Hello, friends. We have a somewhat sad announcement to make. This week will mark the final episode of the REDivas podcast. You may have noticed Mike, Ruby, and Errol haven’t been around the last year, as their lives have gotten busy. Although I have continued in the meantime and could continue the podcast alone, my own life has been getting busier and I felt it was time to finally retire it. And so for one last episode, we’ve gotten the old gang back together and returned to our very chaotic origins! Errol trolls everyone, everyone clips their audio at least three times, we talk about a couple of of our favourite moments, what we are doing right now, and some of our plans for the future (I’m certainly not done with podcasts yet!) Thank you so much to everyone who has listened, whether you have been with us since the beginning or are just joining now. Thanks to all of our guests through the years for providing insight and expertise to this ever growing industry. This podcast has lead to us meeting so many amazing people and do some amazing trips and projects. And of course thanks to Inverse Genius for hosting us, supporting us, and giving us some great tips along the way. Finally, I personally want to thank Mike, Ruby, and Errol for being such fantastic cohosts and friends (I tried to thank them in the podcast, but Errol’s trolling gets in the way). We will absolutely still be active in the community. Don’t worry, we have no intention of giving up escape rooms and puzzles any time soon! Episodes will still be available for download. And who knows. We might do an awful escape or do a crazy trip and just feel the need to record our reactions. Until that happens, though, here are some links of where you can find everyone and some other podcasts definitely worth your time. See you around the community! Manda: Twitter handle: mandawhitney Blog: mandawhitney.com Twitch: Manpans (Monday nights I stream mystery games) Errol- He is everyone. Shout and he will likely pop up. Mike Twitter handle: MikeYuan82 Other Podcasts: Reality Escape Pod: https://roomescapeartist.com/reality-escape-pod/ Escape This Podcast: https://www.escapethispodcast.com/ Infinite Escape Podcast: https://www.theinfiniteescaperoom.com/
147 - Escape IF with Scott Nicholson
Apr 15, 2022
This week I am joined once again by the esteemed Doctor Scott Nicholson to talk about his latest project with mEducation Alliance, EscapeIF! It’s a storytelling game system designed to create games for low resource classrooms. See the links below to find out more and try some out in your own classrooms! EscapeIF: http://escapeif.com
This week I discuss The Book of Dreams, an anthology puzzle book, headed up by Lee Ballan and including entries from an all star puzzle design team! As of this posting, you can still support their Indiegogo campaign, with all profits going to Doctors Without Borders! Don’t miss your chance to get a great puzzle book and support doctors around the world!
145 - Adventuron w/Chris Ainsley
Mar 15, 2022
This week we get nostalgic about text adventures with Chris Ainsley, creator of Adventuron and a guest star appearance from Errol! If you are interested in creating text adventures, check out Adventuron’s site which also has info on an upcoming game jam!
144 - Ciphers and Treasure Hunts with Mike Augustine
Mar 07, 2022
This week I am joined by Mike “Auggie” Augustine to discuss the world of ciphers and many tangents on treasure hunts and ARGs! Much fun ensues.
143 - Planning Your Escape with Laura E Hall
Feb 18, 2022
This week I am joined by Laura E Hall! We discuss her book, Planning Your Escape, which both teaches the history of escape rooms (going alllllll the way back), and everything you need to know to become the ultimate enthusiast! We also go on this podcast’s most epic tangent yet. There is mystery! There is intrigue! There is even romance! You can find info about Laura, including her book, at her website.
142 - Wild Optimists
Jan 28, 2022
This week I am joined by the powerhouse that is The Wild Optimists! Ariel Rubin and Juliana Moreno Patel discuss their experience designing Time Drifters, a take home escape that can be played in separate households! Also discussed is their murder mystery series, Crimes & Capers, as well as tangents on the murder mystery genre, beta testing during COVID, and many…many 90’s references.
141 - Year in Review with Reality Escape Pod
Jan 16, 2022
I am joined this week by the brilliant David Spira and Peih Gee Law of Reality Escape Podcast to reflect on 2021 and go down as many tangents as possible. Hope your 2022 is full of escaping fun so far!
Check out Reality Escape Pod through Room Escape Artist’s site! https://roomescapeartist.com/reality-escape-pod/
140 - Constructed Adventures
Dec 31, 2021
For the last episode of 2021, I am joined by Chris Waters, the creator of Constructed Adventures! We talk about his epic adventure creating business, the importance of community, and just how much metaphorical duck tape it takes to create a seemingly perfect experience. If you are curious about his experiences, do check out his website at https://www.constructedadventures.com/
139 - Props with Haley Moore
Dec 03, 2021
How can props help enhance an experience? What stories can they tell? And how awesome are animatronics? This week Haley Moore shares her passion for prop making! If you’d like to see some of the other amazing creations she has been involved in, check out her website at toenolla.com!
138 - Mechanics with Next Level Escapes
Nov 19, 2021
This week I am joined by Leanne Yong and Aaron Hooper of Next Level Escapes to discuss our non-escape room inspirations when creating designs! There are…many tangents in this one.
137 - Redesigning Your Game with Diorama's Ruud Kool
Oct 12, 2021
Apologies for the delay!
This week I talk with Ruud Kool of Diorama Games! We talk about the experience of translating and redesigning his first game, The Vandermist Dossier (originally the Boekanier Dossier), and how the design process is never truly done. This game is currently on Kickstarter, so don’t miss your chance to get your copy!
DISCLAIMER: I was involved with some of the narrative development of this game.
This week Manda is joined by James Cobalt to discuss the wonders of VR and their impact on puzzle games and escape rooms. Manda might talk about Beatsaber too much.
Follow James to keep up to date about his new escape room facility (yet another reason to go to RECON next year).
135- Rita Orlov and Non-linear Game Design
Sep 10, 2021
Manda is back and kicking off the REDiva season with the ever so talented Rita Orlov to talk about nonlinear game design and her upcoming Kickstarter for her latest project: Light in the Mist. Visit postcurious.com to keep up to date on the Kickstarter campaign and to check out some awesome content!
134 - Forensic Accounting and Escape Rooms with Leah Wietholter
Apr 24, 2021
Manpans and Errol talk to Leah Weitholter, a fraud investigator who made an escape room inspired game to help teach forensic accounting and fraud investigation!
Errol has a difficult time containing himself with this shorter podcast. Find out about her work, her podcast, and the game at https://www.workmanforensics.com/.
133 - Rants about Online Immersive Escape Rooms
Mar 26, 2021
Sorry, it’s been a long time since the last update! Manda and Errol are joined by Lee-Fay and rant about a particular immersive adventure. Totally living up to their diva nature.
Manda, Ruby, Mike, and Errol are back together! At least while the baby sleeps. We talk about how escape rooms can help prepare for parenting, horror rooms, and all the tangents in between!
07 - Designer Spotlight Video: The Enigma Emporium
Feb 05, 2021
In this designer spotlight, we only have Errol because he left it until the last minute and no one else could make the time he booked! However he has a grand time chatting to Logan Giannini of The Enigma Emporium about design! They cover board games, puzzle games, escape room games, and running kickstarters!
We also learn all this new stuff about Logan! It was so exciting!
131 - Matthew Stein on Empathy-driven Puzzles
Jan 29, 2021
Manpans and Errol talk with professional puzzle designer Matthew Stein about empathy-driven puzzles and puzzle design in general. Huzzah! This is a pretty deep talk!
Matthew Stein (he/him) is a San Francisco-based puzzle designer, fiddler, composer, letterboxer, printmaker, origamist, and software engineer. With his company Enigmida, Matthew creates intricate puzzle hunts, alternate reality games, and puzzle-driven immersive experiences which aim to bring wonder to the mundane. To learn more, follow @enigmida on Instagram and subscribe to his newsletter.
06 - Designer Spotlight Video: Society of Curiosities
Jan 22, 2021
Manda and Errol have a wonderful chat with Michelle and Yacine of Society of Curiosities! Listen in as they tell us about pivoting from an Escape Room business to an online mail-order puzzle game company!
And there are chickens.
130 - Escape Rooms and Art with Tommy Honton
Jan 15, 2021
Manpans and Errol talk to Tommy Honton! Originally, it was going to focus on Stash House and his creations but then we started talking about art! So now that's the title!
05 - Designer Spotlight Video: Miss Jezebel
Jan 08, 2021
The Divas interview Brian Corbitt, who designed Miss Jezebel of 60out Escape Rooms. Miss Jezebel is rated as one of the top three online escape rooms by the 2020 TERPECAs, for good reason, and in this video, we get behind the scenes with its creator!
Also, we will endeavour to make all the videos as audio only as well, so it loads up into your podcast feed. Sorry about that!
129 - Room Escape Artist: Year End Reflections
Jan 02, 2021
The Divas chat with Lisa and David Spira about 2020 in escape rooms, and what's in store for Room Escape Artist in 2021!
This was recorded in front of a live audience! Huzzah! And you will be able to hear some of those people near the end as we all question REA about the escape room industry. So it’s unedited and given to you raw!
Also, there are minor spoilers in this podcast for Errol’s game Present Quest, so if you intend on playing it, you should do so first!
One last thing, even though we mentioned video, it didn’t record as we wanted, so this podcast is audio only. Here, however, is a wonderful screenshot of REA’s webpage when you search for eggs:
128 - The Infinite Escape Room Podcast!
Dec 18, 2020
Now, before you listen to our podcast, you should check out The Infinite Escape Room Podcast which we reference all through the episode! We have a wonderful time with Mike and Ben.
Then, come and listen to our podcast! Mike and Ruby and their baby join us as well! Huzzah for a full complement of hosts! And Mike and Ben of TIER are brilliant! ^_^
At the moment, we do not have a youtube video ready, but one is recorded, so if you are interested, you can come back later to see them all in their glory!
127 - Escape Rooms on Mobile
Dec 11, 2020
In today's episode, we talk about escape games you can play on your phone with Tammy Dorn and Andrew Ow. They both work at the indie-game company Haiku Games and discuss their design philosphy when creating escape rooms for the mobile phone.
04 - Designer Spotlight Video: Agent November
Dec 04, 2020
Manpans and Errol have a fun chat with Nathan Glover of Agent November! We go into all sorts of behind the scenes details and discuss the design of games for the online escape room audience.
And if you are interested in the mentioned event at the end of the video, check out Mystery at the Museum with Steve Backshall!
126 - DASH: Different Area, Same Hunt with Debbie Goldstein
Nov 27, 2020
In our 126th episode, Manpans and Errol have a fun time chatting to the founder of DASH, Debbie Goldstein! Listen in to learn all the secrets of starting a puzzle hunt that occurs in multiple cities!
03 - Designer Spotlight Video: Scarlet Envelope
Nov 20, 2020
Hello! We released two videos this week! Our latest designer spotlight is with Scarlet Envelope, and we chat to Lisa Levina & Anna Lysova about their subscription take home puzzle game!
We had a lot of fun with Lisa and Anna, because they’re hilarious!
Learn also about Clue Cards, their holiday themed Postcard and Greeting card series which has reached it’s funding goal on Kickstarter!
02 - Designer Spotlight Video: An Escape Room in 18 Cards
Nov 18, 2020
Allo, enthusiasts! Here’s our second video as we focus on designers.
Listen in as we talk to Jonathan and Marc Specter (of Grand Gamers Guild) about the challenges of making an escape room card game with only a few cards.
125 - A Critical Look at Online Escape Rooms
Nov 13, 2020
Manda and Errol are joined by Lee Ballan, designer of The Pyramid, and they talk about all the things they like and don’t like about online escape rooms. If we were going to do a click-baity title, we would have named this “EVERYTHING WRONG WITH ONLINE ESCAPE ROOMS", but then we would have needed to put it in list form with motion graphics, and we didn’t have time for that! :D
01 - Designer Spotlight Video: Nick Moran of "Spectre & Vox"
Nov 06, 2020
We have something new we’re starting, enthusiasts! We are going to do youtube Designer Spotlights focusing on specific games!
Our first one is with Nick Moran ofSpectre & Vox. Their kickstarter was funded in three hours, and they are well into their stretch goals! If you want to hear the ins and outs about this game, tune in! Or tube in. I have no idea what young people say when they want others to watch their youtube vids.
124 - Survivor and Escape Rooms with Peih-Gee Law
Oct 30, 2020
In our latest episode, Manpans and Errol chat to Peih-Gee Law about Survivor (which Errol knows nothing about) and escape rooms (which Errol knows too much about.)
Peih-Gee Law is most well known for being a fan favourite contestant on the reality show Survivor, where she played first in Survivor China in 2007, and then again in a returning All Star season Survivor Second Chance. She calls Survivor “the greatest immersive game in the world”.In her professional life as a private jeweler, Peih-Gee has extensive experience with organizing and exhibiting at trade shows, as well as hosting, producing and facilitating large corporate events.She has also recently launched PeihGeePlays– an online community where she hosts live stream Survivor Game Nights on Twitch featuring different reality stars as well as organizes events and games for fans in the community. Peih-Gee is an ardent fan of escape rooms and immersive entertainment. She writes reviews for Room Escape Artist’s Hivemind collective and loves being an ambassador for the escape room community.
Manpans and Errol talk to Jeb Havens (jebhavensgames@gmail.com) about Room Escape Jams! Listen in to learn about creating an escape room in a day. Also, if you’d like to watch us talk, we’re also on youtube with very minimal production effort:
Jeb Havens is a game & interactive designer living in Los Angeles. He has been professionally designing games and software since 2003, working for companies such as Google, Electronic Arts, and YouTube. He has worked across a wide range of platforms, including mobile phones, gaming consoles, and Facebook. And he has designed games for big brands such as Disney, Marvel, Samantha Bee, SimCity, DoorDash, Spore, and Playboy. Jeb has over 10 years of experience leading game design workshops for conferences and private companies, for groups as large as 200 participants, and he has given a variety of lectures about game design and cognitive science. Jeb is also a multi-award-winning board game designer, a professionally-published puzzle writer, an international recording artist, and an Off-Broadway playwright. He has a love of travel and other cultures, and has backpacked through 50 different countries around the world.
Furthermore, she is collecting more data from enthusiasts now about online games! If you are reading this now and have done a lot of online escape rooms, fill out the survey!
And in our latest effort to make our podcasts also visual, here is the above podcast on YouTube!
120 - RECON: Running an Online Escape Room Conference on Discord
Aug 07, 2020
Manda and Errol talk to Theresa Piazza about the Escape Room conference Reality Escape Con. They discuss being an exhibitor and a sponsor, as well as the challenges of pivoting a conference to only being online in Discord. And if you are interested, you can also watch this online! Huzzah!
119 - The ASPMC: An Interview with Kellian Pletcher
Jul 24, 2020
117 - Scooby-Doo!™: Escape from the Haunted Mansion - An interview with Sen-Foong Lim and Jay Cormier
Jun 26, 2020
Oh boy, that’s a long title. Manda and Errol talk to Jay Cormier and Sen-Foong Lim about the newest escape room board game, Scooby-Doo!™: Escape from the Haunted Mansion. In this episode, they talk about design decisions, challenges, and upcoming games with the Coded Chronicles™ series from The OP.
116 - A Casual Chat with Nick Moran about Escape Rooms
Jun 12, 2020
Manda and Errol get together again to talk to Nick Moran, best known for creating Time Run and the BBC’s Sherlock Escape Room The Game Is Now. There is a lot of talk about escape rooms, but probably more talk about how we have no analytics.
115 - Manpans Rants About Online Escape Rooms
May 29, 2020
In this short episode, Manpans has rants! So she rants, and the rest of the Divas interrupt her. It was amazing!
114 - Game Design with PostCurious
May 15, 2020
Manda and Errol talk with Rita Orlov of Post Curious about her latest Kickstarter The Emerald Flame! Listen in as we chat about game design, take home games, narrative puzzle adventures, and other topics Errol tangents on.
With all the online escape rooms available, a number of lists have been created to collate them all. However, soon there were a lot of lists to keep track of. So Manda and Errol talk to Brett Kuehner about the meta list of lists he compiled. You can find the list on his website:
Live simulated escape room - tell a GM what to do, they pretend they're playing an escape room-like setup and tell you what would happen (eg. Escape This Podcast)
Escape room-style video game - video game that emphasizes puzzles, collaboration, discovery, and other escape room like elements (eg. Tick Tock)
Escape room-style tabletop game - board/card/paper game that emphasizes puzzles, collaboration, discovery, etc. (eg. Unlock!, Exit)
Online puzzle hunt - puzzles hosted online, without other escape room trappings (eg. most of puzzlehuntcalendar.com)
Puzzle book - puzzles in a book, without other escape room trappings (eg. Journal 29)
112 - The Isolation Episode with Room Escape Artist
Mar 20, 2020
Manda and Errol meet up with Lisa and David Spira Room Escape Artist who are in self-isolation after returning from Europe.
111 - Discussing Escape Room Puzzle Tropes
Mar 06, 2020
Ruby, Manda, and Mike get together and discuss 101 Best Escape Room Puzzle Ideas as published by Now Escape in 2016. It’s four years later, how do these puzzle ideas stack up now?
110 - Cryptex Hunt 2020: Behind the Scenes
Feb 21, 2020
Mike learns about this year’s Cryptex Hunt! Manda and Mike question Errol about what it’s like writing a novel, writing a puzzle hunt, and dealing with server issues.
Yes, people this year have to read a novel.
109 - Would This Mechanic Work in an Escape Room?
Feb 07, 2020
The Divas are all here! And in this episode, we discuss different mechanics and practices that may or may not work in a room. For example, saboteur mechanics, multiple paths, and other topics. Errol’s also pretty loopy.
108 - 2019 Escape Room Enthusiast Survey with Lee-Fay Low
Jan 24, 2020
Huzzah! We talk to Lee-Fay Low, an Associate Professor at the University of Sydney and an avid enthusiast of escape rooms, about the 2019 Escape Room Enthusiast Survey! Listen in on her insights and what it was like putting together a survey translated into 14 different languages.
107 - Top Escape Rooms with Rich Bragg
Jan 10, 2020
The 2019 Top Escape Rooms Project Enthusiasts’ Choice Awards was released! This year, 50 top English speaking escape rooms have been identified.
In this episode, Manpans and Errol talk with Rich Bragg (co-founder of ClueKeeper and a Guiness Record holder for most escape rooms done in 24 hours), to discuss TERPECA, or the “Braggs” as we like to call them.
106 - Room Escape Artist and the Escape Room Industry
Dec 13, 2019
Wow! We discussed so many things with Lisa and David Spira of Room Escape Artist. And we have a parody song by Benito Suppa of Durham Escape Rooms! Huzzah! Something to get you into the holiday spirit.
105 - The Privilege of Escape with Risa Puno
Nov 29, 2019
The Divas are all here! Huzzah! And they had a lot of fun chatting to Risa Puno about her escape room art installation called The Privilege of Escape put on by Creative Time. Listen in as Risa tries really hard not to give spoilers to her game, and then tells them all. You have been warned. :D
104 - Club Drosselmeyer, Four Years Later!
Nov 16, 2019
We have Green Door Labs back! And four years later, we see how Club Drosselmeyer has grown! Listen in as Manda and Errol talk to Kellian and Brian Pletcher about their puzzle, theatrical, escape room, Nutcracker Suite, musical, dance show!
103 - Escape Room Marketing
Nov 01, 2019
Manda and Errol are joined by Melissa Eapen of Improbable Escapes! She did a talk at the Escape Summit called “How proper marketing can result in higher sales for your escape room”, and she brings some of that wisdom to this podcast! Also, you can hear about Manda’s dating life! Huzzah!
About Melissa Eapen: Melissa Eapen’s professional and personal journey is a great example of what happens when you merge the power of creativity, the love for business and the thirst for adventure into one. An established business owner, international traveler, passionate adventurer and inspired writer, Melissa is always on the lookout for ways she can continue to inspire, empower and encourage others. Melissa has won awards for marketing Improbable Escapes, and works with various travel organizations to market their destinations.
102 - Meeting with Escape This Podcast
Oct 25, 2019
Manda and Errol met with Bill and Dani of Escape This Podcast! They are doing a tour of escape rooms in North America, and the divas were so happy to meet up with them in real life.
And they sing! I’m so happy they sing!
In this episode’s parody, we do the Confrontation song from Les Mis!
ERROL: So Bill, we're trapped We're tied up in these chains But over there I see the answer plain BILL: Before you say another word, Errol Before we try answers in vain again Listen to me! We should try to think things through This problem needs some time and discerning eyes There is none but me who can set us free As I've explained, this phrase is all we need If we can discern, the secret word Just need to discern
ERROL: I just think you're mad! There's the solution plain and clear Many times I have explained It's all from that clue.
ERROL TOGETHER WITH BILL: Many times I have explained Many times I have explained Try 24601 I've told you what I saw! You'll see I'm right! Enter it - 24601! That's the only thing we've found What is left, but nothing, now? Can't you see we're wasting time Soon there'll be a price to pay Every chance we have to win will be gone. We'll lose this way! You see nothing, it's unfair! We'll be stuck inside this jail I am trapped in here with you This is why I hate split rooms
BILL TOGETHER WITH ERROL: Believe of it, what you will There is an answer, but it's not from you You know nothing, here's advice. Why won't you help out instead? You know nothing of this word You would sooner see us dead But not before I see this room is won! Quit ignoring me, I swear How will we escape these bars? And the hours not up yet! Our game is not yet done! You know nothing, it's unfair! There's a clue but who knows where Seems I am alone in here It's why I hate split rooms
101 - Teach an Escape Room Class
Oct 04, 2019
Manda and Errol talk to Brett Kuehner and Justin Seventko who taught a high school class how to create and build an escape room. There should be more escape room classes in education! And also, here is the document of Escape Room Design Resources mentioned in the podcast.
And we are bringing back parody songs! We’ll see how long that will hold up. This episode’s song was sung by Rachel Arpin, who also sang in the last episode!
It’s a parody of Natalie Imbruglia’s song Torn.
Worn Well, we could see it had a nice decor but did they know, were they aware Of game design before Cuz all of that was just ignored
Were they aware? Did they "ask why"? Explanations felt so dry And what's going on For all their locks were worn
That was such a waste This is how I feel. The room was kinda lame And the puzzles were a bore nothing was maintained The wires weren't concealed The rooms decayed and I can see that all the locks are worn What did I just play? All the locks are worn
Would you have guessed there weren't enough flashlights We couldn't see what was there and nothing did go right we really hate this game and now I don't care, we're so stuck and it seems we missed so much we want to put this code in again this lock is worn
100 Episodes of Room Escape Divas
Sep 21, 2019
Huzzah! We hit a 100 episodes!
You can watch our shenanigans live, because the whole thing was streamed, and it includes a number of room escape parodies too!
However, if you’d rather listen instead, the podcast has a higher quality audio! Enjoy, and thanks for joining us for such a long time!
This pic was taken when we learned the “Anxious” had to answer all the puzzles. Ha ha ha! Love it.
Register for our 100th Episode!
Sep 16, 2019
Our 100th episode will be live on
September 21, at 1:00pm EST.
Mike, Manpans, and Errol have made some puzzles, and we are going to challenge each other to do them!
And because this is live, you can join in and solve puzzles with us! Well, Mike made a puzzle to troll Errol so you can join in and watch Errol and Manpans suffer.
Be sure to register ahead of time. Why? Because we will see if you can solve the puzzles before we can. It will be very exciting!
99 - How Escape Rooms Do Difficulty Wrong
Sep 06, 2019
Errol wrote another article called How Escape Rooms Do Difficulty Wrong. In this episode, the Divas discuss the article, the Escape Room Player Loop, and the upcoming 100th live episode where they want you to join in!
98 - Noah Nelson of No Proscenium
Aug 23, 2019
Manda is interviewing solo! And she got a chance to interview Noah Nelson, the founder and publisher of No Proscenium – the guide to everything immersive. No Proscenium is a newsletter, web site, and podcast of the immersive arts and entertainment industry.
If you have any interest in the immersive industry, they are the people to go to!
97 - Escape Room Club!
Aug 09, 2019
The Divas meet up with Kyle Cacilhas who runs an escape room club at the University of Windsor, Ontario called Escape Artists. Kyle has taken his love for escape rooms and turned it into a club to raise funds for other organizations!
96 - Acting in Escape Rooms
Jul 26, 2019
The Divas interview Barbara-Audrey Bergeron, who has acted in escape rooms and was also an actor in their events!
Manda and Errol head off to the west coast with Margaux and Leezet to do an escape room Marathon! They hit 16 escape rooms in about 3 and a half days. It was amazing! They also got a chance to talk to so many people! And Errol rants only two times out of 16 escapes!
Giselle and Michelle of Pandora's Locks (And thanks to Brian)
And a special thanks to our friends who joined us in our escapes: Margaux, Leezet, Elvina, Justin Nevins, Emile Wang, Michelle, John, Dina, and Evan. It was great to have a crew to eat with, play games with, and talk for hours.
91 - The Escape Summit with Fred Preddy
May 17, 2019
Errol is alone while the other Divas are in NOLA, so he talks to Fred Preddy of Escape Maze about the upcoming Canadian Escape Conference, The Escape Summit.
90 - Frequently Argued Questions about Escape Rooms
May 03, 2019
However, the Divas don’t cover these questions, considering the doc does a good job of that. Instead, they chat about the topics listed at the bottom of the document:
Refunds for tech issues
Should photos of the room be shown or not?
“first timer reviews” vs. enthusiast reviews — are reviews useful at all?
Franchises
Traditional locks vs. “no lock” rooms
89 - Online Escape Rooms with YouEscape
Apr 19, 2019
The Divas interview Nick Vanikiotis, the creator of YouEscape! YouEscape is an online, live escape game where you speak to the game master through your microphone (or smartphone) in order to interact with the objects in the live video stream.
It’s pretty cool and Manda and Errol talk about their experience as well without giving any spoilers!
Manpans and Errol get together with Dustin Freeman, creator of Aluminum Cat, an online adventure, immersive experience, with a live actor.
In this episode, Dustin gets a chance to talk about creating this project, as well as the Immersive Design Community.
The Divas also have a Let’s Play version if you wish to see the game in action before listening to the podcast!
87 - Weird Escape Attempts - Fault of Designer or Player?
Mar 22, 2019
Buzzfeed released an article where Gamemasters describe weird escape attempts. The Divas decided to go through each one and discuss whether or not the attempt is because the game designer did something wrong, or if the player really is just clueless.
We also get around to how may times we get scared in escape rooms!
86 - Escape Room Themes
Mar 08, 2019
The Divas got a request from Jonathan Driscoll of Escaparium to talk about themes. So we did! Huzzah! :D
85 - Crimes Against Mimesis in Escape Rooms
Feb 22, 2019
This topic came up a few times in the enthusiast groups, and so we decided to tackle the sins committed against mimesis in escape rooms, as discussed in Roger Giner-Sorolla’s essay “Crimes Against Mimesis” which can be found in the IF Theory Reader.
We also talk about the “Bill of Player’s Rights” which is discussed in Graham Nelson’s essay The Craft of Adventure.
84 - How to Start a Podcast or Blog in the Escape Room Industry
Feb 08, 2019
There are a lot of people looking to start a podcast, blog, or youtube video series, and so the Divas have dedicated a whole podcast to talk about how to start one! They talk about the 4 C’s of creating content for public consumption, and they also answer the frequently asked question: Why do they call her Manpans?
And for those of you who are interested, here are the two links about podcasting discussed in this episode.
83 - Dealing with Criticism in the Escape Room Industry
Jan 25, 2019
There was a small bit of drama, and Errol loves drama, and that spurred on this podcast!
82 - Escape Room Safety
Jan 11, 2019
The news of the tragedy hit the escape room industry pretty hard. The Divas discuss escape room safety in their latest episode.
And since we recorded this last night, we are releasing this with no edits! Well, ok, there were 4 edits, but only 4!
81 - Top Escape Rooms Project with Rich Bragg
Dec 28, 2018
If you haven’t heard about the Top Escape Rooms Project, you should check it out. Seventy enthusiasts around the world got together and voted on the top 25 escape rooms!
In this episode, we caught up with Rich Bragg (also the co-founder of ClueKeeper), to discuss how he started the Top Escape Rooms Project. Instead of talking about the winning rooms, we talk more about the details on the genesis of the Enthusiast Choice Awards, or the “Braggs” as we like to call them.
80 - The Escape Room Scene with Room Escape Artist
Dec 14, 2018
It is now tradition to catch up with Lisa and David Spira of Room Escape Artist. We talk about a lot of things, and for a full time signature breakdown, check out REA’s post!
This is the photo talked about in the podcast. Photo courtesy of EscapeRoomZandvoort.nl.
79 - The Game is Now with Nick Moran
Nov 30, 2018
For Escape Room and BBC’s Sherlock fans comes a new game called The Game Is Now. Manda and Errol get a chance to talk to the game director, Nick Moran, best known for creating one of the top escape room companies in the world, Time Run.
78 - Guinness World Record For Most Escape Rooms in One Day
Nov 16, 2018
The Divas discuss their trips to Montreal and they also debate which has the greater rooms: Montreal, Toronto, or Ottawa? Contentious topics!
Mike and Ruby at Escaparium!
76 - A Thousand Escape Rooms with Sera and Sharan
Oct 12, 2018
Over a thousand escape rooms, wow! The Divas chat with Sera Dodd and Sharan Gill, also known as S2, about escape rooms enthusiasm, game and puzzle design, and ERIC, an escape room conference in the UK.
You may want to read the document first, because we reference it a lot!
74 - Room Escape Artist and their Amazing Friends
Sep 14, 2018
Errol was in Los Angeles and he had a wonderful time. In this episode, he meets up with a number of escape room enthusiasts and interviews as many as he can. He also gets distracted a lot.
73 - Escape Room Software with David Hernly of M3
Aug 31, 2018
In this episode, Errol gets into a nerd competition with David Hernly. They also talk about escape room software and David's own Mythric Mystery Master, a software platform for running escape rooms!
72 - The Escape Room Industry in Asia with Yolanda Chiu
Aug 17, 2018
Escape Rooms pretty much started in Asia, and their market has matured over the years. The Divas have a great chat with Yolanda Chiu of Asia Escape Game. She's from Taiwan and has been doing research on the escape room industry in Asia. Manda first met her when Yolanda gave a talk about at Up The Game 2018.
71 - Errol Visits Boston Escape Rooms!
Aug 03, 2018
Errol and his family went to Boston! There, they met up with some other enthusiasts (Lisa and David Spira, James Cobalt), checked out Make Way for Ducklings statues, and also did eight escape rooms. It was an expensive trip but fun! Listen in as Errol talks and talks and talks about his experiences with Boston Escape Rooms.
You may not know, or care, but Errol has a daily webcomic about his life. He's quite the narcissist.
70 - Russell Leasure on being an Excellent Game Master
Jul 20, 2018
In this podcast, all the Divas chat with Russell Leasure, who will be holding a seminar at Transworld's Escape Room Conference called How to Unlock Your Game Master's Potential.
Listen in as we discuss hiring good game masters, being a good game master, and ghosting.
Next time, we'll get a cool picture of Russell doing actual game mastering. :D
69 - Escape Rooms in Conventions with Delaney Anderson
Jul 13, 2018
Delaney Anderson and her crew of Portable Escapes run escape rooms at different comic conventions! Listen in as Manda and Errol discuss with her the ins and outs of running an escape room for the geeky masses.
68 - Escape Rooms in Schools and Libraries with Steph Frey
Jun 22, 2018
Stephanie Frey hosts the Games in Schools & Libraries podcast here on Inverse Genius, and we got the chance to talk about her work creating escape rooms in libraries, doing an escape room camp, and using escape rooms to help educate children!
67 - The Future of Escape Room Narrative
Jun 08, 2018
Manpans got a chance to attend a lot of seminars at Up the Game in the Netherlands. She attended Jasper Wille's seminar on "Meaningful Choice" and immediately decided to have him as a guest on our podcast.
Jasper Wille is a narrative designer and has been active in the world of Real Life Experiences since the early arrival of Escape Rooms in Western-Europe.
Listen in as they discuss the future of escape room narrative.
66 - Musings on the Escape Room Industry
May 25, 2018
Having finished her whirlwind tour of the Netherlands, Manpans rounds up her thoughts on the Up the Game conference she attended. And Errol went to visit his parents in Calgary and did seven rooms over the long weekend.
Listen in as they ruminate on narrative, puzzle difficulty, and Manda's drinking habits.
65 - Attending Up The Game
May 11, 2018
Manda Whitney was just in the Netherlands attending the escape room conference Up The Game! She got a chance to talk to a whole host of people, and for your reference, we've included a timeline for the very first time. We should be doing this for all of our podcasts.
64 - The Trust Spectrum and Escape Rooms (Playing with Strangers)
Apr 27, 2018
In response to the controversial topic of public games and playing with strangers, Scott Nicholson shared this wonderful post on the FB Enthusiast group called The Trust Spectrum by Raph Koster, game designer, and author of A Theory of Fun for Game Design.
Manda and Errol discuss the Trust Spectrum and see how it applies to escape rooms!
63 - Are Escape Rooms Good for Team Building?
Apr 13, 2018
Are escape rooms good for team building? Surprisingly, not really. In this two hour special, Listen in as the Divas interview Dr. Linda Carson, a professor of Fine Arts at the University of Waterloo. She has a Ph.D. in Psychology (Behavioural and Cognitive Neuroscience) and teaches teamwork, creativity, design thinking, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
62 - Hint Giving in Escape Rooms
Mar 30, 2018
All the Divas are back to talk about Hint Giving in Escape Rooms!
David interviews six people in total: Justin Nevins, Errol Elumir, Darren Miller, Dan Egnor, David Lewis, and Manda Whitney.
There are going to be all sorts of spoilers in this podcast, so if you have not done the Cryptex Hunt, or you WANT to hear spoilers for the Cryptex Hunt, be forewarned.
And the parody song is from an old band Errol used to be part of called Debs & Errol. It seemed appropriate at this point.
As a text game enthusiast, I love this picture. Hah!
60- Chatting with E4G's Codegreen (aka Leader)
Mar 02, 2018
Errol and Manda are off running the Cryptex Hunt, so Mike and Ruby chat with Leader (aka E4G's CodeGreen) about life with escape rooms, travelling and how things have changed for them in Toronto.
No song again. Sadness. Hopefully we will be less busy soon!
59 - Escape Room Design Course with Scott Nicholson
Feb 16, 2018
And he ran a Escape Room Design course! How awesome is that?! ^_^ Listen in as we talk about the course, and the final escape event they created!
Oooh! Intrigue!
58 - The Cryptex Puzzle Hunt
Feb 02, 2018
The Divas interview Justin Nevins and Errol Elumir about their upcoming puzzle hunt, the Cryptex Hunt! It will start on Feb 24th, and features such prizes as a custom cryptex®!
In the interview, we talk about puzzle hunts and Justin speaks on what it's like working with Errol, which is as you expect. Justin also does his best not to give any spoilers.
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