The Room Escape Artist team is excited to announce the 2024 Golden Lock Award Winners.
Since 2015, we’ve bestowed the Golden Lock Award annually to honor our favorite experiences that we played and reviewed that year.
This the last time you will see the Golden Lock Award presented in this format. To this end, we are honoring many incredible games we experienced this year, and righting some past wrongs before we move into the new era of the Golden Lock Award. This is a collection of worthy games that demonstrate the breadth of creativity within the escape room industry.
Categories
Tabletop – Tabletop escape games has the fewest winners this year. We play and enjoy a lot of tabletop escape games, but only a handful have recently pushed what these games can be, for example through narrative design and artistic components.
Format Breaker – This new category is home to an assortment of innovations on the escape room format, honoring experiences that don’t quite fit neartly into other categories, but are deserving of accolades nonetheless. In past years, we would have snubbed these games because they broke the mold… and we are committed to ensuring that this never happens again.
Virtual – When this category emerged during the pandemic, it was specifically virtual and remote-play versions of real-life escape games. Then it transformed into virtually-native escape games. In recent years we’ve expanded our coverage in this category to video games and VR that combine puzzles with storytelling. The winners excel at this intersection.
Escape Room – This is the main event, our bread and butter, and the only category that existed when we started this award back in 2015. This year, our team played an unprecedented number of incredible games, and as a result, we will be honoring far more games than usual. Every single one is deserving.
Correcting the Past – This year, as we prepare to completely change the Golden Lock Award, we have decided to review our past work, identifying games that should have won in the year that we reviewed them. However, they didn’t win, usually due to our – in retrospect – needlessly complicated rules… or in a few instances due to an error of some kind on our end. We have broken these awards out into categories directly addressing why these games didn’t win at the time, and you’ll see them listed below, following the 2024 award winners.
Rules
- We established no arbitrary minimum or maximum number of games that could win the award.
- A company can win for multiple games.*
- A REA reviewer had to play and review the game between 4/1/23 — 3/31/24.
All the REA reviewers nominated their favorite games for the award. It was a team effort to decide the winners.
*Since we introduced this award, we’ve limited winners to one game per company per year, but this year, we are not only removing this restriction, we’re recognizing games that would have won in years past.
2024 Golden Lock Award Winners
Watch the awards ceremony on YouTube!
Category: Tabletop
Listed chronologically in the order that we published the reviews:
The Medusa Report
Diorama
The Medusa Report was meticulously innovative in the genre of narrative tabletop puzzle games, with deeply satisfying puzzles and gorgeous design. And don’t even get me started on the quality, realism, and variety of the paper and printing.
The Morrison Game Factory
PostCurious
The playful façade was inviting, but it was the touching personal narrative that drew us in to The Morrison Game Factory. We wanted to solve, and we wanted to read… because we cared.
Never House
DarkPark Games
The folks at DarkPark Games are masters of atmosphere and surprise, and that translated deeply into their tabletop game Never House. The marquee prop from Never House now rests proudly on our mantle as both a beautiful piece and a great memory.
Category: Format Breaker
Listed chronologically in the order that we published the reviews:
Imagi-Ne’er-Do-Wells
Live Action Attractions – Los Angeles, California, USA
This genre-defying game celebrates the bizarre and the imperfections inherent in the creative process. It makes networking and pitching ideas fun, safe, and approachable, for introverts and extraverts alike. Imagi-Ne’er-Do-Wells will make you laugh and inspire you at the same time.
Everyone with a ticket to RECON 24 Los Angeles will get to experience this award winner!
Phantom Peak
London, UK
Phantom Peak is a fully functioning town with engaging characters, intricately rendered environments, and seasonally refreshed gameplay and storylines. From platypuses to Adonic abs, this world is filled with ridiculous and endearing worldbuilding that entices visitors to play in so many different ways. (Wintermas & Summer’s Peak)
A House of Conundrums
The Sherlock Home – San Antonio, Texas, USA
As both an Airbnb and a 4-hour game, The Sherlock Home offered endless atmosphere, genuine surprises, and a mind-boggling attention to detail. Wrapping us in a blanket of puzzles against the glow of a fireplace, it transformed the urgency and chaos of regular escape rooms into a coziness and intimacy that felt like home because, at least for a night, it was home.
Heresy: 1897 (Replayed)
Doors of Divergence – Formerly Brooklyn, New York, USA
The first time that we played Heresy: 1897, we liked it. The second time we played Heresy: 1897, we loved it. The way that Doors of Divergence created 2 paths through the same game was nothing short of remarkable.
Madness: 1917 (Replayed)
Doors of Divergence – Formerly Brooklyn, New York, USA
The first time that we played Madness: 1917, we loved it. Then we played it 3 more times, and each time explored a dramatically new story within the same space. Doors of Divergence used performance, lighting, and game design to achieve rewarding replayability.
Doors of Divergence is looking for a new venue. Please let us know if you have any leads for them. We hope they will soon be able to remount their exceptional, replayable games.
The Perfect Heist
Boxaroo – Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Ballroom escape games are one of the oldest forms of the medium. With The Perfect Heist, Boxaroo bolstered the strengths of the format, and mitigated its weaknesses through impeccable puzzle design, elegant props, and surprising encounters. The Perfect Heist is the most perfect ballroom escape game that we have played in a decade.
Wild Heart Ranch
Twentynine Palms, California, USA
Wild Heart Ranch was exciting and rejuvinating. This enchanting escape room Airbnb in the desert outside of Joshua Tree let us spend a couple of nights living in a world that was just a little more fantastic than the real one, taking full advantage of its environment all along the way.
The Lost Cabinet
Sherlocked – Amsterdam, Netherlands
The video game series The Room has influenced so many escape room creators. With The Lost Cabinet, Sherlocked took their digital inspiration and birthed it into the world, maintaining all of the magic and mystique, but making it all real.
Category: Virtual
Listed chronologically in the order that we published the reviews:
Underground Blossom
Rusty Lake
Rusty Lake uses a novel narrative structure to tell the fascinating story of a young girl’s journey to adulthood. Underground Blossom not only shows off the twisted sense of humor we all have come to love but also makes you feel like time flies by when you solve its puzzles.
Chants of Sennaar
Focus Entertainment
Chants of Sennaar brilliantly puts the player through observational puzzles to decipher the languages of its engrossing world’s different inhabitants. It’s hard to put this game down as you’ll always be wanting to learn just one more word, or solve just one more of The Tower’s various puzzles and mysteries.
The 7th Guest VR
Vertigo Games
The 7th Guest VR is a stellar entry into the VR puzzle genre, elevating the medium by incorporating the use of volumetric capture to bring the acting performances to life. That, combined with its intriguing narrative and challenging puzzles, made this a standout release from 2023 and one that I heartily recommend to all my fellow VR enthusiasts.
Rise of the Fungi
Headlock Escape Rooms
Puzzles, puppets, and puns — what more could you ask for?! Rise of the Fungi continued the joyfully silly gameplay, intricate miniatures, and original musical scoring first seen in The Keeper & The Fungus Among Us, while also improving upon the format. Against all odds – it’s a prequel, and quarantine times are past – this game is not to be missed.
Category: Escape Room
Listed chronologically in the order that we played them:
Project R.E.S.E.T.
Immersia – Boisbriand, Québec, Canada
Project R.E.S.E.T. is a terrific game. Project R.E.S.E.T. is an amazing game. Project R.E.S.E.T. is a wonderful game.
Wardrobe for Sale
Escaparium – Laval, Québec, Canada
While trying to purchase a wardrobe, we found an incredible adventure, made a wonderful friend, and really played two full escape rooms inside one piece of furniture.
The Forgotten Cathedral
Escaparium – Laval, Québec, Canada
The Forgotten Cathedral was a jaw-dropping, immense experience that somehow managed to stand out within Escaparium Laval, a company known for overwhelmingly large and ambitious escape games. The Forgotten Cathedral demonstrated Escaparium’s control over both wow moments and subtlety.
Robotopia
Omescape Sunnyvale – Sunnyvale, California, USA
In Robotopia, Omescape blended puzzling, immersion, and fun in one complete, entertaining package. Through repeated transformations and creative interactions utilizing the full environment, we enjoyed playing in this fully-realized world. I, for one, welcome our robot overlords.
The Golden Phoenix
Miraculum – Berlin, Germany
The Golden Phoenix told a thoroughly magical tale with a scintillating set, some unusual uses of space, and an astonishing animatronic. Though it fell squarely in an overcrowded genre, the gameplay managed to make wizardry feel fresh again.
The Movies Experience
The Push Mystery Rooms – Bruges, Belgium
The Movies Experience harnessed our deep-rooted nostalgia for the cinema as it guided us on a transportive journey through the classics. As much Hollywood prop museum as escape room, the levels of detail and passion were incredible. We didn’t want this adventure to end.
The Storykeeper
Locurio – Seattle, Washington, USA
From the performative onboarding to the way we were pulled deeper and deeper into the environment and narrative, The Storykeeper was ahead of its time. The combination of challenging puzzles with story arc created a truly rewarding experience.
The Ghost of Mentryville
Arcane Escape Room – Newhall, California, USA
The Ghost of Mentryville might have the highest proportion of awesomeness per square foot in the escape room world. Arcane Escape Room achieves so much with so little, running a clinic on how to use a small space, low budget, and limited tech to craft an incredible experience.
Crazy Train
Doldrick’s Escape Room – Kissimmee, Florida, USA
This zany black and white cartoon world was the epitome of joyous. It was artistic, elevated by incredible video production. In the pursuit of the nefarious Skeemin’ Plotz, the sillier the action, the better the moment.
Han’s Revenge
De Gouden Kooi – Mechelen, Belgium
So. Frickin. Cool. Han’s Revenge told the zany story of feuding fan and air conditioner companies. Prefaced by one of the most impressive intro videos we’ve seen, this was an epic adventure from start to finish, with so many surprising twists and turns.
Molly’s Game
Down the Hatch – Voorburg, Netherlands
The opening of Molly’s Game was instantly impactful, demonstrating a refinement and intricacy that persisted throughout. From the small details to the revolutionary scene transitions, the entire experience was captivating.
Stay in the Dark
DarkPark – Vlaardingen, Netherlands
Stay in the Dark blended escape room, immersive horror, and urban exploration on a mind-bogglingly massive scale. Throughout 5 floors of an abandoned chemical factory building, we encountered larger-than-life theatrics, cinematic scoring and lighting, and a nearly perfect ramp-up in intensity.
Jason’s Legacy
OuterGround – Rijswijk, Netherlands
With a foreboding atmosphere and smooth gameplay, Jason’s Legacy progressed with intensity. In OuterGround’s dark tribute to their original location, they again constructed a 2-story house, which unfolded before us in surprising places.
The Toy Factory
Tales of Torchdale – Zoersel, Belgium
The Toy Factory was dark, atmospheric, and utterly original. Taking us through the entire toy manufacturing process, the gameplay was unforgettably creative.
Ghosthunter Brandon Darkmoor
THE ROOM Berlin – Berlin, Germany
Ghosthunter Brandon Darkmoor was a theatrical marvel, hitting a plethora of high notes equally through its acting, lighting, special effects, end-to-end immersion, and impressively mimetic gameplay. We quickly lost count of how many jaw-droppingly gorgeous scenes and surreal transitions we’d experienced.
Seed of Hope
The Sanctuary Escape – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA
The Sanctuary Escape pushed the envelope with haunt-based design choices and special effects that created an immersive experience beyond the typical escape room. With creative puzzles and a compelling story, Seed of Hope used small details and big moments to create an impressive experience that I won’t soon forget.
The Alchemist
Sherlocked – Amsterdam, Netherlands
The Alchemist is a wonder factory. Built with impossible machines, each stunning in their own right, Sherlocked managed to pull all of these pieces together into something that is far more than the sum of its incredible parts.
CORPSE INC.
Escape Room Junkie – Baarn, Netherlands
Every scene in this unusual heist built a layer of tension that kept us on edge. Impressively, each obstacle to our ultimate goal was unique, requiring a different type of ingenuity to overcome. The twist was entertaining, and the adrenaline rush exhilarating.
Forest of Echoes
Next Level Escape – Sydney, Australia
With each puzzle path introducing us to a different character’s perspectives and desires, Forest of Echoes demonstrated how small, personal stakes can be the most meaningful. Nearly a single-room game, a brilliant approach to lighting allowed us to travel through time rather than space.
Illusion
Epic Escape – Waalwijk, Netherlands
Illusion built gradually, as the onboarding transitioned seamlessly into a story of magic and mystery, told through props, set details, and scene changes, and accentuated by dramatic reveals – especially one that made us the center of attention.
The Non Believers
Your Escape – Leiden, Netherlands
The Non Believers pulled us in from the very first moment. Each magnificent scene transition thrust us further into the depths of a vast, grim, and impressive world. This game made me a believer; play it and you’ll be one, too.
Secret Mission
The Game – Paris, France
Secret Mission is just that – a secret, and I can’t spoil it. But I can tell you this is a must play if you are in Paris. It was a heart-pounding adventure and the most fun that you will never tell anyone about.
Mr Pepper’s Toy Shop
The Cipher Room – Sydney, Australia
Mr Pepper’s Toy Shop played with tension and anticipation through delightfully intricate reveals, both small and large. A texturally rich environment was home to a veritable army of creepy toys turned into creative puzzles.
Click ‘N Glitch
The Escape Ventures – Port Charlotte, Florida, USA
Click ‘N Glitch made us feel like kids again as we snuck into our local arcade. A true cat-and-mouse game headlined by 2 original characters, the rapid-fire puzzle dopamine hits and playful moments never stopped coming.
La Rébellion
The Cipher Room – Sydney, Australia
La Rébellion was a historical thriller with exquisite prop design, the color grading of a top-tier film, clever environmentally situated puzzles, and a jaw-dropping finale.
Congratulations to the
2024 Golden Lock Award Winners!
Correcting the Past Golden Lock Awards
As part of celebrating the 2024 Golden Lock Awards, we honored the following games that didn’t win due to a rules technicality or an oversight.
Didn’t Fit a Category
Experiences that are amazing, but a bit too different, have always been a struggle to evaluate. Over the years we have gotten better at handling unusual experiences from an editorial standpoint, but they still never had a home in the Golden Lock Award. They do now.
- Drago’s Castle, 5 Wits, multiple locations in the USA (2015)
- Boda Borg, Malden, Massachusetts, USA (2016)
- Level99, Natick, Massachusetts, USA (2022)
Lisa Didn’t Play
We were a team of 2 back then, and we made every decision as a team of 2… so these games that should have been recognized long ago never were. One Lisa has since played, and the others… she and other REA team members will never get to experience, but we have the reviews as time capsules for these games.
- The Great Houdini Escape Room, Palace Games, San Francisco, California, USA (2016)
- The Lance of Longinus, Time Run, London, England (2017)
- The Celestial Chain, Time Run, London, England (2017)
Another Game Won That Year
Our largest corrections category is for games that were eked out by other games at the same company. At the time, we instituted this rule because we were worried that the award show would become excessively focused on a few companies with many great games. In practice, we were rewarding companies that we visited annually and punishing companies where we played years worth of their work in a single visit.
- The Orphanage, DarkPark, Zoetermeer, Netherlands (2018) (The Orphanage Update 2023)
- Red Sled Redemption at the Holly Jolly Holiday Hubcap Repair Shop, Doldrick’s Escape Room, Kissimme, Florida, USA (2019)
- Blackwell Manor, New Mexico Escape Room, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA (2022)
- The Trust Experiment, Cross Roads Escape Games, Anaheim, California, USA (2023)
- EVIL Robots, The Nemesis Club, Phoenix, Arizona, USA (2022)
- Revenge of the Cabin, CU Adventures in Time & Space, Urbana, Illinois, USA (2022)
- Kami Temple, Escape Center, Rishon LeTsiyon, Israel (2023)
- Servants of Sleight, The Exit Games FL, Clearwater, Florida, USA (2023)
- Operation Arctic Storm: The Final Meltdown, The Escape Ventures, Orlando, Florida, USA (2023)
We Misevaluated It
Sometimes the perspective of half a dozen years makes all the difference. With these winners, at the time we played them we appreciated what made them different, but we also saw some of the seams, and failed to recognize them for how truly revolutionary they were.
- Pop Star’s Room of Doom, Real Escape Games by SCRAP, San Francisco, California, USA (2018)
- Spellbound Supper, Real Escape Games by SCRAP, San Francisco, California, USA (2019)
We Just Forgot It
To close out the 2024 Golden Lock Awards, we simply asked the Room Escape Artist team: Did we ever forget anyone? The answer was yes. The others categories had logic underpinning the decision. This one is legitimately embarrassing.
- Lost in the Shuffle, Spencer Beebe (Tabletop) (2023)
Quick Links to All Past Golden Lock Awards
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