Assignments:
- Field Notes (Blog) on an escape room:
- Do an escape room (VIRTUALLY): Take note of the design of the room. What are the rules of the room? How do different players interact with the room and each other? What does the room and its objects look like? What are the different types of puzzles? How is the game setup? What is the role of the gamemaster?
- Expand on the Narrative
- Present Story / Structure next week
- Sketch out preliminary structure for the Room
Narrative
Our team aims to build an one-player escape room experience. The main theme is to help a student who just moved out of the dorm to fetch one important item she left. In the meantime, we wanted to tell a story to show our character’s personalities, and memories with her family through some items such as letters, photos, and others.
Story Outline
- Enter the empty dorm room of a student who forgets the thing when she moves out
- On the walls and in the cabinets would be some messages/puzzles
- Try to find the embarrassing item – it may feel like the end of the game, but it is not
- Letter from family
- Picture for memory
- There is a place where leads to a hidden room – where there will be
- When finish the puzzles, they are locked
- Has to press the button on the screen to get out
Mediums of the game
- Phone for texting and connections
- Computer to navigate the room
If it is possible, we want to involve users in the experience as much as possible. To begin the game, user will receive a text message from our student asking for help just would your friend. Then the user get to use the computer to navigate the room.
Rooms
Preliminary Structure for the room(s)
- First dorm Room
- Bed
- Desk
- Closet
- Electrical box
- AC unit
- Heater
- Light switches – order
- Changing perspective – when you sit down – change positions
- Hidden room right next to it with an unexpected opening
Puzzles
First Puzzle
- Puzzle
- Turn different lights off in specific order
- What do you get from the puzzle?
- Key to next puzzle
Puzzle to Move from Room 1 to Room 2
- Puzzle
- WAIT TO SEE IF IT’S EASIER TO DO BASEMENT OR ADJACENT ROOM
- What do you get from the puzzle?
- Get to move from one room to next (how?)
Second-to-Last Puzzle
- Puzzle
- Find different parts of the letter to put it together
- What do you get from the puzzle?
- Letter that gives you information that relates to all the other previous puzzles
Last Puzzle
- Puzzle
- Safe that you unlock using elements from the letter
- What do you get from the puzzle?
- Object that contextualizes everything
Puzzles – should be related to the final object you find
- “Remember to do this everyday ” – i.e.: turning the light off
- “We always water your favorite plant for you when you are away. ” -i.e.: watering plant
Room Sketch
Emma has an excellent sketch of coded puzzles.
I also worked on room sketch to get a feel of a virtual dorm room and I also thought of what the secret entrance to the hidden room would be. Mirror or dresser are two ideas I thought of while working on building the room.
Below is the floor plan for the rough room setup.
Field Note
I played Luxury Sauna Room online. The design of the room is completely 2 dimensional. The rule of the room is to get out of the sauna room. One can only crack the code of one puzzle at a time. So when you are stuck, you may get annoyed because you can not move on in the game. This game is designed for one player each time. Honestly, I don’t like the game since it does not have depth and the puzzles are not meaningful or relevant. It is not telling a story. To me, it is just solving the puzzle for the sake of escaping the room. There are pretty similar puzzles in different forms or designs.
