Category Archives: escape rooms
Escape Room Narrative: What the Myst Series Taught Me About Narrative
The holy grail of escape room narrative is having a seamless integration of puzzles and story. This is difficult to say the least. The very presence of puzzles in a narrative already is somewhat unnatural. Ideally, the puzzles at minimum tie loosely with the theme. The rest is a suspension of disbelief on the player’s part.
This is fine, but there is always room to evolve. Attempts to make puzzles more natural usually involve making them simpler and more task based. It makes sense to do it this way. For a natural narrative, puzzles that could actually be found in the natural world is the way to go.
But what about difficult puzzles? Those “aha” puzzles that involve finding patterns in constellations to find a passcode for a computer? Surely there is no way to make narrative and puzzles seem like one when they involve so many illogical steps.
Or…
Is…
There…
Okay, let’s talk about Myst.
Escape Room Narrative: Music
“Immersive” is definitely a buzz word that has been growing in popularity in the escape room industry over the last few years. Designers and companies strive to make their players feel immersed in a world. There are many discussions of elaborate sets, seamless technology, and environmental storytelling.
But there is one tool I have rarely seen discussed: music.
Music has shaped so much of our art and entertainment. Whether it is opera, film, or video games, I doubt there is anyone who can imagine these mediums completely devoid of music. It lets us know how to feel. It helps tell the story. It builds the world. It is one of my favourite parts of the entertainment I consume. And yet I rarely see it discussed in escape rooms.
Escape Room Narratives: Plot Twists
Spoiler alert: I will be talking about the ending of the Sixth Sense. It is twenty years old, but there might be a likely hood you have not seen it….but still, I am going to discuss it.
I remember being in the theatre when I first saw The Sixth Sense, long before it became one of the most quoted movies of all time. Come on, we all know the scene. Little Haley Joel Osmand clings his blanket closer to him, looks fearfully at Bruce Willis, and utters the phrase “I see dead people….”
Insert meme here.
An Escape Enthusiast Abroad: Seattle/Vancouver and Final Thoughts
Today was the last day of our vacation. It has been an intense three days and felt more like three weeks. We played 16 escapes in just over three days. Although we are tired we have sworn to make this an annual thing.
EDIT: If you are interested in our thoughts in audio form, check out the podcast we recorded on the trip!
http://www.inversegenius.com/roomescapedivas/2019/7/12/95-seattle-and-vancouver-escape-room-marathon
An Escape Enthusiast Abroad: Seattle Day 2
Our second day in Seattle was less intense than our first but no less interesting. Today was the day we finally got to try out the fabled Locurio! Read the rest of this entry
An Escape Enthusiast Abroad: Seattle Day 1
Today was our first marathon day in Seattle. We did six rooms. Six very puzzle heavy rooms. I. AM. TIRED.
An Escape Enthusiast Abroad: NOLA, Baton Rouge & Houston Final Thoughts
I have been home a full day now, slept many hours, and had a chance to let the whole trip process in my head. It is 14 degrees Celsius here so I am forced to wear long pants again. It’s sad. So…time for some final thoughts.
First things first: The trip was fantastic. Escape rooms aside, I loved seeing the city of New Orleans. It has an insanely rich history. Even if you are not a party person, there is a lot of stuff to see there (and eat!). I would 100% go there again…after all, there are more Gabriel Knight locations to find!
An Escape Enthusiast Abroad: Houston Day 2
Our last day in Houston found us back with Strangebird Immersive‘s Haley and Cameron. We spent the almost the entire day eating, geeking out about escapes, venting about escapes, and playing a couple of escapes. It was a great, relaxed way to end our trip. Despite not getting to play Man From Beyond, it was so wonderful to meet these fine folks and hang out.
She did not bring candles to meet us though.
Canadian Bumpkin Status: 50%
Now I know from several sources that giant cockroaches are just a thing in Houston. I still do not approve of them and squeal like crazy, but I somewhat accept they are here.
I tried some southern US Mexican food! It was yummy!
We want to have southern accents. We probably sound horribly offensive.
I have been saying beignets a lot…
The Escapes!
It was great to have Haley and Cameron to tour us around today. Not just because they know the area, but because they know more about the escape community in and around Houston.
We started at Escape Again in Sugar Land (no, it’s not a town made my Willy Wonka) and played their Hike room. It was a fun mid-tier room. It followed the trends of other rooms we have seen here: okay set, standard puzzles that did not always make complete sense but were still enjoyable, and plenty of locks to open. Overall there was a good flow though. There was one really neat environmental element I have not yet seen in any escape room. That’s always exciting!
We got to chat with the owners after and it was evident they are aiming to make each room bigger and better than the last. It’s always great to see owners passionate about learning lessons and applying those lessons to future projects. When we saw the new rooms they were building it was evident they were trying to make things as immersive as they could.
It was also nice to see owners getting along. Haley and Cameron greeted the owners like old friends and we all sat around and talked shop for half an hour before a birthday party came through. It’s encouraging to see this kind of collaboration going on in the industry. Owners gain everything by helping each other. I look forward to hearing of Escape Again’s progress.
The second room of the day was Houston Escape Room. We played a room called Grandma’s Code Breaker. This almost felt like a throwback to some of the earlier games we played years ago. It was pretty low tech. There were a lot of combo locks. Weirdest of all, our GM was in the room! We have not experienced that in years. He was really good at fading into the background though. I practically forgot he was there.
It was a cute room but nothing incredibly special. It did make me realize though that most of the games we played in the southern US have a LOT of puzzles, way more than we are used to. I wonder if that is a local trend or if it’s a product of the public system and bigger group sizes.
I could investigate further, but…I have to get up for a plan in….ugh…four hours…it’s time for sleep. Thank you so much for joining us on our adventures. I have had so much fun but look forward to my own bed and some salad. Stay tuned for my final thoughts on this whirlwind trip. I can’t guarantee I’ll be awake enough to write it in the next day.
An Escape Enthusiast Abroad: Houston Day 1
Our original reason for going to Houston was to finally see Strangebird Immersive’s Man From Beyond. Unfortunately, their new location is currently going through red tape hell and they were not ready for our arrival. They felt super bad but this is a common theme when it comes to building escape rooms. As sad as we were, it was understandable.
We did end up going to meet the owners/designers, Haley and Cameron, for dinner where we could vent and nerd out to our heart’s delight about escapes. Despite the setback, I am really glad I got to meet them in person.
Escape nerdouts with beer!
And besides, one hiccup not about to stop us from trying out escapes anyway! Read the rest of this entry
An Escape Enthusiast Abroad: Baton Rouge
This was it. Wednesday. May 15th. 13th Gate. It was one of the main reasons we booked our trip to NOLA in the first place. And yes, it lives up to the hype.
But first…
Canadian Bumpkin Status: 60%
There is not much here today because we have been driving for most of the day. Even in the car though I am still very much a bumpkin. Read the rest of this entry
Thoughts from the Test Chamber 