PROJECTS
Treasure Hunt
Date
May 2022
Teammates
Luhan
Wyatt
My Role
Ideation
Physical Computing
Game Master
Tools
3D Print
Laser Cut
Arduino
Project Brief
“Treasure Hunt” is an immersive experimental room escaping game that fulfilled playful, logical, and inspiring game level. There are five puzzles that will lead the players to an immersive engagement in the “Treasure Hunt” and discovering the "Ancient Tomb" storytelling. Players will be led into a preset story so that they can get into their roles quickly. All five puzzles are interactive and by solving all of them within the time limit, the players will be given the final treasure.
Background Research
Escape rooms have become a booming trend for people of all ages and genders to go and have an immersive experience there. For example, in my hometown, Shanghai, there are more than 400 individual escape rooms and they provide a one-of-a-kind opportunity to practice teamwork and problem-solving. But even within the same theme, those escape rooms' service qualities differ a lot. To get a deeper insight into what really makes an escape room experience immersive and unique, we decide to build one.
To start this process, we first need to answer a very simple question: Why do people go to an escape room, and what elements they are looking forward to encountering in this experience, a temporary "escape" from reality, an outburst of repressed emotion in everyday life, the achievement of solving a problem or others？
Questionnaire
Real-time Interaction with
NPCs or Game Masters
The balance between the
tension and the assistance
Some physical proofs or gifts if we succeed in escaping.
Alex
Atmosphere, Layout and
Physical Installation
Crafting experiences that is
different from everyday life
How each puzzles is
correlated with the theme
Annie
Summary:
Above are the most frequently mentioned aspects when we analyze the results generated from our friends and classmates. Among all of them, we decide to pay extra attention to tightening the relationships between puzzles and the storyline and how Game Master is engaged in the whole experience. And the result leads us to build a fantasy theme escape room because it is so different from everyday life and that’s the key element users are looking for.
Narrative
After deciding on the theme, we have gone into the plot-creating stage. For the basic narrative structure, we follow the classic three-act structure commonly used in the film industry. Along with players solving each puzzle, and getting new clues and tools, we gradually add up the tension. Eventually, they will reach the climax point, which is the meta puzzle. After their gaming time runs out, the tension will be falling till the denouement. Depending on whether they successfully solve the issue, they will be given the final treasure or not. We decide to build our story based on an existing but vanishing civilization. This interweaving of reality and fantasy will help players understand their roles more quickly but still keep the excitement of the "freshness".
Historical Background
"The Nabataean civilization occupied southern Jordan, Canaan, and northern Arabia from the 6th century BC, when Aramaean-speaking Nabataean nomads gradually migrated to Arabia. Petra sketched their skills on boulders in the Jordanian mountains, and they are remembered for their masterly hydraulic engineering and skill in managing complex systems of DAMS, canals, and reservoirs, which helped them grow and thrive in the arid desert region. Little is known about its culture and no written language remains. In 65 BC they were defeated by the Romans, who took full control of the region in AD 106 and renamed it the Arab Petria dynasty. Around the 4th century AD, the Nabataeans left Petra for unknown reasons. It is thought that the Nabataean civilization died out after centuries of foreign domination and that the Nabataeans converted to Christianity before their land was completely overrun by Arab invaders". (Wikipedia)
Using this as a piece of concrete background information as the target civilization. We create a newly-discovered ancient tomb belonging to them, and a professor in this field went on a discovery journey on her own. The players play the role of the support team assembled 3 days later to help find the professor.
Structure
Game Flow
When designing the game flow, we decide to use the sequential game flow, which generally has the following four characteristics.
1. One clue must be solved to receive another clue
2. Less Puzzle diversity
3. Escape is dependent on solving all clues
4. High risk of bottlenecking if a clue is too hard
To overcome the potential problems and dissatisfying raised by 2 and 4, we have paid extra attention to diversifying the puzzle types, the way players ask for hints, and the role of the game master.
Logic Puzzle
Divergent
Thinking
Mechanical Installation
Tool Box:
Mirror
Flashlight - White 2
Tool Box:
"Blood"
Limited
times of trying
Comprehensive
Communication
Tool Box:
2 Poetry
Tool Box:
UV Flashight
Cognitive
Puzzle
Puzzle Types
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Logic Puzzle: Utilizing the given information
Divergent Thinking: break the common sense
Mechanical Installation: trigger the hidden sensor
Cognitive Puzzle: Finding out the hidden pattern
Diversity of Puzzles
Comprehensive Communication: Cooperation
Game Master & Punishment Mechanism
Game Master
As I have mentioned above, a concern of the sequential game flow is the high risk of bottlenecking if the puzzle is too hard to solve. But we also want to include an active game master who can have real-time communication with the players, but meanwhile, not letting them too relying on him. Moreover, because of the "fantasy" theme we have chosen, we cannot use common measures like a walkie-talkie because it will break the "ancient tomb" atmosphere we are trying to build. It should perfectly fit into the physical settings as well as function ideally.
So we have come up with the idea of building a "talking" stone, borrowing the name of "the Mouth of Truth". Players will find them having a notebook in puzzle one and there will be empty pages and a pencil right beside it, suggesting to them that they can write questions on those empty pages and then hand them in the “mouth” in return for the hints. Behind "the Mouth of Truth", the game master is supervising players' gaming process through the web camera and responds simultaneously through the filter we created in the Adobe Audition, which is used to make people's voices deeper like a stone.
Punishment System
To better serve the "tomb" setting and weaken the possibility of using too many hints, we add a punishment system to balance these elements. For example, if the players make too much noise inside the tomb, they might evoke the monster living here, the ceilings will be shaking and there will be less gaming time for them. It's a supplementary setting to make the treasure hunt, to make the escape room experience more vivid.
We also have realized the problem we have with the final puzzle (will be discussed in detail in the later session), to avoid the malignant use of enumeration method to solve the final puzzle, every time they enter a wrong password, there will be an error sound reminder and they will have less time to deal with the puzzle.
Behind the "Mouth"
Players
Monitors
Game Master
Feedback
Enumeration
Questions
Too Noisy
Data Transmission
"Mouth"
Data Transmission
Give Hints
Shorten Gaming Time
One way or Another
Puzzle Design & Fabrication
Puzzle 1: Logic Puzzle
Continue from the oral introduction given by the Game Master. The first puzzle is still about helping players to get into their roles. So we prepare a diary written by the professor. The previous mission background and other important elements requiring extra attention are also drawn in the notebook. On it, how to hand in the question to "the Mouth" in return for the hints is also well explained and the notebook itself serves as the medium to write questions. Beside the notebook, there is professor Maggie's coat, suggesting that due to some unknown reason, she has been missing, or in the worst condition, get killed by the monster living here. Beneath the coat, there is a DV recorded by the professor, explaining her discovery in recent days. And there is a toolbox with a 4-digit lock next to the coat, with the name "Dave" on the top of it.
This puzzle requires players to utilize all the existing clues to find the 4-digits password.
DAY 1:
Getting excited about tons of things. Finally, I have the chance to get closer to the truth of the vanishing of the Nabateans Civilization. After this 7-day field trip, I will marry my dear Dave. Only one day apart from him, I miss him already!
DAY 2:
One interesting discovery is that it seems the Mouth of the Truth will answer any of my questions. I just accidentally put my random thoughts inside of its mouth. A few seconds later, there is a voice telling me the hints! Then I repeated it several times. It does work!
DAY 3:
We should have listened to the warnings from beginning to end. How could I be this stupid to forget those! Oh, god, today might be my judgment day. Farewell, my beloved Dave.
Solution:
Dave is Professor Maggie's fiance. With his name on the top of the toolbox, we are finding something that is special for them. Given all the information, the most important date for them is their wedding, which happens after Maggie finishes her 7-day archaeology trip. So we need to find their wedding date. As mentioned in the oral introduction, today is Dec 25th, which is also 3 days after the professor entered the tomb. So professor's adventure began on Dec 22th. And a week later is Dec 29th. So the password is 1229.
ToolBox:
Within it, players can get the second white normal flashlight and a mirror. Both of them will be used in the next puzzle.
Puzzle 2: Divergent Thinking
The second puzzle is to test players' divergent thinking ability and to discover one of the most important "supporting" items in the escape room, which is "the Mouth of Truth". With the tools rewarded in the first puzzle, a mirror, and one more flashlight, players should realize that they ought to utilize both of them to get a hidden clue somewhere. Right on the top of "the Mouth of Truth", we put a small wooden box with a five-digits alphabet lock. On the top of it, there are some symbols carved on it, "I I C C I". Combining it with the format of the lock, players will think this might be the first half of the word and look for another half, which we hide it deep inside "the Mouth of Truth".
As for the fabrication of "the Mouth of Truth", we first find a cardboard box and then build the inner structure, which includes a secret door, where we can open and then collect players' questions, a hidden second half of the password, "3 _ ) ) )". The second step is to put tissues with white emulsion on the cover of the cardboard box so that we can sculpt its features to make it look more suitable in a tomb setting. The last step is to build the outer protection for "the Mouth" and secure it to the table so that it won't move easily by the players if they push it hard.
Step 1
"I I C C I"
"3 _ ) ) )"
Secret Door
Step 2
Step 3
As I mentioned above, we have also used "the Mouth of Truth" as a medium to communicate between players and the game master. So we have also built the "stone-like" filter in the Adobe Audition for it. The parameters we have tuned mainly consist of tone, pitch, harmonization, and reverberation. Here is the sample audio clip for the filter and the source file.
Solution: After using the mirror and flashlight to see the second half of the word, we put the left and the right side together to get "BLOOD".
Reward: A bottle of "BLOOD", which will be used in the next puzzle to trigger the sensor.
Puzzle 3: Mechanical Installation
Relatively speaking, the third puzzle is pretty straightforward. After getting a bottle of "BLOOD", an altar and an ancient Mexico-style related cup are right in front of them. All they have to do is to pour the blood into the altar to trigger the sensor. This step is more of a ceremonial meaning. The only possible source of fresh blood is the professor. If they pour down the blood, to some extent, they have already given up searching for her, thus the purpose of this experience has switched to finding the lost treasure.
As for the fabrication, it's hard to deal with since we have to ensure that all the electric components, like Arduino boards and sensors, won't be in touch with the "Blood" we poured in, otherwise, it might arouse a short and damage the puzzle, even hurting players. Our first step is to make sure the weight sensor works and figure out how to prevent it from touching the water. We use a large water tank and build supports inside of it so that sensors and Arduino boards are above sea level and water unused will not be in touch with them. The second step is to laser cut the "river bed" covering the top of the water tank. In this way, players can see the blood flow from the top to the bottom, eventually converging at one point, triggering the sensor.
Step 1
Structure Design &
Waterproof Measures
River Bed
Water
Cup
Arduino
Support 2
Water
Weight Sensor
Support 1
Water
Box
Automatic
Lock
Step 2
Laser Cut
the "Riverbed"
Step 3
Assembling &
Waterproof Tests
The last step is to make an automatic lock that will respond to the index change in the weight sensor. We 3D print the whole lock.
Below are the source 3D print files and Arduino codes for the weight sensor and the automatic lock.
Reward: A UV flashlight, which is used to look for other hidden clues for the forth puzzle.
Puzzle 4: Cognitive Puzzle
With ancient Nabataean characters carved on it, players can move all five sticks to find the right pattern. As a designer, we think this might be not so hard to deal with, but throughout the user test, all five teams fail to solve it, making us have to re-consider what should we do to lower the difficulty level and still keep it engaging and fun.
Our final solution towards tuning the difficulty level is that we make three sticks' positions fixed and players only need to move two of them. This keeps the quintessence of the puzzle while making it easier. And to make the whole process automatic, we use the magnetic sensor. If those sensors are perfectly paired, there will be an index reflected in the serial communication window.
Reward: 2 Poetry will be given to the players as the only cruel to the last puzzle.
Puzzle 5: Comprehensive Communication
The last puzzle requires a team to work together so that they will be fast enough to push the correct button. First, they have to analyze the 2 poems very carefully. It tells an ancient fairy tale, but it contains a hidden message behind the words.
Poetry 1
Poetry 2
These two are all about one ancient fairy tale in the Nabataean civilization. If players pay close attention enough, they will find that the poetry is written and arranged in alphabetical order. But that's not enough, they have to figure out that there is one number contained in each sentence and this, together with the first capitalized letter, forms a 2-dimensional coordinate position, which in our case, is the location of the right buttons. But, there is also a trap here. Because of the way we build the puzzle box, which is "A C E G" on one side and " B D F H" on another side, players cannot simply separately press the right button on each side. They have to strictly follow the alphabetical rule, which is "B" after "A", and then goes back to the "C". If the time gap between pressing each button goes beyond our preset. Players have to start again and will be regarded as one failed attempt, which will shorten their gaming time. Because there are only limited numbers of a combination of button positions, they might use the enumeration method to try the answers out rather than focusing on the poetry. And also mentioned in the punishment system, they cannot speak too loud. So that creates another layer of an obstacle when trying to solve the puzzle. This also brings the tension to the highest point if they get wrong the first time.
Next is the fabrication of the puzzle box, we first try a suspended box in which players have to stand on each side to solve the puzzle.
Prototype :
Suspended Structure
But quickly after the user test, we realize that this "suspended" mode is too fragile for players to mess around with. What makes things worse is those little bamboo-made buttons make the experience very uncomfortable. As I mentioned above, even if you push the correct button, the time gap between them shouldn't be so long. While these bamboo-made buttons are not so sensitive, which makes players fail a lot of time due to tech issues. So we have changed our mind, planning to just put the puzzle box on the table and make it stronger so that players won't be worried about breaking the puzzle. And we have used the arcade button to take the place of those fragile bamboo-made ones. Now they can even use their palm to slash those buttons, making the experience more interesting and durable.
After they solve the final puzzle, they will get a real physical souvenir for the experience. The first thing is the ticket, which I will mention later in the promotion part. And the second thing is the final treasure, some gold-coin-shaped chocolate. Though it might seem a little bit "cliche", for us, it's actually a practical choice that fits players' common sense and expectations. If we show them some valuable ancient words written magic book, they might get disappointed because that's something they can neither value nor take.
Space Design
After finishing all the puzzles, we have to put them in the space that we are assigned to, making sure that the setting is clear and the wiring is easy to do. Also, we have to leave out the space for Game Master, security cameras, and backstage equipment
Escape Room
Entrance
Constellation
Puzzle
Constellation
Paper
Poetry
Backstage Entrance
Professor's Cloth
Notebook
Countdown Clock
Pen
DV
Computer 4
Constellation
+ Web Camera
Computer 1
Countdown
+ BGM
Final Puzzle
Altar
Cup
the Mouth
of Truth
Computer 2
Weight Sensor
Automatic Lock
Computer 3
"the Mouth of Truth"
Final Puzzle
Promotion & Exhibition
After finishing installing all 5 puzzles and the physical setting, we are about to go public. Before that, there is one more step, which is to promote our escape room to others. We make the post, print out the tickets, and publish the event registration on "Eventbrite"
Later, I played the role of the game master and run more than 10 games. Building an escape room is one thing, but watching others play and guiding them is another new task. Players have encountered some problems and their own unique solutions to the puzzle out of our expectations. But overall speaking, all players are satisfied with their experience no matter whether they successfully make it or are just one step from the final treasure.
These are the pictures taken when we run the game and the link provides a full-length following shot of one of the teams who participated.
Reflection
The first thing is that near the altar, we should place some posters or pictures or bloodstain on the wall to indicate that players can pour the blood down. Because when we interview some of the groups after the game, they said that at the beginning, they are a little bit afraid that pouring liquid into the puzzle might break it because of the wooden structure.
The second is about taking the feedback generated from the user test seriously. This is extremely true when designing an immersive escape room experience. How every clue leads to another and how players perceive the puzzle might be very different from the designer's perspective. According to their responses, tuning the balance between difficulty level and interesting content is very important. Using participants' points of view to review the game design will bring new inspirations for the game designer.