113 - Online Escape Room Taxonomy with Brett Kuehner

With all the online escape rooms available, a number of lists have been created to collate them all. However, soon there were a lot of lists to keep track of. So Manda and Errol talk to Brett Kuehner about the meta list of lists he compiled. You can find the list on his website:

That Guy With the Puzzles

With a meta list of online escape rooms and also escape room design links.

We also talk about the taxonomy developed by Dan Egnor to categorize the different types of online escape rooms.

Online Escape Room Taxonomy

In-person escape room - as we know them (however you define that)
Live remote escape room - tell a GM what to do, they play an escape room-like setup for you (eg. Ready Mayor One, YouEscape, Seven Dwarves)
Live simulated escape room - tell a GM what to do, they pretend they're playing an escape room-like setup and tell you what would happen (eg. Escape This Podcast)
Escape room-style video game - video game that emphasizes puzzles, collaboration, discovery, and other escape room like elements (eg. Tick Tock)
Escape room-style tabletop game - board/card/paper game that emphasizes puzzles, collaboration, discovery, etc. (eg. Unlock!, Exit)
Online puzzle hunt - puzzles hosted online, without other escape room trappings (eg. most of puzzlehuntcalendar.com)
Puzzle book - puzzles in a book, without other escape room trappings (eg. Journal 29)

Games Discussed in the Podcast

YouEscape (live-remote escapeish with digital aspects and distributed team over Hangouts) - Review from Room Escape Artist.
Rock Ave - live remote with team over Hangouts. Created Ready Mayor One.
Escape.Anywhere - live remote with team over Hangouts
The Palace of Destiny - online puzzle hunt
trap't - online escapeish puzzle hunt
Puzzled Pint - downloadable/printable puzzle hunt style puzzle
Tick Tock - two-player escape room-style video game
Alone Together - two-player escape room-style video game
The Room VR - Escape room-style video game

Phone or Videoconference Immersive shows Discussed in Podcast

Ministry of Mundane Mysteries
Quaranteam
Candlehouse Collective - Under the Bed was one project
Cluebox - mechanical puzzle box

Posted on April 17, 2020 by Errol Elumir.

112 - The Isolation Episode with Room Escape Artist

Manda and Errol meet up with Lisa and David Spira Room Escape Artist who are in self-isolation after returning from Europe.

Posted on March 20, 2020 by Errol Elumir.

111 - Discussing Escape Room Puzzle Tropes

Ruby, Manda, and Mike get together and discuss 101 Best Escape Room Puzzle Ideas as published by Now Escape in 2016. It’s four years later, how do these puzzle ideas stack up now?

Posted on March 6, 2020 by Errol Elumir.

110 - Cryptex Hunt 2020: Behind the Scenes

Mike learns about this year’s Cryptex Hunt! Manda and Mike question Errol about what it’s like writing a novel, writing a puzzle hunt, and dealing with server issues.

Yes, people this year have to read a novel.

Posted on February 21, 2020 by Errol Elumir.

109 - Would This Mechanic Work in an Escape Room?

The Divas are all here! And in this episode, we discuss different mechanics and practices that may or may not work in a room. For example, saboteur mechanics, multiple paths, and other topics. Errol’s also pretty loopy.

Posted on February 7, 2020 by Errol Elumir.

108 - 2019 Escape Room Enthusiast Survey with Lee-Fay Low

Huzzah! We talk to Lee-Fay Low, an Associate Professor at the University of Sydney and an avid enthusiast of escape rooms, about the 2019 Escape Room Enthusiast Survey! Listen in on her insights and what it was like putting together a survey translated into 14 different languages.

Posted on January 24, 2020 by Errol Elumir.

107 - Top Escape Rooms with Rich Bragg

The 2019 Top Escape Rooms Project Enthusiasts’ Choice Awards was released! This year, 50 top English speaking escape rooms have been identified.

In this episode, Manpans and Errol talk with Rich Bragg (co-founder of ClueKeeper and a Guiness Record holder for most escape rooms done in 24 hours), to discuss TERPECA, or the “Braggs” as we like to call them.