It’s the time of the year again, no, not that time where we all sit around eating too much while waiting for a large man to come down the chimney. No, it’s the time where we all load up Google Flights and work out when and how to visit the best escape rooms in the world. Yes, it’s TERPECA time!
If you’re not fully sure what the TERPECAs are, well, this is how the TERPECA team describe the awards;
The Top Escape Rooms Project is an attempt to find the very best escape rooms in the world by leveraging the experience of the most experienced escape room enthusiasts in the world. We serve escape room owners and designers by publicly recognizing their achievements, and we serve our fellow enthusiasts by providing an international bucket list of the best rooms to play
If this article feels oddly familiar, well that’s because this is the fifth year we’ve written one (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024). We always enjoy the TERPECA livestream as it generally dictates our holidays for the year to come, making full use of the ‘TERPECA Room Finder Tool‘.
For enthusiasts to nominate a game for the TERPECAs they have to have played over 200 games, and to vote on them they need to have played over 100 games. This year the award ceremony took place on the 20th December, and 1,185 escape rooms were nominated, and there were 1,740 contributors.
To see the full list of the games that made it into the Top 100, head over to the TERPECA website. But this blog is ‘The Top Escape Rooms in the UK in 2025’, so it’s time to put the UK in the spotlight!
**Without further ado…**
Sadly, this year only seven games from the UK got enough nominations to get through to the finals/voting stage. Some we’ve played and we’ve linked to, but one is still on our ‘to play list’.
- The Reading Witch – Deadlocked Escape Rooms (Reading) (Ranked #156)
- Mr Copplestone’s Curiosity Shoppe – Escape Quest (Macclesfield) (Ranked #227)
- The Murder of Max Sinclair – Case Closed (Edinburgh) (Ranked #235)
- The Great Loudini – Escapable (Wakefield) (Ranked #249)
- Percy Pendleton’s Peculiar Predicament – Escape Quest (Macclesfield) (Ranked #277)
- Trapped for Cash – Mindworks (Worthing) (Ranked #309)
- The Battle for Britain – Escape Plan (London) (Ranked #371)
Not UK related, but as a bonus, here are the games that ranked in the Top 100 that we have played from around the world (some reviews still to be posted).
- #1 – Magnifico’s Circus, Escaparium (Canada)
- #8 – The Forgotten Cathedral, Escaparium (Canada)
- #9 – La Taberna – City Escape Room (Spain)
- #11 – Demise of the Gricers – Entered (Belgium)
- #12 – The Taxidermist – Deep Inside (Paris)
- #13 – Molly’s Game – Down the Hatch (Netherlands)
- #14 – Chapel and Catacombs – Lockhill (Greece)
- #15 – The Grand Hotel de Paris – The One Escape (Paris)
- #17 – Mr Miyagi’s Tea Shop – Don Escape (Spain)
- #21 – The Dome – Mama Bazooka (Netherlands)
- #23 – The Movies Experience – The Push Mystery Rooms (Belgium)
- #30 – Han’s Revenge – De Golden Kooi (Belgium)
- #31 – Botanist Manor – Escape Rush (Belgium)
- #34 – K.O.N.G Protocol – Escape Barcelona (Spain)
- #36 – Wardrobe for Sale, Escaparium (Canada)
- #39 – Jurassico – Golden Pop (Spain)
- #40 – The Hairdressing – The X-Door (Spain)
- #44 – The Toymaker, Big Break Hamburg (Germany)
- #45 – The Alchemist – Sherlocked (Netherlands)
- #48 – The Saint – Shock Escape Room (Spain)
- #50 – Compadre Robbery – Start Play (Spain)
- #51 – Nightshift – Crupont Legacy (Spain)
- #52 – La Posesion – Arcanum (Spain)
- #53 – Outline – Outline Escape Rooms (Spain)
- #61 – El Exorcista – No Exit (Athens, Greece)
- #63 – Birth Machine – Mad Machines (Italy)
- #68 – Pins & Needles Tattoo Parlor – The Exit Games (Clearwater, Fl, USA)
- #72 – Full Experience: The Magician of Paris & The Funhouse – Deep Inside (Paris)
- #74 – Cybercity 2049 – Escape Barcelona (Spain)
- #78 – The Lost Island of the Voodoo Queen, Escaparium (Canada)
- #85 – The Bookstore (Paradox Project 2) – Paradox Project (Greece)
- #88 – The Toy Factory – Tales of Torchdale (Belgium)
- #95 – Poison – Kadabra Escape (Barcelona, Spain)
- #97 – Exodus – Elements Escape Rooms (Spain)
Final Roundup
We’ve been speaking to a number of enthusiasts and owners since the finalists were announced, and the questions on everyone’s lips are ‘Why is the UK performing so badly?’ and ‘What can be done to improve the UK’s showing in the TERPECAs?’ We don’t have an answer to that, but I feel the conversation will go on for a while.
Are the TERPECAs perfect? Possibly not, but I think they are the best escape room awards that are currently available and we will continue to be their little fan club and support wherever we can. So until next year, thank you to the TERPECA board, and well done to all those companies who were not only winners, but also those who made it to the finals, and those who even just got nominations – these are all things to be celebrated.
Now, if you don’t mind, it’s time for us to load up Google Flights and have a word with our bank manager.
Leave a Reply