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
Tuesday Apr 12, 2022
Tuesday Apr 12, 2022
In Season 3, episode 9 of REPOD, David and Peih-Gee are joined by David’s wife and REPOD producer Lisa Spira, along with Steve Ewing, the REPOD editor. We take questions and comments from listeners who have called in with voicemails or sent us emails. We had some really thought provoking questions, some lovely compliments about listeners’ favorite episodes, and of course, some hilarious prank calls.
We also got to play some hilarious games designed by Steve and Peih-Gee, themed on our past guests. We absolutely loved hearing from our listeners and had a blast going through our mailbag. I hope you have as much fun listening as we did recording it.
Show Notes
Send an Email
Hit us up at: contact@roomescapeartist.com
Send a Letter
Room Escape Artist
PO Box 683
Nutley, NJ 07110
Episode Sponsors
Thank you to our sponsors:
- Morty - A free app for discovering, planning, tracking, and reviewing your escape rooms and other immersive social outings.
- Virtual Escape Games - Specializes in virtual team building adventures for teams anywhere around the globe, 24/7.
Reality Escape Convention - RECON
Our escape room and immersive gaming convention, will be an incredible event for creators and consumers of the games we love. We hope to see you in Boston. Learn More about RECON.
Production Credits
Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law
Produced by Lisa Spira
Edited by Steve Ewing of Stand Inside Media
Music by Ryan Elder
Logo by Janine Pracht
Monday Apr 04, 2022
Monday Apr 04, 2022
In Season 3, Episode 8, we chat with Chris Waters, The Architect of Constructed Adventures. Chris creates extraordinary, customized treasure hunt adventures for special occasions. His experiences are primarily for private clients and have included everything from being picked up in helicopters to getting mysterious envelopes delivered by otters.
Chris is the Willy Wonka of treasure hunts, doling out mysteries and golden prizes. However, instead of secrecy, he is incredibly transparent about what he does, his methods, and what he charges. He was full of tips and tricks for anyone who wants to create adventures for their own friends and family. Chris is passionate, energetic, and charming, and it’s easy to see why The Architect has been so successful in constructing adventures.
The Mailbag: Please give us some feedback?
We're doing a Mailbag episode where we answer your questions, share your stories, and learn from you fine folks. There are a few ways to take part:
- Take our survey
- Leave a voicemail
- Send an email
- Send us some snail mail
Here's how to do each:
Take A Short Survey
Share your feedback anonymously through this survey.
Leave A Voicemail
If you’d like to be on the podcast, please submit a voice recording by calling the Room Escape Artist not-so-hotline that always goes straight to voicemail (551-227-7273), and record your thoughts and feels about REPOD straight into the voicemail.
Your message should be:
- Short, no longer than 30 seconds - it will help to jot down your ideas before recording
- Recorded with as little background noise as possible (recording in a closet, or under a comforter could help)
- Start with your name and where you are from
Send an Email
Hit us up at: contact@roomescapeartist.com
Send a Letter
Room Escape Artist
PO Box 683
Nutley, NJ 07110
Episode Sponsors
Thank you to our sponsors:
- Morty - A free app for discovering, planning, tracking, and reviewing your escape rooms and other immersive social outings.
- Virtual Escape Games - Specializes in virtual team building adventures for teams anywhere around the globe, 24/7.
Reality Escape Convention - RECON
Our escape room and immersive gaming convention, will be an incredible event for creators and consumers of the games we love. We hope to see you in Boston. Learn More about RECON.
Production Credits
Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law
Produced by Lisa Spira
Edited by Steve Ewing of Stand Inside Media
Music by Ryan Elder
Logo by Janine Pracht
Monday Mar 28, 2022
Monday Mar 28, 2022
In season 3, episode 7, we chat with Tommy Honton, creator of the award-winning escape room Stash House. He is a master craftsman of experience design with his bottomless bag of tools, combining storytelling and game design to create memorable, playable experiences.
It’s no coincidence that Tommy’s been mentioned by so many guests on this podcast. It’s clear his huge network exists because he genuinely cares about elevating the escape room community and helping like-minded creators succeed.
It was fascinating to get a glimpse into Tommy’s methodical creative design process. His approach to escape room design is deliberate and thoughtful, designing all aspects of the experience based on what he calls an “adrenaline map.” I especially appreciated the insight into his beta testing process. Tommy is so passionate about elevating the craft of immersive gaming and advocating for other creators. It’s easy to see why many escape room designers consider him a mentor.
The Mailbag: Please give us some feedback?
We're doing a Mailbag episode where we answer your questions, share your stories, and learn from you fine folks. There are a few ways to take part:
- Take our survey
- Leave a voicemail
- Send an email
- Send us some snail mail
Here's how to do each:
Take A Short Survey
Share your feedback anonymously through this survey.
Leave A Voicemail
If you’d like to be on the podcast, please submit a voice recording by calling the Room Escape Artist not-so-hotline that always goes straight to voicemail (551-227-7273), and record your thoughts and feels about REPOD straight into the voicemail.
Your message should be:
- Short, no longer than 30 seconds - it will help to jot down your ideas before recording
- Recorded with as little background noise as possible (recording in a closet, or under a comforter could help)
- Start with your name and where you are from
Send an Email
Hit us up at: contact@roomescapeartist.com
Send a Letter
Room Escape Artist
PO Box 683
Nutley, NJ 07110
Episode Sponsors
Thank you to our sponsors:
- Morty - A free app for discovering, planning, tracking, and reviewing your escape rooms and other immersive social outings.
- Virtual Escape Games - Specializes in virtual team building adventures for teams anywhere around the globe, 24/7.
Reality Escape Convention - RECON
Our escape room and immersive gaming convention, will be an incredible event for creators and consumers of the games we love. We hope to see you in Boston. Learn More about RECON.
Production Credits
Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law
Produced by Lisa Spira
Edited by Steve Ewing of Stand Inside Media
Music by Ryan Elder
Logo by Janine Pracht
Monday Mar 21, 2022
Monday Mar 21, 2022
In Season 3, episode 6 of REPOD, we chat with Hillary Manning, the puzzle design expert on Create The Escape. Create the Escape is a fun kids show where in each episode, kids design an escape room for their parents to play and hopefully escape. Hillary has previously worked at escape rooms like Beat the Bomb and Escape The Room as a puzzle designer and gamemaster.
Hillary walks us through the challenges of designing escape rooms for a television audience, and creating puzzles that are both fun to play and visually pleasing with a large scale. She takes us behind the scenes of how the show is produced, and what it takes to get cast on the show. It's especially exciting to hear about how much input the kids have on designing the puzzles and helping build the room. I think this show will be a great introduction for more families to learn about escape rooms. Hillary is a fun, energetic host on the show, and she brings the same great energy to this podcast episode.
The Mailbag: Please give us some feedback?
We're doing a Mailbag episode where we answer your questions, share your stories, and learn from you fine folks. There are a few ways to take part:
- Take our survey
- Leave a voicemail
- Send an email
- Send us some snail mail
Here's how to do each:
Take A Short Survey
Share your feedback anonymously through this survey.
Leave A Voicemail
If you’d like to be on the podcast, please submit a voice recording by calling the Room Escape Artist not-so-hotline that always goes straight to voicemail (551-227-7273), and record your thoughts and feels about REPOD straight into the voicemail.
Your message should be:
- Short, no longer than 30 seconds - it will help to jot down your ideas before recording
- Recorded with as little background noise as possible (recording in a closet, or under a comforter could help)
- Start with your name and where you are from
Send an Email
Hit us up at: contact@roomescapeartist.com
Send a Letter
Room Escape Artist
PO Box 683
Nutley, NJ 07110
Episode Sponsors
Thank you to our sponsors:
- Morty - A free app for discovering, planning, tracking, and reviewing your escape rooms and other immersive social outings.
- Virtual Escape Games - Specializes in virtual team building adventures for teams anywhere around the globe, 24/7.
Reality Escape Convention - RECON
Our escape room and immersive gaming convention, will be an incredible event for creators and consumers of the games we love. We hope to see you in Boston. Learn More about RECON.
Production Credits
Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law
Produced by Lisa Spira
Edited by Steve Ewing of Stand Inside Media
Music by Ryan Elder
Logo by Janine Pracht
Monday Mar 14, 2022
Monday Mar 14, 2022
In Season 3, Episode 5 of REPOD, we sat down with Matt Leacock, best known for creating the Pandemic series of cooperative board games. There are several expansions for Pandemic as well as the Pandemic Legacy games, which are stand alone versions of the game with an interwoven narrative that affects the rules and mechanics of the game as you play.
The Pandemic and Pandemic Legacy games share many commonalities with escape rooms, including cooperative gameplay, cinematic narrative structure, and gameplay mechanics that tie in closely to the theme.
It was fascinating to hear Matt describe his game design process and how he approaches it from a user experience design standpoint. There is a dialogue between the theme and game mechanics where they impact each other iteratively. Pandemic Legacy is one of David’s favorite board games, and if you love escape rooms, we think you’ll love this game too.
Featured Games:
The Mailbag: Please give us some feedback?
We're doing a Mailbag episode where we answer your questions, share your stories, and learn from you fine folks. There are a few ways to take part:
- Take our survey
- Leave a voicemail
- Send an email
- Send us some snail mail
Here's how to do each:
Take A Short Survey
Share your feedback anonymously through this survey.
Leave A Voicemail
If you’d like to be on the podcast, please submit a voice recording by calling the Room Escape Artist not-so-hotline that always goes straight to voicemail (551-227-7273), and record your thoughts and feels about REPOD straight into the voicemail.
Your message should be:
- Short, no longer than 30 seconds - it will help to jot down your ideas before recording
- Recorded with as little background noise as possible (recording in a closet, or under a comforter could help)
- Start with your name and where you are from
Send an Email
Hit us up at: contact@roomescapeartist.com
Send a Letter
Room Escape Artist
PO Box 683
Nutley, NJ 07110
Episode Sponsors
Thank you to our sponsors:
- Morty - A free app for discovering, planning, tracking, and reviewing your escape rooms and other immersive social outings.
- Virtual Escape Games - Specializes in virtual team building adventures for teams anywhere around the globe, 24/7.
Reality Escape Convention - RECON
Our escape room and immersive gaming convention, will be an incredible event for creators and consumers of the games we love. We hope to see you in Boston. Learn More about RECON.
Production Credits
Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law
Produced by Lisa Spira
Edited by Steve Ewing of Stand Inside Media
Music by Ryan Elder
Logo by Janine Pracht
Tuesday Mar 08, 2022
Tuesday Mar 08, 2022
In Season 3, Episode 4 of REPOD, we were joined by Gabby Pascuzzi, a Survivor contestant who competed on season 37, Survivor David vs. Goliath. Gabby is half of one of Survivor’s most iconic Nerd Alliance, alongside Christian Hubiki, a robotics professor.
Gabby has a lifelong passion for puzzles and games, and she joined us to help explain why Survivor is so beloved by many game and puzzle enthusiasts. We break down some interesting game mechanics introduced on Survivor’s more recent seasons and discuss the various challenges and puzzles on Survivor.
On REPOD, we love chatting about Survivor and all the different strategies and gameplay possibilities. If you’re a fan of puzzles and gaming, you’ll probably also be a fan of Survivor. We hope you’re inspired to start watching after listening to this episode (if you aren’t already).
The Mailbag: Please give us some feedback?
We're doing a Mailbag episode where we answer your questions, share your stories, and learn from you fine folks. There are a few ways to take part:
- Take our survey
- Leave a voicemail
- Send an email
- Send us some snail mail
Here's how to do each:
Take A Short Survey
Share your feedback anonymously through this survey.
Leave A Voicemail
If you’d like to be on the podcast, please submit a voice recording by calling the Room Escape Artist not-so-hotline that always goes straight to voicemail (551-227-7273), and record your thoughts and feels about REPOD straight into the voicemail.
Your message should be:
- Short, no longer than 30 seconds - it will help to jot down your ideas before recording
- Recorded with as little background noise as possible (recording in a closet, or under a comforter could help)
- Start with your name and where you are from
Send an Email
Hit us up at: contact@roomescapeartist.com
Send a Letter
Room Escape Artist
PO Box 683
Nutley, NJ 07110
Episode Sponsors
Thank you to our sponsors:
- Morty - A free app for discovering, planning, tracking, and reviewing your escape rooms and other immersive social outings.
- Virtual Escape Games - Specializes in virtual team building adventures for teams anywhere around the globe, 24/7.
Reality Escape Convention - RECON
Our escape room and immersive gaming convention, will be an incredible event for creators and consumers of the games we love. We hope to see you in Boston. Learn More about RECON.
Production Credits
Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law
Produced by Lisa Spira
Edited by Steve Ewing of Stand Inside Media
Music by Ryan Elder
Logo by Janine Pracht
Monday Feb 28, 2022
Monday Feb 28, 2022
In Season 3, episode 3, we chat with Kathryn Yu, Executive Editor of No Proscenium and a co-founder of the Immersive Experience Institute, a non-profit that aims to create a sustainable future for immersive and experiential arts and artists worldwide.
Kathryn joins us to chat about game design in branching narrative games, including her brilliant creation Metaverse Noir, told through the medium of Twitter threads. Through her work with No Proscenium, she has her finger on the pulse of immersive experiences. Kathryn’s passion for interactive narrative and good storytelling was apparent throughout our conversation. It was a blast chatting with her about VR gaming and talking about how to craft a game that resonates with the players.
The Mailbag: Please give us some feedback?
We're doing a Mailbag episode where we answer your questions, share your stories, and learn from you fine folks. There are a few ways to take part:
- Take our survey
- Leave a voicemail
- Send an email
- Send us some snail mail
Here's how to do each:
Take A Short Survey
Share your feedback anonymously through this survey.
Leave A Voicemail
If you’d like to be on the podcast, please submit a voice recording by calling the Room Escape Artist not-so-hotline that always goes straight to voicemail (551-227-7273), and record your thoughts and feels about REPOD straight into the voicemail.
Your message should be:
- Short, no longer than 30 seconds - it will help to jot down your ideas before recording
- Recorded with as little background noise as possible (recording in a closet, or under a comforter could help)
- Start with your name and where you are from
Send an Email
Hit us up at: contact@roomescapeartist.com
Send a Letter
Room Escape Artist
PO Box 683
Nutley, NJ 07110
Episode Sponsors
Thank you to our sponsors:
- Morty - A free app for discovering, planning, tracking, and reviewing your escape rooms and other immersive social outings.
- Virtual Escape Games - Specializes in virtual team building adventures for teams anywhere around the globe, 24/7.
Reality Escape Convention - RECON
Our escape room and immersive gaming convention, will be an incredible event for creators and consumers of the games we love. We hope to see you in Boston. Learn More about RECON.
Production Credits
Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law
Produced by Lisa Spira
Edited by Steve Ewing of Stand Inside Media
Music by Ryan Elder
Logo by Janine Pracht
Monday Feb 21, 2022
Monday Feb 21, 2022
In Season 3, episode 2, we chat with Johanna Koljonen, the co-founder of Participation Design Agency. She is an experience designer specializing in Nordic larp and an expert in designing for safe and enthusiastic participation. Johanna has helped create some incredibly compelling and intense Nordic larps, including Vampire the Masquerade, Inside Hamlet, and House of Craving.
Johanna puts careful thought into every aspect of her experiences, encapsulated in her concept that “everything is a designable surface.” Nordic larp encourages consent-based play, and Johanna discusses how to introduce systems that will allow participants to push boundaries safely. She gives concrete examples of how to encourage participation in very emotionally intense events, noting that “you have to feel safe to be brave.”
The way Johanna discusses immersive experiences was eye-opening and illuminating. If you design immersive theater, escape rooms, larps or immersive experiences of any kind, you will find this episode absolutely invaluable. David notes that meeting Johanna completely changed the way he thinks about experience design, and I think you’ll agree after listening to this episode.
The Mailbag: Please give us some feedback?
We're doing a Mailbag episode where we answer your questions, share your stories, and learn from you fine folks. There are a few ways to take part:
- Take our survey
- Leave a voicemail
- Send an email
- Send us some snail mail
Here's how to do each:
Take A Short Survey
Share your feedback anonymously through this survey.
Leave A Voicemail
If you’d like to be on the podcast, please submit a voice recording by calling the Room Escape Artist not-so-hotline that always goes straight to voicemail (551-227-7273), and record your thoughts and feels about REPOD straight into the voicemail.
Your message should be:
- Short, no longer than 30 seconds - it will help to jot down your ideas before recording
- Recorded with as little background noise as possible (recording in a closet, or under a comforter could help)
- Start with your name and where you are from
Send an Email
Hit us up at: contact@roomescapeartist.com
Send a Letter
Room Escape Artist
PO Box 683
Nutley, NJ 07110
Episode Sponsors
Thank you to our sponsors:
- Morty - A free app for discovering, planning, tracking, and reviewing your escape rooms and other immersive social outings.
- Virtual Escape Games - Specializes in virtual team building adventures for teams anywhere around the globe, 24/7.
Reality Escape Convention - RECON
Our escape room and immersive gaming convention, will be an incredible event for creators and consumers of the games we love. We hope to see you in Boston. Learn More about RECON.
Production Credits
Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law
Produced by Lisa Spira
Edited by Steve Ewing of Stand Inside Media
Music by Ryan Elder
Logo by Janine Pracht
Tuesday Feb 15, 2022
Tuesday Feb 15, 2022
To kick off Season 3, we chat with Maxime and Roxane Filion of Immersia Escape Games. Their escape games truly impressed us on our recent trip to Montreal. In this episode they talk about their immersive approach to game design, their diverse gaming influences, and how they measure success. Maxime and Roxane are also passionate about their creations and about this industry. Moreover, they have a shared vision of what escape games can be, and they are striving to build that future.
Episode Sponsors
Thank you to our sponsors:
- Morty - A free app for discovering, planning, tracking, and reviewing your escape rooms and other immersive social outings.
- Virtual Escape Games - Specializes in virtual team building adventures for teams anywhere around the globe, 24/7.
Reality Escape Convention - RECON
Our escape room and immersive gaming convention, will be an incredible event for creators and consumers of the games we love. We hope to see you in Boston. Learn More about RECON.
Production Credits
Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law
Produced by Lisa Spira
Edited by Steve Ewing of Stand Inside Media
Music by Ryan Elder
Logo by Janine Pracht
Tuesday Oct 05, 2021
Tuesday Oct 05, 2021
Bonus Content?
After each episode, hosts Peih-Gee and David record another show, just for Patreon backers ($5/ month and up). Sometimes the guests stick around for the aftershow.
Where the main episode is a heavily edited and produced experience, the bonus content is a freeform conversation.
Guests
This sneak peek is the REPOD S1E4 Patreon Bonus Content, recorded with Anne and Chris Lukeman from CU Adventures in Time & Space.
You can find REPOD S1E4 with guests Anne and Chris here.
Patreon
Kindly consider backing us on Patreon.
See you in Season 3.