We visited Escape Room Arlington back in July of 2019. We played their "Supervillains" room and loved it! It even received a bullseye award from us! We are super excited when they asked us to be featured on their blog. We gave a lot of background story on how we ended up becoming who we are today. Enjoy! Click Here #CiciCao #Articles #ETRinthepress #escaperoom #escapetheroomers #escapearlington #review #blog #fun #supervillains #topratedgame #bullseyeaward

We were suppose to attend UTG's conference in the Netherlands this year along with our Netherland escape room tour but due to COVID everything was cancelled. We are grateful to have recovered from COVID in time to be able to participate at the online festival's breakout room sessions (special shout out to Norbert & Rik for putting this together!). There were many veterans and industry leaders at the online conference and we had an amazing time meeting them. There were also fun digital games offered. See below for a sample of their daily schedule. We hope to meet in person one day but for now let's revisit some wonderful memories! #CiciCao #Articles #Events #upthegame #utg #europe #escaperoom #escaperoomconference #conference #etr

We had a blast watching NBC's special for Red Nose Day (Please support and donate! yesterday. There were moments wow moments (when they completed DDR in one shot), laughter (when these phrases were used:“Whats’s 4x9?”, “Lets get loud ahhhhhhhh”, “turn it over and it’s 666 sign of the devil”, “red and white is orange”), and screaming (when we saw a solution to a puzzle and they didn't). If you missed the show last night, check out the video below: #CiciCao #Articles #IndustryNews #escapetheroomers #escaperooms #celebrityinescaperooms #celebrity #show #rednoseday #letsplay #donate

Hi everyone! We've started to gather this "master list" of "At Home Games" since March of 2020. The list has became a great resource for players and creators, In the list, you'll find games in various languages and from over 40+ countries. There's about 700+ companies and over 3,000 games listed. Whether you are looking for a free game, point-n-click game, game with an live avatar, puzzle trivia with a live host, tabletop games, puzzle book, print-n-cut, kids game or App/PC games, you should be able to find something to keep you entertained at home. We will continue to update this list DAILY as we discover new games on the market. [ For The List ] (Updated daily - Sorted by category and then by company name) As players, we hope the list makes it convenient for you to find what you're looking for. If the company is offering the games for free as "pay-what-you-can" or "donation" method, we hope you would consider a small payment to help them during these difficult times. If you are an owner or game creator, we hope this list can give you some insights to the different types of games and pricing that are out there. Perhaps it could even spark some creative ideas on new projects for the future. If your game is not listed on there and you would like to be listed, please email us. We have divided the games into these categories below but the online gaming industry is changing so quickly that we'll be constantly updating our description as we see fit. For now here are the current categories (you can find this on the main page of the list as well): Remote Escape Room - Booking for a specific time is needed. There's an actual game master (avatar) who's set up physically in an escape room (you'll be viewing this over Zoom or other video conferencing device) and you'll be instructing them on what you would like them to do (including opening items, locks, etc...). The game is often times paired with an online inventory system. Audio Escape Game/ Live Stream Puzzle - Booking for a specific time is needed. The game master will not be in a physical escape room setting and you'll be meeting together via Zoom, Google Hangout, Skype, etc. Audio games mostly will be paired with visual images or sound. Digital (Escape) Game (w/ or W/o GM) - Online game in point-n-click format. If there's a storyline that is similar to a mission where you'll need to escape or you're being timed, then we put it under digital escape game. Other wise, you'll just see it as digital game where it's more like a puzzle hunt. These will be delivered immediately to you via email or you can play it on their website. There are no game masters/ guides (unless we specify GM next to it). The GM will be there for hint guidance and tech issues. There's no narratives like in audio escape games. These games could have prerecorded video and audio components DIY Escape Kit - Can be downloaded from online immediately after purchase. Additional supplies may be required like a printer, scissors etc...in order to play the game. There usually some narratives involved although some are just plain puzzles. Some games will require you to combine online elements as well as the printouts. Online Puzzle Games - Riddles and Puzzles with no storyline. These will be delivered immediately to you via email or available on the website. Some may require printing. Puzzles by Mail (Books/Tabletop Games) - These are developing stories/ puzzle boxes/ board games that could be subscription based or just a one time purchase. It would most likely have to be mailed to you although some might have digital options. Escape/Strategy Video Games - PC or App Game Immersive Experiences - Theater production/Role Playing/Live streamed shows that's more focused on the narrative but have some light puzzles/mysteries elements We've also separated out a category for Free Games and Kids Games on the list. If you notice anything you've played recently that's missing on the list, we would really appreciated if you could EMAIL US that information. If there’s any errors that you were able to spot on the list, please contact us right away so we can amend them. Lastly... if you would like us to beta test or review your game, please email us. For players who would like to play a game or two with us, check out our tier programs on Patreon! We really love meeting new people from all over the world! Most of all, enjoy these "At Home Games" and puzzle on!!! #CiciCao #Articles #Guides #STAYATHOME #FlattenTheCurve #OnlinePuzzleGames #RemoteEscape #VirtualEscape #PuzzlesByMail #EscapeVideoGames #Quarantine #DIY #stayathomegames #digitalgame #onlinegame #tabletopgames #appgames #videogames

Since last March, we started playing remote (online) escape rooms (with live avatar) from companies all over the world. As of today, we've played close to 200 of them from countries like USA, Hungary, Malta, Brazil, UK, Japan, Portugal, Italy, Australia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Canada, Ukraine, Croatia, Russia, Greece, Poland, France, Austria, Lithuania, Cyprus, Ireland, Spain, Slovenia, Germany, Switzerland, Finland and Singapore. It's so nice to be able to see the different takes on puzzle ideas and room designs. The concept of having a GM (sometimes even the owners themselves) as avatar where they will be to our eyes and hands in front of a camera was born during this pandemic period since Escape Rooms weren't allow to open. Even now when escape rooms are allow to open to the public, we are still seeing some companies continue to offer the remote option to customers. It really opened doors for enthusiasts who would probably never be able to travel to their location in their whole life time to be able to play their games online. I still get questions from our readers who's never tried an online escape room before on how these are played and if I have any tips for them. Hopefully these pro tips below will get you prepared and successfully escape every one of them in the future! Pro Tip 1 - Prepare Your Tech "Tools": If you've never played an online escape game before, make sure you read the email instructions carefully and prepare what you'll need in advance. Most companies will be using either Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Meetup, Jitsi or some other video conferencing platform to host the game, You should download the software and test out the camera and microphone ahead of time. A lot of the games have sound effects and some may even have audio puzzles so it's best to wear headsets during the game play. If you don't have headsets, be mindful of other players on your team and "mute" and "unmute" yourself during the game whenever there's audio components. If you are fancy and have dual monitors, it's definitely an advantage during most of these games as they are often paired with an inventory system. It's a lot easier for you to have Zoom on one screen and the inventory system on the other. Pro Tip 2 - Assign Roles: This one might be tricky and tough to follow pending on the team you're playing with. Sometimes its really difficult to hear the avatar or vise versa when all the players are talking at the same time. It would be great if there's a designated searcher and the person who ultimately calls out the codes once decided by the group. But usually everyone would like to contribute so it's hard to manage to keep those rules rigid. This technique is definitely useful if you're going to try to aim for the leaderboard, Pro Tip 3 - Inform Your Avatar: Since your avatar doesn't know what type of players you and your team are (beginners or enthusiasts that gave played hundreds of escape games), it's best to let them know how you would like to play the game prior to the start. This could avoid confusion or frustration later on as some players might feel like the avatar is doing too much on their own or too slow for their team's speed (i.e. If we informed the avatar to check the first drawer, it would be great if the he/she could also check on the bottom drawer without our instructions). Pro Tip 4 - Automate The Search: Even though you have a team of players joining you on Zoom, there's only one avatar. You may discover puzzles that you can solve simultaneously but there's still only one pair of hands that will be able to act on your instructions. Instead of having the avatar run around the room and multiple players all shouting different things for him/her to do at the same time, it's best to just inform them to search the room from left to right (or vise versa) in an automated fashion. You'll save a lot of time that you can use towards solving puzzles and the search will be more thorough as you won't forget any areas. If the avatar found items in the previous room and you've just opened up a new space, have them carry the items with them. Chances are you'll be using it in there so this will also save some time. Pro Tip 5 - Settle on a Strategy: After the start of the game, you'll probably realize if the puzzles are linear or nonlinear. If the game provided ways where players are able to solve various puzzles separately (this is rare as it's quite difficult to do from the online format but we've seen some really good implementations from a few of the companies), then you might want to choose the "divide and conquer" route where one person searches and the others solve puzzles. Some teams like to do things together which is totally a legit strategy for these online type of escape games. Pro Tip 6 - Take Notes: Even if the game provided you with an inventory system where you'll see images of items being collected or taken away after you've used them, it's still a good habit to take notes throughout the game. If you see a lock, write down how many digits or letters you'll need. This will help you associate which clue goes with which lock later on. If you see 4 picture frames and you have a 4 digit lock then there must be some correlation there. You'll also be able to check back on what you haven't used in the room with this method. Pro Tip 7 - Don't be a Virtual Puzzle "Hogger" - Just like in a real life escape room, if you saw something in the room that others haven't, make sure to share the information. There's no benefit in keeping things to yourself. Communication is the key to success. If there is an interactive puzzle that you can't seem to solve, let your teammates have a go at it. Don't let the game be held up by your stubbornness. Pro Tip 8 - Avatar Assistance: Many players are stubborn about asking hints but with online games sometimes it's necessary. I actually don't consider these as hints but merely as "confirmations" so definitely use them and don't let your self get stuck for over 5 minutes as time goes by pretty quickly for these online games especially if you're not keeping track. For instance, if there's a hidden panel in a drawer and I'm not there in person, I won't be able to know that it actually moves. I would have to rely on the avatar to "tell" (inspect for) me as I would've never been able to discover this over the camera on my own. There are also times when audio doesn't come through clearly and we have to ask the avatar to repeat the information even if it is a message that actually gave us a code to open a lock. Sometimes the clue written on the paper is unclear so you'll need to ask the avatar to confirm if it is a 6 or a 9. It's important for you to ask them to interact with the things in the room as there are items that might not seem like it could be pushed or pulled or turned so make sure to try everything. Lastly, this is just a reminder that these are escape rooms that you would be able to play in real life. You should assume that a key or a code should only be used once unless you're told otherwise. All the basic rules of no climbing, two finger rule or doing dangerous things still apply so don't instruct your avatar to do something you wouldn't do. In a way, the inventory system and the avatar actually makes escaping easier since there's more organization and guidance. The avatar sometimes would subconsciously give you hints through their camera view on places you haven't explored or where to put a certain item. The inventory system will organize the items you've collected and remove them after you've used them for a certain puzzle. In real life you'll need to figure all of these things out yourself. If you just started playing escape rooms, these online games could give you some great pointers and training to get you ready for the real life action. We love them because we have been able to escape every one of these rooms and it's definitely helped improve our escape rate! We'll never stop playing these as long as the companies still offer them. My favorite part about playing these games online is the fact that we are able to enjoy them with friends from all over the world and be able to meet the creators face to face over Zoom! Hopefully you find this blog useful and let us know if your escape rate has gone up because of this! If you are interested in trying a remote/online escape room, check out some awesome ones that have won our Bullseye Award! #CiciCao #Articles #Perspectives #Protip #howtoescapeanescaperoomonline #victory #escaperoomtips #howtoescape #perfectescape #escaperate #youcandoit #escaping #escapegamesonline #escaperoomsonline #remoteescaperoom #remoteescapegame #onlineescaperoom

Didn't attend the 2020 RECON (Reality Escape Convention) last year? Well definitely don't miss out again this year! This convention will be hosted online on August 22-23, 2021 so you have no excuse not the attend. Take a look at the teaser below as it takes you down the memory lane of last year's event: This convention is hosted by our lovely friends at Room Escape Artist, David & Lisa Spira. We love their mission of bring together people with similar passion and interest for the gaming and entertainment world. RECON is a great place to gain knowledge through Featured Speakers, connect with industry professionals (through RECON DISCORD), participate in workshops, play games. and you can even get a chance to create your own virtual escape room! The great thing about this event is that you can attend for absolutely FREE! We recommend selecting the $30 basic ticket option to support what they do. There are many hard working individuals putting in a ton of hours to make this event come to live. If you're looking for more than the basic experience, check out their ticket page for PRO and VIP options. We are so excited to become their media partner this year. Like REA, we love meeting creative people, playing games with amazing puzzlers, and spreading the love for our beloved industry wherever we go. Be prepared to be amazed by RECON 2021. We are especially looking forward to the Karaoke room and the after party. What are you waiting for? Get your ticket today! #CiciCao #Articles #Events #EscapeRooms #FreeEvent #EscapeRoomConvention #Recon

Mystery Puzzle Games (MPG) is one of several terms used to describe an explosively growing hobby full of armchair detectives, ghost hunters, treasure seekers, and solvers of puzzles and mysteries…a hobby the traces its origins back to Edgar Allan Poe with roots leading back further into ancient cryptography, Detective Fiction, and the history of puzzles. There are other viable terms and names, but for consistency, Mystery Puzzle Game is the terminology these articles will use. Defining this hobby can be as simple as knowing it when you see it, and as difficult as slicing through multiple overlapping Venn diagrams. There is disagreement as to where the lines are, which circles create the Venn diagrams, and what actually belongs in this hobby, along with many “cousin” lines and offshoots (escape rooms, puzzle boxes, etc.). Many hobbies are defined by those within it, whereas this hobby has been created through multiple means, times, and methods without even the forethought of being a part of a larger, specific hobby. For example, some just wanted to create a more immersive murder mystery story, others wanted to add storylines or themes to puzzles, whereas others wanted to create immersive worlds and experiences. Some have created books, some have added physical props to books, others have created subscription boxes with paperwork and artifacts, while others have moved to digital platforms...so, with all of this variety, how do we define this hobby? One of the best ways to describe the genre is to provide examples of the largest players in the field, and work outward from there: Hunt a Killer Deadbolt Mystery Society Murder Mystery in a Box Mysterious Package Company From there, there are many newcomers in the market, a small sample of which are: The Curious Correspondence Club The Scarlet Envelope The Boundless Library The Society of Curiosities Another type is puzzle books, from companies such as: Escapages Escape Book Montague Island Mysteries And these are just some of the 100s of samples that are known. So, what defines this hobby and separates it from similar hobbies? One way is to investigate what it is not, although that line can often be fuzzy (the Venn diagram of this hobby overlaps several other hobbies, not surprisingly). What it is not: Escape rooms (although they are a close cousin and often progenitor of this hobby) In person Virtual ARGs (Augmented Reality Games) (another cousin) WhoDunnit? Detective stories...a really close sibling that crosses the line at times Board games (with some exceptions) Card games (with some exceptions) Confusing, isn't it? So, what are the key elements of a Mystery Puzzle Game (MPG)? The three concentric circles of the Venn diagram are in the name itself: Mystery Puzzle Game It is a game, first and foremost. It is a "game" in the fact that the reader or player needs to absorb information and act upon it -- versus a passive reading of a novel, for example. It contains a mystery to solve. This is the primary action the player must complete. It can be as simple as guessing the killer from evidence provided, to uncovering layers of mystery and meaning through hidden clues and across multiple products. It is a puzzle. The mystery is not just presented, but must actively be solved, whether through deductive reasoning, decoding ciphers, researching real-world locations for clues, or drawing a map and folding a piece of paper, for example. So, putting this together, this definition of the hobby is a game where a player solves a mystery through puzzles. There are many exceptions to the rule, but it helps to frame this as the center line for this and future articles. Now, how did this all begin and what does Edgar Allan Poe have to do with anything? He didn’t create games, never sent boxes to players at home to solve, and definitely had no concept of this genre even existing, so what makes him the keystone? First, to help keep everything in perspective, is the basic timeline of the earliest era of this hobby, coined here as “The Progenitor Age,” since many of these works are not fully realized Mystery Puzzle Games, but are the evolutionary steps towards them. 1843: The Gold Bug (Cipher in a story) 1881: The Cryptogram, book 2 of Eight Hundred Leagues on the Amazon by Jules Verne (descendant of The Gold Bug) 1907: Jun 30: 1st Detective Puzzle published in New York Tribune* 1926: The Haverfordian publishes The Shadow of the Goat, a short story by John Dickson Carr in their college publication that allows the reader a chance to solve the mystery before the answer was published in the following month. 1928: Feb 28: Cipher Stories Puzzle Book (Puzzles and stories with ciphers Consisting of twenty-five original short stories, dealing with life, love, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; each story containing at least two vital cipher puzzles 1928: Nov The Baffle Book published (Wren, McKay) 1929: Oct: The 2nd Baffle Book published (Wren, McKay) 1930: Oct: The 3rd Baffle Book published (Wren, McKay) 1932: Minute Mysteries is published (Ripley) 1933: The Mystery Puzzle Book is published. (Wren, McKay) 1935: Photo-crimes published in Britain in Weekly Illustrated 1936: Crime-file No. 1: The File on Blothio Blane 1936: Sep 20: The first Photo-crimes in the US is published in The Des Moines Register 1936: Nov 30: Photo-crimes book is published. 1936: The Marceau Case (dossier novel) 1936: X. Jones of Scotland Yard (dossier novel) 1937: Crime-file No. 2: File on Rufus Ray 1937: File on Robert Prentice 1937: Photo-crimes 1937: Crime-file No. 3: File on Fenton and Farr 1938: Crime-file No. 4: File on Claudia Cragge 1938: The Malinsay Massacre 1939: Herewith the Clues 1940s: Photo-crimes in Des Moines Register using photo crimes from David Nowinson (creator of "You Solve the Crime") and Harold Ripley (Creator of Minute Mysteries) In future articles these works will be discussed in more detail, but for now, how did Poe become the first data point? The three concentric circles leading into this hobby, again, are: Mysteries, Puzzles, and Games. Mysteries (Detectives, Locked Room) Mysteries have been around for a long time. Most mystery puzzle games dig into this history, often focused on detective-style work. Edgar Allan Poe is the creator of the fiction detective series with Dupin. Dupin would lead directly to Holmes, which would lead into Agatha Christie, Henri Bencolin, and dozens of others. Detective Fiction exploded in the 1930s leading to hundreds of books, magazines, and a craze around people trying to figure out how crimes were done as they read the stories. Edgar Allan Poe also created the locked room mystery (A mysterious case of a death in a locked room with no apparent way for the victim to have been murdered). with Murders in the Rue Morgue. The locked room mystery is also a progenitor of computer escape-the-room style games, which would lead to True Dungeon at Gencon in 2003 followed by the modern Escape Room hobby--topics for a future article. The Gold Bug (1843) is a direct ancestor to Jules Verne’s The Cryptogram, book 2 of Eight Hundred Leagues on the Amazon. Then by 1907 the first Detective Puzzle was published in the New York Tribune. These were visual puzzles for kids to solve with prompts explaining the setup and clews (as they were called). These are fairly simple and straightforward for adults, but provide a fun example of detective-themed puzzles and shows the influence that detective fiction would continue to have on the game hobby. Games Games have been around since ancient times and the history of games that is most related to this hobby begins in 1913 with the publication of the first “Word-Cross” in the New York World which led to an explosion of adults in the 1920 working out crosswords (and a few other similar puzzles) at home as a hobby, while there kids would focus on Detective Puzzles and other similar simplified-for-children puzzles. So now, by the late 1920s, all of the seeds have been planted and have been starting to grow...ready to explode in the 1930s in the first wave of Mystery Puzzle Games! The final culmination of these paths leading from ancient times, through Edgar Allan Poe, and the idea of publishing puzzles that could be solved at home (i.g. the Crossword Puzzle) would be in 1926... In 1926, The Haverfordian published The Shadow of the Goat, a short story by John Dickson Carr in their college publication that allowed the reader a chance to solve the mystery before the answer was published in the following month. It was an “impossible crime,” one that on the surface, like a locked-door murder, was impossible. This story took the Detective Crime Fiction created by Poe and continued by many, but added the twist of a game element! Instead of a reader trying to solve it as they went along with the story, this story had a purposeful break where the reader is asked to try to solve it before the answer was provided in the following issue! This would seem to be the very first intentional Mystery Puzzle Game (albeit in an infancy), with a story, clues, and a puzzle (in this case, a Whodunnit?). In our next article, we will investigate the 1930s and the very first wave of Mystery Puzzle Games and their kin in the Progenitor Age! #BrentPrice #MysteryPuzzleGamesandTheirOrigins #articles #perspectives #USA #History

Recon (Reality Escape Convention) 2021! What an amazing 2 day event! We finally have the time to sit down and write about some amazing memories we've encountered during this online convention. Day 1 After a hilarious opening intro from Harrison Greenbaum, the remarkable Neil Patrick Harris introduced the organizers of RECON David & Lisa Spira. The day got really busy from there on. We were hopping between Discord, their main website and Zoom. The main website is where all the "Speakers and Panels" were held. If you missed these incredible talks, they'll be releasing it on their YouTube in the future so make sure to subscribe to their YouTube channel! While busy learning about the industry through the talks and having multiple chats going on at same time in Discord, we managed to also squeeze in 3 fun games as well (if you got the RECON playpass you got over 30+ games to choose from so make sure you purchase that early next year!) : "Escape from Escape Island" from Trapped Puzzle Rooms , "The Triwizard Trials" from Improbable Escapes , and "Escape from Bell Hill Asylum" from TEN | Total Escape Network. A lot of these games were exclusively made for RECON so you can't play it elsewhere. Our day ended with an amazing surprising live hosted audio escape by the lovely Escape this Podcast joined by Neil Patrick Harris, Harrison Greenbaum, and Emily Jillette! Day 2 It's a bummer that we had to get our second vaccination shot on this day so other than playing the super fun and challenging game "CTRL/ALT/DECODE-MMXXI" by The Great Gotham Challenge (we came in 4th but only because of the amazing teammates! Shoutout to Mike Schnurr, Matthew Stein (Escape the Plagues), Ace Ellett & Anna Ellett (Bluefish Games) and Mark Denine!), trying to get into the secret society on RECON (you can still play the game and be inducted just check here for the first clue) and chatting away on Discord pub rooms! There were a lot of other fun stuff to do during RECON that we missed like workshops, learn about new games and technology with various vendors in exhibit halls, participate in a virtual escape jam, and after hour events like karaoke or trivia/puzzle pub! There's simply no way to attend everything in the mere two days. I wish I can split into multiple people or maybe the event can last a whole week instead? I'm sure the hardworking RECON team would be "delighted" to hear about this suggestion. Speaking of suggestion, if you send in your feedback now until Sept 6th by 23:59 (NY time), you will be eligible to be entered into a raffle to win a copy of signed "BoxOne" game by Neil Patrick Harris! We truly enjoyed partnering up with RECON this year as media partners as we see so much commonality in our mission and visions that we want for the community that we love. We love to get more people to recognize the fun in puzzles, escape rooms, immersive events and more! Meeting new friends in this industry also makes us feel like we are a big happy family. We can't wait for RECON to grow bigger and bigger each year and hopefully we'll see YOU all in person next year in Boston, MA! #CiciCao #recon2021 #recon #event #neilpatrickharris #boxone

"Only XXX Days to Gencon!" It is a phrase that one has probably heard if you are at all interested in tabletop games. Gencon is an the definitive tabletop gaming convention for the community. The types of genres represented (but not limited to) include; Board Games Tabletop Roleplaying Games War Games Miniatures Games Trading Card Games LARPing Escape Rooms Anime Film Puppets Art And more... There is a lot to do and see, and having the knowledge to tackle the initial process will greatly help all attendees in making the most of their four day weekend. Receiving an overview will decrease the stress of planning and give an “all-in-one” resource to reference. I could write a couple of pages on tips and tricks for the weekend but giving a brief guide (with more detailed guides coming later) would be the most beneficial. Without further ado, here is what one should do and expect when planning a trip to GENCON! The Three Steps Before you Go! (Planning your trip before the weekend) Step 1: Booking your tickets The tickets for Gencon go on sale many months in advance and average ~$120 USD for all four days of the convention. Buy early because they can sell out closer to the dates. When you buy your tickets make sure you select the option to have the passes shipped to your home. Do your future self a favor and spend the extra money to ship your badge to your residence. We did not choose this option the first time we went and waited 4hrs+ in line to get our passes, don’t wait in line. Step 2: Find lodging The housing process for the weekend can be a lot to deal with but to sum it up as best as possible. When you buy your 4 day pass before a certain date, you will be entered into a lottery for the “housing portal”. This is where you will book your hotel rooms for the event. The most prized hotels are downtown and they are connected via skywalk (a bridge to the convention center) and are the closest in proximity to all sorts of games and events occurring during the weekend. The lottery will give you a timeslot for you to book during the assigned day and the downtown rooms sell FAST. I have seen other people book via other means other than the housing portal but those rooms run at a higher rate than the housing portal. During your time slot, choose the best hotel option for you and/or your group. If you don’t get the hotel you were searching for, check back at later times because other people might have unbooked the room you want. Step 3: Find Events and Prepare A couple months after the housing portal goes live, the event registry will become active. All events at gencon require a fee to participate. Don’t let that discourage you, events are the bread and butter of the weekend. They add a fee to encourage players to show up to each event they signed up for so that a minimum number of players (if needed) will be present. The fee can range from $2-$400, and they are priced at a reasonable rate . Find events that look like fun for you and or your group. Don’t be afraid to sign up alone, I have never met a bad person while attending. Spend some time researching all of the different events and try out a few! Stepping forward in time, you will be getting close to the coveted four days in August. Be prepared for the weekend, it is not a casual weekend, You will be walking, playing, talking, eating, conversing, buying, and exploring. Wear comfortable shoes, bring a backpack and fill it with snacks and other gaming necessities. You should also expect late nights. If staying downtown, the lobbies of every hotel is filled with gamers and there are parties if you so choose to participate in those activities. Most importantly of all, spend the time prepping for an awesome four days and know that however you do your weekend, it will be a wonderful and tiring time. Oh the Things You Will Do! (An overview of things to see while at GENCON) Not much of a surprise, it is impossible to see and do everything during the four days of the convention, the main areas during the weekend are discussed. The biggest and most popular area is the vendor hall. Be ready to spend money. In a major portion of the Indianapolis Convention Center (ICC) is a room filled with hundreds of vendors selling neat trinkets to thousand dollar luxury items. Also scattered throughout, there are tables set up with board games, if you see an open table feel free to sit down and demo one! You might find your next favorite game. Take a stroll around and set a budget. It is extremely easy to forget just how much money one has spent. If vendor shopping is your thing, it will take about 1.5 days to see each booth if you go on a leisurely stroll. Make note of the vendors you find interesting and go back at a later time. Saturday is the most busy day and there will be people everywhere (be ready). If you are around on Sunday, most booths will offer end of con specials and be more willing to cut deals. If you find an item that is appealing to you and has the possibility of disappearing, get it, you will be glad you did. Pictures of things that can be seen in the vendor hall Connected to the vendor hall is the open gaming area. There are thousands of tables set up over here and most are reserved by companies either demoing, displaying, hosting tournaments or playing games. There is an area that is reserved for drop-in games indicated via cones on the table. You never quite know what you will find or what games will be available but check out the area to see a more intimate side of gaming. Further down on the opposite side of the convention hall is a pathway that takes you to Lucas Oil Stadium. Here is where you will find the gaming library. Thousands of games are donated to be used on the field where the Colts play (local NFL team). You can buy tickets to enter the area or wait in a standby line. Either way, this works the same as open gaming only with a bit less structure which it makes up by having the availability to play what you want to play. Liftoff! 2.0 Demo-ed during a open gaming session Most of the above activities all take place in the Convention Center but there is still so much to see. If you are feeling a tad peckish, head over to the “block party” where food trucks rotate all day to provide you with some delicious edible options. There are other events that take place in the ICC; it will show you on your event ticket where specifically it occurs. There are also ~five hotels connected to ICC and each hosts events as well. As mentioned previously, there is a lot of walking, expect a fifteen minute walk between each event if not in the same hotel. See you next year! (Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways) This has only been my second year attending the physical convention and each year gets better and better. Most everyone there is out to have a fun weekend doing things they love and the positivity shows. There are some awesome charity events that are so much fun to observe and participate in. One is called Cardhalla; anyone can take their old playing cards and make a fortress; at the end of the weekend attendees will throw coins knocking down the towers created all while donating to a charitable organization. Another favorite is a sculpture of sorts. On Thursday, a balloon sculptor takes his time at the con to create a handmade balloon dragon. Again at the end of the weekend he asks for donations and all of the kids in the crowd get to “slay” a dragon. The unbridled joy during this is enough to brighten everyones day! I believe that everyone should make it out to this weekend once if any of the topics featured at GENCON are personal interests. With so much to do and see, each year brings a new experience and stories to tell for years to come. #MikeSchnurr #AGuideandOverview #BestFourDaysInGaming #AnIntroductiontoGenCon #GenCon #articles #perspectives #USA #GenCon

Hi guys! It's that time of the year again! We thought we'll continue our annual tradition and make the search process easier for the players and provide you with a list of escape rooms & at home games from all over the world. We've also included some kids games and FREE games as well. Click on the image below for the game list and you can sort through by location, game type and more. Please note there are different tabs on the excel sheet. From the team at ESCAPETHEROOMers, we wish you all a happy Halloween. Have fun and be safe! P.S. If you company is not on the list and you would like to add your information, please email us. #CiciCao #Articles #Halloween2021 #event #HalloweenGames #DiscountCodes

Lessons From the Kickstarter: Airmail Adventures By Brent Price (and interviewing Chris Leigh) Chris Leigh is an avid gamer and role-player, creator of a set of Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition condition chips and the Tome of Spell Holding; and a gamer who hoped to take his love of games to launch his own mail-based at home mystery game. Chris launched a Kickstarter called “Airmail Adventures: The Lost Journal of Flintlock Flynn.” Designed as an at-home mystery puzzle experience, it was kid-focused, planned as 6 episodes, and used paper components, maps, a compass, a journal, letters., and more to take you on an adventure stemming from a family secret! After sending several prototypes out for reviewers, the game went up on Kickstarter on May 2nd of 2019, and was cancelled on May 30th, having only achieved 31% of the required funding. Always curious as to the experiences of creators and how we can learn from them all, I decided to interview Chris about his experience, and he was gracious enough to accept. Please note: The interview was done over the course of a couple weeks through Facebook messenger and has been edited/cleaned up. Chris has approved all edits. Brent: Thank you for agreeing to this interview! The main focus will be on Airmail Adventures, which was a Kickstarter mystery puzzle game that didn’t make it off the ground. We wanted to discuss the game, what got you into the hobby, any future plans, and discuss lessons learned for other creators as they enter this space. But, first, first, tell me a little about yourself and what got you into this hobby in the first place. Chris: I'm Chris and I first got into the hobby with the idea of ARGs. I really wanted to bring fantasy to life for my daughter, so I wanted an adventure that would seem real to her but just be a fun thing for the family to do. That led to research and the purchase of various similar products--the big one that fired the most ideas was The Mysterious Package Company. Brent: That is such a nice reason! What is it about The Mysterious Package Company (MPC) that triggered your ideas, and how did that first ideation process go? Chris: I liked the idea of the mystery parcel arriving and the bigger narrative that ran into that. I was disappointed with the reality of it though. Brent: The ideas this gave you percolated for about a year I guess? Chris: Yes, the idea is so great! Brent: What moved you from thinking about that idea and your disappointment in the execution of MPC, to actually wanting to try to create your own game? Chris: Well, I started creating a game for my daughter, and after I put a bit of thought into it, I was trying to find a way to roll it out for other families. Brent: What was your original concept for the game, and did that change at all during the process? Chris: The original game was bespoke for my daughter. I tried to capture the same essence in Airmail Adventures, but I found it hard to pitch the difficulty of puzzles. Also I hate illogical or irrational puzzles which makes for a highly restrictive design. Brent: What is the story of Airmail Adventures? Chris: The story is that your great grandfather was a treasure hunter for the league of treasure hunters parents were going to be able to upload their own photos to the website, so you could literally look your relative up! You would find a map in your attic alongside a letter from the league and a compass. The map had a magnet embedded between the paper, and if you used the compass on the map it stopped pointing north and instead pointed to a single location. You then went on to the website and filled in a form to let them know what you found. That started the adventure off. Brent: That sounds really cool! What types of puzzles or game elements were included after you got started? Chris: I had a map to be reformed [like a jigsaw], a code hidden in music, a piratical diary and a book cipher and a Where's Waldo kinda thing. Brent: That really sounds fun! How far along in development did you get before you decided to try Kickstarter? Chris: It wasn’t too long in development. I’m a big board gamer, so I knew if I was gonna mass produce I’d need to use Kickstarter to get the volume. Brent: Were any board games an influence on Airmail Adventures? Chris: Not really it was just a mishmash of narrative ideas Brent: With the decision to try a Kickstarter, what research did you do on that process, and what lessons did you learn? Chris: I've done quite a lot of research into Kickstarter from backing a lot of stuff myself, to reading blogs, to looking at promotion. Brent: If you were to launch a new Kickstarter, what would you do differently now? Christ: I launched a Kickstarter yesterday! see end of interview of info [For this type of game], I think I would lower the price point and make it more paper based. Selling a singular experience for a kid at £40 is a difficult sell. Plus i'd do [tons] more advertising! Brent: Those are good lessons! Any last advice for future creators? Chris: Kickstarter is essentially one big hype machine. The more you sell people on the ideas before it goes live, the easier it is to succeed! Brent: Any plans to try this one again? Chris. Not really. The branding needed is too expensive at this point. Brent: Thank you for your time, and good luck in your future endeavors! I really thank Chris for his time and insights, and I hope you found this interview as interesting and informative as I did! To check out his current Kickstarter/Etsy Shop "Tome of Spell Holding", click on the bottom below! #BrentPrice #ThePuzzlemakerChronicles #AnInterview #LessonsFromTheKickstarter #AirmailAdventures #articles #perspectives #USA #EscapeRooms

Over the years, we've met and spoken with so many creative individuals!! We love to tell their story and share their passion with the world! Honestly, ESCAPETHEROOMers was inspired by an industry that allows developers to build & create adventures for players to experience them. We're honored to be apart of it and moreover be recognized by the owners/bloggers that we can now call friends! Here are some of the mentions that we've received from various companies... We first visited Clockwise Escape Room in San Francisco, California back in 2019. In addition to playing 2 of their games - "The Asylum" and "The Paranormal Experiment", we were fortunate to interview the owner for our "Exclusive Looks" channel on YouTube!! Sadly, they closed the San Francisco location. However, they opened a new location in Boise, Idaho and we were mentioned in their "In The News" section!! Click the link below: When the pandemic hit last year (2020), we started to explore other options of playing at-home games. One company that came highly recommended to us was Escape Tales by LockMe. We've played both of their games "The Awakening" and "Low Memory" and knew that we needed to know more about them. Normally, we would be traveling the world playing escape rooms and interviewing owners/ developers in person but now we needed to figure out new ways to tell the stories of how games were being made. So during the pandemic, "Behind The MasterMinds" was born and we were fortunate enough to get LockMe on as our first guest and learn more about "Escape Tales"! On their website, they've managed to compile a list of the most coveted escape room awards including our "Bullseye Awards" for their game! Escape Tales won our 2020 Bullseye Award for "Best Storyline"!! Click the link below: We recently visited both of EscapeTime's locations in Annapolis & Severna Park, Maryland earlier this year!! In addition to playing 3 of their games - "Dr. Mad's Lab", "The Secret Society", and "GHOST SHIP", we were fortunate to interview them for our "Exclusive Looks" channel on Youtube!! We appreciate the shoutout on their blog and the re-post of our video!! Click the link below: So far, we've played all of RI Riddle Room's games at both of their locations in Warwick & East Greenwich, Rhode Island!! We recently visited their Warwick location to play their newest game - "Imaginasium of Intrigue" and it was so much fun!! For our Bullseye Awards, we've awarded their "La Costra Nostra - An Inside Job" room back in 2019 and "Vanishing at the Velmont" in 2020. Here's a blog about us and their appreciation on the award on their site! Click the link below: We've played 6 of the games at Puzzle Theory in South Windsor, Connecticut so far. Puzzle Theory retired one of their rooms and created P. T. Railways, which is a replay-able game with 2 different experiences within the same space. We recently visited them to play those games - "Spectral Rift" and "Rebel Run" and it was amazing!! For our Bullseye Awards, we've awarded their "Warehouse 13" in 2020 and here's a mentioning of that on GLARTENT!! Click the link below: We've played 2 of the games at Ravenchase Adventures' Escape Room Arlington in Arlington, Virginia so far. The first game - "Supervillains" came highly recommended to us, so we had to try it! We were completely blown away by the whole experience - set design, storyline, puzzles, etc.! Without a doubt in our mind, we knew this room was worthy of our 2019 Bullseye Award for "Best Storyline"! More recently, we revisited them to play another one of their amazing rooms - "Mind Trap" and we definitely recommend it! This room has already made it's way onto our "Top Rated" rooms for 2021 in the US! We appreciate their blogpost acknowledging their 2019 Bullseye Award and we hope to revisit them soon! Click the link below to read their post: Here are some of the past "Bullseye Award" winners proudly displaying their awards (In alphabetical order) Agent November (UK) - https://www.agentnovember.co.uk/ Amazing Escape Room (USA) - https://amazingescaperoom.com/ Big Bear Escape Room (USA) - http://www.bigbearescaperoom.com/ Bruum Escape (ITALY) - https://bruumescape.it/ Captured LV Escape Room (USA) - https://capturedlv.com/ Club Drosselmeyer (by Green Door Labs) (USA) - https://www.clubdrosselmeyer.com/ clueQuest (UK) - https://cluequest.co.uk/ Complex Rooms (CANADA) - https://complexrooms.com/ Crack-a-Nut Mysteries (USA) - https://crackanutmysteries.com/ CreatorsUnited.nl (NETHERLANDS) - https://creatorsunited.nl DarkPark Games (NETHERLANDS) - https://www.darkparkgames.com/ Daydream Adventures (CANADA) - https://daydreamtoronto.com/ Deadlocked Escape Rooms (UK) - https://deadlockedrooms.com/ District 3 Escape Rooms (CANADA) - http://www.district3.ca/ Emergency Exit Escape Games (UK) - https://www.e-exit.co.uk/ Encrypted Escape Room (USA) - https://encryptedwr.com/ Escape Hour Austin (USA) - https://www.escapehouraustin.com/ Escape Reality Edinburgh (UK) - https://www.escapereality.com/ Escape Room Arlington (USA) - https://www.escaperoomarlington.com/ Escape Room Herndon (USA) - https://www.escaperoomherndon.com/ Escape Rooms Connecticut (USA) - https://escaperoomsct.com/ Escape The Puzzle (USA) - https://escapethepuzzle.com/ EscapeRoom Woodbridge (USA) - https://www.escaperoomwoodbridgeva.com/ Experios (AUSTRALIA) - https://www.virtualescape.com.au/ Fantasy Escape Games (USA) - https://www.fantasyescapegames.com/ Hourglass Escapes (USA) - https://hourglassescapes.com/ Hypno Dive (UKRAINE) - https://projectavatar.fun/ Hysteria Escape Rooms (UK) - https://hysteriaescaperooms.com/ Juan Pelotas Team (ARGENTINA) - https://juanpelotasteam.com/ingles.php Locked In Edinburgh (UK) - https://www.lockedinedinburgh.com/ Locurio (USA) - https://www.locurio.com/ Logic Locks (NETHERLANDS) - https://www.logiclocks.com/ Lost Escape (LITHUANIA) - https://www.lostescape.lt/ Lost Games (USA) - https://www.lostgameslv.com/ Mad Genius Escapes (USA) - https://www.madgeniusescapes.com/ Mass Escape (USA) - https://www.massescaperoom.com/ MindTrap Escape Room (USA) - https://mindtrapescaperoom.com/ Mobile Escape (CANADA) - https://www.mobileescape.ca/ Mysteria Escape (GERMANY) - https://mysteria-escape.de/en/ Mystery City (NETHERLANDS) - https://www.mystery.city/ Mystery Mansion Escape Rooms (CANDA) - https://mysterymansionregina.ca/ Next Level Escape (AUSTRALIA) - https://www.nextlevelescape.com.au/ NW Escape Experience (USA) - https://nwescapeexperience.com/ Oscape (SPAIN) - https://games.oscape.es/en/ Paruzal Games (USA) - https://paruzal.com/ PostCurious (USA) - https://www.getpostcurious.com/ Puzzle Theory (USA) - https://www.puzzletheory.co/ Puzzling Package Industries (USA) - https://www.puzzlingpackage.com/ Puzzling Pursuits (USA) - https://puzzlingpursuits.com/ Red Lock Escape Rooms (AUSTRALIA) - https://www.redlockescaperooms.com.au/ RI Riddle Room (USA) - https://www.ririddleroom.com/ Scarlet Envelope (CANADA) - https://www.scarletenvelope.ca/ Scenario Escape Room (USA) - https://www.scenarioescaperoom.com/ Sky High Escape Room (NETHERLANDS) - https://www.skyhighescaperoom.nl/ Spybrain Escape (GERMANY) - https://www.spybrain-escape.de/ Telescape Live (by Buzzshot) (UK) - https://telescape.com/ The Detective Society (UK) - https://thedetectivesociety.com/ The Escape Ventures (USA) - https://theescapeventures.com/ The Exit Games FL (USA) - https://www.theexitgamesfl.com/ The Lost Escape Room (USA) - https://www.lostescaperoom.com/ The Panic Room (UK) - https://thepanicroomonline.net/ Think Solve Escape (UK) - https://www.thinksolveescape.com/ ThinkFun (USA) - https://www.thinkfun.com/ Trapped! Escape Room (USA) - https://www.trappedescaperoomvegas.com/ trap't Escape Room Adventures (USA) - https://www.traptct.com/ Xcape Wellington (NETHERLANDS) - https://www.xcape.nz/ #BrandonChow #ETRinthepress #Media #News #Articles #EscapeRooms #RemoteEscapeRooms #IRLEscapeRooms

We've collaborated with "The Curious Correspondence Club" to bring you a full month of puzzles starting on September 1st, 2021! If you head over to The Curious Correspondence Club's Instagram (starting sept 1st at 1PM EDT), you'll get to solve a different puzzle every single day from a different creator from all over the world. You might even recognize a name or two from the participants below! Once you have the answer, direct message them on IG as correct answers submitted before the end of the day will be entered into the draw to win daily prizes! Three winners will be drawn from a random generator. Winners will be notified at 10AM EST the subsequent day. Watch out for a potential meta puzzle! Check out the awesome line up of creators below: The Curious Correspondence Club Argyx Games Bluefish Games Bluematter Games Enigma Fellowship Enigmailed Epic Escapes True Clue Games Escape Notice Games Escape Tales (By Lockme) Extraordinary Investigations Gruzzle Key Enigma The Curious Correspondence Club Postcurious Puzzle Post UK Puzzlesnacks Puzzling Package Industries Puzzling Pursuits Scarlet Envelope The Curious Correspondence Club The Conundrum Box The Fantastic Factory USB Escape Edaqa's Room Diorama Plankton Games Don't eat puzzle 50 Clues The Curious Correspondence Club #CiciCao #Event #FreeEvent #Puzzletember #TheCuriousCorrespondenceClub #PuzzlebyMail

In this article posted on Note.com, writer Daisuke Yamakata posted some of the award recipients from our 2020 Bullseye Awards show! Check out the full article below: #BrandonChow #Note #DaisukeYamakata #ETRinthepress #Media #Articles

No Time For Time Travel is a podcast for Nerds by Nerds. In this article, they provided a list of some escape room review sites to refer to and yours truly was mentioned! Check out the full article below: #BrandonChow #NoTimeForTimeTravel #NTFTT #ETRinthepress #Media #Articles