Fictional Reality

A lively discussion with Flatpak and Full Deck creator Stephen Lockyer about his history of designing puzzle books, his discipline of creating content, and how the every day and mundane inspires his process.Stephen has a dry sense of humour and I could have chatted with him for hours about his puzzle making process. His is an enthusiastic creator and very helpful and open contributor to the puzzle community. He has launched numerous successful Kickstart campaigns and he and his business partner are responsible for several renowned puzzle books.This episode we discuss his process and how to create massive amounts of content without overloading your brain or your schedule.==========LINKS=========Stephen has provided us with a special discount code for the Escapages online store: FICTIONALREALITYHead over to https://escapages.co.uk/ and use the code FICTIONALREALITY upon checkout to recieve a discount on all productsMy website: https://www.puzzledreality.comMy IG: @thepuzzledmakerPodcast Producer: https://thatsnotcanon.comInterested in starting your own podcast? Head to That's Not Canon and ask how

LA based experience designer Tommy Honton joins me as we discuss his journey from a film and tv writer in the wild and wacky world of experience design.This is the 10 episode of season 2 of Fictional Reality. In this season I talk to experience designers from around the world about how they design puzzle experiences, mysteries, immersive theatre, and escape rooms. Today I chat with Tommy Honton an award winning experience designer with a passion for the fundamental experience of the player. He has designed and created experiences such as the Museum of Selfies, Stash House, Arcana, All of Them Witches, and the Mortality Machine (to name a few).He is a pleasure to talk to and learn from and was very encouraging in being forthcoming about how he entered the field and continues to design experiences. He has a playful heart and a eye for detail. His focus on accessability makes him a careful considerate creator who's goal is to provide an exciting, meaningful experience for the player.I hope you enjoy this episode, remember to like and subscribe and catch you next time!==========LINKS===========Tommy Honton: Website: https://tommyhonton.com/Stash House Escape Room: https://www.stashhou.se/Review of Arcana: https://becomeimmersed.com/arcana-review/My website: www.puzzledreality.comMy IG: @thepuzzledmakerPodcast Producer: https://thatsnotcanon.comInterested in starting your own podcast? Head to That's Not Canon and ask how

The Wild Optimists are the creative duo behind the first mass markte escape room in a box game and work as puzzle designers whose goal is to discover new ways to play.This week I chat with two very clever, generous, and creative puzzle designers Ariel and Juliana. Together the are The Wild Optimists, two women who are constantly pushing themselves to discover new ways to play. They have created in home experiences, online puzzle quests, are the minds behind Vampire Pizza (a quarantine solution), and have also launched a puzzle workshop among many many other projects. Their laundry list is as long as their testimonials page and they were very generous in giving me an evening of their time.We discuss how they came to be, their passion for creating new experiences, their process, what they have been doing during quarantine, and how others can create their own puzzle narrative experiences.I hope you enjoy this episode, remember to like and subscribe and catch you next time!==========LINKS===========My website: https://www.puzzledreality.comMy IG: @thepuzzledmakerPodcast Producer: https://thatsnotcanon.comWild Optimistshttps://www.wildoptimists.com/Rita Orlovhttps://www.getpostcurious.com/Vampire Pizzahttps://www.vampire.pizza/Renegade Gameshttps://www.renegadegamestudios.com/Escape Room in-a-boxhttp://www.escaperoominabox.com/en-usInterested in starting your own podcast? Head to That's Not Canon (LINK ABOVE) and ask how

A chat with experience designer Ben from Mystery City Games, an outdoor puzzle adventure company who specialise in "puzzlefying" historical stories.EPISODE NOTES: Ben and his business partner decided to make use of all the great history, stories, and mysteries that lay hidden within the bricks mortar of Amsterdam by creating a puzzle led narrative adventure that would take visitors on a mysterious self guided tour of the city. Two years of development and testing resulting in a successful model that had his company growing rapidly to expand to more cities, developing more true historical puzzle adventures.I hope you enjoy this episode, remember to like and subscribe and catch you next time!==========LINKS===========My website: https://www.puzzledreality.comMy IG: @thepuzzledmakerPodcast Producer: https://thatsnotcanon.comMystery City Gameshttps://mystery.city/IG: @mysterycityStickville Murder Mysterieshttps://web.archive.org/web/20140717125047/http://www.normandcompany.com/STICKMAN/index.htmlInterested in starting your own podcast? Head to That's Not Canon and ask how

Jack Ford Morgan is the founder and game designer for Half-Monster Games, an independent Australian board game producer. We talk about his latest game Animal World War, the question of "what is good", and designing player experience.EPISODE NOTES: Jack and I talk about the importance of designing the player experience in our latest episode. We discuss how immersive approaches to game design help build a narrative and universe that sustains player imagination throughout gameplay. We digress slightly into trying to answer the question of What Is Good and easily dispatch the answer, I don't know why it took so many philosophers so long to figure it out!Jack and I have a lot in common with regards to designing experiences, his within the board game industry, and my within the immersive events and entertainment industry. I hope you enjoy this week's episode of Fictional RealityLINKS:Half-Monster Games: https://halfmonstergames.comIG: @halfmonstergamesMy website: https://www.puzzledreality.comMy IG: @thepuzzledmakerPodcast Producer: https://thatsnotcanon.comwww.puzzledreality.com | www.brisbaneexplorers.com | www.halfmonstergames.com

Paul Adams is a multi-modal creator specialising in theatre production and business development. He is a true renaissance man, and believes in surprising the customer with value.EPISODE NOTES: This is the sixth episode of season 2 of Fictional Reality. This season I will be interviewing experience designers, puzzle developers, and escape room enthusiasts to find out how they design experiences.This week I chat with Paul Adams from Small Crown Productions, a local Brisbane based theatre producer and creator. Paul has extensive experience not only in theatre, live action role play, re-enactment performances, and film but also in managing and growing business.He is on a mission to apply the skills that have made him a successful manager, organiser and leader and apply them to a creative business model. We have a lengthy discussion about the experience design of the customer journey. Paul believes that the customer should become a part of the company, especially within the children's theatre industry. So Paul has created a series of models, funnels, and frameworks aimed at expanding the customer experience to create loyalty, and value across years, generations, and productions.I hope you enjoy this episode, remember to like and subscribe and catch you next time!==========LINKS===========My website: https://www.puzzledreality.comMy IG: @thepuzzledmakerPodcast Producer: https://thatsnotcanon.comSmall Crown Productionshttps://www.smallcrownproductions.com.au/Paul on IG: @smallcrownproductionsInterested in starting your own podcast? Head to That's Not Canon and ask howwww.puzzledreality.com | www.brisbaneexplorers.com | www.halfmonstergames.com

This week I chat with Doctor Cameron Cliff. He develops multi-platform experiences and uses storytelling to solve strategy problems.EPISODE NOTES: This is the fourth episode of the new season of Fictional Reality. This season I will be interviewing experience designers, puzzle developers, and escape room enthusiasts to find out how they design experiences as well as tips and tricks for you how can too.This week I chat with Doctor Cameron Cliff. He develops multi-platform experiences and uses storytelling to solve strategy problems. From immersive, interactive theatrical productions that explore themes like loneliness or the lives of refugees, to the experience journey of online educational modules.Cameron received his PhD researching how multi modal storytelling (then trans-media) can facilitate perceived co-creation, community, and ownership of content and thus create a more fully engaging media. We discuss how emotion and narrative can work together with interactive and immersive design to create an unforgettable user experience. Experience design can lead to strong emotional connections through the feeling of perceived co-creation, choice, and agency.I love talking to Cameron about how to engage audiences to ride an emotional roller-coaster, but of course it is imperative that it is done safely and with the consent of the viewer. We discuss at length what it means to invoke emotional responses and how they can be successfully implemented through experience design.I hope you enjoy this episode, remember to like and subscribe and catch you next time!==========LINKS===========Cam's Website: https://www.cliffhangercreative.com/Punchdrunk "The Lost Lending Library": https://www.punchdrunk.org.uk/project/the-lost-lending-library/Art of Game Design on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com.au/Art-Game-Design-Lenses-Second-ebook/dp/B00OYUO4PYRobert Pratten "Transmedia Storytelling on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylj74jPHafEGetting Started in Transmedia Storytelling: https://talkingobjects.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/book-2-robert-pratten.pdfNo Mimes Media (AR puzzle adventure for The Dark Knight): https://www.nomimes.com/Feminist Approach to Game Design:Brie Code (Tend and Befriend Game Design): https://www.briecode.com/Feminist Game Design Journal: https://maifeminism.com/leveling-up-a-critical-feminist-pedagogy-for-game-design/My website: https://www.puzzledreality.comMy IG: @thepuzzledmakerPodcast Producer: https://thatsnotcanon.comInterested in starting your own podcast? Head to That's Not Canon by clicking the above link and ask howwww.puzzledreality.com | www.brisbaneexplorers.com | www.halfmonstergames.com

This week I chat with Michelle and Yacine from Society of Curiosities and Kauai Escape rooms. In the COVID business pivot they released a play at home adventure subscription service.EPISODE NOTES: This is the third episode of the new season of Fictional Reality. This season I will be interviewing experience designers, puzzle developers, and escape room enthusiasts to find out how they design experiences.This week I chat with Michelle and Yacine from Society of Curiosities and Kauai Escape rooms. In the COVID business pivot they released a play at home adventure subscription service.We chat about how they became escape room owners as well as their design process for ensuring that narrative consistency remains paramount in achieving their vision. They also tell me their tips and tricks for inspiring awe and wonder for anyone looking to design a puzzle experience themselves.I hope you enjoy this episode, remember to like and subscribe and catch you next time!==========LINKS===========Society of Curiosities: https://www.societyofcuriosities.com/Kauai Escape: https://www.escaperoomkauai.com/My website: https://www.puzzledreality.com/My IG: @thepuzzledmakerPodcast Producer: https://thatsnotcanon.comwww.puzzledreality.com | www.brisbaneexplorers.com | www.halfmonstergames.com

Today I chat with Rita Orlov, the creator behind the mail-out mystery website PostCurious. She is a narrative puzzle adventure designer, illustrator, creator, maker extraordinaire.EPISODE NOTES: This is the third episode of the new season of Fictional Reality. This season I will be interviewing experience designers, puzzle developers, and escape room enthusiasts to find out how they design experiences.Today I chat with Rita Orlov, the creator behind the mail-out mystery website PostCurious. She is a narrative puzzle adventure designer, illustrator, creator, maker extraordinaire. We discuss her latest project "The Emerald Flame", a narrative puzzle adventure that involves a mysterious comet, an alchemist, a historical society, and a mysterious plot. She has recently launched this epic adventure on kickstarter which has, by all accounts, been an uproarious success. This episode is a deep dive into the creative purpose. From the initial idea, then the research, the designing, testing, prototyping, and manufacturing we cover the process of creating a top tier narrative puzzle adventure from the ground up.I hope you enjoy this episode, remember to like and subscribe and catch you next time!==========LINKS===========PostCurious Website: https://www.getpostcurious.comThe Emerald Flame Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/postcurious/the-emerald-flamePostCurious on IG: https://www.instagram.com/postcuriousMy website: www.puzzledreality.comMy IG: @thepuzzledmakerPodcast Producer: https://thatsnotcanon.comInterested in starting your own podcast? Head to That's Not Canon and ask howwww.puzzledreality.com | www.brisbaneexplorers.com | www.halfmonstergames.com