Report from ER CHAMP in Sofia

At the end of October, we attended the ER Champ World Championship in Sofia. This year, the organizers truly outdid themselves: they built two fully equipped escape rooms, complete with modular walls, high-tech gadgets, hidden cameras, and – of course – a great selection of original and quite challenging puzzles.
(For context: the modular wall system was developed specifically for ER Champ so that a full room could be built in a single day!)

Was it intense? Absolutely!
The difference between first and second place was only 19 seconds.

1. Dziękuj Krystianowi, że do drużyny Cię przyjął (Poland)
2. Los Kotitos (Switzerland)
3. Comment est votre blanquette (France)

Congratulations to all finalists who tackled exceptionally demanding challenges and demonstrated incredible skill, concentration, speed, and team spirit — true athletes of the mind!

🎥 You can watch the full livestream here:
ERChamp 2025 Finals Livestream on YouTube

A special thank-you goes to the team at Lock.me, who for ten years have been investing enormous energy, time, and personal resources to keep ER Champ a free global event, accessible to teams from all around the world.

This is not just a competition –
it’s a movement that connects, strengthens, and promotes our entire industry.

And 2026 will be especially festive: the 10th anniversary of ER Champ.
Like Eurovision, the next final will be hosted in the winning country.
See you in Wrocław!

The atmosphere at the conference was just as inspiring as the competition itself.
Talks, best-practice exchanges, new partnerships, and meetings with creators from across the globe created a space where one could truly feel that the escape room industry is global, connected, and on the verge of a new era of growth.

Nataša Potočnik delivered a motivational talk that deeply resonated with the audience.
Her metaphor about mushrooms hit the mark: on the surface we see individual organisms, but beneath the ground they are connected by a vast mycelium network, which makes them some of the most successful life forms on the planet.

And just like that, collaboration connects us — the creators.

And since we’re in the escape room industry, the mushroom metaphor was no coincidence:
“I found the word ROOM in the word MUSHROOM.
They are called FUNGI – and there is also FUN in fungi!”

The response?
We are still receiving messages of support and collaboration proposals from Poland, Bulgaria, Italy, Switzerland, Greece, Belgium… even Japan.

The conference consisted of three thematic modules:

The story of ER Champ, best practices from Enigmarium, and a deep dive into building an effective PR strategy for our industry.

Three top representatives of TERPECA-ranked escape rooms took the stage:

• Verone (Babis) – Don’t Take a Breath, Greece
• Vasilis – Lockhill, Greece
• Jan Gheyle – De Gouden Kooi, Belgium

All three highlighted the same key message:

“Follow your heart and your vision. Create what you truly believe in – even if it takes longer or costs more than expected.”

A sentiment that might make an economist raise an eyebrow … but it explains why their rooms radiate such passion, authenticity, and dedication.

And it is exactly that energy that pushes global standards ever higher.