us a message and we'll include it.

Until September! 👋

Mairi Nolan
Editor of Escape Industry News

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

 

🧩 Trending Now

Room Escape Artist pens an open letter, and several other fire-safety focused articles

This month's most-discussed topic across all the escape room world has been safety. More specifically, fire safety in escape rooms. In the lead up to TERPECA season, Room Escape Artist has penned three important articles which I urge everyone to read:

Fire - Forbidden Escape Room Elements

House of Horrors Escape Room Fire in Russia Claimed 2 Lives

An Open Letter to the Escape Room Owners of Athens Regarding Fire Safety in Your Games

Learn More

RECON Remote takes place this weekend, schedule announced

The Reality Escape Convention is one of the most popular escape room conventions in the world, and will return this year online-remote. Tickets are still available, and the full schedule has now been announced. We'll be there as attendees (me @mairispaceship on Discord, and our newsletter sponsors Buzzshot), so if you spot us definitely come say hello!

Learn More

TERPECA Eligibility Requirements

We have a lot of escape room owners read this newsletter - so this is an important one to boost for this month! If you're opening a room soon, and would like to be eligible for TERPECA Nomination, take note of the following rules:

• The room must be open to the public on at least 30 days between November 1 of the previous year and October 31 of the current year.

• The room must be reasonably playable by English-speaking players on at least 30 days between November 1 of the previous year and October 31 of the current year.

Read More

🧾 In Other News

• New TERPECA Ambassadors have been announced for 2025.
• The
ER Championship has announced more speakers for their conference in Sofia, Bulgaria on October 20th.
• Morty has launched a new feature on their app called MortyPass.
Here's what it's all about.
• The latest industry articles from Room Escape Artist:
On Escape Rooms that End with Player Choice, Making Escape Room Players Feel Seen: Being Dolores Wright, and Make Failure Fun, But Don’t Hide Fun Behind Failure.
• ERA Magazine has released an
August edition - as always check these folks out for all things escape room in Australia.
• SCRAP, creators of (arguably) the world's first escape room have a
new location near Shibuya Crossing offering experiences in English and Japanese. Additionally, there's a puzzle experience from TOKYO MYSTERY CIRCUS called "Escape from a Silent World" running until the end of this month.
• Lock, Clock and Peril are hosting an
enthusiasts escape room tour round North and South Carolina this November.
• A bit more of a news-light post, but us at The Escape Roomer recently did a big
round-up post of a bunch of rooms we played with Unboxd in Germany.

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

• The
Draknek New Voices Puzzle Grant is offering grants of $15,000 for underrepresented puzzle game designers making video games.
• Joseph Mansfield has written an
excellent deep dive on Metroidbrania games (also this article has been in the making for literal years, and I've been excited for it ever since haha)
• TEA are seeking folks to join the Board of Directors.
• From the Next Stage Immersive Summit 2025 - Viola's Room will be in Montreal in early 2026. Also, Punchdrunk have been teasing a
new show in London.
• The article "
We’re all the main character now: designing for the era of experiential narcissism" from Blooloop mentions escape rooms as a part of this phenonmenon. Elsewhere, Blooloop interviews Nick Moran (of Phantom Peak fame) about innovation in storytelling.

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

August 17th - 18th
RECON Remote 25
Online

September 15th - 17th
Puzzolcon
Memphis, USA

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

April 2025
Escape Room Awards
Madrid, Spain

 

🔑 Recent Doors Unlocked

🇺🇸

CA

EDscapade has opened a new room, Studio420, in San Jose.
Escapely has opened an outdoor puzzle trail in Las Vegas.
Lore Speakeasy and Escape Room has opened an experience in San Francisco.
Thirteenth Room have announced a new horror experience in Los Angeles.

IL

60 to Escape has opened a new room, Starship: Final Frontier, in Gurnee.

LI

Escape the Rooms has opened a nw room, Mission 1: New Planet in Ronkonkoma.

NJ

Puzzle Connect has opened a new room in Holmdel.

OR

Escapology has opened a new site in Raleigh Hills.

WI

Redacted is set to open later this month in West Allis.

🇨🇦

Arcadia Adventures has opened a new site in Calgary, Alberta.
Replay Adventures has opened a new site with replayable escape room in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

🇬🇧/🇮🇪

London

Screamworks has opened a new room Granny in London
Room Lockdown has opened a new room Medusa’s Secret Passages in Hornchurch

Southeast England

Immersion Escape Rooms has opened a new room Echo in Alton
Random Rooms has opened a new room The Prison in Isle of Wight
The Panic Room has opened a new room The Witch House in Dartford

Channel Islands

MTG Escapes has opened 3 new rooms in Guernsey: The Mystery of Merlin’s Tower, Painting the Roses Red! (city trail), The Show Must Go On (mobile)

Southwest England

Overnight Escapes has opened a new room The Escape Lodge in Bodmin
Escape Rooms Cornwall has opened a new room 28 Pasties Later in Cornwall
Escape The Game has opened a new room Rockstar Studio in Bovey Tracey

Wales

Breakout Live has opened a new room Laughing Lair in Swansea

West Midlands

Chase The Adventure has opened a new room The Human Wolf in Stone
Escape Hunt has opened 3 new rooms in Birmingham

East of England

EO Escape Rooms has opened 6 new rooms in Sudbury
Don’t Get Locked In has opened a new room Fubar! in Bedford
Ware Escape Rooms has opened a new room The Second Coming in Ware

Northwest England

Clue Collectors has opened a new room Carnival Crisis in Heywood
The Armitt has opened 2 new rooms in Ambleside
The Escape Room Centre has opened a new room Giuseppe’s Dream in Blackpool
Breakout Manchester has opened a new room The Haunting in Manchester

Yorkshire and the Humber

Enigma Rooms Pontefract has opened a new room Sweeney Todd in Pontefract
Escape Room Scarborough has opened a new room High Noon Saloon in Scarborough
The Great Escape Game Leeds has opened a new room Abducted: Chapter Two in Leeds

Scotland

Aberdeen Science Centre has opened a new room The Case of the Missing Formula in Aberdeen
Discovery Point
has opened a new room Antarctic Mysteries in Dundee
Bell Pettigrew Museum
has opened a new room The Last Exhibit in St Andrews
Game Vault has opened a new room The Dream Lab in Kilmarnock
Escape Hunt Glasgow
has opened a new room Jewel of India in Glasgow

🇦🇺/🇳🇿

ACT, Australia

Missing Klues has opened a new room, Jungle Room, in Fyshwick.

NSW, Australia

Escape Zone has opened a new room, The Artefact, in Broadmeadow.
Heart of the Mountain is a new escape room-like experience that has opened in Sydney.
The Cool Space has opened a new room, Sweethearts Ice Cream Parlour, in Chippendale.

QLD, Australia

Padlock'd has opened a new room, The Enchanted Office, in Paradise Centre.
Red Lock has opened a new room, The Witch's Lair, in North Lakes.
The Way Out has opened a new room, Bars and Betrayal, in Gladstone.

VIC, Australia

Escape House has opened two new rooms in Narre Warren.
Escape Hunt has opened a new room, Redacted, in Melbourne.
Escape Reality has opened a new room, Dirty Deal, in Berwick.
Lockology Escape Room has opened a new room, The Knight's Quest in Warrnambool.
Rush Escape Game has opened two new rooms in Chadstone.

WA, Australia

Lost Reality has opened a new room, School of Sorcery, in Cannington.

New Zealand

Thrill Zone has opened a mixed-reality arcade in Queenstown.

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."

• Bonus Episode - Ask Us Anything pt. 1 July 2nd
•
Bonus Episode - Ask Us Anything pt. 2 July 9th
•
Bonus Episode - Ask Us Anything pt. 3 July 16th
•
Bonus Episode - Ask Us Anything pt. 4 July 23rd
•
Video Special Announcement (and the finale of the AUA) July 30th

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

• Lockhill - Designing for Chaos July 1st

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.​"

• Puzzle vs Narrative ft. Aurelius Whitlock's Murder Museum July 6th
•
Ice Cream Wars: Cone of Conflict July 13th
•
Ice Cream Wars: H2Oh No July 20th
•
Ice Cream Wars: The Burnt Beach July 27th

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

  • The Escapuzzled Podcast
  • The Cager Express: Escape Break
 

🔎 August's Puzzle

There are a lot of "daily puzzle" games out there, but one of my personal favourites recently has been Clues by Sam! which is a grid-based, logic puzzle style daily with a twist.

So instead of posting my own puzzle this newsletter - check out today's Clues By Sam! instead.


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