Tuesday Round-Up – Clavis Cryptica

Lots of little bits of news floating about lately… In particular, Seattle is flush with escape-style games!

NEW: Puzzle Break Seattle
There is a new escape game in town, and it’s called Puzzle Break. Games started in late November and ticketing is available through the end of January so far. Word on the street is that it’s really fun and well-run. I’ll be playing this Saturday with Mr. Cryptica and a non-puzzling friend.

REG: Escape from the Werewolf Village to run in Seattle
And if you want even more escaping action, Real Escape Game has you covered with their Seattle debut in January! Escape from the Werewolf Village was REG’s first US/San Francisco Game, which has since appeared in Los Angeles and will now make a brief run in Seattle on January 18th and 19th. (Unfortunately for me, this is MIT Mystery Hunt weekend and I’ll be out of town. But hopefully this is good news for the future!)

Puzzled Pint Now in London
First it was DASH, now London is the proud host of Puzzled Pint! Londoners can now enjoy puzzling in pubs every second Tuesday of each month. What city will join in next?

New 5 Wits Location Opening Soon
5 Wits makes cool interactive adventure games/shows that I haven’t gotten to enjoy yet, but maybe you can now that they’re opening a new location at Destiny USA in Syracruse, NY. They’ll be opening new versions of their TOMB and Espionage games, along with two new games later in 2014.

Open Call from Ravenchase Adventures
Ravenchase Adventures is looking for new staff and interns with creative minds and adventurous spirits. Check their Facebook page for more info.

Interactive Murder Mystery Film: Contradiction
Here is a Kickstarter for a film slash game that lets you control a cinematic murder mystery story. Seems neat!

Are You Watching The Genius Yet? Why Not? Season 2 Just Started, And It’s Really The Best
Seriously, get on that.

2 comments on Tuesday Round-Up

Myles
December 12, 2013 at 1:56 am

Yes I am watching. I can’t stop thinking about Episode 1. I want to re-watch. Let’s talk about this show more. I wish I knew all the animals and their win conditions and special abilities. I would play this game in a minute.

- clavicarius (author)
  December 12, 2013 at 9:33 pm
  
  Shadow Hunters is a board game that has a lot of basic concepts similar to the Food Chain game (secret identities and win and lose conditions dependent on the other players). I don’t think it’s quite as balanced as Food Chain though.
  
  I just checked back through the episode, and all of the cards are shown on screen with a full translation at least once during the practice round, so it should be re-runnable =)
  
  I’m really curious about the production of the show when they’re doing the games. For Food Chain, they had moderators in each of the rooms that seemed to keep track of everything and confirm some rules, but how did they keep it all straight in their heads, and then how did the attacks get monitored and then relayed to whoever announces them on the intercom system? Did they just edit out the part where the moderator said “Wait, which animal are you again? And you? Let me check my paper… Okay, nothing happens” etc? Or just lots of staff behind the scenes who keep track of everything as it’s happening and relay info to the moderators?
  
  On Twitter, you said you played the Zombie Game with some friends. How did you guys keep track of the zombies, and who had and hadn’t taken an antidote? Did you have to discourage some of the sneakier tactics they used in the show?
  
  Also, check out this link for more discussion on S2 =)