2016 was an excellent year for escape rooms in Edmonton! We’ve compiled a list of public information about YEG’s newest offerings. Looking ahead, these are rooms set to open this year.

LOGIC LOCK (LL4 – ?)
Logic Lock’s Facebook page was updated with these cryptic posts in early December last year:

• The American Standard Gallery was set up by the Smithsonian to display their prized pieces to UN dignitaries in NY, NY
• The American Showcase Gallery will be displaying the Carmen Lucia Ruby very soon. Stay tuned for more details

While the room’s name hasn’t been officially released, it appears that it would involve a gallery of some sort. What we do know is that the folks at Logic Lock have been hard at work! Construction began as early as fall of last year.

While the cryptic posts have stopped to make way for the promotion of their other room (see below), we heard that beta testing will happen very soon. We personally can’t wait. So far Logic Lock has been 3 for 3 with delivering top-notch rooms. If their track record is any indication, we are in for a treat!

LOGIC LOCK (LL5 – ?)

This shouldn’t come as a surprise. If you’ve been following Logic Lock’s Facebook page, you should be well aware that they’re doing an American Idol type of thing: Enthusiasts audition their suggestions, the judges narrow them down to 4 and choose wildcard entries, and then the public votes!

The final 5 include: The Mystery of Amelia Earhart, Atlantis, Birth of a Wizard, Train Heist, and Project Helius.

We appreciate this grassroots type of social media campaign. If you’re like us, you must be getting sick of seeing the same themes over and over again. (How many times do we need to find an antidote to stop the virus from spreading?)

These customer submissions are all original ideas. Only 1 can win and be made into a room. According to insider information, the winning room will open sometime in the spring or summer.

Update: Runaway Train was announced as the winner!

• “You are 19th century passengers aboard a train when it is robbed and the conductor is abducted. You must work your way up to the engine to try and stop the train before it crashes. Can you stop the train before it is too late? Or will you come to the end of the line?”

You can find our reviews of current Logic Lock rooms here.

SIDEQUESTS (SQ3 – Abduction)

Sidequests is Edmonton’s first and true “Choose your adventure” room. They came out of nowhere with their soft opening in September and grand opening in October. They currently have two strong rooms (one of which made it onto our Top 5 list – review coming soon).

Although construction is still ongoing, Sidequests already has information for their third room. What we know:

• GROUP 48: TESTING WILL BEGIN IN 5 MINUTES.
• 3-6 players (4 recommended)
• A moment ago, you were minding your own business. Now you’re faced with the realization that you have no idea where you are. All you can remember is a bright flash of light, a strange symphony of otherworldly tones, and awakening to this room.

Sidequests has also been sending behind-the-scenes updates on their newsletter. From the looks of it, Abduction is going to be another tech-heavy room.

There is no set opening date yet. If you’ve done both rooms at Sidequests though and want to do more, they have a mini-offering called Chrononaut which first debuted at Telus Dark Matters. It runs for 15 minutes for $8/player. You can book on their website.

You can find our reviews of current Sidequests rooms here.

TIME ESCAPE (TE4 – Spaceship Mysteries)

Their website has long indicated that this room is available in Edmonton. However it’s not currently listed as a bookable room.

This is a duplicate room from Vancouver. From their website:

• Difficulty: 7/10
• Players: 3-10
• Premise:

Much has happened since astronauts first landed on the Moon. Now, with access to powerful new machinery and resources, you and your fellow scientists are embarking on a journey back to the cold and desolate body of space to resolve a long kept secret.

Buried into the Moon’s sand is a spacecraft, packed with alien technology and teeming with mystery. However, it was revealed that a lethal toxin is contained within the spaceship, killing anyone in seconds.

Thankfully, we have technology to protect you for 50 minutes. It is your job to retrieve the spaceship’s secrets and escape unharmed!

The good folks at Time Escape let us know that this room currently has no tentative release date yet.

GTFO (GTFO4 – ?)

GTFO was arguably the premiere escape room of Edmonton. Unfortunately business came to a halt due to an unfortunate fire on their main floor.

Back in August they posted on their Facebook page that construction had been underway for their newest room. It’s safe to assume that once restorations are all finished, GTFO will open with their original rooms along with their latest one.

We’re excited to try the well-received The Heist (which we were unable to do before the fire) and their new room. If their Facebook replies to customers are any indication, GTFO will be back before winter ends.

You can find our reviews of original GTFO rooms here.

THRILLSCAPE (TS4 – Jailbreak)

While Calgary boasts plenty of jail-themed rooms, Edmonton surprisingly only has one (at Intrap).

From their website:

• Difficulty Level: 5/5
• You have been able to escape from all the other so-called escape-proof rooms in the country. So now you have been transferred to THRILLSCAPE! Where no one has ever successfully escaped under the watchful eye of Warden Ryan! But today, you have learned from an inside source that the Warden is going to be away for exactly 45 minutes and you put your escape plan to work. Succeed: and you will become legend. Fail: and it’s 3 months in the hole!!

Thrillscape already has prison bars in their lobby where you can take your post-game picture. It’s only natural they build this theme next. No opening date yet.

You can find our reviews of current Thrillscape rooms here.

BREAKOUT (EAST) (BOE4 – Diamond Heist)

This room is already open. What? We didn’t know either. Beta tests were held in December a couple of months ago. Other than that, there was no indication that it was already open. We are including it here anyway because it’s new.

We know:

• 4 Players Max
• 45 Minutes
• Hints: 2
• Difficulty: Hard
• Premise: Attention all secret agents, your presence has been requested for a high priority mission.
• Mission: To enter and dismantle the security vault of an art gallery in order to retrieve a trio of exquisite diamonds.This art gallery has been set up with a state of the art security system so retrieval will not be an easy task. You will be faced with the chore of breaking through several security doors only to make it into a laser activated maze. Make it through the maze undetected and you may find the diamonds.
  

Most interesting tidbit from all that? The room having a max capacity of 4 people. This has been done before with The Cube (review coming soon).

Out of the two Breakouts, the east location has been serving consistently innovative rooms. We’re interested to see their take on this twist. We’re booked to play tonight!

You can find our reviews of current Breakout (East) rooms here.

INTRAP (IT4 – The Underland Adventure)

This is another room that came out of nowhere. We were aware that beta testing happened in December. We couldn’t find information beyond that. (Their Facebook page is down. Their Twitter hasn’t been updated in a long time.) From what we understand, it opened sometime in January.

From their website:

• Recommended Players: 2-5 players

• Difficulty: ★★★✮

• Description: Welcome to Underland! A mysterious world of white rabbits and chess boards. Work together as a team to find your way back home from this wacky place before you get lost here forever!

There’s no mention of Alice anywhere, but it’s safe to assume this has something to do with the same world. This would be Edmonton’s first but Alberta’s second Alice in Wonderland room, with the first one being at Confined in Calgary.

You can find our reviews of current Intrap rooms here.

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There you have it folks! 2017 is shaping up to be another exciting year for the escape room industry.