A Room Escape Artist Production
In a world gone digital, doing things in person is strangely revolutionary.
Reality Escape Pod is an interview podcast diving deep with people who make the world’s best immersive games and experiences: ARGs, puzzle hunts, tabletop games, theme parks, and of course, escape rooms. Our aim is to bring together different segments of the gaming world to share ideas between them.
Hosts David Spira & Peih-Gee Law explore immersive gaming from all angles with a unique blend of curiosity, joy, and a deep appreciation of craft. Each episode explores the guest’s philosophy, design approach, and humanity.
About the hosts:
David Spira is an experience designer, co-founder of RoomEscapeArtist.com and Reality Escape Convention. He is the escape room industry’s most prolific leader. In 2014 he applied his professional skills as a digital experience designer to the burgeoning industry of escape rooms, and more than a decade later he has built a community for its creators and consumers.
Peih-Gee Law is most well known for being a fan favorite contestant on the reality show Survivor, where she played first in Survivor China in 2007, and again in a returning All-Star season Survivor Second Chance. In 2025, she launched PG's Playhouse, a fun podcast with brainteasers, puzzles, and trivia. She is also on the official story team for Neotropolis, an annual 5 day immersive cyberpunk festival, where she creates narrative driven gameplay and experiences for thousands of attendees.
Episodes
Monday Aug 05, 2024
Monday Aug 05, 2024
"Why is there blacklight from the killer helping me?"
We groggily wake up in a dingy bathroom. It's creepy and dark with an ominous sense of dread. Our kidnapper comes on the screen and explains what will happen to us.
"I am also an escape room enthusiast and a horror fanatic. Therefore, I built a horror themed escape room. You are about to experience my masterpiece."
While these words are uttered by an actor playing the part of a psycho killer, the sentiment is straight from the heart of creator Christine Barger-Lutes. After reviewing escape rooms and haunts for almost a decade, blogger and influencer Christine finally opened up her very own escape room with husband and partner Jeremiah Lutes. 13th Basement is both a parody and homage to horror escape rooms.
Christine joins us on the Spoilers Club to talk all about 13th Basement, including designs borne out of frustrations and her own pet peeves with escape rooms. While discussing a key that falls with a purposefully loud clang onto a metal tray, David notes , "Christine was reviewing escape rooms for a long time before making this. She knows that one of the most annoying things to happen in the escape room is: a cool thing happens, you earned something, and no one knows it happened." I really enjoyed hearing Christine talk about her design decisions, especially when it comes to making sure her room is accessible. We dissect all these influences and more in this month's Spoilers Club of 13th Basement.
How to Listen
When you support Room Escape Artist on Patreon at $15 per month (or above), you get access to the Spoilers Club, our exclusive podcast where hosts David Spira and Peih-Gee Law chat in depth with creators about iconic escape rooms... spoilers and all!
https://www.patreon.com/roomescapeartist
Episode Sponsors
Thank you to our sponsors Morty, Buzzshot, COGS by Clockwork Dog, & RECON, the Reality Escape Convention:
Morty
Morty is a free app for discovering, planning, tracking, and reviewing your escape rooms and other immersive social outings.
Morty News:
- Morty now features haunt attractions
- Morty for Android is here
Special Badge for REPOD listeners:
You can learn more at morty.app/REPOD to sign up and get a special badge for our listeners (works for existing users also).
Buzzshot
Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.
Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:
REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.
COGS
COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.
Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:
REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.
RECON - The Reality Escape Convention
Our convention, RECON, will be in Universal City, California on August 18th & 19th, 2024.
RECON offers a curated collection of talks and experiences exploring the business and art of escape room and immersive game creation. All are welcome at this event that is crafted around professionals and aspiring professionals.
Tickets are on sale now at RealityEscapeCon.com
Production Credits
Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law
Produced by Theresa Piazza
Supported by Lisa Spira
Edited by Peih-Gee Law
Music by Ryan Elder
Logo by Janine Pracht
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