Prior to Escape Academy, Coin Crew Games created location-based entertainment experiences (LBEs) such as escape rooms and video game cabinets. Creating an escape room called Space Squad in space is how Wyatt Bushnell and Mike Salyh met, setting them on the path to founding Coin Crew Games.
The studio’s original goal was to design a casual video game experience for large groups of friends to have some friendly competition. These early video game cabinets take the form of licensed racing machine Hot Wheels: King of the Road and Coin Crew Game’s first original title, Battle Bowling.
Battle Bowling features up to four players against each other, who must frantically spin a large orb to navigate the treacherous track and take down the most pegs. It will color your mind.
During the development of our third cabinet, a pandemic occurred, forcing the closure of physical recreation spaces. We found a way to turn our talent and experience into digital headlines. This exploration led us to the idea of bringing the escape room experience into the digital space.
And thus, Escape Academy was born!
Physical vs. digital difference and make the transition
Unlike most digital titles, the physical experience lasts between three and sixty minutes, so a key component is making sure the game is instantly understandable without instructions. . Players need to understand the objective simply by looking at the cabinet. Simple practice is a key component of making Escape Academy accessible.
In the case of Hot Wheels: King of the Road, the goal is simple. Outrun your friends and be the first to reach the finish line.
In terms of puzzle design, an essential component is building clues and ways for the player to deduce the solution. In real life escape rooms, everything at first glance is a potential clue, so players spend most of their experience examining objects to determine their relevance to puzzles. To recreate this digitally, every object in the environment must be programmed as an interoperable, which poses a scoping-wise challenge.
This technical limitation allows us to be very selective about what parts of the environment can be interacted with, giving us a lot of control in guiding the player’s path in the room. This is an important way of balancing our rooms and ensuring that all puzzles remain accessible rather than overwhelming. Of course, this “balancing” process takes some trial and error. However, Coin Crew Games has established a regiment of rigorous testing for their physical experiences, which is another essential part of the digital translation process.
In the past, we would observe every player and note how they move through space, their body posture, and the number of quarters they put into the machine. The move to digital has evolved into running 2-6 demos a week while players’ screens share views of their games and team members observe playstyles. We encourage players to try discussing their thought processes while solving puzzles to uncover misleading clues.
Art and the environment
Working in the digital space allows for a wide range of environmental design as the laws of physics, space constraints or pesky safety exemptions no longer constrain us. However, we had to establish some pillars around our environment design to cater to the gameplay and keep things focused.
The most important rule we established was that the layout of each room allowed for varied but consistent thematic puzzles. Placing a computer-based, binary cipher in the cafeteria would not be thematically appropriate, and placing an entire floor of an escape room inside a janitor’s locker would not allow for a variety of puzzles.
Pictured above is the “Escape Artist” level, themed around the art class, unlocking the ability to rely on spatial reasoning and other intuitive control puzzles.
Another part of escape room design that the digital environment allows for flexibility is the room’s “ticking clock,” or reason in the universe for a time limit. Things like flooded towers or burning libraries that are ticking are only possible in video game media. After confirming that the room’s theme could provide adequate puzzle design space, the storytelling and puzzle teams worked together to establish interesting stakes that could be expressed in levels. through art, sound and story.
Repeat and extend
The ability to update, iterate, and respond to feedback within the product itself is another huge benefit that digital gaming offers, and it’s one that we’ve worked hard to capitalize on countless times. different ways. In the case of our upcoming DLC, Escape from the Past, we’re telling a prequel revolving around a rogue at the Academy who gives players autonomy over the mystery.
If we don’t give the player the opportunity to solve the case by level, we fear that “whodunnit” will feel dissatisfied. This challenge forced us to push our escape defense mechanisms to their limits.
We’ve explored ways to give players autonomy in the mystery and connect the story more closely with puzzles to build on the premise. This leads to the concealment of relevant clues in all levels, allowing the player to identify the culprit. We’ve also developed a new mechanic that has a branching sequence in the final level that takes the player on a different puzzle path depending on which faculty member they allege is the culprit.
We’re not going anywhere
Following the release of our first digital title, the Coin Crew Games team is delighted to have such a warm welcome to the indie development scene. Interaction with PlayStation Indies players, developers, and team has been fantastic, and we can’t wait to continue working with everyone to build exciting digital experiences that leverage our physical platforms.
Don’t forget to keep an eye out for Escape Academy: Escape from the Past, June 19 release, and future Escape Academy updates.
