For players

Escape Beacon solves three things that are annoying about escape rooms: you cannot find them, you cannot compare them, and you forget what you have already played. In the database we have 2 883 rooms at 910 venues in 223 cities.

Everything in one place

Directories are incomplete and contradict each other — one lists a game that has not run for a year, the second does not have it at all. We verify every venue from several sources and, in the end, always on its own website, which takes precedence in case of conflict. What cannot be verified we leave empty; an invented detail is worse than a missing one.

Prices you can actually compare

Venues state prices per team, per person, in bands and by day of the week. We convert them into a price per person for your number of players, so they can be put side by side. Where we have not verified the price list, we say so.

Searching by who you are going with

City, date, number of players, budget. Plus ready-made selections — family games without scares, games for large groups, for beginners, demanding ones, long ones over 75 minutes, or horror. You see the results in a list and on a map at once.

Save where you want to go

The heart next to a game puts it on your Want to go list — handy when you come across something tempting but do not have a group for it right now. The list is in the Passport. Once you play the game and mark it, it disappears from the list by itself.

Escape Passport

Every game has a "I have played this game" button. The Passport then counts by itself how many games you have behind you, which countries and cities you have played in, and which genres suit you. It works retroactively too — you can also mark games you played long ago and somewhere entirely other than through us. Bookings made through Escape Beacon count themselves.

Note and rating — for your eyes only

For every game you have played you can add a note and give it a rating from one to five stars. That the last puzzle took twenty minutes, that the actor was excellent, that there were stairs to climb — the things you will not remember in two years.

These records are private. We do not publish them, the venue does not see them, we send them to nobody, and they do not affect the order of games in the results. They are not reviews — they are your notes and only you see them. If we ever wanted to change that, we would say so in advance and ask.

A review — that one is public

If you want to tell others something as well, each game has a review: stars and text that everyone can see. It is a separate thing from the private note — the note stays yours, the review we publish, and before you send it, that is stated with it.

How we verify it. If you booked through us and the venue confirmed the booking, we know you were there — your review gets the "verified booking" label. If you only marked the game as played, that is exactly what the review says. We do not present the unverified as verified, and we neither order nor write reviews.

We do not hide negative reviews. They are ordered newest first, not by whether they are flattering. We hide only content that is unlawful, unrelated to the game, or that discloses personal data — a bad rating is not one of those reasons. The venue has the right to reply publicly under a review; it cannot delete it.

The account is free and the Passport survives a new phone

Without an account everything works the same, only the Passport lives in this browser — clear your history or switch phones and it is gone. Registering solves that and is free, as is everything in the account.

You give no password. You enter your e-mail address, a one-time code arrives and you are signed in. What you already have in the Passport is carried over at the first sign-in — nothing is lost and you start nothing again from scratch.

You delete the account and everything in it directly in the app, with one button and without explaining yourself. We delete the e-mail address, the whole Passport, the Want to go list and your published reviews.

Booking

If the venue has a booking system with us, you pick a time and book right here. If not, we open its own page — we never send you anywhere blindly, and we check the links regularly so that no link points to a domain somebody else has taken over in the meantime.

What we are working on

So that it is clear what does not work yet: we are working on importing your history from another app for those who recorded their played games elsewhere, and on online payment including splitting it between players. Until it is finished we are not promising it — here it stands as an intention, not a feature.

The same goes for tailored recommendations based on what you have played. That only makes sense once there are enough played games for something to follow from them — otherwise they would be random tips pretending to be recommendations. We will switch it on when there is data for it, not sooner.

What it costs

Nothing. Searching, the Passport, notes, ratings, reviews, the Want to go list, registration and booking are free for players — and will stay free. There is no paid version here that we would gradually push on you.

And ranking cannot be bought here — it is determined by how well a game matches what you are looking for and by its rating from public sources, not by who paid.

Frequently asked questions from players

What do I need an account for, when booking works without one? For the Passport. Without an account the games you mark live only in this browser — after clearing your data or changing phones they are gone. With an account they are on the server and you find them from anywhere.

Do I have to think up a password? No, you have no password with us. You enter your e-mail address, a one-time code arrives and you are signed in. There is nothing to forget and nothing to steal.

Can anyone see my notes and ratings? No. Notes and ratings in the Passport are private and we give them to nobody — not to the venue either. Only the review you write yourself is public, and even that only once you publish it.

How do I recognise a verified review? A review from somebody who had a confirmed booking with us for that game is marked "verified". The others are from people who say they played the game — we show both, but distinguished, so you know what you are reading.

Can the account be deleted? Yes, with one button in the Passport, and immediately. Games played, notes, ratings and reviews go with it — we keep nothing.