SHOW NOTES
Curt and Chris engage in a lively and detailed conversation with Robert and Joe from Giant Dream Productions. These two design and build turn-key escape rooms. Curt has played a handful of their games and really enjoyed them. The discussion covers various topics, including the creative processes behind designing immersive escape rooms, the unique challenges they face, and how their background in art and haunted houses influences their work. They also share anecdotes about their favorite escape rooms, the evolving industry landscape, and their collaborative method of constantly improving game designs.
LINKS
- Giant Dream Productions
- Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull
- Defunctland (YouTube Channel)
- Garyvee (TikTok Channel)
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Sometimes you just need to get away from all the distractions to be creative and design. Stay at a cabin or go on a cruise.
- Make your games challenging but not frustrating. Build a busy game, not a hard one.
- Don’t design for enthusiasts, design for mainstream players who have never played an escape game or played only a few.
- Design games that keep everyone active.
- Think about the location of your puzzles. You don’t want 2 people working on a puzzle right next to 3 other people working on a puzzle. Space them out.
- Balance aesthetics with gameplay. You don’t want one to be great and the other bad.
- The goal is for everyone to finish with less than 10 minutes left.
- Always be improving.
- If you purchase a room, consider keeping the name it came with (so players don’t accidentally play a game they have already played) and credit the designers on your website.
CONNECT AND FOLLOW GIANT DREAM PRODUCTIONS
MYSTERY SOUP PODCAST HOSTS