The monthly escape room newsletter is a new feature on Room Escape Artist. Please share your news with us.
International News
On January 4, 2019, 5 people died in a fire in an escape room in Koszalin, Poland.
- Read more details about this incident.
- Read about our basic safety standards, which will be a part of all Room Escape Artist reviews, starting in 2019.
- We continue to answer questions from the press. See David on tv and hear Lisa on the radio discussing escape room safety.
- At Room Escape Artist, we will continue to cover this story and escape room safety in the coming weeks and months.
In Theaters
- Earlier this month, Escape Room (the movie) opened in theaters. Read our review.
Los Angeles, CA
- Mister and Mischief’s limited run Escape From Godot will be returning Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays March 1-24. It will be at The YARD Theater in Los Angeles, CA. Get your tickets while they last.
- Level Games opens in North Hollywood, CA. Level Games is a partnership between two local companies, Arcane Escape Rooms and Escape Chronicles, taking over the space that was previously Escapades LA. The Escapades LA games Doggie Dog World and Disrupted Decades will remain in operation for a short time under the management of Level Games. If you haven’t yet played these games, you still have time! There are also brand new escape games and other projects in the works. Level Games will soon announce more details about a dedicated gaming / event space, as well as some alternative immersive experiences.
San Francisco, CA
- Room Escape Artist announced Escape, Immerse, Explore: The Palace. Visit Palace Games with us June 1-3, 2019. On this tour you will play 4 incredible escape rooms, including the Golden Lock-In Award-winning The Edison Escape Room. If you’re a traveling player, this is your chance to visit Palace Games!
- Room Escape Artist will be traveling to San Francisco, CA for the Immersive Design Summit February 22-23, 2019. We will be hosting a meetup for escape room fans while we are in town. Stay tuned for details.
Santa Monica, CA
- Red Bull Mind Gamers Escape Room World Championship starts the new year with another US Qualifier, this Saturday, February 2, at the Red Bull eSports Studio in Santa Monica, CA. There are still open spots if you want to sign up!
Temecula, CA
- Mindtrap in Temecula (Southern California) has opened a new location with 2 new games and 2 more coming soon.
Sarasota, FL
- Lokey’s Escape Rooms opens February 14 in Sarasota, FL. It will offer 24-hour access (with off-the-schedule booking options), private rooms, and immersive experiences.
New Orleans, LA
- Room Escape Artist announced Escape, Immerse, Explore: New Orleans 2019. Join us July 12-14, 2019 to visit some of the most amazing escape rooms in the world including multiple Golden Lock-In Award winners such as 13th Gate Escape’s Cutthroat Cavern. Last summer’s tour to New Orleans sold out, but we didn’t want anyone to be left out, so we brought it back again for 2019!
Saugus, MA
- Wicked Escapes, known for The Great Museum Heist Caper Job, has closed their Saugus location. They are focusing on building games for other companies. We look forward to seeing what they build next.
Kalamazoo, MI
- Clock N Lock Escape Rooms has opened a new Amelia Earhart-themed escape room in Kalamazoo, MI. Amelia’s Attic Escape Room challenges 4-8 players to find evidence that Amelia Earhart was living in hiding.
Apex, NC
- Apex NC has its first escape room: Whole Brain Escape. It features 2 rooms: Bustin’ out of the Eighties and Escape the Supervillain’s Lair.
Wharton, NJ
- On February 16, 2019, 13th Hour Escape Rooms will run their escape rooms with actors, usually reserved exclusively for October. If you’re thinking of visiting this 2-time Golden Lock-In Award-winning company, you might want to book for February 16. The actors are a playful addition to these outstanding escape rooms.
New York, NY
- On February 11, 2019, Room Escape Artist is teaming up with No Proscenium to bring you this winter’s New York City Meetup for Everything Immersive. This event is for those interested in, passionate about, or working within immersive arts & entertainment in New York City. We’re calling all creators, storytellers, directors, engineers, artists, designers, writers, performers, event planners, producers, and more. Lovers of immersive entertainment are welcome as well. Please RSVP on Facebook.
- Myss Tic has opened the room Montauk Project in Brooklyn, NY.
- Shipwrecked in Brooklyn has opened three 30-minute escape rooms.
Corpus Christi, TX
- There is a new escape room aboard the USS Lexington. Set aboard a real World War II aircraft carrier and based in part on actual historic events, Beat the Blast asks players to locate the nuclear bomb aboard the USS Lexington Museum, defuse it, and save the world.
Awards
- We announced the 2018 Golden Lock-In Award Winners with a livestream! Congratulations to the 13 winners!
- Escape Rumors announced the 2018 Achievement unlocked Medalists & Year in Review. Congratulations to all the winners!
- The Logic Escape Me announced the 2018 Golden Key winners. More congratulations are in order!
- Congratulations to Team Left Out for their victory at the 2019 MIT Mystery Hunt. Team Left Out has many of the finest escape room players that we’ve ever shared a room with, and we’re in awe of their win. We wish them luck in the creation of the 2020 MIT Mystery Hunt as this is both their prize and punishment. Learn more about puzzle hunt design.
Participate
- If you design/manage/fund live-action games (i.e. escape rooms), please take part in this thesis research survey. Jerald Belich, designer of Utopia at Riddle Room in Minneapolis, MN and MFA candidate at Miami University, is conducting this research to better understand needs for immersive tools! You must have completed 2 projects and worked on a related project within the last 2 years to participate in the survey.
- The Immersive Design Summit has launched the Industry Survey 2019. The immersive entertainment industry uniquely combines decades-old disciplines with modern-day experiential entertainment, connecting audiences to artistic works with resonating emotional impact. If you create escape rooms or any other types of immersive entertainment, please contribute to this effort to quantify this impact for summary in an annual industry report.
- Submissions are open for IndieCade 2019. IndieCade accepts games of all genres, on all platforms, in all languages, and encourages works in progress. They would love more escape room creators to submit to this independent gaming conference. Learn more about IndieCade.
Celebrity News
- Bradley Cooper spent his 44th birthday at an escape room!
- Chris Martin of Coldplay fame played at 60 Out’s Red Alert (formerly P.U.T.I.N Bunker)!
How To Submit News
Share your own news here!
News items include:
- Facility openings & closings
- Game openings & closings
- Special events
- Escape room-related products
- Escape room-related intrigue of all sorts
- Celebrity visits (if you have a post-game photo that we can publish)
- Escape room pieces in the general press
Send us your newsworthy information via our news submission form:
