Reality Escape Pod - Escape Rooms & Immersive Games

In Season 3, Episode 4 of REPOD, we were joined by Gabby Pascuzzi, a Survivor contestant who competed on season 37, Survivor David vs. Goliath. Gabby is half of one of Survivor’s most iconic Nerd Alliance, alongside Christian Hubiki, a robotics professor.   Gabby has a lifelong passion for puzzles and games, and she joined us to help explain why Survivor is so beloved by many game and puzzle enthu...

In Season 3, episode 3, we chat with Kathryn Yu, Executive Editor of No Proscenium and a co-founder of the Immersive Experience Institute, a non-profit that aims to create a sustainable future for immersive and experiential arts and artists worldwide. Kathryn joins us to chat about game design in branching narrative games, including her brilliant creation Metaverse Noir, told through the medium of...

In Season 3, episode 2, we chat with Johanna Koljonen, the co-founder of Participation Design Agency. She is an experience designer specializing in Nordic larp and an expert in designing for safe and enthusiastic participation. Johanna has helped create some incredibly compelling and intense Nordic larps, including Vampire the Masquerade, Inside Hamlet, and House of Craving.   Johanna puts careful...

To kick off Season 3, we chat with Maxime and Roxane Filion of Immersia Escape Games. Their escape games truly impressed us on our recent trip to Montreal. In this episode they talk about their immersive approach to game design, their diverse gaming influences, and how they measure success. Maxime and Roxane are also passionate about their creations and about this industry. Moreover, they have a s...

Bonus Content? After each episode, hosts Peih-Gee and David record another show, just for Patreon backers ($5/ month and up). Sometimes the guests stick around for the aftershow. Where the main episode is a heavily edited and produced experience, the bonus content is a freeform conversation. Guests This sneak peek is the REPOD S1E4 Patreon Bonus Content, recorded with Anne and Chris Lukeman from C...

In season 2, episode 8, we chat with Jon Braver, creator of  Delusion . Delusion is an interactive horror theatre experience where monsters might crawl on the ceiling, creatures could be flying through the air, and at any moment you could be pulled aside for your own personal storyline. Jon describes Delusion as a cinematic moving play with a rich, linear storyline where the audience gets to be th...

In Season 2, episode 7, we chat with Rita Orlov, the designer of industry-favorite, indie narrative puzzle games. Rita made a huge splash in the puzzle community with the launch of The Tale of Ord — an epic tabletop escape game with narrative depth and puzzle density. She followed that with The Emerald Flame and The Light in the Mist, a tarot card puzzletale. Rita not only designs her games, she a...

In Season 2, episode 6, we got to chat with Brian Corbitt, the creative mind behind the raunchy and hilarious  Miss Jezebel —an actor-driven experience that’s a mix between immersive theatre and an escape room. Two of Brian’s games have won Golden Lock Awards from Room Escape Artist, and it was also voted in the top three best online escape rooms in the  2020 TERPECAs – the Top Escape Rooms Projec...

In season 2, episode 5, we take a deep dive into the inner workings of RECON , our escape room convention. In 2020, Room Escape Artist was poised to launch their first escape room convention. They quickly pivoted to a virtual convention when it became apparent that they wouldn't be able to host an in-person event due to quarantine. Within three months, they put together an unforgettable experience...

In season 2, episode 4, we discuss possible futures for competitive escape room playing with the King of Smash, Ken Hoang. Ken was the world champion of Super Smash Bros. Melee for five years and helped create much of the high level competitive gameplay. Ken was also an extremely strategic player on Survivor: Gabon.  Smash Melee was originally designed as a party game, not for competitive play. Ho...

In season 2, episode 3, we chat with Sarah Zhang from Omescape Escape Rooms in the California Bay Area. Sarah is one of the creators of the award-winning, online escape room game,  Pursuit of the Assassin Artist , which was voted the #1 online escape room in the  2020 TERPECAs – the Top Escape Rooms Project Enthusiasts’ Choice Awards . It was also a winner at our own  2020 Golden Lock Awards . 202...

In season 2, episode 2, we have a lovely chat with Nick Moran, who was creative director for  Time Run , one of the most influential escape room companies. He has created ambitious games with innovative formats, and he’s now focused his creative genius on designing  Spectre and Vox , a gorgeously crafted tabletop gaming experience with interactive storytelling. Nick’s background as a narrative-foc...

In episode 1 of season 2, we talk to acclaimed actor, producer, writer, and tabletop immersive experience designer Neil Patrick Harris. He's a performer known for his iconic roles on stage and screen, but our community knows him as a champion of escape rooms and immersive gaming, as well as the creator of the brilliant tabletop puzzle experience Box One.  Neil walks us through the path that led hi...

In episode 8, we chat with Lisa Spira, co-creator of Room Escape Artist, one of the producers of this podcast, and the main puppetmaster holding the strings of two very happy podcasters. David and Lisa have been married for five years. He calls himself the Penn to Lisa’s Teller and explains that in their partnership, while he’s the loud carnival barker grabbing the attention, Lisa is the shorter,...

In episode 7, we talk to Chris Lattner, CEO and creative director of The Room in Berlin, one of the top-ranked escape room companies in the world, according to TERPECA—the Top Escape Rooms Project Enthusiasts’ Choice Awards. The Room’s immersive adventures have continued to win awards and accolades throughout the years, including our own Room Escape Artist’s Golden Lock Awards. Chris’ background w...

In episode 6, we sit down with Anthony Robinson, an enthusiastic larper, former castaway on the reality show Survivor Fiji, and long-time contributor to the immersive theatre website No Proscenium . Anthony introduced David and Peih-Gee, who met (and found their mutual love of escape rooms) as guests on an episode of the No Proscenium podcast . It only seemed fitting to bring Anthony onto our show...

In episode 5, we had a lovely chat with Barry Meade, founding member of Fireproof Studios and one of the co-creators of The Room, an incredibly vivid mobile game first released in 2012. The Room had a tactile, immersive quality to it, from its haunting soundtrack, to the weight of physical objects, and how the environment handled the lighting design. These design elements, combined with a series o...

In this episode, David and Peih-Gee chat with Chris and Anne Lukeman, owners of the escape room company CU Adventures and the escape room shirt company Solve Our Shirts . We talk about how a trip to Wisconsin and to two attractions in particular "opened their eyes to a level of weird that became a commercial business." Those attractions were Wizard Quest, a fantasy-themed scavenger hunt and House...

Episode 3 is an interview with game and puzzle designers Juliana Moreno Patel and Ariel Rubin, the Wild Optimists. This brilliant duo designed the world’s first Escape Room in a Box which is released worldwide by Mattel. Juliana and Ariel met, founded their company, and created their first product all while pregnant, which should give you a good idea of their intense passion. They are known for th...

In this episode, David and Peih-Gee chat with Myles Nye, a Survivor Challenge consultant and  designer of team-building games. Myles took Peih-Gee to her first Escape Room, and we discuss tips and tricks for newbies. Myles talks about improv and how to create experiences that tap into the essence of play. We learn about how Myles became a challenge consultant for the reality show Survivor, and dis...

In this episode, David and Peih-Gee chat with Elan Lee, one of the creators of the ARG (alternate reality game), and co-creator of Exploding Kittens - the most-backed campaign on Kickstarter at the time.   David manages to surprise Elan with interview questions that he’s never been asked before. Elan talks about creating the world’s first ARG and shares stories about what happens when you don’t pr...

David and Peih-Gee talk about how they met a year ago on a podcast, what they’re hoping to accomplish with this podcast and their escape room origin stories. While this is technically episode 0, it's labeled as episode 1. It's a puzzle. Show Notes   Production Credits Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law Produced by Lisa Spira Music by Ryan Elder Logo by Janine Pracht