Making an Escape Room Game - #2 Puzzle Design

This is the second video in a 3-part series in which I describe how I developed a "Room Escape" game for the American Libraries' Association International Games Week 2017, hosted at the Millennium Library in Norwich, UK.
In this video, I describe how I created a number of puzzles along the chosen themes of "books" and "games" to fit in with the escape room experience. I'll show you how I approached the design, some of the puzzle ideas I used, and some of the ideas I scrapped along the way.
The key messages I'd like to convey when designing puzzles are:
1.) Stick to your theme! All the elements in a room escape game needs a consistency in context, or else they simply becomes a series of unconnected puzzles.
2.) Consider your target player audience, their experience, interests and familiarity with certain props.
3.) Incorporate the narrative of your game into design of individual puzzles.
4.) If a puzzle isn't fun, doesn't work as expected or fit within the theme, drop it and move on!

[@draickin]

Thank you for pointing out that dropping ideas is a part of the process. It is easy to get discouraged if something does not work quite right in the first attempt. I'm currently designing my very first escape room and am trying to make it feel as immersive as possible without spending a fortune on props.

[@storyteller1225]

Just amazing information. thank you! I am making a Santa Escape room for 6 grandkids this Christmas - Santa is missing and the kidnappers have released a chemical" 60 minutes to solve or they turn into werewolves. hahaha. thanks so much.

[@zoobvazoobvador955]

Hahaha that sounds fun

[@daocha6477]

How did u do it? Trying start the first hint but its hard

[@marycleo6191]

@@daocha6477 pintrest is a good start for reference

[@yelaklleps]

Thank you so much for this brilliant explanation! I am creating an at home escape room for my fiance's birthday but couldn't quite figure out how to make it work! Thank you for all of your thorough explanations and advice!

[@TheBird222]

Yes thank you, it helps us amateurs do something special.

[@mr_tom_1_0]

Kaley Boo How did it go...?

[@darylann1375]

Thank you so much for this! I am putting an escape room together for my computer club, and this has been really helpful

[@sidselovergaard6160]

Thank you so much for all the inspiration and amazing info on how to design an escape room ! :D

[@Nethseaar]

Thanks for sharing these principles! They’re super helpful!

[@MrBird250]

Thank you again, it is great to have someone help us with the design and how to make it a good experience for everyone.

[@apollocorbin6279]

I dont mean to be offtopic but does anybody know of a tool to log back into an Instagram account..? I stupidly lost the account password. I love any tricks you can offer me!

[@phoenixjames6323]

@Apollo Corbin instablaster :)

[@apollocorbin6279]

@Phoenix James Thanks for your reply. I got to the site on google and Im waiting for the hacking stuff atm. Looks like it's gonna take a while so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.

[@apollocorbin6279]

@Phoenix James It worked and I actually got access to my account again. Im so happy! Thanks so much you saved my ass!

[@phoenixjames6323]

@Apollo Corbin you are welcome xD

[@irenes9592]

awesome!

[@paul9827]

Thanks man. Helping me alot with my escape game!

[@masteryoraerasante]

Oh, what about for a more complex puzzle with a combination of the Guess Who and the Monopoly? With the person's description you get their name, and from that you can get the registration cards where their address is listed

[@Wranorn]

How many puzzles on average in an Escape Room? I can see myself getting buried in puzzle logic...

[@PlayfulTechnology]

Good question - there's normally somewhere between 10 - 20 puzzles in a 1hr room, but that can vary a lot, and it's not a simple matter of just adding more individual, separate puzzles to make up the allotted time. Ideally, you want to consider the "flow" of the room - just like you would plan the flow of a film, or book. Players start out with an "introduction" - a relatively confined area with some simple puzzles to break them in and increase their confidence. You want them to get the first hit of success early on, even if it's only a small solve. Then, the game gradually widens out, more games, and more puzzles become available - some of which feed on interdepencies to earlier puzzles, before constricting down again to a dramatic finale - the final metapuzzle, which draws it all to a close.

[@superescaperoom991]

You have very substantial work on building escape rooms) We are designing rooms all over the world, and I want to say that this is really so: do not include some kind of inappropriate puzzle in the ER just because you've worked on it a lot. As in any creative business, every detail in the room must "shoot", must be immersed in history. Only in this way can you get a great escape room)

[@sam-ch6hv]

bitch u have no content and no subs why u think u know everything