Expert Roundtable: Influence of Escape Rooms on Video Games

Speakers

• Henry Smith
  

  Henry Smith

  “Henry was a programmer at BioWare and Irrational Games for 10 years, on games like Dragon Age: Origins, Dead Space 2, and Mass Effect 3.

  In 2012 he went indie and his first solo project was award-winning party game Spaceteam. He is now working on a procedurally-generated multiplayer escape room called Blabyrinth. He’s trying to keep his games mostly free for players and so far it’s working out ok.

  He has spoken and won awards at previous IndieCade festivals.

  He thinks user interfaces are greatly underrated in game design.
  He loves puzzles and organizes the Montreal chapter of Puzzled Pint.”

• Kim Belair
  

  Kim Belair

  Kim Belair is a writer, narrative designer and co-founder of Sweet Baby Inc, a narrative development company based in Montreal. In the industry since 2013, she’s worked with companies including Ubisoft, Rocksteady, Square Enix, KO_OP, and Valve to bring games and stories to life. Beyond narrative work, Kim is an advocate for representation and inclusion, and is currently leading an initiative aimed at supporting, training and empowering marginalized developers.

• Laura E. Hall
  

  Laura E. Hall

  Laura E. Hall is an artist, writer, puzzle-maker, immersive environment and narrative designer living in Portland, Oregon. Her work focuses on the intersections between arts, culture, and technology, especially in gaming.

  Hall is a co-founder of Portland’s first escape the room game company, the award-winning 60 Minutes to Escape, and the author of Katamari Damacy for Boss Fight Books. She now creates exciting adventures for the curious at heart with Timberview Productions and Meridian Adventure Co. Her upcoming book “”Planning Your Escape: Strategy Secrets to Make You an Escape Room Superstar”” will be published by Simon & Schuster’s Tiller Press in 2021. She proudly serves on the board of the Portland Indie Game Squad (PIGSquad), a non-profit organization supporting game development and indie game enthusiasts in Portland.
  https://www.twitch.tv/lauraehall

• Mink Ette
  

  Mink Ette

  Mink Ette is a designer and immersive entertainment creator specializing in interactive experiences and games. Starting out as a Product Designer, her focus on playful design soon lead into creating Alternate Reality Games and other forms of physical play. After a few years working at Hasbro and then in advertising, Mink returned to embodied play and Escape Rooms were the natural next step. She has been creating escape games for the past 5 years as both owner/operator, for a large franchise chain and pop-up events for marketing clients. Mink also runs design workshops and is a visiting lecturer at version Universities around the world. Recent work includes the ARG ‘Reality RP’ at D&D Live 2020, The Good Omens TV show launch escape room and playing the voice of Stella the Cormorant in Hollow Pond’s ‘I AM DEAD’ out now on Switch & PC.

• William Stacey
  

  William Stacey

  Based in Montreal, Canada, Will Stacey is a game designer and the founder of Puzzle Box Games. After graduating with a Masters in Quantum Information, Will pivoted into game design and has been working in the games industry ever since. Will has worked on a variety of traditional and non-traditional games at companies such as Behaviour Interactive, Reflector Entertainment, and Ubisoft.

  Recently, Will has worked as the puzzle designer on the Institute for Higher Knowledge ARG. He’s also a puzzle enthusiast and has contributed puzzles to Puzzled Pint and other local puzzle hunts.