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 May 22, 2023
Monday May 22, 2023
In season 5, episode 6 of Reality Escape Pod, we step into the DarkVerse with Gijs Geers, CEO and Head of Design at DarkPark Escape Rooms, one of our favorite escape room companies. DarkPark distinguishes itself with its consistently high production value, intriguing storytelling, and masterfully crafted scares. This quality of work persists across all their games, their branding, and their marketing.
Gijs shares his thought process when designing rooms. I loved hearing about his approach to crafting the storylines. Rather than shoving a narrative at the players, he shapes elements of a story and offers it to his players, allowing them to form their own stories. Gijs also shares his secret to creating effective jump scares, which stems from his background as an actor and magician.
DarkPark’s approach to designing escape rooms is really unique. All of the games I played there are etched in my memory as a series of cinematic vignettes. The folks at DarkPark are master storytellers, infusing their games with drama, wonder, and thrills. This is a conversation you won’t want to miss.
Full with Show Notes Timestamps
Episode Sponsors
Thank you to our sponsors:
Morty
Morty is a free app for discovering, planning, tracking, and reviewing your escape rooms and other immersive social outings.
Special Badge for REPOD listeners:
You can learn more at MortyApp.com/REPOD to sign up and get a special badge for our listeners (works for existing users also).
Resova
Resova is your all-inclusive software for bookings, made specifically for escape rooms, offering robust booking management, waiver management, integrated point of sales systems, and follow-up emails. Resova is the ultimate online reservation software designed to elevate the guest experience, increase game master efficiencies, drive sales, and improve operations.
Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:
Sign up with our link at Get.resova.com/rea and receive up to $100 with a Google Ads gift card.
Reality Escape Convention - RECON
Escape room conventions should be as fun, collaborative, and immersive as the games we celebrate.
RECON is our very own escape room and immersive gaming convention. Whether you’re an owner, creator, player, or you’re escape room curious, you are invited learn, connect, and play with our wonderful community.
RECON Remote 23 will take place August 19 – 20, 2023, online.
RECON 24 will be in person.
Get your RECON 23 ticket at now.
Music Credits
Our music was created by Ryan Elder.
Production Credits
REPOD is produced by Lisa Spira and edited by Steve Ewing of Stand Inside Media.
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