They do things a little differently around here. That's been Steven Keller's personal design philosophy ever since he started making his first escape rooms at his company, Sauve Qui Peut, located in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu in Quebec, Canada. If you've ever played games at this company, you'd know the house style is that there is no house style. Every game feels distinct and different, almost like they were designed by different people. And yet Steven is the mad genius behind it all.

Steven is one of the most instinct-driven designers I've encountered in this industry. He designed his first three rooms within five months of having the idea, before he'd even signed a lease. He deliberately avoided playing other escape rooms early on so he wouldn't get influenced. However, he eventually abandoned this philosophy when he realized that Egyptian-themed rooms were not, in fact, his invention. What hasn't changed is his core approach: start with one really cool thing, build around it, and figure out the story last. Like I said, they do things a little differently around here.

However, Steve doesn't do it alone. Shawn Mercier is Steven's right hand man, and he joins us also to give us the nuts and bolts perspective. He started as a gamemaster, began quietly fixing and improving mechanisms, and pretty soon made himself indispensable. Shawn introduced more sophisticated and reliable tech to Sauve Qui Peut's rooms. He helps keep everything running smoothly, all before he turned 26! We know, because he celebrated his birthday with us on the day of our recording.

Together, Steve and Shawn are responsible for some of the most inventive and, yes, slightly unhinged escape room design in Quebec. I really appreciated hearing Steven talk about his design process. There's a madcap creative improv quality to it, and it's part of what makes their games so quirky and memorable.

If you enjoyed this conversation and want to check out the games at Sauve Qui Peut, consider joining us on one of our future Escape, Immerse, Explore tours to the Montreal area.

Full Show Notes

We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and the Reality Escape Convention. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we’ve been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events.

By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected.

Access exclusive Patreon content such as:

• The Bonus Aftershow
• The Spoilers Club
• Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles.

Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy.

If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what’s game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes.

Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you’ll take a listen and play along with us at PG’s Playhouse.

Our convention, RECON, will be in Laval, Quebec Canada on August 16th & 17th, 2026.

RECON offers a curated collection of talks and experiences exploring the business and art of escape room and immersive game creation. All are welcome at this event that is crafted around professionals and aspiring professionals.

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

James and Charlie actually met as actors on the set of a film, and they’ve been partners in life and business ever since. David even wrote a post about one of their projects, Echoes of Darkness: A Star Wars Fan Film .

These origins really honed their “do-it-yourself” ethos. As Charlie puts it, “It originally stems from a lack of funds. But also it’s enjoyable to do it yourself, and to learn a new skill in the process.” Where Deadlocked really shines though is in their creativity. Their games have quirky mechanics and stories. They’ve employed clever tricks to make the sets feel larger than they are.

Relying on quick wits and creativity have allowed Deadlocked to stay nimble. During the pandemic, they created a wonderful virtual game called The Insiders that gave them global recognition in the escape room world. This led to them giving a talk at the very first RECON about Adapting Your Escape Room Business to New Mediums.

James and Charlie have spent the better part of a decade building one of the UK’s most distinctive escape room companies. Deadlocked is currently ranked the #1 escape room in the UK, and their newest game, The Reading Witch, recently topped the TERPECA rankings for England.

One of my favorite stories from this episode is about the time they were playing an escape room and they stopped mid-game to help the owners fix a broken prop. They are two of the most charismatic, creative, and relentlessly hands-on people in the business, and I hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed recording it.

Full Show Notes

We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and the Reality Escape Convention. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we’ve been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events.

By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected.

Access exclusive Patreon content such as:

• The Bonus Aftershow
• The Spoilers Club
• Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles.

Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy.

If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what’s game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes.

Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you’ll take a listen and play along with us at PG’s Playhouse.

Our convention, RECON, will be in Laval, Quebec Canada on August 16th & 17th, 2026.

RECON offers a curated collection of talks and experiences exploring the business and art of escape room and immersive game creation. All are welcome at this event that is crafted around professionals and aspiring professionals.

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

When most people think of an escape room, they think of puzzles, padlocks, with maybe a light narrative slapped on top. When Rémy Strobbe and the team at Live Cinema created Zone 51, however, they thought: okay, but what if instead of solving puzzles, you were inside a movie?

Rémy is the co-founder and creative director of Live Cinema, based in Paris, France. He joins us on REPOD to talk about Zone 51, a jaw-dropping 120-minute experience set across 550 square meters, 25 rooms, 3 live performers , and a cinematic globe-spanning story. David calls it "one of  the most remarkable experiences that I have seen in the immersive world."

Zone 51 begins the moment you walk through the door. Indeed, for those unaware, they might be convinced that they're here to watch an actual movie. As you can see, the set is absolutely gorgeous.

Rémy talks candidly about the difficult journey to creating this game. Amongst their troubles, they had a construction partner go bankrupt mid-build and take €80,000 with them, and a pandemic that halted production for over a year. He also shares the secrets behind the tight pipelining schedule that makes this project financially feasible.

I especially loved hearing Rémy talk about their philosophy on marketing and allowing players to record their games. Live Cinema leans into sharing striking visuals. As Rémy put it, a good experience has more to offer than just what you see in a photo. And those photos are spectacular.

Zone 51 is currently bookable in French, with limited English sessions available by email. English availability is expected to expand by fall 2026 — which happens to align perfectly with the Escape Immerse Explore Paris Tour. Zone 51 (review coming soon) will be on the Tour, along with a few other games from the same creators at Lock Academy. If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining us on the Tour, if it hasn't already sold out!

Full Show Notes

We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and the Reality Escape Convention. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we’ve been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events.

By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected.

Access exclusive Patreon content such as:

• The Bonus Aftershow
• The Spoilers Club
• Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles.

Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy.

If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what’s game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes.

Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you’ll take a listen and play along with us at PG’s Playhouse.

Our convention, RECON, will be in Laval, Quebec Canada on August 16th & 17th, 2026.

RECON offers a curated collection of talks and experiences exploring the business and art of escape room and immersive game creation. All are welcome at this event that is crafted around professionals and aspiring professionals.

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

Sound design is the most underused tool in escape room design. It's not just for ambiance; it's a feedback system. It tells players what they did, redirects them when they're wrong, and stops them from doing the same wrong thing over and over. Sound design plays a huge role at The Escape Game and Great Big Game Show.

Troy Armstrong has two music composition degrees. If you've played Cosmic Crisis, The Depths, or The Rugrats version ofThe Playground, then you've heard some of his work. Troy got his start in the industry as a gamemaster at The Escape Game. One day, he cold-emailed the head of design to "talk about game design" and left with a sound design commission. Today he's Director of Product Design for Great Big Game Show, one of the newest immersive gaming options from The Escape Game.

Great Big Game Show is not an escape room. Rather, it's a live immersive gaming experience where two teams compete over a series of mini games, all guided by an energetic, live host. It takes familiar games from TV, but adds origin spin on the concepts.

Troy is passionate about gameshows and sound design. It was fascinating to hear him talk about how he crafts these elements to create the best possible experience for guests. I especially enjoyed hearing him talk about all the ways that sound design can help direct players and shape the flow of a game.

If you're interested in hearing more about how sound design matters, join us at the Reality Escape Convention, where Troy will be speaking.

Full Show Notes

We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and the Reality Escape Convention. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we’ve been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events.

By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected.

Access exclusive Patreon content such as:

• The Bonus Aftershow
• The Spoilers Club
• Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles.

Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy.

If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what’s game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes.

Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you’ll take a listen and play along with us at PG’s Playhouse.

Our convention, RECON, will be in Laval, Quebec Canada on August 16th & 17th, 2026.

RECON offers a curated collection of talks and experiences exploring the business and art of escape room and immersive game creation. All are welcome at this event that is crafted around professionals and aspiring professionals.

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

Captain Eo. Ghostbusters. Men in Black. Team America. Star Tours. The Muppet Movie. If you’ve ever fallen in love with puppeted characters that felt impossibly alive, there’s a good chance Terri Hardin worked on them. A master puppeteer, creature builder, and performer, Terri has spent decades blurring the line between imagination and reality, helping bring some of the most iconic characters in film, television, and the Disney Parks to life.

Thanks to the success and beloved characters of Jim Henson, puppets and fantastical characters were having a huge moment in the 80s and 90s. Studios depended on practical effects and humans to create and bring to life characters such as Stay Puft, the giant Marshmallow Man and Zuul, the Temple Dog in Ghostbusters, both of which Terri helped animate.

Terri has such an impressive list of productions she's worked on that her bio below is a 22 page document full of references to beloved films and characters. We've also linked to some videos of her work below in the Resources section.

Terri also worked as a sculptor and Imagineer at Walt Disney for many years. She is brimming with incredible stories about all the people she's worked with including Michael Jackson, Dan Aykroyd and Jim Henson, and Michael Eisner. Terri talks to us about how she prepared herself so that when any opportunity came, she was ready. I especially loved her story about how she created the Dragon's Lair attraction at Disneyland Paris.

Terri is an absolutely remarkable character herself, and she had both me and David laughing through the entire interview. Beneath it all, Terry is a passionate artist who breathes life into all her creations. Whether you’re a film buff, a Disney fan, a maker, or just someone who loves a good behind-the-scenes story, this conversation pulls back the curtain on puppetry as a craft. You’ll never look at puppetry the same way again.

Full Show Notes

We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and the Reality Escape Convention. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we’ve been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events.

By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected.

Access exclusive Patreon content such as:

• The Bonus Aftershow
• The Spoilers Club
• Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles.

Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy.

If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what’s game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes.

Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you’ll take a listen and play along with us at PG’s Playhouse.

Our convention, RECON, will be in Laval, Quebec Canada on August 16th & 17th, 2026.

RECON offers a curated collection of talks and experiences exploring the business and art of escape room and immersive game creation. All are welcome at this event that is crafted around professionals and aspiring professionals.

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

You've just been thrown in jail, locked up inside a massive prison complex in the Netherlands. Along with 125 other prisoners, you must scheme, bribe, blackmail, commit mayhem, and find your way out.

This is Prison Escape, an immersive experience structured as a cinematic escape from prison. In 2025, Prison Escape ran 280 shows with an average player count of 125 participants. Approximately 22 of those shows were available in English.

Prison Escape creator Rik Stapelbroek joins us on REPOD to talk about this remarkable experience. There are many paths through to the end, including sweet talking the guards, perhaps poisoning a few, or maybe you work together with other prisoners to start a riot. Rik walks us through some of the logistics of how they create different opportunities for each type of player to succeed.

Rik has designed many types of interactions, from social manipulation style puzzles, to fact gathering missions so a player can contribute to a shared escape route map. He is also expanding their offerings online so more people can experience Prison Escape. This is an absolutely bonkers game, in the best way possible. If you're a fan of larps, or large scale open world play, this episode is a must-listen.

Full Show Notes

We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and the Reality Escape Convention. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we’ve been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events.

By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected.

Access exclusive Patreon content such as:

• The Bonus Aftershow
• The Spoilers Club
• Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles.

Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy.

If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what’s game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes.

Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you’ll take a listen and play along with us at PG’s Playhouse.

Our convention, RECON, will be in Laval, Quebec Canada on August 16th & 17th, 2026.

RECON offers a curated collection of talks and experiences exploring the business and art of escape room and immersive game creation. All are welcome at this event that is crafted around professionals and aspiring professionals.

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

Amanda and Errol have been fixtures in the escape room community for years, so of course we had to get the OG escape room podcasters on REPOD. This episode is basically a love letter to everything weird and wonderful about playing escape rooms, designing immersive games, and the incredible community we found along the way.

From 2016-2022, Errol and Manda, along with their other co-hosts Ruby and Mike, podcasted about their escape room antics. They gave valuable commentary on the early years of escape rooms, and along with Room Escape Artist, really helped shape the community that grew around this new form of immersive gaming entertainment.

Not only did Errol and Manda provide commentary on escape rooms, they also helped create some iconic games, including Heist on a Moving Train, the Cryptex Hunt puzzle hunt series, and Present Quest. They have each appeared twice as speakers for our own convention, the Reality Escape Convention. As a Certified Fraud Examiner, Manda gave a talk in fraud prevention for RECON 25. Errol's puzzle design talk from RECON 21 remains one of the most popular from any RECON.

Errol and Manda are a joy to chat with. If you enjoyed this episode, the Bonus Aftershow we recorded with them was even more fun. Consider joining our Patreon for even more content!

And a very special thanks to Bill Sunderland from Escape This Podcast for singing, "The Glow of Black Light" in this episode. 

We now have a special offer just for REPOD listeners! Get 70% off your first month at the Bonus Show level  ($5/month). Valid now through the end of May. Use code MOREREPOD at checkout to claim this offer.

Full Show Notes

We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and the Reality Escape Convention. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we’ve been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events.

By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected.

Access exclusive Patreon content such as:

• The Bonus Aftershow
• The Spoilers Club
• Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles.

Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy.

If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what’s game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes.

Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you’ll take a listen and play along with us at PG’s Playhouse.

Our convention, RECON, will be in Laval, Quebec Canada on August 16th & 17th, 2026.

RECON offers a curated collection of talks and experiences exploring the business and art of escape room and immersive game creation. All are welcome at this event that is crafted around professionals and aspiring professionals.

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

What is the future of storytelling? If you ask Charlie Melcher, the answer lies in "living stories," stories where the audience has a role and participates. Indeed, the subtitle of his new book, The Future of Storytelling is "How Immersive Experiences Are Transforming the World."

In the early 90s, Charlie started Melcher Media, publishing books. Even then, he noted that books had a unique tactile physicality. He talks about working on the infamous Madonna photo book Sex, and how they made it into an early "immersive experience," wrapping the book in mylar to mimic the look of a condom.

He also produced and designed S by J.J. Abrams, which told a story through elaborate annotations and other media enclosed within a copy of the novel The Ship of Theseus. The book has a very unusual mechanic for storytelling, including postcards and even a cipher wheel.

He even did something different when it came to his own book, The Future of Storytelling. He created a unique multi-fold dust jacket so readers could choose the genre and look of the cover themselves.

Charlie Melcher has been pushing the envelope when it comes to books and storytelling, so it's no surprise that when he attended his first immersive experience, he was hooked from the beginning. Today, he joins us on REPOD to talk about his vision for where immersive stories are going.

Besides having his own podcast, also titled The Future of Storytelling, he has hosted many immersive summits under the same brand. Charlie has so many thoughtful insights about immersive storytelling. We touched on topics from the complexities of scaling intimate moments, to breaking down immersive experiences into the core components of physical, participatory, and emotional immersion. I found this to be an enlightening conversation. And if you enjoy this conversation, I highly recommend you listen to Charlie's own podcast, The Future of Storytelling, starting with the episode where David and I were guests.

Full Show Notes

We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and the Reality Escape Convention. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we’ve been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events.

By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected.

Access exclusive Patreon content such as:

• The Bonus Aftershow
• The Spoilers Club
• Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles.

Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy.

If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what’s game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes.

Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you’ll take a listen and play along with us at PG’s Playhouse.

Our convention, RECON, will be in Laval, Quebec Canada on August 16th & 17th, 2026.

RECON offers a curated collection of talks and experiences exploring the business and art of escape room and immersive game creation. All are welcome at this event that is crafted around professionals and aspiring professionals.

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

Emma Rochon and Melissa Eapen were young game masters working at a local escape room company over 12 years ago. They loved this "new" genre of entertainment, and asked the owners how they could get more involved in growing the business or designing new rooms. The owners replied with "There's no growth in [escape rooms]. Also though, if you try to make your own company, I'll sue you".

These famous last words spurred Improbable Escapes co-founders Emma Rochon and Melissa Eapen to quit and start their own company. While looking for locations, they mapped out all the known escape rooms in Canada at the time, and settled on the charming city of Kingston. They chose it primarily for its qualities as an escape room wasteland, because it didn't have any notable existing escape rooms.

Today, they've certainly built out enough games to put Kingston, Ontario, Canada on the map of any escape room enthusiast. They have built and designed over forty different games and experiences, including escape rooms, outdoor escape rooms, large event "podium games," and even a board game café. They also started a sister company called Visual Menace Creative that builds sets, props, and immersive activations for brands, film, television and music videos.

Emma Rochon joins us on REPOD to share her escape room journey in the industry. I was simply mind-blown by these two young women who built an escape room empire out of nothing but sheer determination and passion. I love stories where someone is told "no" and they proceed to prove nay-sayers wrong in the most epic way possible.

If you enjoyed this episode and you want to hear more from Emma, she will be speaking at this year's Reality Escape Convention about deconstructing escape rooms, and how to literally think outside the box when it comes to designing interactive puzzle games.

Full Show Notes

We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and the Reality Escape Convention. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we’ve been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events.

By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected.

Access exclusive Patreon content such as:

• The Bonus Aftershow
• The Spoilers Club
• Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles.

Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy.

If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what’s game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes.

Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you’ll take a listen and play along with us at PG’s Playhouse.

Our convention, RECON, will be in Laval, Quebec Canada on August 16th & 17th, 2026.

RECON offers a curated collection of talks and experiences exploring the business and art of escape room and immersive game creation. All are welcome at this event that is crafted around professionals and aspiring professionals.

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

Have you ever wanted to trauma bond with a hundred strangers aboard a spaceship while fleeing an alien threat? Do you want to be emotionally devastated while making hard choices about love, sacrifice, and humanity? Then Finnish larp is for you!

Laura Kröger is the lead producer and narrative director of Odysseus, a large-scale sci-fi larp run in Helsinki, Finland in 2019 and 2024, in both Finnish and English.

Built for 104 players, it's set in an original science fiction universe inspired by classics such as Battlestar Galactica. Each participant has a pre-written role with past relationships, loyalties, secrets and fears, but the choices and emotional journeys are in the hands of the players.

Beyond the script, the set of Odysseus is mind-blowingly realistic, considering it was built into an elementary school as a temporary installation during summer break.

Laura talks to us about all the logistics of running such a massively complex larp, including how food and lodging is handled, costuming, and emotional support. I especially enjoyed hearing about how battles and "injuries" are handled. There is even a medical bay with some very graphic special effects "injuries" where "surgeons" are operating. (You can see more photos of Odysseus here).

Odysseus is currently running an Indiegogo campaign because they are trying to build a permanent installation so they can run Odysseus continuously without having to constantly build it and tear it down. If you're interested in experiencing this yourself, consider supporting their campaign for a chance to attend.

Full Show Notes

We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and the Reality Escape Convention. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we’ve been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events.

By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected.

Access exclusive Patreon content such as:

• The Bonus Aftershow
• The Spoilers Club
• Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles.

Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy.

If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what’s game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes.

Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you’ll take a listen and play along with us at PG’s Playhouse.

Our convention, RECON, will be in Laval, Quebec Canada on August 16th & 17th, 2026.

RECON offers a curated collection of talks and experiences exploring the business and art of escape room and immersive game creation. All are welcome at this event that is crafted around professionals and aspiring professionals.

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

In the second half of the episode David and Peih-Gee were joined by Editor Steve. They gush about how great Will Shortz is, talk about some of the questions that they didn't ask in the main episode, and David shared his thoughts on Will's place in popular culture.

In this episode, Neil Patrick Harris and Chris Waters of Constructed Adventures joined David and Peih-Gee to spoil the  second Capital One Murder Mystery, this one on a private island. 

Want to listen to the rest of the episode? Support us on Patreon.

When you support Room Escape Artist on Patreon at $15 per month (or above), you get access to the Spoilers Club, our exclusive podcast where hosts David Spira and Peih-Gee Law chat in depth with creators about iconic escape rooms... spoilers and all!

https://www.patreon.com/roomescapeartist

Eagerly awaiting the next season of Reality Escape Pod? Great news! Season 11 is just around the corner. While you wait, enjoy a special compilation from Season 10. Our editor Steve Ewing, has chosen a memorable clip from every episode. It's the ideal way for new listeners to get acquainted with the podcast, and the perfect trip down memory lane for our devoted fans.

This season featured a variety of talented creators, escape room owners, designers, game makers, and even a live audio escape room that first debuted at RECON Remote in 2025.

One of our dream guests launched the season: Puzzlemaster Will Shortz. This episode was filled with fascinating stories about his time working at Games Magazine and his early years editing the puzzle section for the New York Times.

Other veteran creatives this season included Jim “The Oz” Olivia, who helps run the World’s Largest Trivia Contest, and Doris Hardoon whose years as an Imagineer at Disney yielded many insights for us into what it took to create “the happiest place on earth” at EPCOT and later at Shanghai Disney Resort.

We uncovered the parlor game and puzzle obsessions of Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim with author Barry Joseph, who has published an in-depth look at a little-examined facet of Sondheim’s genius. 

Adam Bellow detailed the process of developing escape room-inspired educational kits for classrooms all over the world through the work of his company, Breakout EDU.

Of course, we had many standout escape room owners share their trials, tribulations, and moments of triumph. Will & Kim Rutherford, owners of Escape Artist Greenville, Stephen & Stevie Kristof of 60 to Escape in the Chicago area, and Jonathan Driscoll & Sacha St. Dennis of Escaparium in Montreal, where RECON will be held in August of 2026. 

Zach Sherwin will be at RECON Montreal, running his hilarious act The Crossword Show. He joined David & Peih-Gee to chat about its development, and what it’s like to be a comedy rap star on YouTube! And we caught up with Rita Orlov & Lauren Bello of PostCurious to learn about their latest collaboration in the world of boxed puzzle games. 

As always, we featured a couple episodes that were pure fun. Yannick Trapman-O’Brien & Lyra Levin played Mark Larson’s audio escape room: BLOT. On our Holiday Special, REA team members Theresa Piazza and Andrew Reynolds tested their mettle against Peih-Gee’s Playhouse word puzzles.

Finally, we received the yearly industry report from RoomEscapeArtist.com Editor-In-Chief Lisa Spira. She walked us through her data analysis concerning escape rooms in 2025, including trends in booking times, revenue, and the growth of challenge arcades.

Thank you to our sponsors: Buzzshot and Patreon supporters like you. 

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

Supporitng us on Patreon helps to fund our work, pay our team, and it grants you access to an incredible library of bonus content including: 

• The REPOD Bonus Show
• The Spoilers Club
• The Travelogue Series

Thank you to all of our ongoing supporters 💙

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

When you support Room Escape Artist on Patreon at $15 per month (or above), you get access to the Spoilers Club, our exclusive podcast where hosts David Spira and Peih-Gee Law chat in depth with creators about iconic escape rooms... spoilers and all!

https://www.patreon.com/roomescapeartist

Last month Zach Brittle, host of Marriage Therapy Radio reached out because he was curious what escape rooms could teach couples. 

After looking into his show and realizing that it's phenomenal, we decided to sit down for a conversation with him. What ensued was really special for both David and Lisa. 

When you support Room Escape Artist on Patreon at $15 per month (or above), you get access to the Spoilers Club, our exclusive podcast where hosts David Spira and Peih-Gee Law chat in depth with creators about iconic escape rooms... spoilers and all!

https://www.patreon.com/roomescapeartist

For the last 10 years, Lisa Spira of Room Escape Artist has been tracking the growth of the US Escape Room industry and publishing industry reports. For our Season 10 finale episode, Lisa joins us to talk about this year's annual report.

New this year is a collaboration with previous REPOD sponsor Morty, an app that tracks individual games as well as escape room companies. Through this collaboration, Lisa was able to look at additional metrics, including revenue.

The 2025 Industry report is available on the Room Escape Artist website, and Lisa shares deeper analysis on this episode.

Some interesting trends noted include consolidation of ownership, and expansion of immersive gaming business models. We also talk about some interesting stats, including which days might be better for an escape room company to go dark; it's not what you would expect!

We close out the episode with some musings on exciting new design trends in escape room design, trends we don't care for, and where we think the escape room industry is headed. Whether you're an escape room owner, aspiring to work in the escape room industry, work in the immersive entertainment field, or just a data-loving enthusiast, the REA US Escape Room Industry Report is a must-read.

This is the last episode of Season 10. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back with a new season of REPOD in the spring of 2026. Meanwhile, consider joining our Patreon for access to our library of Bonus Aftershows and Spoilers Club episodes.

Full Show Notes

We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and COGS. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.

Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we’ve been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events.

By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected.

Access exclusive Patreon content such as:

• The Bonus Aftershow
• The Spoilers Club
• Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles.

Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy.

If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what’s game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes.

Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you’ll take a listen and play along with us at PG’s Playhouse.

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

The scent of cedar and cloves drift through the air, and all around the lights are twinkling. Boughs of holly and mistletoe decorate the rafters, and you've gathered friends and loved ones to celebrate.

It's our first REPOD and PG's Playhouse crossover Holiday Special! To celebrate, we've invited our Podcast Producer, Theresa Piazza, and Room Escape Artist Contributor, Andrew Reynolds to join us for games, trivia, and merriment. Today's game is "It's Not Elf on the Shelf", inspired by an actual toy Snoop on the Stoop. Each answer is a celebrity paired with a rhyming location in the house.

We all share some recommendations for games, puzzles, and shows that we've been enjoying. Then David takes us down the rabbit hole of mistletoe trivia, which has sexier origins than any of us imagined.

I hope you enjoyed this fun PG's Playhouse-style episode! We're grateful for all of our loyal listeners, and we're thrilled that you've stuck with us for so long. Happy holidays, everyone!

Full Show Notes

Hosted by Peih-Gee Law & David Spira

Puzzles by Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Peih-Gee Law

Music by Matt Farthing

Logo by Theresa Wagner

BLOT needs our help! The Bureau of Legitimate and Otherworldly Troubles has suffered a breach in their laboratory, and they need someone to clean up the mess. In the lab, there's a chalkboard to the left,  a table with beakers and test tubes to the right and a small computer desk. The room is covered with a strange, gunky substance all over the walls and floor. What would you like to do?

BLOT was the official game for RECON Remote 25, available to play for all Community, Pro, and Champion ticket holders who opted in. It was created and run by Mark Larson, who was a guest on REPOD S5E11. On this episode, Yannick Trapman-O'Brien and Lyra Levin join us to play BLOT.

Lyra was a featured speaker for RECON Remote 25 with her talk, Make Stuff Fast: Rapid Prototyping for Interactive Experiences, now available on YouTube. Yannick originally appeared on REPOD S8E7 to talk about his incredible show for one, Undersigned. They joined us on REPOD for an actual play of BLOT. Lyra and Yannick are both experienced improvisers, and I'd never laughed so hard watching a play-through. Scroll down to the timestamps to follow along with game images.

If you missed playing this game during RECON Remote 25, or if you want to relive your glory moments, join us for this final play-through of BLOT.

Full Show Notes

We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and COGS. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.

Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we’ve been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events.

By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected.

Access exclusive Patreon content such as:

• The Bonus Aftershow
• The Spoilers Club
• Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles.

Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy.

If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what’s game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes.

Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you’ll take a listen and play along with us at PG’s Playhouse.

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

Creators Luke and Madison Rhoades join us to talk about the history of The Hex Room. They opened this game in 2016, shortly after playing their first escape room, back in the very early years of escape rooms. I found it especially interesting learning about how this game was a response to the trend of public bookings at the time.

When you support Room Escape Artist on Patreon at $15 per month (or above), you get access to the Spoilers Club, our exclusive podcast where hosts David Spira and Peih-Gee Law chat in depth with creators about iconic escape rooms... spoilers and all!

https://www.patreon.com/roomescapeartist

When I think of crossword puzzles, I think of a quiet, cerebral exercise. It's often a solitary activity, maybe occasionally yelling out if anyone knows a four letter word for "milk's favorite cookie." When Zach Sherwin considered crossword puzzles, however, he thought, okay... but what if it also had comedians, rap, music, and just a little bit of chaos, all wrapped up in an epically funny live show?

Zach Sherwin has long had a way with words. He cut his teeth performing sketch comedy and honing his rapping skills as MC Mr. Napkins. He eventually found his way to Epic Rap Battles of History, which found a way to make nerdy, boring history feel fun and – dare I say – cool.

His love of wordplay and puzzles led him to create The Crossword Show. Zach Sherwin presides as two guest comedians solve a crossword puzzle live onstage, with everything displayed on a big screen so you can follow along. As the solvers decipher the clues, Zach takes the show down rabbit holes of comedy, music, wordplay and trivia, all inspired by the answer words. Everything ties together at the end for a grand finale. It is clever, hilarious, and had me awestruck at the mental gymnastics Zach goes through over the course of the show.

Zach joins us on REPOD to talk about how he turned a quiet nerdy activity into something funny, thrilling, and interactive. I really enjoyed hearing him talk about the secret sauce of crafting this show, from how he adjusts the difficulty of the clues, to what makes a live show special. He was a delightful guest.

Are you intrigued by how a live crossword stage show works? Zach will be performing at the Reality Escape Convention in Laval in 2026. This is a show you won't want to miss.

Full Show Notes

We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and COGS. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.

Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we’ve been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events.

By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected.

Access exclusive Patreon content such as:

• The Bonus Aftershow
• The Spoilers Club
• Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles.

Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy.

If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what’s game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes.

Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you’ll take a listen and play along with us at PG’s Playhouse.

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

Disney Theme Parks have always been at the top when it comes to large scale, interactive entertainment attractions. Doris Hardoon is a legendary Imagineer, and we don't use that term lightly. Her creative vision has graced every Disney Castle Park on the planet, from EPCOT to Disneyland and Disneyland Paris to Disney's Animal Kingdom, Disney Cruise Line, and beyond.

Doris took a break from Disney to run her own design firm working on museums and other interactive design, but she returned to Disney as the executive creative director and producer for Shanghai Disney Resort. Her career at Disney theme parks and entertainment design has spanned over four decades. She joins us on REPOD to share her design philosophy and some life advice for aspiring designers. She's had a very interesting path in her career, starting with working as a model and becoming a well-known folk singer in Hong Kong in the 1960s and 70s.

I especially enjoyed hearing her talk about working on the global theme parks and how “It’s important to culturally understand who you're creating the happiest places on earth for.” She talks about how to design spaces that appeal to the local audience while still maintaining an authentic Disney experience.

She's now turned much of her time to mentoring the next generation of entertainment designers. In this episode, Doris shares some reflections and advice on how to build the right team to support your creative vision. She also talks about how to manage corporate politics, especially when it comes to large creative companies like Walt Disney Imagineering. Doris Hardoon is a true legend, and I hope you find this episode as inspiring as I did.

Full Show Notes

We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and COGS. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.

Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we’ve been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events.

By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected.

Access exclusive Patreon content such as:

• The Bonus Aftershow
• The Spoilers Club
• Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles.

Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy.

If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what’s game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes.

Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you’ll take a listen and play along with us at PG’s Playhouse.

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

When a television screenwriter who loves puzzles and immersive experiences turns her attention to creating a boxed puzzle game, the result is beguiling and thoroughly engrossing. The Morrison Game Factory has a deeply intimate and emotional story that pulled at my heartstrings while still engaging my puzzle brain.

Screenwriter Lauren Bello created The Morrison Game Factory as puzzle challenge during the pandemic. It would have remained a small one-off game played only by her friends until Rita Orlov of PostCurious played it. She fell in love with the game, and worked with Lauren to produce the game under the PostCurious brand.

We originally interviewed Rita of PostCurious on REPOD S2E7 when her award winning game Light in the Mist had just come out. Since then, PostCurious has continually produced hit after hit, including the charming puzzle-focused Ministry of Lost Things series, along with longer epics like Emerald Echoes and Threads of Fate which is a remake of the first game that Rita became known for.

PostCurious games are impeccably produced. All the games have authentic-feeling props, heavyweight paper, and a beautiful artistic flair. The puzzles are intriguing, and range from light and playful to complex and layered. The storylines are always interesting and tie into the gameplay.

Rita Orlov and Lauren Bello talk about their collaboration. We also spend some time dissecting all the new PostCurious games to hit the market since we last had Rita on Reality Escape Pod. I really enjoyed learning about Lauren's writing process, especially when she described it as a series of waveforms, layering the different plots, storylines, and vibe that she's trying to achieve. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to check out The Morrison Game Factory and PostCurious' newest game on Kickstarter, Ministry of Lost Things - Case 2: Finders Keypers.

Full Show Notes

We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and COGS. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.

Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we’ve been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events.

By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected.

Access exclusive Patreon content such as:

• The Bonus Aftershow
• The Spoilers Club
• Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles.

Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy.

If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what’s game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes.

Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you’ll take a listen and play along with us at PG’s Playhouse.

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

Magnifico is currently (as of November 2025) the top escape room in the world, as voted on by experienced escape room enthusiasts. For 2.5 hours, we were transported to another world where magic is real and anything is possible. This game was a culmination of Escaparium's signature style: epically sized and meticulously built sets with large-scale puzzles that involve the whole team, and meaningful stories told through both gameplay and theatrical moments featuring live actors.

Jonathan Driscoll and Sacha St. Denis are the owners and driving force behind Escaparium, in Laval, Canada (just outside of Montreal). Since their previous appearance on REPOD, they've cemented their spot as one of the top companies in world. Last year, in 2024, they captured the #1 and #3 spots on the TERPECA rankings, with their games Magnifico and Forgotten Cathedral, respectively. Wardrobe for Sale ranked at #14, and Lost Island of the Voodoo Queen ranked at #37 in the world.

It's clearly not a fluke. Escaparium is consistently creating world-class games, year after year, and when they're not busy opening new games, they're renovating and remodeling old experiences. Rain Corp. has been given a make-over into Ctrl Alt Reboot. They are also overhauling their lobby once again, creating an immersive bar experience featuring a crashed space ship.

Jonathan and Sacha joined us to talk about their new games, what's driving them, and where they're getting inspiration. My biggest takeaway from this conversation was that they are very involved in the escape room community and industry. They are constantly traveling and playing games. They attend every convention. For them, it's always about the details. If even one small detail inspires their next idea, Jonathan says it's gold. That's the mindset they instill in their whole team as well.

Full Show Notes

We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and COGS. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.

Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we’ve been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events.

By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected.

Access exclusive Patreon content such as:

• The Bonus Aftershow
• The Spoilers Club
• Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles.

Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy.

If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what’s game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes.

Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you’ll take a listen and play along with us at PG’s Playhouse.

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

I might be just a teeny bit obsessed with disguising learning as play, and being tricked into learning. There is a joy to figuring things out for yourself, and iterating on past knowledge to further your skills. Besides the fun of solving puzzles, there is also a real sense of collaboration and the payoff from combining observation skills with critical thinking.

Enter educator Adam Bellow. He saw the potential in escape rooms to hone the soft skills of team-building, communication, and problem solving. So he created his company, Breakout EDU, to bring escape rooms to the classroom. This comes in the form of a kit that includes multiple locks, cipher wheels, and black lights, and other props.

Then on the Breakout EDU platform, teachers can choose from thousands of games, resetting the Breakout EDU kit to fit the game format.

Adam joins us on Reality Escape Pod to talk about creating escape rooms for kids, especially in an academic setting. The Breakout EDU games all adhere to an academic curriculum, and also incorporate their "4 Cs" - communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. I really enjoyed learning about the "4 C" cards that students use to explore different concepts after the game. These cards ask follow-up questions like "How would this game work if you didn't play verbally?"

Even as an adult, playing escape rooms has helped me learn to be a better team player. I'm glad that school kids today have this opportunity too. To learn more, visit the Breakout EDU website or check out the resources below.

Full Show Notes

We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and COGS. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.

Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we’ve been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events.

By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected.

Access exclusive Patreon content such as:

• The Bonus Aftershow
• The Spoilers Club
• Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles.

Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy.

If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what’s game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes.

Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you’ll take a listen and play along with us at PG’s Playhouse.

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

Somewhere in the Midwest, a talented young couple is quietly building an escape room empire. Their company, 60 to Escape, has over 12 different escape rooms across 3 locations, a puzzle-filled mini-golf experience, and a haunt so extensive and scenic that it was used as the set for a horror movie called Haunt Season on Amazon Prime.

Stephen Kristof literally has entertainment in his blood. His parents owned a family entertainment center, and he grew up bouncing around mini-golf, go carts, and fixing the arcade machines. Growing up, Stephen always wanted to work at a haunt, but he was too young. So at the ripe young age of thirteen, he presented his parents with business plan for opening up his own haunt, and his first venture was born.

In the course of running the haunt, they brought in a talented young SFX makeup artist named Stevie Calabrese (now Stevie Kristof). During haunt season, she manages four other artists as they get eighty performers into costumes and makeup in under two hours.

Stephen and Stevie met, fell in love, and became "The Steves." They now run their immersive entertainment ventures together, crafting and creating much of it themselves, along with their team of talented folks. If either of them look familiar, you may have seen them on a reality show. Stephen was a contestant on Season 1 of Holey Moley, a zany mini-golf reality competition show, and Stevie was a contestant on Season 9 of Face Off, a special effects makeup reality competition show.

I really enjoyed hearing them talk about their commitment to the customer experience, and their dedication to production value and creativity. Their company 60 to Escape was part of the Escape Immerse Explore tour in the Chicago area in 2025.

Full Show Notes

We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and COGS. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.

Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we’ve been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events.

By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected.

Access exclusive Patreon content such as:

• The Bonus Aftershow
• The Spoilers Club
• Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles.

Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy.

If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what’s game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes.

Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you’ll take a listen and play along with us at PG’s Playhouse.

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

For three whole days, over 10,000 trivia challengers descend on the tiny town of Stevens Point, Wisconsin, for The World's Largest Trivia Contest. The contest runs on the local college radio station at the University of Wisconsin- Stevens Point for 54 hours straight, asking eight questions per hour. Teams have only the length of two radio songs to call in their answer. Yup, that's right. You call into the radio, old school style. It's a madcap frenzy of teams frantically searching through bins of catalogued items spanning from cereal boxes to DVD covers, or racking their brains to remember an obscure cartoon reference.

For 43 years Jim “Oz” Oliva was ringmaster of this trivia circus. He wrote most of the questions and organized the contest. Jim revels in finding the most obscure bits of trivia to throw at his players. In response, teams have amassed entire rooms filled with snack packaging, atlases, and the booklets from CDs, among other items. With the advent of the internet, Jim had to change how he formatted the questions to stay ahead of searchable keywords. You can hear the glee in Jim’s voice when he talks about all the techniques he devised to outmaneuver trivia players. He even had to hold onto all of the garbage from the question writing room otherwise players have been known to go through the trash, attempting to gain an edge over the competition.

Jim is blunt, funny, and mischievous. I really enjoyed hearing all his stories from his many years of running this crazy trivia contest and learning about the wild culture surrounding it.

In our Bonus Aftershow, REA contributers Heather Burns and Theresa Piazza join us to share their perspective on the trivia contest. Heather has been involved in the trivia contest for over 20 years, and Theresa joined Heather for the first time last year. It was wild to hear all about how they prepare for three crazy days of trivia with a revolving door of team members marshalling to rifle through bins of material and sleeping in shifts. I hope you enjoy this episode about The World’s Largest Trivia Contest.

Full Show Notes

We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and COGS. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.

Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we’ve been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events.

By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected.

Access exclusive Patreon content such as:

• The Bonus Aftershow
• The Spoilers Club
• Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles.

Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy.

If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what’s game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes.

Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you’ll take a listen and play along with us at PG’s Playhouse.

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

Will and Kim Rutherford met at a summer pool party while in college. Kim recruited Will to help her win a floaty race across the pool. Alas, they lost. " I thought the floaty race was for fun and apparently it was for, I don't know, life bragging rights or something," says Will.

Since then, the couple have gone on to many other creative adventures, including creating home haunts. Will even proposed to Kim on Halloween while they were both still in their costumes.

So when Will and Kim played their first escape room, they immediately thought it could be like a permanent home haunt experience that they didn’t have to tear down and put up every year. They jumped in with both feet, and although they made a lot of mistakes along the way, Escape Artist Greenville was born.

Today they have the second highest ranked escape room in the USA (Castle Fluffendor). They’ve also created a three-hour experience that combines three of their top escape rooms into one narratively cohesive saga called The Chimera Corp Saga. REA reviewer Matthew Stein calls it “a masterpiece of episodic storytelling.”

Will and Kim join us on REPOD to talk about the thought process behind their compelling games. I especially appreciated hearing about how they’re escape room enthusiasts themselves, and regularly travel the world playing games and seeking inspiration. They tell us, “we are trying to go to the most diverse, immersive experiences that we can and seek out things that actually are a little outside of our comfort zone.”

The Rutherfords have also recently joined the team at Keepers of Balance and helped them launch their first project, the epic Temple of Light, which recently won a Golden Lock award. Will and Kim have a boundless enthusiasm for the escape room industry, and I hope you find this conversation as inspiring as I did.

Full Show Notes

We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and COGS. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.

Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we’ve been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events.

By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected.

Access exclusive Patreon content such as:

• The Bonus Aftershow
• The Spoilers Club
• Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles.

Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy.

If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what’s game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes.

Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you’ll take a listen and play along with us at PG’s Playhouse.

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

Stephen Sondheim practically reinvented musicals with his flair for theatrical storytelling through his lyrics and music. A lesser known fact is that Sondheim also played a huge role in the puzzling world.

Before he was famous for musicals like West Side Story, Sweeney Todd, and Sundays in the Park with George, Sondheim was the first puzzle editor for New York Magazine in the 1960s. Sondheim's obsession with puzzles and games lasted his whole life. He discovered escape rooms while in his 80s, and played many of them! Sondheim famously said "art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos," and the same could very much be said for puzzles.

Barry Joseph joins us on REPOD to talk about his new book, Matching Minds with Sondheim, which dives into Sondheim's love of puzzles and games. The types of puzzles spanned everything from crosswords, to treasure hunts, jigsaw puzzles, and parlour games. Little known fact—Stephen Sondheim is credited with bringing British style cryptic crosswords to the USA! He also commissioned custom jigsaw puzzles as opening night gifts for the cast and crew of his Broadway shows.

As prolific as Sondheim was with his musicals, he was equally invested in his puzzles and games. Guest Barry Joseph digs deep into all the different ways Sondheim incorporated puzzles into his creative work and daily life. If you found this topic interesting, be sure to get his book, Matching Minds with Sondheim and check out his podcast of the same name. I'd recommend starting with the two podcast episodes that featured our very own David and Lisa Spira: Escape Room Episode (ft. Lisa & David), Jigsaw Puzzles Episode (ft. David).

Full Show Notes

We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and COGS. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.

Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we’ve been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events.

By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected.

Access exclusive Patreon content such as:

• The Bonus Aftershow
• The Spoilers Club
• Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles.

Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy.

If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what’s game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes.

Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you’ll take a listen and play along with us at PG’s Playhouse.

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

For decades, the name Will Shortz has been synonymous with puzzles. Will Shortz is the crossword editor of The New York Times, the puzzle master on NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday, and the only person in the world with a college degree in “enigmatology,” the study of puzzles.

inspired my most famous quote from the show—"Well Jeff, I'm good at Sudoku!" (You should check out the accompanying Bonus Aftershow on Patreon for the full story.) He has inspired David and me in our creative endeavors, like our new podcast PG's Playhouse, and he has inspired many of our past guests too. We talk about how crosswords have evolved to reflect pop culture, the impact of mini puzzles, and why wordplay connects people in ways you might not expect.

Will Shortz was an absolute delight to interview, and as you can imagine, he was chock full of stories. I especially enjoyed hearing about how he landed a job at Games Magazine. Will also shares his philosophy on creating puzzles:

 What I think I'm very good at is creating clues that are going to entertain people. I always think of the audience. I always think of who's going to be solving. I like to push people to their limit. I want people to break through in the end and to be able to solve the puzzle because that's where they get the satisfaction. That's my goal.

 His closing thoughts to us were "I want to make the world a little better for being here." Will Shortz has certainly done so for all of us who love puzzles.

Full Show Notes

We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and COGS. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.

Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we’ve been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events.

By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected.

Access exclusive Patreon content such as:

• The Bonus Aftershow
• The Spoilers Club
• Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles.

Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy.

If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what’s game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes.

Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you’ll take a listen and play along with us at PG’s Playhouse.

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

The closure of hotels during the pandemic quarantine era created a golden opportunity for a trio of talented creators from the Benelux region. Alexander Gierholz of Logiclocks, Jeroen van Hasselt of Entered, and Meggy Pepelanova came together to create a unique horror experience set in an entire empty wing of a hotel. Alas, they experienced their own nightmare when lockdown regulations became even more restricted. They had to put their experience on hold, and then suddenly regulations lifted entirely, and the hotel began to resume normal operations. Their window for hosting The Nightmare of Eveline Shadow at an empty hotel vanished, and we’re left with only handful of photos and this Spoilers Club series as evidence of its existence.

To listen to Part 2, and the rest of the Spoilers Club category, support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/roomescapeartist 

Thank you to our sponsors: Buzzshot, COGS by Clockwork Dog, and Patreon supporters like you. 

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Supporitng us on Patreon helps to fund our work, pay our team, and it grants you access to an incredible library of bonus content including: 

• The REPOD Bonus Show
• The Spoilers Club
• The Travelogue Series

Thank you to all of our ongoing supporters 💙

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

Our podcast, Reality Escape Pod, isn't exactly short-form content. Most episodes clock in at over fifty minutes, and yet, I always feel like I didn't get enough time with the guest. "But I've still got some burning questions!" I think to myself. Or maybe I have follow up questions, but I didn't want to interrupt the flow of conversation.

Luckily, we have our Bonus Aftershow. I love this format because David and I are able to have more casual conversations with our guests, rather than the more formal interview on Reality Escape Pod. The Bonus Show chats run the gamut from in-depth design discussions, to workshopping business or game ideas, to just trading battle stories of escape rooms gone awry.

In the Best of Bonus, I picked some of my favorite moments from our Season 9 Bonus Aftershow episodes. I really loved hearing more stories from James Douberly about the MIT Mystery Hunt, and listening to Neil Patrick Harris talk about magic and escape rooms. Jon and Ryan from The Great Gotham Challenge kept talking about "risky puzzles" and I finally had the chance to ask them about this concept. We also got the definitive answer from Steven Medway, creator of Blood on the Clocktower, on whether townsfolk (Team Good) should be executing every day in the game.

The Bonus Aftershow is included when you become a Patreon supporter of Room Escape Artist. Join today for access to our library of over 100 episodes of the Bonus Aftershow. We put a lot of love and time into creating the best possible content that supports our mission of elevating the escape room industry. We truly appreciate your support.

Full Show Notes

Thank you to our sponsors: Buzzshot, COGS by Clockwork Dog, and Patreon supporters like you. 

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Supporitng us on Patreon helps to fund our work, pay our team, and it grants you access to an incredible library of bonus content including: 

• The REPOD Bonus Show
• The Spoilers Club
• The Travelogue Series

Thank you to all of our ongoing supporters 💙

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

Have you been feverishly refreshing your podcatcher in anticipation of the return of Reality Escape Pod? Don’t worry, Season 10 of the podcast will be here in the very near future. To pass the time, have a listen to some memorable clips our editor Steve Ewing selected from each episode of Season 9. It’s perfect for new listeners of the podcast or fans who want to relive their favorite moments.

Full Show Notes

Thank you to our sponsors: Weldwood Marketing, Buzzshot, COGS by Clockwork Dog, and Patreon supporters like you. 

Maximize your online presence with Weldwood Marketing. It's a one-stop shop for digital marketing—specializing in web design, SEO, online ads, and best business practices. They can even manage all your integrations so you can track the customer journey from clicking on an ad to booking your game. Let Weldwood help unlock more money for your business.

Special offer exclusively for REPOD listeners:

Weldwood rarely offers discounts, but they did for us. REPOD listeners get 15% off Marketing Services for the first 3 months, PLUS $750 off escape room websites. Schedule your Discovery Call and mention REPOD in the notes! Visit weldwoodmarketing.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Supporitng us on Patreon helps to fund our work, pay our team, and it grants you access to an incredible library of bonus content including: 

• The REPOD Bonus Show
• The Spoilers Club
• The Travelogue Series

Thank you to all of our ongoing supporters 💙

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

Find the main REPOD episodes here!

When you support Room Escape Artist on Patreon at $5 per month (or above), you get access to the Bonus Show, our exclusive bonus episodes that follow up on the main episode, almost always with the guest. Plus David and Peih-Gee release extra episode in-between seasons for our Patrons. 

https://www.patreon.com/roomescapeartist

Hosts Marcus and Nathan are a ton of fun, and care so deeply about their show, and it permeates everything that they do. 

We hope that you have fun listening, and for more Aurelius Whitlock's Murder Mystery Museum, check out their website. 

It only ran for a brief time, and now the best way to understand this mind-boggling immersive show is by listening to Alexander and Jeroen tell its story on The Spoilers Club.

When you support Room Escape Artist on Patreon at $15 per month (or above), you get access to the Spoilers Club, our exclusive podcast where hosts David Spira and Peih-Gee Law chat in depth with creators about iconic escape rooms... spoilers and all!

https://www.patreon.com/roomescapeartist

It's dark all around you. You clutch your flashlight with trembling hands, but the beam of light blinds you when it hits a wall of fog. In the swirling mist ahead, eerie creatures wander the grounds between you and your goal. You must use your knowledge of the inhabitants of this place to save yourself and your friends. Welcome to Lockhill.

Bill Dalitsikas, owner of Lockhill Escape Game in Athens, Greece, is the master of horror, when it comes to escape rooms. The Sanatorium premiered at the #5 spot on the TERPECA awards, and Chapel & Catacombs was voted the #1 escape room in the world in 2022. (Both games also won Golden Lock Awards.) He joins us on REPOD to talk about his inspiration, thoughts on what makes for a good horror escape room, and the Athens escape room scene. These games are massive, and it's absolutely wild that for the most part, Bill designs and builds these games all by himself.

I really loved hearing him talk about using actors as puzzles in his games. It's one of the many mechanics that make his games feel like real live video games. Indeed, he was heavily inspired by Silent Hill, Mansions of Madness, and Betrayal at House on the Hill.

It became very clear as we talked to Bill that his motivation isn't to scare the players as much as possible; rather it's to give the players the best experience possible. That's why he has three different game modes for The Sanatorium: Day Mode where it's less scary with more focus on the puzzles, Night Mode where the focus is on the actors and scares, and Midnight Mode where players get the best of both worlds—maximum puzzles and maximum scares.

Even if you're not a fan of horror games, I think you will find this conversation compelling. Hopefully it will convince you check out the games at Lockhill next time your are near Athens.

Full Show Notes

Thank you to our sponsors: Weldwood Marketing, Buzzshot, COGS by Clockwork Dog, and Patreon supporters like you. 

Maximize your online presence with Weldwood Marketing. It's a one-stop shop for digital marketing—specializing in web design, SEO, online ads, and best business practices. They can even manage all your integrations so you can track the customer journey from clicking on an ad to booking your game. Let Weldwood help unlock more money for your business.

Special offer exclusively for REPOD listeners:

Weldwood rarely offers discounts, but they did for us. REPOD listeners get 15% off Marketing Services for the first 3 months, PLUS $750 off escape room websites. Schedule your Discovery Call and mention REPOD in the notes! Visit weldwoodmarketing.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Supporitng us on Patreon helps to fund our work, pay our team, and it grants you access to an incredible library of bonus content including: 

• The REPOD Bonus Show
• The Spoilers Club
• The Travelogue Series

Thank you to all of our ongoing supporters 💙

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

Countless late nights, occasional tears, and many great conversations later, we did it. We made it to 100 episodes of REPOD!

We've had so many incredible guests come on the show, fully willing to share the secret sauce to their success. These guests have been a treasure trove of creative inspiration. From discussing how to create immersive sets, to tricks for directing a player's attention, from how to effectively market your business to creating puzzles, our guests didn't gatekeep or pull their punches.

To celebrate, we're taking a look back through the archives and picking some noteworthy clips. These were all things our guests said that really resonated with us – personally, professionally, or on a creative level.

Each of these clips fundamentally changed how we think about something. Maybe it gave us a new perspective on leadership, like Elan Lee's clip about "other people's work." Or perhaps it was Christine Barger going against industry norms by allowing filming in her escape room. Others were more philosophical, like Alexander Gierholz's musings on the dissonance of escapism. Many of these clips helped shape the way we think about immersive design, such as Linda Klein talking about "experiential mixers" or Tommy Honton's "adrenaline map."

It's been an amazing 100 episodes of Reality Escape Pod. I hope our guests have also inspired you in your creative journey. And if they did, we'd love to hear about it. Let us know if there's anything we missed that especially resonated with you. Thank you all for listening and for all your support!

Full Show Notes

Thank you to our sponsors: Weldwood Marketing, Buzzshot, COGS by Clockwork Dog, and Patreon supporters like you. 

Maximize your online presence with Weldwood Marketing. It's a one-stop shop for digital marketing—specializing in web design, SEO, online ads, and best business practices. They can even manage all your integrations so you can track the customer journey from clicking on an ad to booking your game. Let Weldwood help unlock more money for your business.

Special offer exclusively for REPOD listeners:

Weldwood rarely offers discounts, but they did for us. REPOD listeners get 15% off Marketing Services for the first 3 months, PLUS $750 off escape room websites. Schedule your Discovery Call and mention REPOD in the notes! Visit weldwoodmarketing.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Supporitng us on Patreon helps to fund our work, pay our team, and it grants you access to an incredible library of bonus content including: 

• The REPOD Bonus Show
• The Spoilers Club
• The Travelogue Series

Thank you to all of our ongoing supporters 💙

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

If you ask an escape room enthusiast about entanglement puzzles, what likely springs to mind are those intertwined, bent metal nails that you need to separate. However, for Paul Kwiat, an entanglement puzzle is something else completely. Professor Kwiat is an acclaimed physicist, specializing in quantum physics, including quantum entanglement, along with quantum cryptography, dense-coding, quantum teleportation, entanglement distillation, and most recently, optical quantum gates. Phew!

But what's a physicist doing on REPOD? Besides his many other accomplishments, Professor Kwiat has also created LabEscape, the first science-based escape room. Most of the puzzles in his games are built on different science phenomena such as magnetism, thermodynamics, and polarization. Many of these are rather advanced principles that would be taught at a college-level course. These are not games for kids!

Professor Kwiat explains that he had three goals when creating his escape room. One—to show that science can be both relevant and accessible. Two—to show that these scientific effects are aesthetically beautiful. Three—that science is fun!

His love of science and physics is certainly infectious. We couldn't resist the opportunity to chat about quantum mechanics, including quantum computers, and cryptography. I truly appreciated that he took the time to explain all these principles to us, even if it meant crushing my romantic notions of how quantum entanglement works. This episode is a bit different, but I think you'll certainly learn something.

Full Show Notes

Thank you to our sponsors: Weldwood Marketing, Buzzshot, COGS by Clockwork Dog, and Patreon supporters like you. 

Maximize your online presence with Weldwood Marketing. It's a one-stop shop for digital marketing—specializing in web design, SEO, online ads, and best business practices. They can even manage all your integrations so you can track the customer journey from clicking on an ad to booking your game. Let Weldwood help unlock more money for your business.

Special offer exclusively for REPOD listeners:

Weldwood rarely offers discounts, but they did for us. REPOD listeners get 15% off Marketing Services for the first 3 months, PLUS $750 off escape room websites. Schedule your Discovery Call and mention REPOD in the notes! Visit weldwoodmarketing.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Supporitng us on Patreon helps to fund our work, pay our team, and it grants you access to an incredible library of bonus content including: 

• The REPOD Bonus Show
• The Spoilers Club
• The Travelogue Series

Thank you to all of our ongoing supporters 💙

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

When Miss Jezebel first debuted, no one had really ever seen anything like it before. It incorporated an actor into the gameplay in a way that felt more akin to larp or interactive theater. For those in the right mindset, it was uproariously funny. It was also screamingly vulgar, with adult props that would make a bachelor party blush. It was an instant darling of the Los Angeles escape room scene.

Brian Corbitt, creator of Miss Jezebel, joins us in his second appearance on the Spoilers Club for a tell-all. One of his mantras is "Players loved getting trolled." Indeed he did, especially when it came to making out with sock puppets, having to quietly rip a giant piece of velcro apart, or searching for limes. Many of his interactions were designed to maximize fun, while showcasing the players' ability to improvise under pressure. They usually rose to the occasion, much to the amusement of their friends.

When you support Room Escape Artist on Patreon at $15 per month (or above), you get access to the Spoilers Club, our exclusive podcast where hosts David Spira and Peih-Gee Law chat in depth with creators about iconic escape rooms... spoilers and all!

https://www.patreon.com/roomescapeartist

Escape rooms? What are those? Well, it says here that you're locked in a room, and if you can't solve the puzzles fast enough, a zombie will get you! According to Trip Advisor, it's the top rated activity in the city.

The year is 2014. Amanda Harris has just discovered her first escape room... and her life was changed forever. Since that fateful day, she has gone on to play well over 1,700 escape rooms. She is currently one of the most experienced escape room players in the country, if not the world.

Amanda joins us to talk about the escape room era of yore, when most rooms were festooned with cheap locks and even cheaper furniture. The puzzles were mostly bad, and many of the games were created and run by slightly sadistic gamemasters who guarded hints like dragons sitting on their hoards. Yet she played game after game after game.

Despite how terrible many of the early escape rooms were, she still loved them, and played as many as she could find. Indeed, even finding the games themselves was a challenge back then, let alone finding the gems. Those few gems, however, were absolutely incredible. That's a large part of the reason why David and Lisa created Room Escape Artist all those years ago. Tune in to this episode to hear David and Amanda reminisce about the bad old days and trade war stories about "the early days of  completely bananas, insane escape rooms."

Full Show Notes

Thank you to our sponsors: Weldwood Marketing, Buzzshot, COGS by Clockwork Dog, and Patreon supporters like you. 

Maximize your online presence with Weldwood Marketing. It's a one-stop shop for digital marketing—specializing in web design, SEO, online ads, and best business practices. They can even manage all your integrations so you can track the customer journey from clicking on an ad to booking your game. Let Weldwood help unlock more money for your business.

Special offer exclusively for REPOD listeners:

Weldwood rarely offers discounts, but they did for us. REPOD listeners get 15% off Marketing Services for the first 3 months, PLUS $750 off escape room websites. Schedule your Discovery Call and mention REPOD in the notes! Visit weldwoodmarketing.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Supporitng us on Patreon helps to fund our work, pay our team, and it grants you access to an incredible library of bonus content including: 

• The REPOD Bonus Show
• The Spoilers Club
• The Travelogue Series

Thank you to all of our ongoing supporters 💙

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

In the dingy dark hallway of an asylum or prison, two men are struggling in a battle of life or death. One man is writhing on the ground while the other has something wrapped around his throat. The art is captivating and gothic, verging on grotesque, and they're animated in an unsettling way. The movement suggests a moment caught in time. We, as investigators, are tasked with uncovering the sequence of events behind this story.

The Rise of the Golden Idol is a mystery-solving, narrative-driven game, and the gameplay truly makes the players feel like detectives investigating the scene of a crime. You hear from suspects, examine the evidence and search crime scenes for clues. The story itself is twisty and fantastical, and feels almost impossible to solve at first until you start pulling at threads. There is a deep satisfaction to solving the puzzles and creating order from the chaos.

Brothers Andrejs Klavins and Ernests Klavins of Color Gray Games join us all the way from Latvia to talk about creating this popular series of games. I really enjoyed hearing about the changes they made from The Case of the Golden Idol when developing the sequel, and how to fine-tune difficulty in these types of mystery games. I was also especially impressed to hear that these games are written in English, which is not their native language. If you love escape rooms, puzzle games, or solving investigative mysteries, I highly recommend you check out The Case of the Golden Idol and The Rise of the Golden Idol.

Full Show Notes

Thank you to our sponsors: Weldwood Marketing, Buzzshot, COGS by Clockwork Dog, and Patreon supporters like you. 

Maximize your online presence with Weldwood Marketing. It's a one-stop shop for digital marketing—specializing in web design, SEO, online ads, and best business practices. They can even manage all your integrations so you can track the customer journey from clicking on an ad to booking your game. Let Weldwood help unlock more money for your business.

Special offer exclusively for REPOD listeners:

Weldwood rarely offers discounts, but they did for us. REPOD listeners get 15% off Marketing Services for the first 3 months, PLUS $750 off escape room websites. Schedule your Discovery Call and mention REPOD in the notes! Visit weldwoodmarketing.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Supporitng us on Patreon helps to fund our work, pay our team, and it grants you access to an incredible library of bonus content including: 

• The REPOD Bonus Show
• The Spoilers Club
• The Travelogue Series

Thank you to all of our ongoing supporters 💙

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

Whether you're making new robot friends, investigating a haunted school, or cooking up some puzzles, the escape rooms at Omescape Sunnyvale are all absolute bangers. Omescape Sunnyvale is a rare gem in the escape room world. Their games are all massive (or feel massive) with gorgeous sets, chock-full of puzzles, and oftentimes with unique mechanics. They're all telling different stories with different styles of gameplay, and this is all contained under one roof at Omescape's Sunnyvale location.

Sarah Zhang, one of the co-founders of Omescape Sunnyvale, joins us to chat about their escape rooms. While many of their games are licensed, Sarah explains that they usually end up changing over 80% of the game, building new sets, creating new puzzles, and even writing new narratives. As an escape room enthusiast, Sarah often travels the world playing games, and when an especially interesting mechanic or aesthetic catches her attention, rather than just copying it, she looks to license the game. This is a pretty unique approach, and I appreciated her candor in explaining their business practices.

As the conversation progresses, it becomes very clear that Sarah has a deep understanding of what makes games fun for players. She talks about the need for puzzles that involve the whole team as well as designing around a few "aha!" moments. I especially appreciated the segment where she talks about the importance of ending a game on a thrilling, physical sequence. This gets the players' heart rates up, and creates a strong ending memory for the guests. Check out the whole episode for the secret sauce behind Omescape Sunnyvale's success.

Full Show Notes

Thank you to our sponsors: Weldwood Marketing, Buzzshot, COGS by Clockwork Dog, and Patreon supporters like you. 

Maximize your online presence with Weldwood Marketing. It's a one-stop shop for digital marketing—specializing in web design, SEO, online ads, and best business practices. They can even manage all your integrations so you can track the customer journey from clicking on an ad to booking your game. Let Weldwood help unlock more money for your business.

Special offer exclusively for REPOD listeners:

Weldwood rarely offers discounts, but they did for us. REPOD listeners get 15% off Marketing Services for the first 3 months, PLUS $750 off escape room websites. Schedule your Discovery Call and mention REPOD in the notes! Visit weldwoodmarketing.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Supporitng us on Patreon helps to fund our work, pay our team, and it grants you access to an incredible library of bonus content including: 

• The REPOD Bonus Show
• The Spoilers Club
• The Travelogue Series

Thank you to all of our ongoing supporters 💙

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

 In the sleepy town of Ravenswood Bluff, on the stroke of midnight during a hellish thunderstorm, you hear a scream. You all rushed to the town square to find that your beloved storyteller has been murdered! This is the work of a nefarious demon... a demon that kills by night and takes on human form by day.

Blood on the Clocktower is a game of lies and truth, team building and betrayal, and a game of secret identities. It is also, in our opinion, the best social deduction game in the world. Steven Medway, the creator of Blood on the Clocktower, joins us to talk about fine-tuning the balance of the game, the role of dead players, how the game experience changes depending on which country you're playing in, and so much more.

What sets Blood on the Clocktower apart from other social deduction games is how well-balanced it feels as a player. Much of the information given and gathered by the "good team" works like a sort of logic puzzle, as the players piece together the truth in a variety of ways. However, the "evil team" is given many opportunities to spread misinformation, which really levels the playing field. There are also affordances made for "dead players" as well as people joining the game late or leaving early.

Steven shares insights about his design process when creating characters and mechanics for Blood on the Clocktower. He also answers questions from our listeners. I was particularly fascinated by the segment where he talks about how the gaming experience varies by country. Whether you're a game designer interested in balancing strategy games or just a fan of Blood on the Clocktower, I highly recommend checking out this interview.

Full Show Notes

Thank you to our sponsors: Weldwood Marketing, Buzzshot, COGS by Clockwork Dog, and Patreon supporters like you. 

Maximize your online presence with Weldwood Marketing. It's a one-stop shop for digital marketing—specializing in web design, SEO, online ads, and best business practices. They can even manage all your integrations so you can track the customer journey from clicking on an ad to booking your game. Let Weldwood help unlock more money for your business.

Special offer exclusively for REPOD listeners:

Weldwood rarely offers discounts, but they did for us. REPOD listeners get 15% off Marketing Services for the first 3 months, PLUS $750 off escape room websites. Schedule your Discovery Call and mention REPOD in the notes! Visit weldwoodmarketing.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Supporitng us on Patreon helps to fund our work, pay our team, and it grants you access to an incredible library of bonus content including: 

• The REPOD Bonus Show
• The Spoilers Club
• The Travelogue Series

Thank you to all of our ongoing supporters 💙

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

New York City is REPOD co-host David Spira's home market. Whenever he's recommending escape rooms to guests and visitors, his favorite go-to is MyssTic Escape Rooms in Brooklyn, NY. Two of their escape rooms have won Golden Lock awards: Ghost Light, and their newest game, The Bird. Gara Roda and Moritz Marti, the co-founders of MyssTic Rooms, join us today on REPOD to talk about the challenges of building a world class escape room in bustling New York City, especially when they are far from their home countries.

There are many reasons it's challenging to build escape rooms in NYC. Real estate is expensive, the hurdles of navigating the city's fire codes are many, and square footage is at a premium. An affordable place for their business meant a basement location which came with its own set of complications. A near catastrophic flood in the early days led to some pretty impressive flood mitigation. Shortly after they first opened, a tragic fire occurred in an escape room in Poland, which led to a crackdown by fire inspectors all over the world, but with especially tight restrictions in New York.

Gara and Moritz persevered, despite all the setbacks, and it was inspiring to hear them talk about how all the different constraints led to more creativity. As David points out, even though their games are small in comparison to other escape rooms, "every single nook and cranny had an abundance of detail." These two escape room creators have endured seemingly insurmountable obstacles, and yet have recently just been honored with another Golden Lock award for their newest game, The Bird. They mention at the end of the episode that eventually they are looking to move back to Europe and are open to finding a partner or even possibly a buyer. So hit 'em up if this sounds interesting to you.

Full Show Notes

Thank you to our sponsors: Weldwood Marketing, Buzzshot, COGS by Clockwork Dog, Hive: The Race to Save Time Puzzle Hunt, and Patreon supporters like you. 

Maximize your online presence with Weldwood Marketing. It's a one-stop shop for digital marketing—specializing in web design, SEO, online ads, and best business practices. They can even manage all your integrations so you can track the customer journey from clicking on an ad to booking your game. Let Weldwood help unlock more money for your business.

Special offer exclusively for REPOD listeners:

Weldwood rarely offers discounts, but they did for us. REPOD listeners get 15% off Marketing Services for the first 3 months, PLUS $750 off escape room websites. Schedule your Discovery Call and mention REPOD in the notes! Visit weldwoodmarketing.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Based on the new Madders of Time series by bestselling author DL Orton.

• Registration opens May 1, 2025
• Hive: The Race to Save Time runs from May 16-26, 2025
• Over $1,000 in Prizes, winners determined by sweepstakes.
• Purchase of the book or free alternative method of entry registration is required to participate, but the e-book will be available for just 99 cents while the hunt is running.
• Visit Hive: The Race to Save Time website for more details.
• Preorder the book today!

Supporitng us on Patreon helps to fund our work, pay our team, and it grants you access to an incredible library of bonus content including: 

• The REPOD Bonus Show
• The Spoilers Club
• The Travelogue Series

Thank you to all of our ongoing supporters 💙

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

When you support Room Escape Artist on Patreon at $15 per month (or above), you get access to the Spoilers Club, our exclusive podcast where hosts David Spira and Peih-Gee Law chat in depth with creators about iconic escape rooms... spoilers and all!

https://www.patreon.com/roomescapeartist

In New York, everyone’s got a story. A gimmick. A hustle. The city’s crawling with characters. Some are just colorful. Others... well, others are part of something bigger. A secret. A puzzle. That hot dog vendor on the corner? A whispered password might just grant you access to a secret underground lair. You never really know if someone’s just being New York... or if you're already inside the game.

Capturing this elusive feeling of a magical underground is what drives Jon Seale and Ryan Patch. They run the Great Gotham Challenge, a massive city-wide puzzle adventure that weaves through the bones of New York City. They describe it as part puzzle hunt, part Amazing Race, and part immersive theater.

I really enjoyed hearing about all the custom props they create for the Great Gotham Challenge that look like ordinary New York objects, but are actually part of the game. There is something magical about an item hidden in plain sight that players will overlook until they're clued to take a deeper look. Much of their game is designed to encourage players to explore stories of New York's oddities and its secret histories. They also talk about working on Compass, formerly known as "Midnight Madness."

You can read reviews about past Great Gotham Challenges on Room Escape Artist.

Full Show Notes

Thank you to our sponsors: Weldwood Marketing, Buzzshot, COGS by Clockwork Dog, Hive: The Race to Save Time Puzzle Hunt, and Patreon supporters like you. 

Maximize your online presence with Weldwood Marketing. It's a one-stop shop for digital marketing—specializing in web design, SEO, online ads, and best business practices. They can even manage all your integrations so you can track the customer journey from clicking on an ad to booking your game. Let Weldwood help unlock more money for your business.

Special offer exclusively for REPOD listeners:

Weldwood rarely offers discounts, but they did for us. REPOD listeners get 15% off Marketing Services for the first 3 months, PLUS $750 off escape room websites. Schedule your Discovery Call and mention REPOD in the notes! Visit weldwoodmarketing.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Based on the new Madders of Time series by bestselling author DL Orton.

• Registration opens May 1, 2025
• Hive: The Race to Save Time runs from May 16-26, 2025
• Over $1,000 in Prizes, winners determined by sweepstakes.
• Purchase of the book or free alternative method of entry registration is required to participate, but the e-book will be available for just 99 cents while the hunt is running.
• Visit Hive: The Race to Save Time website for more details.
• Preorder the book today!

Supporitng us on Patreon helps to fund our work, pay our team, and it grants you access to an incredible library of bonus content including: 

• The REPOD Bonus Show
• The Spoilers Club
• The Travelogue Series

Thank you to all of our ongoing supporters 💙

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

In fact, over the course of the interview, Eric often came back to the importance of finding your inspiration. His two most well-received games were both conceived when an inspiration "lit a fire inside (of him)." He also very candidly tells us about losing that inspiration while in the process of playtesting The Dome, and how he needed to step away to regain a fresh perspective. This worked, because David tells us that there was a marked difference in players' reception to the game in the very early days of the game's launch compared to after Eric returned from his break, reinspired.

Creating anything requires not only a huge investment of time and money, but it also requires a strong belief in your concept. I certainly found inspiration from hearing Eric tell us about his escape room journey, and I hope you will as well.

Full Show Notes

Thank you to our sponsors: Weldwood Marketing, Buzzshot, COGS by Clockwork Dog, and Patreon supporters like you. 

Maximize your online presence with Weldwood Marketing. It's a one-stop shop for digital marketing—specializing in web design, SEO, online ads, and best business practices. They can even manage all your integrations so you can track the customer journey from clicking on an ad to booking your game. Let Weldwood help unlock more money for your business.

Special offer exclusively for REPOD listeners:

Weldwood rarely offers discounts, but they did for us. REPOD listeners get 15% off Marketing Services for the first 3 months, PLUS $750 off escape room websites. Schedule your Discovery Call and mention REPOD in the notes! Visit weldwoodmarketing.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Supporitng us on Patreon helps to fund our work, pay our team, and it grants you access to an incredible library of bonus content including: 

• The REPOD Bonus Show
• The Spoilers Club
• The Travelogue Series

Thank you to all of our ongoing supporters 💙

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

In keeping with the theme of Box Two, Neil Patrick Harris is back for his second appearance on our podcast. And not only that, he also brought a friend. Jonathan Bayme, CEO of theory11, is a longtime collaborator and Neil's bestie. They first met at a magic show Jonathan created for the Nomad Hotel in New York. Neil and Jonathan quickly bonded over a shared passion for elevating the art of magic, a deep appreciation for fine craftsmanship, and creating experiences full of wonder and joy.

Jonathan created his company, theory11, with the goal of crafting magic tricks and playing cards that not only worked flawlessly, but were also beautiful to look at. Jonathan worked with Neil to produce Box Two, which was created with a very similar aesthetic and vibe. They very candidly explained the thought process behind design decisions such as relying on an online chat interface, and how they achieved certain magical effects. Box Two is gorgeous, with hefty props that felt good and looked good. I especially enjoyed hearing about the playtesting and mechanical process behind producing such a complicated boxed game.

Jonathan also shares his secret to networking. Whether it's about tracking down JJ Abrams, or writing weekly emails at twelve years old to David Copperfield's longtime executive producer, I really enjoyed his stories of perseverance when it comes to making connections. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to check out our first interview with NPH in Season 2, Episode 1.

Full Show Notes

Thank you to our sponsors: Weldwood Marketing, Buzzshot, COGS by Clockwork Dog, Hive: The Race to Save Time Puzzle Hunt, and Patreon supporters like you. 

Maximize your online presence with Weldwood Marketing. It's a one-stop shop for digital marketing—specializing in web design, SEO, online ads, and best business practices. They can even manage all your integrations so you can track the customer journey from clicking on an ad to booking your game. Let Weldwood help unlock more money for your business.

Special offer exclusively for REPOD listeners:

Weldwood rarely offers discounts, but they did for us. REPOD listeners get 15% off Marketing Services for the first 3 months, PLUS $750 off escape room websites. Schedule your Discovery Call and mention REPOD in the notes! Visit weldwoodmarketing.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Based on the new Madders of Time series by bestselling author DL Orton.

• Registration opens May 1, 2025
• Hive: The Race to Save Time runs from May 16-26, 2025
• Over $1,000 in Prizes, winners determined by sweepstakes.
• Purchase of the book or free alternative method of entry registration is required to participate, but the e-book will be available for just 99 cents while the hunt is running.
• Visit Hive: The Race to Save Time website for more details.
• Preorder the book today!

Supporitng us on Patreon helps to fund our work, pay our team, and it grants you access to an incredible library of bonus content including: 

• The REPOD Bonus Show
• The Spoilers Club
• The Travelogue Series

Thank you to all of our ongoing supporters 💙

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

"Congratulations and Condolences" is the default phrase when a team of puzzlers has just won the vaunted MIT Mystery Hunt. This is because according to tradition, the winning team must write next year's Mystery Hunt. This daunting task was recently undertaken by Death and Mayhem, the team that wrote the 2025 MIT Mystery Hunt titled "The Case of the Shadow Diamond." At the helm of this illustrious team is James Douberley, affectionately dubbed the Benevolent Dictator.

James led his team of over 160 people to create David's favorite MIT Mystery Hunt to date, blending puzzles with immersive theater in a way that Mystery Hunts had never done before. Some features of this year's hunt included an escape room, The Radio, and The Gala, which functioned as both the team headquarters, but also a place for players to experience a fun interaction.

This year's Mystery Hunt had 5,000 people enrolled, with around 171 puzzles. James joins us on REPOD to unwrap the mystery behind how his team designed and built this year's Mystery Hunt. I especially loved hearing about the unique escape room they built, which involved one player actually going to the escape room, while the rest of their team back at HQ clued the active player on what to do, but with a very limited word bank. Cue hilarity. If you're interested in puzzle hunts and large scale immersive events, don't miss this episode, and make sure to check out David's favorite (relatively accessible) puzzle linked below.

Winner's Coin from the 2025 MIT Mystery Hunt

Full Show Notes

Thank you to our sponsors: Weldwood Marketing, Buzzshot, COGS by Clockwork Dog, and Patreon supporters like you. 

Maximize your online presence with Weldwood Marketing. It's a one-stop shop for digital marketing—specializing in web design, SEO, online ads, and best business practices. They can even manage all your integrations so you can track the customer journey from clicking on an ad to booking your game. Let Weldwood help unlock more money for your business.

Special offer exclusively for REPOD listeners:

Weldwood rarely offers discounts, but they did for us. REPOD listeners get 15% off Marketing Services for the first 3 months, PLUS $750 off escape room websites. Schedule your Discovery Call and mention REPOD in the notes! Visit weldwoodmarketing.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Supporitng us on Patreon helps to fund our work, pay our team, and it grants you access to an incredible library of bonus content including: 

• The REPOD Bonus Show
• The Spoilers Club
• The Travelogue Series

Thank you to all of our ongoing supporters 💙

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

If you want to hear more, become a Room Escape Artist patreon member at the $5 level or higher. Join now and support all of our work at patreon.com/roomescapeartist 

They talked about Room Escape Artist, Reality Escape Pod, and covered a wide variety of topics. If you want to hear David pontificating, this is him at his most self-indulgent. 

If you'd like to hear more of Corey and Helena's work, check out their show.

Listen to the Whole Episode:

When you support Room Escape Artist on Patreon at $15 per month (or above), you get access to the Spoilers Club, our exclusive podcast where hosts David Spira and Peih-Gee Law chat in depth with creators about iconic escape rooms... spoilers and all!

Can't wait for the next season REPOD? Don’t worry, Season 9 of the podcast will be back in the very near future. To pass the time until then, have a listen to some memorable clips our editor Steve Ewing selected from each episode of Season 8. And there's a bonus clip from the brand new show PG's Playhouse! It’s perfect for new listeners of this podcast or fans who want to relive their favorite moments.

This season we welcomed many talented escape room owners & designers: Fro creates memorable stories at Boxaroo, Jeroen built an incredible romp through real trains with Demise of the Gricers, and Curtis & Derek at Escape Ventures build amazing escape rooms at incredible speeds. Don’t miss Francine & Victor talking about what it feels like to finish an epic project. 

We also invited returning guest Elan Lee to discuss his new Netflix show based on Exploding Kittens and his Survivor party game. Game & puzzle creators Sandy Weisz, Oskar Van Deventer, and Brooke Breit came on to talk about the finer points of balancing challenge and fun. 

Performers David Kwong and Yannick Trapman-O’Brien reflected on the ups and downs of their careers and the personal philosophies that have come out of that. And in Episode 11, escape room super-enthusiast Sera Dodd brought us one of the most emotionally powerful episodes yet.

We end the look-back with a Connections-like game from our new podcast, PG’s Playhouse.  If you want even more podcast episodes, consider joining our Patreon. For only $5 a month, you’ll get access to our Bonus Aftershow, which is a more casual conversation with each guest.

Show Notes

Thank you to our sponsors Morty, Buzzshot, & COGS by Clockwork Dog: 

Morty is a free app for discovering, planning, tracking, and reviewing your escape rooms and other immersive social outings. 

Morty News:

• Morty now features haunt attractions
• Morty for Android is here

Special Badge for REPOD listeners:

You can learn more at morty.app/REPOD to sign up and get a special badge for our listeners (works for existing users also).

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Hosted by David Spira, Peih-Gee Law, & Steve Ewing

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira, Richard Burns, and Tommy Honton

Edited by Steve Ewing of Stand Inside Media 

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

What he made was a beautiful exploration of the escape room world. We absolutely love the episode that he produced and want to make sure that our community is aware of it. 

REPOD Season 9 is currently in the works... we have some amazing episodes already lined up for you. More soon. 

Thank you to our sponsors Morty, Buzzshot, & COGS by Clockwork Dog: 

Morty is a free app for discovering, planning, tracking, and reviewing your escape rooms and other immersive social outings. 

Morty News:

• Morty now features haunt attractions
• Morty for Android is here

Special Badge for REPOD listeners:

You can learn more at morty.app/REPOD to sign up and get a special badge for our listeners (works for existing users also).

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Peih-Gee Law and David Spira

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

 In this clip, we talk about the genesis of The Ladder, and the design philosophy behind this game, exploring the nature of difficulty.

You can find the rest of this Spoilers Club episode by supporting us on Patreon at patreon.com/roomescapeartist

Back then, neither David nor Peih-Gee had played their in person games (but they loved their digital and tabletop games). Since then, David has gone to Champaign-Urbana, and fell further in love with their work. 

With that in mind, Room Escape Artist is hosting Escape Immerse Explore: Time & Space 2025 (Chicago to Champaign-Urbana) in the spring of 2025.

Tickets are available now for Session 1 (Sunday, April 27th – Tuesday, April 29th 2025) and Session 2 (Tuesday, April 29th – Thursday, May 1st 2025). 

Get your ticket now, while supplies last.

Production Credits Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law Produced by Lisa Spira Music by Ryan Elder Logo by Janine Pracht

What's a roadtrip without a visit to that Giant Ball of Twine or a glimpse of a giant Muffler Man? If the sign says "World Famous" anything, I'm pulling over for it. Our guests today are Anne & Chris Lukeman, owners of CU Adventures in Time and Space, an escape room company in Illinois. They love roadside attractions, and in fact, their escape room business was inspired by a road trip to House on the Rock. Our game today is about regional foods, where they've been replaced with words that rhyme. David then gives us a short history on roadside attractions, and I learn about the World Famous Muffler Men – an icon of the road trip era.

Full Show Notes

Hosted by Peih-Gee Law & David Spira

Puzzles by Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Peih-Gee Law

Music by Matt Farthing

Logo by Theresa Wagner

If you enjoyed this episode, you can also hear more from Anne & Chris on Season 1, Episode 4 of Reality Escape Pod and consider joining the Escape Immerse Explore Time & Space Tour.

Remember Y2K? The end-of-the-world that came and went without a hitch? Guest Tommy Honton joins us again to explore what really went down in this episode of PG's Playhouse. Our game today is called New Beginnings, where we take the names of old fads and transform them into something new by changing the first letter. David then walks us through a short history of Y2K, the fear mongering about a global shutdown and how the prevention plans went off without a hitch (mostly). Tommy also brought a game testing our knowledge of Greek metric prefixes.

If you enjoy the show, please subscribe on your podcast app of choice.

Hosted by Peih-Gee Law & David Spira

Puzzles by Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Peih-Gee Law

Music by Matt Farthing

Logo by Theresa Wagner

In this clip, we talk about the importance of testing and maintaining your games.

You can find the rest of this Spoilers Club episode by supporting us on Patreon at patreon.com/roomescapeartist

In the inaugural episode of PG's Playhouse, Peih-Gee Law and David Spira are joined by immersive creator Tommy Honton to explore the controversial topic of whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie. We kick off with a game called "Christmas-fied" where non-Christmas movies are transformed into Christmas-themed titles by adding festive song lyrics. We also discuss Die Hard's Christmas credentials, and its tight writing and unique casting choices.

If you enjoy the show, please subscribe on your podcast app of choice.

Hosted by Peih-Gee Law & David Spira

Puzzles by Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Peih-Gee Law

Music by Matt Farthing

Logo by Theresa Wagner

We also talk about escape room tour logistics, especially when it comes to a potential Netherlands Tour. Finally, Victor and Francine talk about an at home escape room design kit that may be an upcoming Sherlocked product.

This is the end of Season 8, but we will continue to produce bonus shows for Patreon backers, even in the off season.

And be sure to keep an ear out for our new show, PG's Playhouse, launching very soon.

In this clip, we discuss Victor and Francine's Recon Talk, about working with a variety of contractors while building their top rated escape room, The Alchemist. And the importance of working only with nice people.

If you enjoy these previews, I hope you’ll consider joining our Patreon. For only $5 a month, you’ll get access to our Bonus Aftershow, where we continually release new episodes, even in our REPOD off-season.

After 1,200 escape rooms, it certainly takes something remarkable to capture the #1 spot on David Spira’s list of favorite games. As he tells us in this episode, his favorite game shifts from  moment to moment, but in this particular moment, that game is The Alchemist, created by Francine Boon & Victor van Doorn of Sherlocked Escape Rooms in Amsterdam.

David had this to say about The Alchemist:

“It's a wonder factory. It is filled with impossible moments and machines, and it made me weep with joy during the finale each time I watched it. I think I saw the finale three times when I came to visit. I just love this game and it feels like a vision into the future of what I want escape rooms to be.”

It’s not the first time that Sherlocked has created a game that has shaped the future of the escape room industry. Victor started playing escape rooms in 2012 when the industry was still in its infancy, and a few years later, he started Sherlocked, along with a few other partners. Sherlocked's games The Architect and The Vault are noteworthy for the level of immersion they created at the time. They used actors and “cold starts" to truly create the feeling that players were in a movie. 

We can see the influence of Sherlocked throughout much of the escape room scene in The Netherlands today. Many of the games there make use of actors, with immersive onboarding. Additionally, many are set in historical buildings, just liked Sherlocked is. Victor and Francine are creative alchemists in their own right, combining their skillsets to create wondrous, magical games.

This is the season finale for Season 8 of Reality Escape Pod. Season 9 will launch in April. Meanwhile, we are excited to release some off-season content. Plus, keep an ear out for PG's Playhouse, a new show launching this winter. If you want more content, we have over 100 episodes of the Bonus Aftershow available to Patreon Supporters, as well as our Spoilers Club, which offers in-depth coverage of iconic escape rooms. Thank you so much for supporting our show!

Full Show Notes

Thank you to our sponsors Morty, Buzzshot, & COGS by Clockwork Dog: 

Morty is a free app for discovering, planning, tracking, and reviewing your escape rooms and other immersive social outings. 

Morty News:

• Morty now features haunt attractions
• Morty for Android is here

Special Badge for REPOD listeners:

You can learn more at morty.app/REPOD to sign up and get a special badge for our listeners (works for existing users also).

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

In this preview, we talk about designing for neurodivergent friendly escape rooms and the importance of accessibility options

If you enjoy these previews, I hope you’ll consider joining our Patreon. For only $5 a month, you’ll get access to our Bonus Aftershow, where we continually release new episodes, even in our REPOD off-season.

When people find out I’ve played 400 escape rooms, they react with awe and wonder, to which my usual response is “That’s nothing—my podcast co-host David Spira has played over 1,200 escape rooms!” However, as it turns out, even David is not the final boss when it comes to the most escape rooms played. 

Enter Sera Dodd, who alongside her partner Sharan Gill, is one of the most experienced escape room players in the Western world. Clocking in at a whopping 3,000 games, not only has Sera seen it all, but she’s also helped shape the escape room industry over the years. From consulting on games, to sitting on the board of advisors for TERPECA, to co-founding the Escape Room Industry Conference (ERIC), Sera has used her experience and knowledge to help push the industry forward.

I especially appreciated Sera’s candor. She speaks openly about being autistic, and how escape rooms are a great way for neurodivergent people to find community and embrace play and adventure in a safe and controlled environment. (We discuss this in more detail in the Bonus Aftershow.)

 She also shares with us how her diagnosis of terminal cancer has changed her perspective on life:

“I think when one's faced with their own mortality, you spend a lot of time thinking, 'what is the point of life?' And the best I've come up with is to have good times, to be good, to do good, and to have good times with good people. And that's what escape rooms do for me.”

In the podcast, Sera talks about finding her tribe in our community of escape room enthusiasts globally, of finding generous friendship and joyous camaraderie. It’s a poignant reminder of how precious life is, and how important it is to appreciate the people in your life. I’m very grateful to Sera for joining us on Reality Escape Pod to share her story.

Full Show Notes

Thank you to our sponsors Morty, Buzzshot, & COGS by Clockwork Dog: 

Morty is a free app for discovering, planning, tracking, and reviewing your escape rooms and other immersive social outings. 

Morty News:

• Morty now features haunt attractions
• Morty for Android is here

Special Badge for REPOD listeners:

You can learn more at morty.app/REPOD to sign up and get a special badge for our listeners (works for existing users also).

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

This clip is a bit of a teaser for our new show, PG's Playhouse, which will feature games, puzzles, and a short chat. Here, we talk a bit about inspirations for puzzles, and then we play a game that I created for Sandy.

If you enjoy these previews, I hope you’ll consider joining our Patreon. For only $5 a month, you’ll get access to our Bonus Aftershow, where we continually release new episodes, even in our REPOD off-season.

For a long time, I thought that puzzle hunts weren’t for me. They seemed completely inaccessible, like something that only geniuses from MIT could solve, with the price of admission being a massive brain and a penchant for quantum computing.

Then, over the pandemic, I discovered The Pilcrow Bar. This was a free, online puzzle hunt commissioned by Michelin 3-star restaurant Alinea and designed as a collaboration between Sandy Weisz of The Mystery League, and Room Escape Artist Contributor Matthew Stein. I worked through the entire puzzle hunt, and at the end, I not only felt smarter, but I also gained a completely new appreciation for how elegant puzzles could be.

Sandy Weisz joins us on the podcast to talk about designing for elegance. As he explains, elegance in puzzles is when the puzzle “scaffolding” is woven into everything, from the theme, to the puzzle mechanic, to the illustrations, to the flavor text. He also tells us about some of the crazy puzzles he’s designed as part of his team-building business: architectural puzzles embedded into the walls and doors of F5 Networking’s 22-story office building in Seattle, a puzzle hunt on a private jet, and a giant ARG commissioned by Cards Against Humanity.

Sandy also made a game for this podcast (and I made one for him in the Patreon Bonus Show.) Sandy approaches puzzle design in a thoughtful, methodical way. His team building game Search For A Superhero will be featured at REA's Escape Immerse Explore Time & Space 2025 Tour. This is a great opportunity to check out his work as well as play regional standout escape rooms at CU Adventures in Time & Space and 60 to Escape. 

Full Show Notes

Thank you to our sponsors Morty, Buzzshot, & COGS by Clockwork Dog: 

Morty is a free app for discovering, planning, tracking, and reviewing your escape rooms and other immersive social outings. 

Morty News:

• Morty now features haunt attractions
• Morty for Android is here

Special Badge for REPOD listeners:

You can learn more at morty.app/REPOD to sign up and get a special badge for our listeners (works for existing users also).

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

In this clip, we talk about how to get started solving packing puzzles which is a puzzle type where you have to fit a set of puzzle pieces into a specified container, usually a box or a frame.

If you enjoy these previews, I hope you’ll consider joining our Patreon. For only $5 a month, you’ll get access to our Bonus Aftershow, where we continually release new episodes, even in our REPOD off-season.

I’m on a first date, sitting at a hip bar in Los Angeles. In the course of making semi-awkward conversation, he discovers that I like escape rooms. Ta-dah! He brings out a weird little metal ring, pulls it apart into two pieces, hands it to me, and challenges me to form it back into a ring. I was pretty much in love after that… with mechanical puzzles. While that relationship didn't work out, the one with puzzles persists to this day.

At one time or another, I’m sure you’ve played with these. Whether it’s the interlocked nails that you need to pull apart, escape room-style wooden puzzle boxes like the ones from iDventure, or the classic Rubik’s Cube, these all fall under the mechanical puzzle category.

Joining us on REPOD is Oskar van Deventer, a prolific and acclaimed Dutch puzzle designer. Since 1978, he has designed over 800 mechanical puzzles and more than 70 of them have been mass produced. If you've ever explored the mechanical puzzle world, there's a good chance that you've had his work in your hands. 

I especially enjoyed hearing Oskar describe the design process of certain puzzles like the Hanayama Cast Chain puzzle (pictured above) as a “maze.” It certainly doesn’t look like a maze. It looks like three metal links that you must unlink. But when he talks about how you must manipulate them through an imaginary plane, calling it a maze starts to make sense. I hope this episode inspires you to check out some of Oskar van Deventer’s puzzle designs, many of which he offers for free on his “Print It Yourself” webpage.

Full Show Notes

Thank you to our sponsors Morty, Buzzshot, & COGS by Clockwork Dog: 

Morty is a free app for discovering, planning, tracking, and reviewing your escape rooms and other immersive social outings. 

Morty News:

• Morty now features haunt attractions
• Morty for Android is here

Special Badge for REPOD listeners:

You can learn more at morty.app/REPOD to sign up and get a special badge for our listeners (works for existing users also).

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

In this clip, we talk about the Escape Venture's design philosophy on puzzle flow and adaptive difficulty.

If you enjoy these previews, I hope you’ll consider joining our Patreon. For only $5 a month, you’ll get access to our Bonus Aftershow, where we continually release new episodes, even in our REPOD off-season.

In 2018, Curtis Ratliff and Derek Townsley were both attending college, studying business management and theater set design. Additionally, they were both working at an escape room when the horrible, terrible, no good, very bad day happened. Severely understaffed, beset with disasters, and lacking resources or appreciation from the owners, Curtis and Derek realized that if they wanted things to run more smoothly, they were going to have to do it themselves. 

And thus, The Escape Ventures was born. They started this business while they were both still in college, and now, six years later, they have three locations with twelve escape rooms, and more on the way. Not only are they incredibly prolific, their games are also critically acclaimed, with three games ranking in the top 300 games in the world. They are also featured in the Escape, Immerse, Explore tour to Orlando.

The speed at which The Escape Ventures creates and builds escape rooms is mind-boggling. Curtis and Derek join us to talk about their quick game development and production cycle. They were also early adopters of ideas like unlimited hints where every team wins. Their game design focuses on immersion, humor, characters, and quirkiness.

Not only do they design and build escape rooms, they also consult with other escape room companies, buy and sell escape rooms, and they have also just opened Geek’d, a game store with a fun and inclusive environment. I am in absolute awe at how much these two have accomplished, all before the age of thirty. I really enjoyed hearing about their process, and I especially enjoyed the conversation about the name Bros for Life, Fraternity Heist. Curtis and Derek have a passion and drive that is really inspiring. I’m really thrilled to learn what this younger generation of escape room designers is bringing to the industry.

Full Show Notes

Thank you to our sponsors Morty, Buzzshot, & COGS by Clockwork Dog: 

Morty is a free app for discovering, planning, tracking, and reviewing your escape rooms and other immersive social outings. 

Morty News:

• Morty now features haunt attractions
• Morty for Android is here

Special Badge for REPOD listeners:

You can learn more at morty.app/REPOD to sign up and get a special badge for our listeners (works for existing users also).

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Theresa Piazza

Supported by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht

If you enjoy these previews, I hope you’ll consider joining our Patreon. For only $5 a month, you’ll get access to our Bonus Aftershow, where we continually release new episodes, even in our REPOD off-season.

In this preview we explore the extreme level of detail that was put into this game, and some of the challenges that this devotion created.

You can find the rest of this Spoilers Club episode by supporting us on Patreon at patreon.com/roomescapeartist

"Bait for the Curious"

We’re no strangers to covering secretive experiences. Escape rooms continue to guard their mysteries closely, because a large part of the joy is in the discovery. And yet, because escape rooms generally follow a relatively standard structure, we have a framework when it comes to discussing them. Interviewing Yannick Trapman-O'brien was a bit of a gamble. We knew that we couldn’t explain how any of his immersive shows worked. As Yannick puts it in the episode:

“It's the quantum problem. You change the result by measuring it. By defining what the thing is, you change what the thing is, because it is responsive.  It's a Rorschach test, because it is ultimately a piece that you have to come and complete.”

And yet, even though we can’t tell you how Yannick’s shows work, we can tell you a few things. They are usually designed for an audience of one. They are deeply personal, with a strong sense of agency and co-authorship between the audience and the performer. There is an invitation to be vulnerable, all within a structure carefully designed to earn that trust. 

Solo moments and theater for one are intimate experiences fraught with both excitement and risk. I deeply enjoyed hearing Yannick explain how to craft shows in a manner that honors the vulnerability of the participant. There is something profound and inspiring about his design philosophy. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed recording it.

Full Show Notes

Thank you to our sponsors Morty, Buzzshot, & COGS by Clockwork Dog: