As an escape room enthusiast, it’s a bit of a sore spot for me to only have played one game in the TERPECA top 100 ranking. Only 17 of the most recent year’s winners are in the US, and the only one I’ve played has been Cutthroat Cavern in Baton Rouge (US #2). This year I have a chance to rectify that.
TERPEA isn’t necessarily the end-all be-all of escape room ratings, and I’ll often follow up on a recommendation from someone I know before I go to an online rating system, but the beauty of TERPECA is its simplicity. If a game is rated in TERPECA, it means someone who has played 200+ escape rooms has rated it among his or her handful of favorites. If a game is high in TERPECA, it means that a bunch of people who have played a lot of escape rooms loved it. It’s as honest and objective of a rating system as I could possibly hope for.
I’ve got two trips planned in the next three months in which I’ll be able to tackle three more from the list. My first trip is to Florida, where I’ll be splitting time between Orlando and Tampa. Exit Games in Clearwater, FL has what may be the most hyped game in the US right now with Pins & Needles Tattoo Parlor (#3 in US). Their other game, Servants of Sleight, is no slouch as the fifth-ranked US game.
I didn’t want my Florida trip to be dominated by escape rooms, but the more I hear about wonderful recommendations, the more I start to think that I’ll be playing at least a handful of games per day while I’m down there.
My other trip I have planned in an Alaska cruise, and before I head home, I’ll be stopping in Seattle to play both games at Locurio, home of the 8th rated US escape room game on TERPECA. I also notice Locurio is the name of one of the top few teams in ERChamp every year, so I suspect the owners are genuine puzzle enthusiasts!
This trip will be my second Alaska cruise and Christina’s first. One of my regrets from my last cruise was skipping the escape room in Juneau- I solved one in Anchorage and didn’t feel pressured to do another in Alaska, but in retrospect, I should have. I’m hoping we see lots of whales and bears on the trip!
I’ll aim to fit in a few road trips, but it’s nice to have some bigger blocks set in place and to quadruple the number of top 100 TERPECA games I’ve played.
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