Escape Room
In the spring of 2023 I participated in creating puzzles for the escape room held during the ITU LAN. I also participated in the pre-run test, taking feedback from the test players and implementing some of the suggested changes.
With the help of my 3D printer, I created the following puzzles:
The Invisible Labyrinth Puzzle
This was one of the lead ins to the final puzzle. Providing the player with the overlay containing the numbers, and with a magnetic ball inside. To solve this puzzle, the players would have to find a matching magnetic ball that was accessed via another puzzle. This then allows them to move the ball through the labyrinth to figure out which numbers were passed along the way and in what order. This provided one of the three solutions needed for the final puzzle.
The 3(4) column cryptex box
This ended up becomming the final thing in the room for the players to solve as having several cryptex columns lend itself to becomming the focal point for the gathered solutions. To solve this, the players would have to turn the 4 rings on each column to match the solutions from the lead in puzzles and only when all were aligned could the box be opened. In the end we decided to only use 3 of the 4 colums, keeping the last free just in case anything happened. A decision that worked out in our favor as the 4th last team of the day got a little too heavy handed and broke one of the pin colums. Some quick instant glue and turning it so the now fixed column was the empty one allowed us to continue and have the final 3 teams have their go at the full room.
Lessons learned
Getting 3D printing tolerances right is important. Seperating 3D prints into smaller portions for testing is extremely helpful and a lesson that can be directly applied to game and level design. This way of thinking is already part of what I have learned while studying Games at ITU, but it never hurts to get another reminder.
Through the feedback from the initial test players, I was also reminded of providing players with as much feedback and information as is needed. Thus the paper overlay for the labyrinth got a few of the walls pre-drawn on it, and a non-magnetic pen was put on top, both to hint to the player that they were allowed to mark however they wanted. This hint was also given vocally by the room monitors to any team that didn’t reach that conclusion once they had the second magnet.