Reality Escape Pod - Escape Rooms & Immersive Games
Alle afleveringen
232 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud
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Scott Nicholson, Professor of Play (s12e6)
3 november 2026 · 1 uur 19 min
In the early 2010s, escape rooms were still a relatively new form of entertainment. Besides Room Escape Artist, there weren't many other places online or in-person for players to connect. Professor Scott Nicholson played an important role in changing that. Lees meer
Scott is the founder of the original global escape room community, the Escape Room Enthusiast group on Facebook. He's the very first tabletop gaming YouTuber, and also the first academic to research escape rooms.
Full Show Notes
Episode Sponsors
We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: Buzzshot Bookings, Ubisoft VR Escape Games, Immersif, and Patreon supporters like you. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.
Buzzshot
Buzzshot is proud to announce their new "all-in-one" Booking System designed from the ground up for one type of business, escape rooms.
Offering:
Easy to use booking UI with no fees or hidden charges.
Customer waiver capture
Branded Team Photos
Player Messaging
Review Managment
Automations
Customer Surveys
Broadcast Emails
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. FREE Trial Account with full features* including SMS messaging, and 'Buzzshot Bookings' trial upon request. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.
Ubisoft VR Escape Games
Harness the power of VR Escape games to maximize your venue's potential. Deliver blockbuster adventures and impossible experiences, all brought to life in Ubisoft's most popular worlds, including Assassin's Creed, Prince of Persia, and more.
Location based games optimized for entertainment venues
Exclusively available only in escape room venues, VR arcades, and theme parks.
Games can accommodate anywhere from 2-8 players
No start up fees; you only pay when players play
Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:
REPOD listeners get an ext…
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The 13th Gate with Dwayne Sanburn (s12e5))
27 oktober 2026 · 56 min
"With haunted houses, you're telling a story on the run." Lees meer
You cling to your friends as you creep through the slaughterhouse. The walls are slick beneath your fingertips and the air reeks of blood and rot. Somewhere nearby, a chainsaw roars to life. You thought it was just a show, but now you’re suddenly not so sure. At the 13th Gate, your deepest fears and darkest fantasies are brought to life in terrifying, cinematic detail.
As the founder of the 13th Gate in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Dwayne has spent 33 years creating haunted attractions and more than a decade building some of the most spectacular escape rooms in the world. The sets are massive, detailed, and ultra realistic. He even had caves and snake pits filled with live snakes. The secret weapon behind all this is a talented team of artists creating realistic sets that rival any movie studio. Dwayne is constantly committed to creating bigger, better, and newer scenes.
Dwayne talks to us about building his haunted attraction, one of the largest in the country. After cutting his teeth building haunted house sets, he discovered escape rooms in 2015 and quickly realized he could put his talent for creating immersive worlds to work in a new way. And unlike haunted attractions, which are seasonal, escape rooms could operate year-round.
I especially enjoyed hearing Dwayne discuss the importance of transitional spaces in a haunt and how they contribute to the storytelling. Storytelling in a haunted house is different from in an escape room because of the how little time the guests are spending in any one scene. Escape rooms, however, gave Dwayne a reason to incorporate more interactivity and weave in deeper narratives.
David recounts how he and his wife Lisa visited the 13th Gate to play some escape rooms and suddenly found themselves thrust into the haunted house at Dwayne's urging. They left with some great stories about navigating the horror maze with a terrified family.
We also talk about how 13th Gate Escap…
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Masquerade with Asher Young (s12e4)
20 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 1 min
"Everything is in service to the audience" Lees meer
You slip behind your mask and step into a world of decadence and mystery. As you're led through a lavish world inspired by The Phantom of the Opera, Broadway stars are singing their hearts out mere feet away, and iconic scenes unfold all around you. This is Masquerade.
Masquerade is a blockbuster immersive theater production in New York City that filled the vacuum left behind by Sleep No More and Life & Trust. As David Spira notes in his review of Masquerade, "The actors were incredible... the show staff curated the experience for every audience member... and it was an impressive feat of logistics."
Executive Producer and Creative Director of Masquerade Asher Young joins us on REPOD to chat about this fresh approach to a Broadway classic. Asher takes us behind the scenes of this enormous production, from transforming Lee's Art Shop, an iconic building in NYC, to designing around audience flow. I appreciated Asher's view on the importance of audience care, especially the discussion about the show's staff. Masquerade has "butlers" who ensure that everyone in the audience has a good view, even repositioning audience members for the best sightlines.
Full Show Notes
Episode Sponsors
We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: Buzzshot Bookings, Ubisoft VR Escape Games, Immersif, and Patreon supporters like you. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.
Buzzshot
Buzzshot is proud to announce their new "all-in-one" Booking System designed from the ground up for one type of business, escape rooms.
Offering:
Easy to use booking UI with no fees or hidden charges.
Customer waiver capture
Branded Team Photos
Player Messaging
Review Managment
Automations
Customer Surveys
Broadcast Emails
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. FRE…
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Japan's Puzzle Scene with Tokohal (s12e3)
13 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 9 min
"You need both frustration and happiness together to make a great game." Lees meer
Escape rooms may have originated in Japan, but the format has since spread around the world, evolving in fascinating ways along the way. Cultural preferences, design traditions, and local puzzle communities have all shaped what an escape room looks and feels like from country to country.
Japanese puzzle designer and immersive experience creator Tokohal (pronounced Tokoharu) joins us on REPOD to take us inside the Japanese escape room and puzzle scene, sharing insights into its unique puzzle culture.
Much of Japanese escape room and puzzle culture is designed around earning a hard-won victory. The idea is that struggling, getting stuck, and ultimately figuring something out makes the win all the sweeter. In Japan, they have a concept called ō-nazo, a style of puzzle that draws on elements introduced throughout an experience, bringing them together in a satisfying final reveal. Clever players who have been paying attention can make connections and experience hirameki, a Japanese term meaning "flash of inspiration." Many games build towards these hirameki endings, which can feel almost like a magic trick.
Tokohal specializes in designing for the ō-nazo moment. He has created many escape room-style experiences for Japanese variety game shows featuring celebrities. He has also worked on immersive experiences for Alice in Borderlands and Memory Contamination Exhibition. I really enjoyed hearing Tokohal discuss the emotional journey of solvers. He talks about how feeling that initial anger and frustration can lead to greater joy and happiness, making the solve more rewarding. I will also be adopting the term "angry drink" from now on when having that post-game debrief with my teammates.
Tokohal believes so strongly in this feeling of pride and joy from solving puzzles that he built this mechanic into his fashion line TOKIQIL. Every item of clothing in the line has a puzzle embedded in it, and yo…
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Brett Kuehner: That Guy With The Puzzles (s12e2)
6 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 1 min
"Maker of Unusual Things" Lees meer
"If you've ever met him, he has probably handed you an unusual puzzle or curious object out of his Mary Poppins bag of puzzles." Brett Kuehner is THAT guy with the puzzles. Simply look for the large gathering of people all playing with what's collectively known as "cool stuff." You'll find Brett smack dab in the middle, dispensing puzzles and curios like Johnny Appleseed sowing his apples.
Besides being a puzzle pusher, Brett is a curator, connector, and general fount of knowledge. He started his website thatguywiththepuzzles.com after amassing a huge collection of escape room and puzzle design resources that he wanted to share with his community. This links to a massive google doc with 20 pages of links to articles about technology, audio and lighting design, immersion and storytelling, and general puzzle and escape room design.
Brett is a collector of the first order, and it isn't limited to design articles. As you can see from these "shelfies," his mechanical puzzle collection is also vast and varied. But what makes Brett's collection particularly special is how readily he shares it. His collections aren't just meant to sit on a pedestal. They're an invitation to explore, play, learn, and connect with other people who love puzzles.
In today's episode, Brett chats with us about what drives his fascination with puzzles, teaching escape room design, and his philosophy when it comes to the larger puzzling community. I especially loved hearing about designing for emotions in puzzles and thinking about what we want players to feel when they're solving a puzzle. Also, Brett has the coolest parents.
That Guy With the Puzzles is a fixture at most REA events. If you ever see a man with a large sack of puzzles and a twinkle in his eye, be sure to come up and say hi. You never know what inspiration you'll walk away with.
Full Show Notes
Episode Sponsors
We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: Buzzshot Bookings, Ubisoft VR Esc…
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REPOD Live! with DarkPark's Gijs Geers (s12e1)
29 september 2026 · 1 uur 18 min
This is also the first time we've released a podcast in full video. So even if you're typically an audio podcast listener, we highly recommend you watch the full video on Youtube (click the link above). Let us know if you enjoyed our live show, and if you'd like to attend one in the future. Lees meer
"Don't override your players' experience with your version of the story."
Emotional, hilarious, and... sexy?! Our very first REPOD Live Show was full of unexpected turns involving McDonald's drive thrus, a romance that blossomed amidst the most terrifying experience I've ever played, and some truly memorable moments. Oh, and it also had more references to sex than we've ever had on twelve seasons of this show. I guess that's what happens when you're recording live.
We’ve been wanting to take Reality Escape Pod live for a long time. What better place to finally do it than at RECON, our own escape room convention? For this experiment, we needed the right guest. Gijs Geers of DarkPark Escape Rooms in the Netherlands was perfect for this live show. Gijs is an escape room creator, owner, and former magician who has experienced plenty of the industry’s highs and lows.
What I appreciated most, though, was how candid Gijs was willing to be. He wasn't banging the drum of his self-importance. He got real with us. At times, he even became emotional, particularly when talking about the excitement and anxiety the TERPECAs bring. It made for a surprisingly personal conversation, especially considering it was all happening live on the RECON stage.
Full Show Notes
Episode Sponsors
We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: Buzzshot Bookings, Ubisoft VR Escape Games, Immersif, and Patreon supporters like you. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.
Buzzshot
Buzzshot is proud to announce their new "all-in-one" Booking System designed from the ground up for one type of business, escape rooms.
Offering:
Easy to us…
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Bonus Room Escape Divas
15 september 2026 · 1 uur 2 min
In this unhinged bonus episode, David and Peih-Gee were joined by REPOD episode guests Errol and Manda. Together they laughed their way through conversations covering stories from the Cryptex Hunt to David's memory of playing his first escape room with Errol. They also talked about a variety of topics including voice acting and interesting things that people say to content creators. Also, we finally learn whether Errol achieved the abs that he threatened to develop. Lees meer
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
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Key Moments of Season 11
7 augustus 2026 · 1 uur 3 min
At the end of every season, Editor Steve Ewing assembles an episode built from his favorite moments from each episode. Lees meer
Whether you have listened to the all of the episodes or just want to get a taste of Season 11, we hope that you enjoy this trip through the past 12 episodes of Reality Escape Pod.
Full Show Notes
Episode Sponsors
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
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.
Support Us On Patreon Today
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, …
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Lance of Longinus Spoilers Club Nick Moran
4 augustus 2026 · 1 uur 3 min
In this episode, David and Peih-Gee were joined by Nick Moran to talk about his first escape room, the iconic Lance of Longinus by Time Run. This game opened in 2014 and made a truly modern escape room masterpiece back in the days of padlocks and unhinged puzzle design. David, Nick, and Peih-Gee explore the flow of the game as well as its context, influence, and demise. Be warned... the last few minutes get mildly racy. Lees meer
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
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David as Saw's Jigsaw on Good Morning From Hell
21 juli 2026 · 25 min
This one is not safe for work. Lees meer
David made his improv comedy debut earlier this year on Good Morning From Hell, playing the roll of Jigsaw.
He spent a whole weekend preparing, and absolutely wrecked his voice for this one, and loved every second of the experience. Check out Good Morning From Hell, it's a hilarious show.
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The State of Room Escape Artist with Lisa Spira (S11E12)
23 juni 2026 · 1 uur 37 min
"Pick an immersive subgenre, and I think that it can be made better by the escape room model." Lees meer
For the Season 11 finale of Reality Escape Pod, we’re turning the spotlight inward.
After years of writing reviews, producing podcasts, running RECON, hosting Tours, and building a community around immersive experiences, we asked our audience a simple question "What do you think?"
Hundreds of you responded to the Room Escape Artist audience census, sharing how you engage with our work, what you want more of, and where we can improve. Lisa Spira, editor-in-chief of Room Escape Artist, data wizard, and David's wife, joins us on the podcast to for a deep dive into the census results.
We received over 200 responses to our massive audience survey covering topics ranging from audience demographics and favorite content formats to the future of escape rooms, the rise of immersive experiences, community feedback, and some honest critiques.
We gained perspective on what our audience enjoys, their awareness of REA content, and how they consume immersive experiences. Some results were truly surprising, including how many escape rooms the average participant plays per year.
We also asked for your feedback, critiques, and worries. We addressed many of the criticisms with honest and candid replies about why some aspects of Room Escape Artist have changed over the years. We also acknowledged times when we got things wrong and explained the reasoning behind the editorial schedule and structure.
I really enjoyed sharing this behind-the-scenes look at Room Escape Artist. I thought the most interesting parts of this episode were seeing how much thought goes into the choices behind the content we put out, why certain reviews get written, why some trends excite us, and how difficult it is to serve a global community with wildly different interests.
This was a conversation about growth, and the future of Room Escape Artist, REPOD, and the escape room industry. When it comes to escape ro…
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Thomas Snyder, Principal Puzzlemaster at LinkedIn Games (S11E11)
15 juni 2026 · 1 uur 11 min
"The connection between the solver and the setter is really important." Lees meer
If you're a daily puzzle lover, your morning might start something like mine: pouring a cup of coffee and jumpstarting the brain with my favorite snack-sized games. Chief among those are the snappy games at LinkedIn, such as Queens, Zip, Tango, and Patches. The man behind this collection of puzzles powering LinkedIn's Games section is Thomas Snyder.
Thomas Snyder is a three-time World Sudoku Champion, co-author of the foundational puzzle design book Puzzlecraft, and Principal Puzzle Master at LinkedIn Games. A Harvard trained chemist, Thomas is a scientist at heart. He has a methodical approach to puzzle solving and puzzle crafting that makes for satisfying logic puzzles. However, there's also a lot of artistry to the puzzles Thomas designs.
Throughout the conversation, he emphasizes that each puzzle put out by LinkedIn is handcrafted. There is a playfulness and inventiveness to the layout and solve path. There's a dance between the puzzle creator and the solver. Thomas posts videos on LinkedIn of his solve path for the games, and he talks to us about the conversation that sparks. In fact, the whole reason behind the puzzle offerings at LinkedIn was to create opportunities for users to connect socially and bond over the games.
I especially appreciated talking about puzzles that empathize with the solver and how to create approachable puzzles that can still delight expert players. LinkedIn just launched their newest game Wend, which is Thomas's take on a word search puzzle. We also played a game I wrote, which Thomas solved embarrassingly (for me) quickly, but we had fun, which is the whole point.
If you enjoy zippy puzzle games, check out the LinkedIn Collection, and for even more fun games-on-the-go, listen to PG's Playhouse.
Full Show Notes
Episode Sponsors
We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and the Reality Escape Conv…
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Unhinged by Design: Sauve Qui Peut, Steven Keller & Shawn Mercier (S11E10)
9 juni 2026 · 55 min
" There are three defining characteristics of a Sauve Qui Peut game: an unusual underlying concept, commitment to the bit, and beautifully painted murals." Lees meer
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…
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Charlie Bond & James Hamer-Morton of Deadlocked Escape Rooms (S11E9)
2 juni 2026 · 1 uur 23 min
“We really wanted to make a game that would encourage creators to make more weird stuff.” Lees meer
Low budgets, tight spaces, and a DIY mentality. As it turns out, indie filmmaking and creating escape rooms have a lot in common. James Hamer-Morton & Charlie Bond of Deadlocked Escape Rooms in Reading, UK, know this better than anyone. They joined us on REPOD to talk about creating their quirky, puzzle-driven games.
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
Episode Sponsor…
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Live Cinema & Zone 51 with Rémy Strobbe (S11E8)
26 mei 2026 · 59 min
"We don't fear spoilers because a good room has more to offer than just the set that you saw in a photo. It must be something that you feel also." Lees meer
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 …
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Troy Armstrong: Sound Design, The Escape Game, & The Great Big Gameshow (S11E7)
19 mei 2026 · 1 uur 10 min
"We take your favorite games from TV, but we put our own twist on it." Lees meer
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
Episode Sponsors
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
Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assor…
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Imagineer & Puppeteer, Terri Hardin (S11E6)
12 mei 2026 · 1 uur 26 min
Answer our 2026 Audience Census! Lees meer
"I wasn't an Imagineer because of the dollar. It's because I wanted to do something marvelous for people to enjoy."
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 craf…
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Commit Chaos: Rik Stapelbroek of Prison Escape (S11E5)
5 mei 2026 · 1 uur 11 min
Answer our 2026 Audience Census! Lees meer
"I want to make things big and explosive."
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
Episode Sponsors
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
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.
Specia…
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Room Escape Divas with Errol & Manda (S11E4)
28 april 2026 · 1 uur 17 min
Answer our 2026 Audience Census! Lees meer
"Try to find the delight in puzzles."
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
Episode Sponsors
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
Buzzs…
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The Future of Storytelling with Charlie Melcher (S11E3)
21 april 2026 · 1 uur 20 min
Answer our 2026 Audience Census! Lees meer
" A big mistake [is saying] 'look at our thing', instead of 'How do I empower and serve my customer?'"
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 …
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Gamify the World: Improbable Escapes with Emma Rochon (S11E2)
14 april 2026 · 1 uur 1 min
Answer our 2026 Audience Census!
" There's lots of places in the world you can gamify." Lees meerEmma 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
Episode Sponsors
We are immensely grateful to our sp…
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"They cry" Laura Kröger on Odysseus & Finnish Larp (S11E1)
7 april 2026 · 1 uur 8 min
Answer our 2026 Audience Census!
"One of the highlights of the Finnish larp is heavy, hard emotions. Crying is very much associated with Nordic style and Finnish style larping." Lees meerHave 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
Episode Sponsors
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 imp…
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Puzzle Master Will Shortz, The Complete Bonus Episode
24 maart 2026 · 1 uur
In the first half of this episode, David and Peih-Gee were joined by episode guest Will Shortz. Together they discussed the proliferation of daily puzzles, talked about global trends in puzzling, and did an ideation session with WIll on how to add puzzles to the park that he is creating in Indiana. Lees meer
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.
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Neil Patrick Harris Commits Murder (Mystery)
17 maart 2026 · 10 min
Neil Patrick Harris & Chris Waters - The Capital One Neil Patrick Harris Murder Mystery: Paradise Lost (2025) Lees meer
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
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Best of Season 10: Editor’s Choice by Steve Ewing
10 maart 2026 · 1 uur 20 min
Disney, Trivia Contests, Escape Rooms, Stephen Sondheim, Crosswords, and Puzzles Lees meer
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 ab…
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NYC's $42,000 Puzzle Competition - Midnight Madness 2025
24 februari 2026 · 1 uur 21 min
Nineteen teams of six players each descend on the streets of New York City. The entry fee is $42,000 per team, and the only prize is bragging rights. For twelve puzzle-packed hours, the teams must navigate New York City, all the way from the furthest reaches of Coney Island to the heart of Manhattan. This is Midnight Madness, New York City's most exclusive puzzle hunt. Lees meer
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
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David & Lisa on Marriage Therapy Radio
17 februari 2026 · 58 min
This is a special one. Lees meer
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.
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The Gen Con Genesis of Game Night by CU Adventures
3 februari 2026 · 6 min
Anne and Chris Lukeman did something totally crazy when the brought a pipelined, actor-driven, escape room sampler complete with a boss battle to Gen Con in 2019. Lees meer
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
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S10E13: State of the Escapes with Lisa Spira
30 december 2025 · 1 uur 21 min
" I love shining a light on escape room creators and telling their stories." Lees meer
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
Episode Sponsors
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.
Support Us On Patreon Today
Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we’ve been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games sin…
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S10E12: Holiday Special (ft. The REA Team)
23 december 2025 · 32 min
"A very twist ending. I don't think we were expecting it to go quite that way." Lees meer
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
Production Credits
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
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S10E11: BLOT, the RECON Game - starring Lyra Levin, Yannick Trapman-O’Brien, & Mark Larson
16 december 2025 · 1 uur 36 min
" I appreciated your janitor's slow decline into madness." Lees meer
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
Episode Sponsors
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.
Support Us On Patreon Today
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, yo…
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How The Hex Room makes you feel like you're in a movie
9 december 2025 · 6 min
The Hex Room was an early iconic escape room with a unique mechanic. In fact, it is so unique, that to our best knowledge, no other escape room has attempted a similar game structure. Lees meer
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
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S10E10 - Zach Sherwin, Creator of The Crossword Show
9 december 2025 · 1 uur 21 min
“ The joy of live performance is that we're all experiencing the same thing together and it unites us as a community.” Lees meer
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
Episode Sponsors
We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and COGS. We truly appre…
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S10E9 - Legendary Disney Imagineer: Doris Hardoon
2 december 2025 · 1 uur 20 min
"Guests have become more sophisticated and our product needs to follow suit." Lees meer
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
Episode Sponsors
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 com…
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S10E8 - The PuzzleTales of PostCurious with Rita Orlov & Lauren Bello
25 november 2025 · 1 uur 8 min
"Screenwriting is like a puzzle that the writers are putting together." Lees meer
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
Episode Sponsors
We are immensel…
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S10E7 - The Best Escape Room in the World: Jonathan Driscoll and Sacha St. Denis of Escaparium
18 november 2025 · 1 uur 6 min
" We're evolving the [escape room] experience towards something that's more theatrical, with puzzling, gaming, and immersive art all together." Lees meer
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 Note…
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S10E6 - Play as Learning: Breakout EDU with Adam Bellow
11 november 2025 · 1 uur 7 min
"Bringing the escape room to the classroom." Lees meer
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
Episode Sponsors
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.
Support Us On Patreon Today
Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we’ve been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of…
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S10E5 - Ambitious and Unhinged: Stephen & Stevie Kristof of 60 to Escape
4 november 2025 · 1 uur 12 min
"Quietly ambitious and a bit unhinged." Lees meer
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
Episode Sponsors
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 t…
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S10E4 - The Worlds Largest Trivia Contest with Jim "The Oz" Oliva
28 oktober 2025 · 1 uur 6 min
" Think of it as a wild Midwestern version of the MIT mystery hunt for a slightly different crowd where people drink quite a bit more." Lees meer
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 t…
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S10E3 - Will & Kim Rutherford, Escape Artist Greenville
21 oktober 2025 · 1 uur 7 min
"With a performer, players can make their own stories." Lees meer
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
Episode Sponsors
We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Bac…
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S10E2 - Exploring Stephen Sondheim's Deep Relationship with Puzzles (ft. Barry Joseph)
14 oktober 2025 · 1 uur 7 min
"The Shakespeare of our time." Lees meer
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
Episode Sponsors
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.
Support Us On Patreon Today
Love escape rooms …
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S10E1 - Will Shortz, The Puzzle Master
7 oktober 2025 · 1 uur 1 min
"Will Shortz has probably done more to elevate public consciousness of puzzles than any other individual in history." Lees meer
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
Episode Sponsors
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.
Support Us On Patreon Today
Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we’ve been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive g…
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From The Vault: The Nightmare of Eveline Shadow Part 1, Entered & Logiclocks
16 september 2025 · 59 min
The Nightmare of Eveline Shadow was a haunting experience where guests stepped into the nightmarish writings of a horror novelist. They had to navigate a hotel filled with nightmares, while being guided by the narrator’s prompts and scripts. Lees meer
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
Episode Sponsors
Thank you to our sponsors: Buzzshot, COGS by Clockwork Dog, and Patreon supporters like you.
Buzzshot
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
COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other…
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Season 9, Best of the REPOD Bonus Show
2 september 2025 · 1 uur 12 min
"I have so many burning questions." Lees meer
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
Episode Sponsors
Thank you to our sponsors: Buzzshot, COGS by Clockwork Dog, and Patreon supporters like you.
Buzzshot
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…
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REPOD Season 9 Key Moments: Editor’s Choice by Steve Ewing
19 augustus 2025 · 1 uur 9 min
"Highlighting the most interesting, entertaining, and impactful moments." Lees meer
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
Episode Sponsors
Thank you to our sponsors: Weldwood Marketing, Buzzshot, COGS by Clockwork Dog, and Patreon supporters like you.
Weldwood Marketing
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
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
COGS by Clockwork Dog …
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Leaked! Blood on the Clocktower Bonus Show
29 juli 2025 · 52 min
In this episode, David and Peih-Gee were joined by Steve, the creator of Blood on the Clocktower... and they talked a whole lot more about Blood on the Clocktower. The conversation spans the overlaps between Clocktower and Survivor, the difficulties of being the Storyteller, and a potential business opportunity for escape room operators (or people who are good at talking and managing game rules). Lees meer
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
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Death of a Swinger And Other Mysteries (ft. Reality Escape Pod)
15 juli 2025 · 52 min
A few months ago David and Peih-Gee appeared as guests on the Aurelius Whitlock's Murder Mystery Museum. They had learned about the show from our of our Patreon members, and after listening to the show for a few minutes, both of them were convinced that they had to go play. Lees meer
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.
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You will NEVER be able to experience the Nightmare of Eveline Shadow (Spoilers Club Preview)
11 juli 2025 · 6 min
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 local Marriott Renaissance hotel. Lees meer
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
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S9E12: Lockhill - Designing for Chaos
1 juli 2025 · 1 uur 3 min
" Horror is the excitement of the unknown." Lees meer
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
Episode Sponsors
Thank you to our sponsors: Weldwood Marketing, Buzzshot, COGS by Clockwork Dog, and Patreon support…
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S9E11: Top Takeaways from 100 Episodes of REPOD
24 juni 2025 · 1 uur 14 min
" Challenging yourself is how you produce growth in your own life." Lees meer
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
Episode Sponsors
Thank you to our sponsors: Weldwood Marketing, Buzzshot, COGS by Clockwork Dog, and Patreon supporters like you.
Weldwood Marketing
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 man…