ERChamp 2025 Qualifiers: In the Books!
The 2025 ERChamp qualifiers are in the books! Congratulations to the teams that finished the fastest and will be making their way to Sofia, Bulgaria for the in-person final round this fall.
Escape Room
Memento #9: 20th Century Puzzle Books
As part of a new year’s resolution, I challenged myself and others to spread the love of puzzles with a new generation, and this week, I found a reminder of why this challenge resonates with me so much. These logic problem magazines were a godsend on long car rides in my childhood, and I always love teasing out the solutions from elaborate puzzles like these.
Memento #8: Museum of Science and Industry Puzzle Challenge Materials
I wrote recently about the James Bond Escape the Museum Experience at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry. I thought I had lost the materials from the event, but as luck would have it, I found them buried in a stack of mail!
Chicago, IL: Museum of Science and Industry – James Bond Escape
An escape room at the Museum of Science and Industry- I never thought I’d return to that museum under those circumstances. The new James Bond exhibit afforded me this unusual and exciting opportunity.
Midwest Circuit Complete!
Going into last Friday, I expected to be on a road trip from Charlotte to Chicago. Hurricane Helene blew up those plans, so with no plan in mind, we set out westward on the morning of Friday, September 27. Despite having no plan, the trip was amazing, and we packed the days full.
Memento #7: Assorted Stickers
I’ve mentioned a few times before how stickers are one of my favorite escape room souvenirs. Simple, easy, and suitable to multiple purposes, stickers make a great way to remember a solved room.
Memento #6: City 13 (Oak Creek, WI) – Candy Factory Map
Today’s memento is an item from one of the more novel approaches to escape rooms in the area. City 13 is one of the biggest and most elaborate escape room venues in the midwest, if not the United States. They’re best known for their 4+ hour Save the City game, but Kandy Corps is quite novel as well.
Memento #5: Transworld 2022 Badge
I was excited about the opportunity to go to Transworld. Primarily known as a haunted house convention, Transworld also branches out into other interactive entertainment, most notably escape rooms.
Memento #4: Escape Room Passport Flyer
Looking through my odds and ends, I stumbled across a pretty interesting glimpse of a future that wasn’t to be – a flyer for the “Escape Room Passport” app. I picked up the flyer at EscapeRoomPassport’s booth at the escape room convention in August 2016.
Memento #3: Mindtrap Escape (Montgomery, IL) – Magnets
There are at least two noteworthy Mindtrap escape room businesses in the US – one in Illinois and the other in California. I’ve heard lots of good things about the California one, and I really enjoyed other rooms designed by the same people (Labyrinth Games in Nampa, ID), but today’s memento is from the Illinois one.