Containment Breach Escape
Tags: Escape Room Game Design Team Collaboration
Date: Sept. 2019 - Dec. 2019
My Role: Producer, Lead Designer, and Room Builder.
Team Size: 23
A 30-minute escape room where players had to solve puzzles in order to recapture an entity and remove the lockdown. About 100 players participated over the three days of its run.
The Containment Breach Escape is an escape room project developed over several weeks and executed by graduate students in WPI's IMGD5300 course. Following a class-wide vote, the theme and aesthetic style I designed was selected as the top choice out of 23 proposed concepts, leading to my appointment as the producer and lead designer for the project. Additionally, I was an integral member of the construction team, contributing to the creation of the entire escape room from the ground up.
Photo of the escape room during a playtesting
My project topic's pitch, which was selected as the top choice out of 23.
Containment Breach Escape
ROOM CONSTRUCTION
The space designated by the institute for constructing the escape room was located in the Graduate Lounge in the basement of Fuller Lab. Our team prepared the area by clearing it out and constructing partitions using wood plank, filler, wall putty, and paint to divide the space. We also integrated electronic equipment into the room, utilizing wiring, Bluetooth, and one-way glass to create an immersive and functional environment.
Working with the construction team.
Containment Breach Escape
OUTCOMES
The completed escape room features a total of 18 puzzles in various formats. The technologies and design techniques incorporated into these puzzles include paper-based challenges, physical mechanisms, UV-A lighting, laser lenses, video games, board puzzles, audio mechanisms, pagers, projection equipment, and more.
Working with the construction team.
Containment Breach Escape
OPEN FOR PUBLIC PLAYING
Our escape room was open to the public for gameplay in December 2019. To promote the event and facilitate ticket sales, we created a temporary website for online purchases and set up an on-campus booth for selling physical tickets. We also invited WPI faculty and professors to participate, receiving widespread praise for the experience. Over the course of three days, including three rounds of playtesting, approximately 100 players engaged with the escape room.
Selling physical tickets on campus.
Group photos of players after the playing.
Video