Escape This Podcast

We talk with Scott and Molly about their experience designing the Communing With Nature escape room, differences between the playtest and our version of the game, puzzle design principles, and why we were too dumb to finish that book puzzle! If you want to see more of Scott's stuff, including more virtual escape rooms head to Squonkland You can download the full notes for this Escape Room below to...

For the second time in season 5, we have a room designed and run by a guest game-master. Scott and his daughter Molly have brought a room full of animals, puzzles, stern bosses, and books. Bill and Dani find themselves as volunteers in a local nature centre, and have one seemingly simple, but endlessly complex job: feed the snake... If you want to see more of Scott's stuff, including more virtual...

Following on from our latest episode, we talk with Gemma about the escape room we played through last episode. The focus of this discussion centres around goals and objectives in puzzle solving, and how this room changed the way the players need to approach puzzles in an escape room. Check out GM the GM: facebook  || stitcher  || Apple Podcasts      You can download the full notes for this Escape...

For the first time since episode 1 we have a solo player. We are joined by Gemma Marsh, creator and host of "GM the GM", a podcast about escape rooms from the perspective of a game master. But today she has a different career. Today she is a baker. And someone's baked a bunch of puzzles, crime, and confusion into the bread. Check out GM the GM: facebook  || stitcher  || Apple Podcasts      You can...

In this post-show recap, we chat with Amy and Lee about puzzle and narrative design, gameshows, and not knowing ROT13 Lee on twitter:  https://twitter.com/RunTheStairs   Amy on twitter:  https://twitter.com/mixedmetaphor You can download the full notes for this Escape Room below to play along, or run a game yourself! Full Room Write Up Supplemental: Address Supplemental: Door Supplemental: Applaus...

As season 5 continues, we have our first set of guest Puzzle Masters. Amy Williamson and Lee DiGeorge (who were guests during Descent of the Cullodens) return with a room of their own devising, while Bill and Dani get to play together to solve some puzzles! Lee on twitter:  https://twitter.com/RunTheStairs   Amy on twitter:  https://twitter.com/mixedmetaphor You can download the full notes for thi...

We keep chatting with Neil about the last episode, puzzle design, the playtest episode, and why David Burtka is the best husband in the world. We're joined this episode by magician, actor, and puzzle fan Neil Patrick Harris. As big fans of Neil's work, it was wonderful to find out he was a fan of ours, and then punish him by locking him in a small room for an hour. NPH: Amazed: The Game -  https:/...

NOTE: The image of the cards used in this episode is linked below, as well as the full room write-up so you can play/run the room yourself! We return to stand-alone rooms with the start of season 5! In this room, two amateur magicians go backstage to meet their magical idol, but soon find themselves trapped in a door-less room filled with tricks, traps, and torment. We're joined this episode by ma...

For those unaware, Dani and Bill have played through a few murder mysteries over on our patreon. In these episodes, Dani takes a public domain murder mystery story and Bill plays through it in the role of the detective. In this episode, Dani has created a completely original murder mystery, and Bill tries his hand at solving it. It's a sort of proof-of-concept episode for what could be a new weekl...

Back in 2018 the lovely people over at Hypotheticast got in contact with us to see if they could play one of our escape games as an episode of their show. We of course said yes, and they released a fantastic playthrough of our second episode: Saving Razorface. And now it's 2019, so please enjoy this strange, layered, podception episode in which we host an episode of another podcast's version of on...

With Descent of the Cullodens finished, we are officially in our mid season gap. Season 5 will be coming soon, but to avoid a big gap, we're filling these weeks with some fun bonus content for you all! This week, Dani and Bill sit down to match wits in a game of Trivial Pursuit (40th Anniversary Edition)!

It's done. Michelle's ghost has been settled, and the terrible actions of the Culloden patriarch exposed. Our final set of guests help us discuss the arc, the final room, and the beauty of crushing helpless ghosts at Connect 4. We're joined this episode by Kyle Akers and Brandon Boone. Kyle is a voice actor and Brandon a composer for the No Sleep Podcast. No Sleep is a horror storytelling podcast...

Descent of the Cullodens concludes. In our final escape room for the season, our Cullodens discover the truth of Michelle's past, and our story comes to a close. We're joined this episode by Kyle Akers and Brandon Boone. Kyle is a voice actor and Brandon a composer for the No Sleep Podcast. No Sleep is a horror storytelling podcast which you should listen to immediately. No Sleep: Website - https:...

After a very unsuccessful escape, we talk with our guests about what's going to happen in the final chapter of DoC. Post show talking points include: A quick puzzle rewrite, ordering quills, and the 34th president of the United States. We're joined this episode by Neal, Matt, and Jeff from the Triviality Podcast. Triviality is one of Dani's favourite podcasts, and is full of great trivia and a lot...

Even this broken fountain sounds almost like mocking laughter. Who is Michelle? What's in the room the weather vane pointed to? What's going on in this house? Our penultimate chapter sees a new set of Cullodens follow the trail our last guests left to the master bedroom of this spooky manor.  We're joined this episode by Neal, Matt, and Jeff from the Triviality Podcast. Triviality is one of Dani's...

It's a long one! Having some other escape room podcasters on gives us the opportunity to talk for a while about game design, how to get your players in the right mindset, how to edit puzzles for a clean audio experience, and the tale of a big change to this room from playtest to final recording. We're joined this episode by Mike and Ben from The Infinite Escape Room. TIER is another escape room po...

Groundskeeper Willie? No, I'm his cousin, Gravedigger Billy. With the revelation of last chapter, Bill the historian is eager to find out the last secrets these "ghosts" are hiding. With renewed zeal and two new Cullodens, it's time to enter the manor and get to the bottom of this. Our Cullodens enter the manor, only to quickly exit again and find themselves in the garden outside. With a gravelly...

After dealing with the terribly creepy nursery in the Culloden manor, we debrief with our guests. We talk playtesting, the blackboard puzzle, the moment of discovery, and the new shocking ghostly revelation. We're joined this episode by friends, escape room enthusiasts and actors Jason Ritter and Clea Duvall. Jason: twitter Clea: twitter   You can download the full notes for this Escape Room below...

The journey through the manor continues in Escape This Podcast: Descent of the Cullodens! This is chapter 7 of 10 as new guests join us and continue the quest into the growing mystery of Culloden Manor. Bill likes to talk about things getting creepy, but this episode really gets creepy. Our two new Cullodens enter the scariest room in the manor... the nursery. Be prepared for dolls, chalk, colours...

After dealing with a ghost butler and escaping his quarters, we talk with our guests about the room, their favourite puzzles, the escape room community on Slack, and the process of creating the Flower Puzzle. We're joined this episode by Milo Manheim and Owen Halpert. You may recognise Milo from the Disney Channel Original Movie "Zombies" , or his time on Dancing with the Stars Milo: twitter || in...

One at first, but he'll train others. The journey through the manor continues in Escape This Podcast: Descent of the Cullodens! This is chapter 6 of 10 as new guests join us and continue the quest into the growing mystery of Culloden Manor. You've read mystery novels. You understand the intricacies of old manor houses. If there's one universal truth, it's that the butler did it! So our new Cullode...

After a fantastic escape room in the culloden basement, join us as we debrief, discuss what we learned, and talk about the value of realistic rooms, the difficulty of clue overlap, and the concept of "searching" in an audio medium. Erin's Opera Houses: Attempt 1: Metal Hedgehog Attempt 2: Pretty Accurate Attempt 3: Shark Party We're joined this episode by Adal Rifai, JPC, and Erin Keif from Hey Ri...

The journey through the manor continues in Escape This Podcast: Descent of the Cullodens! This is chapter 5 of 10 as new guests join us and continue the quest into the growing mystery of Culloden Manor. When you discover that you're an heir for what is potentially a vast fortune, you don't need to worry yourself with ghosts, spirits, or babbling historians who try to scare you. You just need to wo...

Following on from the bathroom escape made in the previous episode, we talk with our guests about following puzzles to their logical conclusions, design processes that are difficult when you repeat a room setting, and a twist in the Culloden story. We're joined this episode by former Alex and Benjamin  from the MAUL Podcast, and Podcast Candy. https://murder.ly/MAUL https://twitter.com/maulpodcast...

The journey through the manor continues in Escape This Podcast: Descent of the Cullodens! This is chapter 4 of 10 as new guests join us and continue the quest into the growing mystery of Culloden Manor. More descendants have entered the manor, and they ain't afraid of no ghost! These new Cullodens are intent on trapping a spirit, and soon find one cornered in the far, far too warm bathroom of the...