The Depths

Role: Gameplay & Narrative Design, Layout

Goal

The Depths is an undersea adventure in which players navigate a submarine to locate and  explore a mysterious laboratory.

The goal was to create a game with a small footprint and flexible layout that could be installed in undersized spaces at Escape Game locations. The challenge was to create similar payoffs found in Escape Game’s flagship titles, while maintaining a tighter development and installation budget.

Process

I facilitated initial brainstorms and concept work, created initial room layouts in SketchUp, and ran white boxing & cardboard prototype tests to evaluate just how small we could make the game. I also developed the core narrative structure of traveling in a submarine, docking at a new location, and then needing to escape by solving puzzles spread across previously explored rooms.

We decided early on that we wanted to maintain a house style of uncovering unexpected new rooms, and expanding the narrative each time. There was some skepticism that we would be able to keep multiple rooms in the reduced  space.

In order to prove that multiple rooms would work, I took inspiration from the whiteboxing tools used to prototype levels in 3D game engines: I worked with the installation team to build a modular prototyping kit, with standardized pieces that could be rearranged and assembled into prototype game rooms, (standard door frames, blocks with the standard height of hands on puzzles, rollable walls & stanchions.) We used these to assemble the game room, populated with prototype puzzles, and run playtests to scale in a variety of formations.

Result

Having proved we had enough space, we developed a “Docking” sequence during which players dock their submarine at an underground laboratory, and step out into an all new location. The narrative had a three act structure where players would solve the first room, then the second, and then play through an escape sequence that played out across both rooms. This way, we were able to maintain the house style of an expanding play space—punctuated by "wow moments"—with a significantly smaller footprint than other Escape Game titles.

Spec Ops Component Redesign

Goal

In TEG’s Spec Ops, a puzzle requires players to redirect fuel to the correct tank in order to launch a missile. The original component was built with an Arduino brain, with a UI consisting of 400 LEDs that needed to be soldered by hand. The component was time consuming to produce, requiring upwards of 8 hours of soldering that was prone to failure on site. I recommended we redesign the component using off the shelf components.

Process

I redesigned the component as an HTML5 applet, built with PIXI JS and compiled with Electron. The app runs on a raspberry pi with the UI displaying on a disguised television. Players can interact with the app using an array of hardware knobs, communicating via Arduino serial over USB.

I worked with our carpenters and prop designers to recreate the original layout, maintaining the weathered, retro appearance of the original and disguising the television display underneath.

Result

The new component could be assembled in roughly 1 hour prior to the application of décor, a significant reduction from the multi day production of the previous design. Using a television display meant we could source the screens easily, and they were much more reliable.

The flexibility of the app also allowed us to add quality-of-life improvements for game guides and players: Difficulty could be adjusted at the beginning of the game to account for different player counts, and hints could be delivered through the game interface if a game guide felt players were falling behind.