Room Escape Artist

This month we published reviews from both coasts of the US, and around Europe, including Spain, Belgium, and Germany. We’ve highlighted a few of our favorites below, including some truly phenomenal Golden Lock Award-winning games.

RECON Remote 2025

As we wrapped up RECON Los Angeles last month, we announced what’s next:

RECON will return digitally on August 17-18, 2025.

We will be in-person again in 2026.

Tickets and sponsorships for RECON 25 are not on sale at the moment, but sign up for the RECON newsletter to be the first to know when they are available.

Reviews

🔒 Golden Lock Winners

Castle Flüffendor, Escape Artist Greenville (Greenville, SC) – Castle Flüffendor is a journey through a child’s heroic dream. Artistic and unique, it’s a must-play escape room. (Review by Cindi S.)

Dark Lullaby, Escape Artist Greenville (Greenville, SC) – Dark Lullaby blended set, story, puzzles, and acting, making this one of the best escape games in the region. (Review by Cindi S.)

Demise of the Gricers (Extended), Entered (As, Belgium) – Demise of the Gricers is a massive complex beast of a creation. It’s entirely revolutionary in immersive gaming. (Review by David Spira)

The Tale of the Heartless Pirate, Dream Labs (Bad Steben, Germany) – Few escape rooms are as ambitious and as meticulously polished as The Tale of the Heartless Pirate. (Review by Matthew Stein)

Escape Rooms & Other Adventures

Harbor Hotel, TheStart (Ranst, Belgium) – This was an adrenaline-driven game with a polished, immersive set and a compelling, sinister storyline. (Review by Fro)

Lexicon Lane, Planet Word (Washington, DC) – Planet Word is a hidden gem in Washington, DC. We loved this museum’s interactive puzzle hunt experience: Lexicon Lane. (Review by Matthew Stein)

Play-At-Home

iDventure Cluebox Puzzles Overview – This overview links out to the 5 different Cluebox puzzles that we reviewed individually, the last of which published this month.

Podcast

REPOD returns… tonight! Tune in to the Season 8 opener on your favorite podcast app.

Recommendation Guides

• New: Barcelona, Spain
• Updated: Boston, Massachusetts

Commentary

Why Did Our Kids Love the Worst Escape Room Ever? – We discuss what kids love about escape rooms and what makes escape rooms more accessible to the next generation. (By Emily Hall and Peter Gwinn)

p.s. Don’t forget to sign up for TERPECA!