Room Escape Divas - Inverse Genius
154 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 2 years ago - ★★★★ - 19 ratingsWe discuss the industry of escape rooms and escape room design
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Episodes
57 - Immersive Escape Rooms with Strange Bird Immersive
January 19, 2018 14:27 - 55.9 MBThe Divas join Haley and Cameron Cooper, professional actors who run Strange Bird Immersive, to discuss Immersive Theatre, Escape Rooms, and combining them to create a whole new experience. This is a topic dear to our heart, so we were very excited to do this interview! But because Errol has been busy developing the Cryptex Hunt, there is no song again. The interview is fantastic though! Haley also has a wonderful blog called Immersology. There, she chronicles their journey developing their...
56 - 2017 Year in Review
January 05, 2018 17:13 - 67.2 MBAnother escape year come and gone! In this episode, the Divas look back at the year, and hint at things to come. And there's no song. Sorry. Errol is busy with so many things again.
55 - Mobile Room Escape with Jason Garvett
December 22, 2017 16:06 - 66.2 MBManda and Errol have a great time talking to Jason Garvett, the owner and game creator for Mobile Room Escape in Chicago! Interested in the mobile world of escape rooms? This is the podcast for you! (And apologies ahead of time for the parody. There was a last minute substitution which will be updated at a later date!) We should have posed with one! We need to get better at this picture taking thing. "Jason Garvett is the Owner and Game Creator of Mobile Room Escape which is headquarter...
54 - Room Escape Artist and the Escape Room Industry
December 08, 2017 15:57 - 58.7 MBDavid and Lisa Spira of Room Escape Artist are back and wow, did they have an awesome year! Listen in as we discuss their latest projects and also reflect on the escape room industry and where we see it going! We need a picture with these people.
53 - Escape Room in a Box: The Werewolf Experiment
November 24, 2017 14:00 - 51.5 MBThe first escape room board game on kickstarter was wildly successful, and we got to interview the creators Juliana Patel & Ariel Rubin! Not only that, their game was picked up by Mattel and is no available on Amazon to purchase, and will be available in stores early next year! Tune in to hear all about how Juliana and Ariel brought Escape Room in a Box: The Werewolf Experiment, to the world! If we were smart, we would have taken a picture of us posing with the box! The parody was writt...
52 - Cryptex Creator Justin Nevins
November 10, 2017 15:20 - 48.5 MBAllo, all you fans and soon-to-be fans of the cryptex! We were fortunate to get Justin Nevins on skype for an interview about the history and development of the cryptex, first conceived in Dan Brown's novel, "The Da Vinci Code". Even better? Justin and his wife, Julie, wrote and performed the parody song today! Huzzah! Errol is so happy. And Justin sent us one of these! Look how awesome it is!
51 - Elan Lee and Game Design
October 27, 2017 13:42 - 45.3 MBElan Lee, the co-creator of Exploding Kittens, is a game designer and an escape room enthusiast! In this episode, he talks about game design, crowdfunding, ARGs, and how awesome escape rooms are! And because we're close to Halloween, Manda and Errol wrote an escape room parody from the Nightmare before Christmas! Huzzah! We got games!
50 - The Worst Escape Room Ever
October 16, 2017 13:39 - 70.7 MBThe worst room anyone has ever played is closed, and so we can finally talk about it! They may decide on opening it again, so be aware that there will be spoilers. Feel free to listen along and if you know of a room that is worse than this one, by all means, please tell us. And finally, the song was written by Errol's sister. It pokes fun at people like us! Huzzah! Edit: For those that are interested, here is Mike's official review of this game.
49 - Interview with Escape this Pocast!
September 27, 2017 18:34 - 77.3 MBWe got the chance to be guests on Escape This Podcast! They take escape rooms to a pen and paper route, and then play them on a podcast and it's pretty awesome. The best part? You can download the game and have your friends go through the same one! In this podcast, we interview the creators, Dani Siller and Bill Sunderland, about their podcast, how they got started, and the challenges of creating a new game to be produced on a bi-weekly basis! Manpans notes as we played the game!
48 - Escape Rooms in Libraries and Schools with Donald Dennis
September 25, 2017 17:12 - 62.3 MBThe divas have Donald Dennis back again, and this times he talks about creating escape rooms in schools and libraries. As one of the host for Games in Schools and Libraries, he knows of many resources to utilize to get such a program running up in your location! And the parody today was written and sung by Manda Whitney! Huzzah!
47 - Escape Room Design: Intro to Story and Narrative
September 08, 2017 14:39 - 87.1 MBIn our 47th episode, Manda gives us a talk on Story and Narrative within escape rooms! And the rest of the divas? Ruby is playing with a bunny. Errol is working on a LEGO Totoro. And we don't know what Mike was doing. This week's parody song was written and performed by Sen-Foong Lim! He is one half of the versatile tabletop design team, the Bamboozle Brothers. Since 2011, they have created Euro-styled strategy game, party games, and are even sought after to develop other designers’ games. ...
46 - Historical Escapes with Escape Maze and Scott Nicholson
September 01, 2017 14:24 - 40.4 MBThe Divas do a public podcast at Escape Maze during their enthusiast play day! Jake Walling and Fred Preddy, owners of Escape Maze, are joined with Scott Nicholson to talk about Historical Escapes and upcoming projects! Seven of us on the podcast!
45 - Not Exactly Escape Rooms
August 25, 2017 18:49 - 50.6 MBEscape events, scavenger escapes, escape room board games, there are a number of ways to get your escape room fix if you have done all the escape rooms. In this episode, we discuss some of our local events that don't fit the standard definition of an escape room, and we also talk about some of the board games listed in "A Guide To Escape Room Board Games."
44 - Terminus Debrief: Escape Room on a Train
August 15, 2017 16:50 - 106 MBAs you may know, the Divas and Panic Factory joined up to create a three hour escape room event on a moving train! This podcast is a post-mortem as we discuss the insanity involved in running a large scale escape event! We talk for TWO HOURS! Good grief. And the parody was performed and written by James Cobalt! Huzzah! Errol is so happy. A pivotal scene in Terminus!
43 - Escape Room Puzzle Design Part 1 - The Experience
July 21, 2017 21:27 - 66.8 MBWe're doing something a bit different for the summer, we're giving an in-depth discussion on Escape Room Puzzle Design based on Errol's slides he presented at the 2017 Escape Room Unconference. This will be a multi-part podcast, and in this episode, Manpans and Errol spend an hour talking about the elements that contribute to a great player experience in an escape room! The song is a parody of The Little Mermaid's "Part of Your World" and was performed by Amy Duggan who runs the blog Brit ...
42 - Halfway Through Terminus
July 11, 2017 17:02 - 55.3 MBIt's been a while! The divas have been working on Terminus, which is an escape event on a moving train. At the time of this recording, they had finished two events and have a lot of stories to tell. They also discuss some experiences with other escape rooms they have done. In the future, when the event is over, they will join up with Panic Factory, to do a full rundown on how the event went! And the parody was written by Errol and performed by his daughter, Zoe.
Tammy McLeod on the Escape Room World Championships
May 18, 2017 17:34 - 42.1 MBHuzzah! Today we are joined with Tammy McLeod who was on the US Team for Redbull's Mind Gamers World Championship, the first Escape Room World Championship which was held in Budapest! And we also got her to sing the parody song! Hah! I need to get all the guests to sing the parody song. :D
40 - Live Recording at Transworld's Room Escape Show
May 04, 2017 17:37 - 54.5 MBIt's our 40th episode, and we did it in front of a live audience as a seminar for Transworld's Room Escape Conference! We had so much fun meeting up with people from the slack, doing escape rooms, and showing off our cool our tshirts and posters! LVESpirit.com created some awesome T-Shirts for us, and we couldn't be happier. And Ray of Number 9 Signs (and Panic Factory) got us some stickers and a banner for our table during our seminar! And we did a live performance of a new parody song! ...
39 - Room Escape Divas Anniversary Episode!
April 25, 2017 15:06 - 60.7 MBHuzzah! It's been a year since we've been doing this podcast, and so today's episode is our anniversary! We talk about upcoming events we're involved in, and also request more questions for our live podcast recording at Transworld's Room Escape Show! And for our parody, Errol is a huge fan of Disney's Aladdin! Escape With Me Well we have role-played as honest thieves and also locked within a thousand jails We've mastered all these locks, you won't believe All the rooms that we have won an...
38 - Interview with Room Designer Rob Leveille
April 21, 2017 15:52 - 55 MBAs you know, we are pretty picky when it comes to puzzle design. Errol especially. So when we find a game with challenging puzzles that make sense, we want to talk about. In our 38th episode, we get the opportunity to talk to Rob Leveille, who designed the rooms at The Crux Niagara. And the parody song was written and performed by Rob himself! Huzzah! And if you are interested in asking us questions for Transworld, please, use our Questions Spreadsheet!
37 - Interview with Andy Parr, Room Escape Designer
April 12, 2017 01:10 - 47.1 MBIn our 37th episode, the divas have the privilege of interviewing Andy Parr, the puzzle designer of N.E.R.D. Hear all the ups and downs of selling escape room designs!
36 Up the Game - Netherland's Escape Room Conference
March 29, 2017 13:36 - 43.1 MBIn our 36th episode, Manpans and Errol interview Alexander Gierholz, the program director for Up the Game, the first Escape Room Conference in the world! The conference itself will be held in a prison dome in Breda, Netherlands, and is coming up May 9th, 2017. You will also notice some familiar faces in the speaker roster, like Scott Nicholson, Room Escape Artist, and Ken Ferguson! Also, shout out to Darren Miller who suggested this episode's parody. It was too high for Errol to sing but h...
35 - The Escape Room Industry with Nate Martin
March 22, 2017 16:14 - 65.6 MBHello! In our 35th episode, we had a great time chatting with Nate Martin of Puzzle Break! We talk about his escape facility, Escape the Rubicon (his escape room on the Royal Caribbean cruise ship), and the escape room industry in general! For our parody, Codegreen (whom I call leader) was excited to write a Moana parody! So she sent us the lyrics and got Si Miu to sing it! Huzzah! You can find them and their reviews on Escapers 4G. And here are the lyrics for our parody song! ^_^ I've be...
34 - Pop Up Escape Rooms with Melissa Eapen
March 16, 2017 14:15 - 53.7 MBIn our 34th episode, we talk to Melissa Eapen of Improbable Escapes about Pop up escape rooms! We also discuss Ontario's Escape Room 2017 Unconference, where she helped organize the workshops along with Jake Walling of Escape Maze and Christine Hibbard of Looking Glass Adventures. You can check out a quick write up of the unconference in the Brantford Expositor. There, you'll find a picture of Scott Nicholson, Manda, Errol, and David Korhonen. And finally, the parody for this episode w...
33 Room Escape Show Niagara
March 07, 2017 14:42 - 39.8 MBIn our 33rd episode, the divas get a chance to talk to Jen Braverman and Rich Bianco who are running Escape To the North, a room escape conference! In fact, if you go to their seminar page, you will find us! The Divas are doing a live podcast recording! Huzzah! We did not write that bio... If you want more information, you are free to email Jen herself at [email protected] And Errol wants everyone to know the song was hard to sing.
32 - Singapore Escape Rooms with Janice Heng
February 28, 2017 15:03 - 39.4 MBIn their 32nd episode, the divas get a chance to talk to Janice Heng who runs the Singaporean escape room blog Escaping SG. Errol also wrote an escape room love song, because he believes there aren't enough of them. He recruited Noelle Sorrell who has been singing since she came out of the womb. She works as the Ops Manager at Hidden Trail in Windsor, Ontario.
31 - Puzzle Design with Dan Katz
February 21, 2017 15:25 - 95.3 MBThis week we interview puzzle designer and enthusiast Dan Katz! This is probably our longest podcast yet. Blame Errol. Dan Katz has written puzzlehunt puzzles for the MIT Mystery Hunt, the Gen Con Puzzle Hunt, and BAPHL. His puzzles have also appeared in Wired, MAA Focus, and Games World of Puzzles. His most notorious gift to the puzzling community is the follow-the-deranged-directions puzzle format known as the Duck Konundrum, for which he sincerely apologizes. Check out Dan's new puzzle ...
30 - Hype in Escape Rooms - Interview with David and Lisa Spira
February 09, 2017 14:41 - 29.6 MBThis week, we interview David and Lisa Spira of Room Escape Artist to talk about the hype in escape rooms! Manpans was quite happy because we were able to get Naomi Lewin to do the sound editing. We are eternally grateful. Also, behold our new look! It's glorious!
29 - Escape Rooms in the UK - Interview with Chris Dickson and Ken Ferguson
January 31, 2017 14:14 - 62.1 MBIt's Season 2 of the Room Escape Divas, and in our first official podcast for 2017, we have a great interview with Ken Ferguson of The Logic Escapes Me and Chris Dickson of Ex Exit Games.
[Let's Play Video] Room Escape Divas GoPro a Pop up Escape Room
January 31, 2017 14:08Armed with a few GoPros, the Room Escape Divas play through a 45 minute pop up escape room. Watch as they demonstrate how lacking their observations skills are. Thanks to Ray Davies and Nick Newell at Panic Factory for letting us play their Krampus Room. http://panicfactory.ca
2016 Year in Review
January 05, 2017 16:39 - 60.9 MBWe take a look back at our favourite and least favourite rooms of 2016! Thanks so much for listening, everyone! We're very excited for 2017!
"Ask Why" - Escape Room Design with Scott Nicholson
December 02, 2016 14:43 - 52 MBIt's Episode 27! And we have brought back Scott Nicholson to discuss his newest paper - Ask Why: Creating a Better Player Experience through. Environmental Storytelling and Consistency in Escape Room. He also discusses the differences between 5 Wits and Boda Borg!
Let's Play Escape the Room: Secret of Dr. Gravely's Retreat
November 25, 2016 17:05 - 64.7 MBMike and Ruby aren't here in our 26th episode, however, we did have Margeaux join us! She's a brand new enthusiast and purchased Thinkfun's "Escape the Room: Secret of Dr. Gravely's Retreat!" which was designed by Nicholas Cravotta and Rebecca Bleau. Of course, we had to do a Let's Play, so again the obligatory warning: WARNING: SPOILERS ABOUND! Do not listen to this podcast if you have not played the game! Oh! The parody was written and sung by our very own Manpans! Huzzah!
Club Drosselmeyer - Escape Room meets Immersive Theater and Swing Dance!
November 18, 2016 20:21 - 28.3 MBIt's episode 25, and we've taken a break from our normal format because we wanted to get this podcast up as soon as we could! Manda and Errol interview Kellian Adams Pletcher and Carly Dwyer-Naik who are two of the organizers of Club Drosselmeyer: an escape room crossed with interactive theater in the Boston area! They currently have a crowdfunding campaign going on and there are only a few days left! I encourage to check out the page, donate a few funds and listen to this amazing pair who...
Escape Room Questions Answered
November 03, 2016 13:34 - 38.8 MBIn our 24th episode, Mike, Ruby and Manda answer listener submitted questions such as "What makes an enthusiast" and "What is your winning rate?" And Eric and Annie are back with a parody song! Eric Boudreau, owner of Escape Capers in Calgary, wrote the lyrics, and it was performed by Annie Pattison. Errol is pretty excited to have youtube celebs sing the opening song! Check out Annie's youtube page to hear more of her songs!)
Scary Escape Rooms - Halloween Episode
October 21, 2016 15:38 - 53 MBIt's the Halloween Episode! For the 23rd podcast, the Divas chat about scary escape rooms, costume ideas, and snack foods. Or at least, they snack while talking, which doesn't make for good podcast listening. This time around, Mike wrote the lyrics for the parody! Huzzah!
In Between Newb and Enthusiast
October 06, 2016 15:26 - 68.3 MBIn episode twenty two, we decide not to go to the experts! Lizette Tanner considers herself not an enthusiast, but also not a newbie. She also happens to be Errol's sister and the teasing is rampant. Listen to her views as she describes stories about watching enthusiasts, how newbies feel about escape rooms, and ghosting. The parody song was suggested by Chris Dickson of Ex Exit Games. He and Errol co-wrote the lyrics for "Close Every Door To Me".
Escape Room Enthusiast Survey
October 01, 2016 01:06 - 61.3 MBWe took a survey asking enthusiasts what they liked in a room. In the 21st podcast, we discuss the results of that survey! We've place the survey and the results on thecodex.ca website if you want to follow along.
Customer Service and Escape Rooms
September 22, 2016 13:12 - 53 MBIn episode 20, we talk about customer service and our experiences, both good and bad! Errol was away this week doing other fun stuff, like escape rooms in Calgary. He'll be back in full force next week. No Errol also means, no epic parody. Manpans, Ruby and Mike try to fill in with "the best parody to date".
Family Focused Escape Rooms with Christine Hibbard
September 16, 2016 04:35 - 55.7 MBIn the 19th episode, we have a wonderful chat with owner Christine Hibbard of Looking Glass Adventures, the first escape room in the GTA to be family focused. We discuss children and escape rooms! And we discuss escape rooms. We always discuss escape rooms, it being an escape room podcast. Sadly, Mike and Ruby couldn't join us this episode, but they will be back! Furthermore, we have upgraded our sound! So we hope it sounds much better!
Defending Escape Room Tropes We Hate
August 31, 2016 13:07 - 61.6 MBIn episode 18, we talk about the board game T.I.M.E. Stories as well as Cyan's latest adventure game Obduction! We also talk about escape room elements we have ranted about but this time we defend them! At least, we start off defending them. And there is a lot of Manpans teasing. Errol's a jerk. Links Talked About in Podcast Sidekicks - Webseries about superhero sidekicks First Impressions - Podcast about reactions to the Netflix show Stranger Things Escape Games Review - Mike and Rub...
Escape Room Related Board Games with Donald Dennis
August 24, 2016 00:18 - 61 MBIn Episode 17, we join Donald Dennis who is the host of On Board Games. We have a great discussion on escape room related board games, and other games that struck our fancy! We are hopeful for the upcoming batches of escape room board games, but our expectations are especially high, being divas and all! Errol is extremely pleased someone else wrote and sang the parody song! Eric Boudreau, owner of Escape Capers in Calgary wrote the lyrics to "At Least One Way To Leave This Locked Room", an...
Let's Play Mystery at the Stargazer's Manor
August 19, 2016 13:04 - 54.3 MBIn our 16th episode, we do a walkthrough of Mystery at the Stargazer's Manor, an Escape the Room board game created by Nicholas Cravotta and Rebecca Bleau. SPOILERS ABOUND! Do not listen to this podcast if you haven't played the game! Thanks to Christine of Looking Glass Adventures for providing us with a copy to play with (since I couldn't find it anywhere to purchase on short notice!) If you wish to just hear the review, it starts at 43:13, but it still may contain spoilers. Music: Mo...
Puzzle Design: Aha vs Process
August 05, 2016 13:12 - 40.9 MBIn this Episode, Manpans and Errol talk about the difference between Aha and Process puzzles. We also talk about puzzle difficulty and discuss Manpans time at ConBravo where she took a newbie crew to experience The Crux in Hamilton. Special thanks goes to Lyndsie Scoggin, Tammy Mcleod, and Errol's daughter, Zoe Elumir. They sang the extra vocal parts in the parody song "I've Made a Plan for this Room" Let’s get down to business To complete this one. Spread our talents broader. We won’...
REDivas 14 - Transworld's Room Escape Conference
July 25, 2016 15:24 - 31.6 MBThe divas got a chance to interview Rich and Elisabeth who are part of Transworld's Room Escape Conference in Chicago this August! We were new to Transworld so we had so many questions! We learned about their history, the haunt industry, and the people behind this popular tradeshow! Guest Info: Transworld's 2016 Escape Room Show - Chicago Room Escape Conference Rich Bianco - Vice President of Transworld Trade Shows Elisabeth Garson - Seminar Coordinator/ Room Escape Conference
REDivas 13 - Road Trip with Scott Nicholson
July 20, 2016 19:21 - 41 MBThe divas go down to Kitchener/Waterloo to do five escape rooms with Scott Nicholson! We also read through our "Dear Divas" mailbox! Check in to see how we answer your questions!
REDivas 12 - The Puzzle Hunt Community with Dan Egnor
July 12, 2016 15:43 - 44.8 MBAn intro to the puzzle hunt community by none other than Dan Egnor, who runs the Puzzle Hunt Calendar, the first Escape Room Directory in North America, and also a member of the design team for many puzzle hunts including BANG 35. We talk about puzzle design, running a city wide puzzle hunt, as well as the local scene in the Bay area! The parody song was suggested by Manpans and covers the intro rules to an escape room in song form!
REDivas 11 - Interview with Edwin Tsui, owner of The Locked Room
July 06, 2016 02:55 - 41.3 MBWe interview our first owner! Edwin Tsui of The Locked Room talk about his trip to Budapest, being an enthusiast/owner, and running the first escape room in Calgary, Alberta.
REDivas 10 - Escape Rooms - 1st & 2nd Gen
June 28, 2016 18:03 - 44.3 MBThe divas get together and discuss a few questions they were asked on social media: Thoughts on 1st and 2nd generation of Escape Rooms The future of escape rooms There were more topics, of course, but the first question was so interesting to talk about! Thanks to all of you who sent something in! Thanks also goes to Eric Boudreau and Sen Lim for their help and suggestion for the escape room parody song "Solve It, Maybe". By all means, if you have any comments or questions for us to talk...
REDivas 09 - Interview with Room Escape Artist
June 22, 2016 03:27 - 38.5 MBThe divas have a skype interview with veteran reviewers Lisa and David Spira who make up Room Escape Artist! They talk about blogging, their audience, and their upcoming session at Transworld's Chicago's Room Escape Conference. The parody was a request by Lisa and David, but the Hamilton crazy hasn't hit Canada yet. It's a catchy song though!