Reality Escape Pod - Escape Rooms & Immersive Games

David Spira & Peih-Gee Law
  • 5.0 (119)
  • GAMES
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Your hosts David Spira & Peih-Gee Law explore immersive gaming from all angles. Our guests have made awesome stuff: ARGs, puzzle hunts, tabletop games, and of course, escape rooms. Our aim is to bring together different segments of the gaming world and share ideas between them.

  1. FEB 3 · BONUS

    The Gen Con Genesis of Game Night by CU Adventures

    Anne and Chris Lukeman did something totally crazy when the brought a pipelined, actor-driven, escape room sampler complete with a boss battle to Gen Con in 2019. When you support Room Escape Artist on Patreon at $15 per month (or above), you get access to the Spoilers Club, our exclusive podcast where hosts David Spira and Peih-Gee Law chat in depth with creators about iconic escape rooms... spoilers and all! https://www.patreon.com/roomescapeartist

    6 min

  2. 12/30/2025

    S10E13: State of the Escapes with Lisa Spira

    " I love shining a light on escape room creators and telling their stories." For the last 10 years, Lisa Spira of Room Escape Artist has been tracking the growth of the US Escape Room industry and publishing industry reports. For our Season 10 finale episode, Lisa joins us to talk about this year's annual report. New this year is a collaboration with previous REPOD sponsor Morty, an app that tracks individual games as well as escape room companies. Through this collaboration, Lisa was able to look at additional metrics, including revenue. The 2025 Industry report is available on the Room Escape Artist website, and Lisa shares deeper analysis on this episode. Some interesting trends noted include consolidation of ownership, and expansion of immersive gaming business models. We also talk about some interesting stats, including which days might be better for an escape room company to go dark; it's not what you would expect! We close out the episode with some musings on exciting new design trends in escape room design, trends we don't care for, and where we think the escape room industry is headed. Whether you're an escape room owner, aspiring to work in the escape room industry, work in the immersive entertainment field, or just a data-loving enthusiast, the REA US Escape Room Industry Report is a must-read. This is the last episode of Season 10. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back with a new season of REPOD in the spring of 2026. Meanwhile, consider joining our Patreon for access to our library of Bonus Aftershows and Spoilers Club episodes.   Full Show Notes   Episode Sponsors We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and COGS. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.   Support Us On Patreon Today Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we’ve been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events. By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected. Access exclusive Patreon content such as: The Bonus Aftershow The Spoilers Club Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles. Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy.   PG's Playhouse If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what’s game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes. Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you’ll take a listen and play along with us at PG’s Playhouse.   Buzzshot Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.   COGS COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.   Production Credits Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law Produced by Theresa Piazza Supported by Lisa Spira Edited by Steve Ewing Music by Ryan Elder Logo by Janine Pracht

    1h 21m

  3. 12/23/2025 · BONUS

    S10E12: Holiday Special (ft. The REA Team)

    "A very twist ending. I don't think we were expecting it to go quite that way." The scent of cedar and cloves drift through the air, and all around the lights are twinkling. Boughs of holly and mistletoe decorate the rafters, and you've gathered friends and loved ones to celebrate. It's our first REPOD and PG's Playhouse crossover Holiday Special! To celebrate, we've invited our Podcast Producer, Theresa Piazza, and Room Escape Artist Contributor, Andrew Reynolds to join us for games, trivia, and merriment. Today's game is "It's Not Elf on the Shelf", inspired by an actual toy Snoop on the Stoop. Each answer is a celebrity paired with a rhyming location in the house. We all share some recommendations for games, puzzles, and shows that we've been enjoying. Then David takes us down the rabbit hole of mistletoe trivia, which has sexier origins than any of us imagined. I hope you enjoyed this fun PG's Playhouse-style episode! We're grateful for all of our loyal listeners, and we're thrilled that you've stuck with us for so long. Happy holidays, everyone!   Full Show Notes   Production Credits Hosted by Peih-Gee Law & David Spira Puzzles by Peih-Gee Law Produced by Theresa Piazza Supported by Lisa Spira Edited by Peih-Gee Law Music by Matt Farthing Logo by Theresa Wagner

    32 min

  4. 12/16/2025

    S10E11: BLOT, the RECON Game - starring Lyra Levin, Yannick Trapman-O’Brien, & Mark Larson

    " I appreciated your janitor's slow decline into madness." BLOT needs our help! The Bureau of Legitimate and Otherworldly Troubles has suffered a breach in their laboratory, and they need someone to clean up the mess. In the lab, there's a chalkboard to the left,  a table with beakers and test tubes to the right and a small computer desk. The room is covered with a strange, gunky substance all over the walls and floor. What would you like to do? BLOT was the official game for RECON Remote 25, available to play for all Community, Pro, and Champion ticket holders who opted in. It was created and run by Mark Larson, who was a guest on REPOD S5E11. On this episode, Yannick Trapman-O'Brien and Lyra Levin join us to play BLOT. Lyra was a featured speaker for RECON Remote 25 with her talk, Make Stuff Fast: Rapid Prototyping for Interactive Experiences, now available on YouTube. Yannick originally appeared on REPOD S8E7 to talk about his incredible show for one, Undersigned. They joined us on REPOD for an actual play of BLOT. Lyra and Yannick are both experienced improvisers, and I'd never laughed so hard watching a play-through. Scroll down to the timestamps to follow along with game images. If you missed playing this game during RECON Remote 25, or if you want to relive your glory moments, join us for this final play-through of BLOT.   Full Show Notes   Episode Sponsors We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and COGS. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.   Support Us On Patreon Today Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we’ve been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events. By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected. Access exclusive Patreon content such as: The Bonus Aftershow The Spoilers Club Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles. Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy.   PG's Playhouse If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what’s game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes. Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you’ll take a listen and play along with us at PG’s Playhouse.   Buzzshot Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.   COGS COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.   Production Credits Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law Produced by Theresa Piazza Supported by Lisa Spira Edited by Steve Ewing Music by Ryan Elder Logo by Janine Pracht

    1h 36m

  5. 12/09/2025 · BONUS

    How The Hex Room makes you feel like you're in a movie

    The Hex Room was an early iconic escape room with a unique mechanic. In fact, it is so unique, that to our best knowledge, no other escape room has attempted a similar game structure. Creators Luke and Madison Rhoades join us to talk about the history of The Hex Room. They opened this game in 2016, shortly after playing their first escape room, back in the very early years of escape rooms. I found it especially interesting learning about how this game was a response to the trend of public bookings at the time.   When you support Room Escape Artist on Patreon at $15 per month (or above), you get access to the Spoilers Club, our exclusive podcast where hosts David Spira and Peih-Gee Law chat in depth with creators about iconic escape rooms... spoilers and all! https://www.patreon.com/roomescapeartist

    6 min

  6. 12/09/2025

    S10E10 - Zach Sherwin, Creator of The Crossword Show

    “ The joy of live performance is that we're all experiencing the same thing together and it unites us as a community.” When I think of crossword puzzles, I think of a quiet, cerebral exercise. It's often a solitary activity, maybe occasionally yelling out if anyone knows a four letter word for "milk's favorite cookie." When Zach Sherwin considered crossword puzzles, however, he thought, okay... but what if it also had comedians, rap, music, and just a little bit of chaos, all wrapped up in an epically funny live show? Zach Sherwin has long had a way with words. He cut his teeth performing sketch comedy and honing his rapping skills as MC Mr. Napkins. He eventually found his way to Epic Rap Battles of History, which found a way to make nerdy, boring history feel fun and – dare I say – cool. His love of wordplay and puzzles led him to create The Crossword Show. Zach Sherwin presides as two guest comedians solve a crossword puzzle live onstage, with everything displayed on a big screen so you can follow along. As the solvers decipher the clues, Zach takes the show down rabbit holes of comedy, music, wordplay and trivia, all inspired by the answer words. Everything ties together at the end for a grand finale. It is clever, hilarious, and had me awestruck at the mental gymnastics Zach goes through over the course of the show. Zach joins us on REPOD to talk about how he turned a quiet nerdy activity into something funny, thrilling, and interactive. I really enjoyed hearing him talk about the secret sauce of crafting this show, from how he adjusts the difficulty of the clues, to what makes a live show special. He was a delightful guest. Are you intrigued by how a live crossword stage show works? Zach will be performing at the Reality Escape Convention in Laval in 2026. This is a show you won't want to miss.   Full Show Notes   Episode Sponsors We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and COGS. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.   Support Us On Patreon Today Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we’ve been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events. By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected. Access exclusive Patreon content such as: The Bonus Aftershow The Spoilers Club Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles. Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy.   PG's Playhouse If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what’s game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes. Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you’ll take a listen and play along with us at PG’s Playhouse.   Buzzshot Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.   COGS COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.   Production Credits Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law Produced by Theresa Piazza Supported by Lisa Spira Edited by Steve Ewing Music by Ryan Elder Logo by Janine Pracht

    1h 21m

  7. 12/02/2025

    S10E9 - Legendary Disney Imagineer: Doris Hardoon

    "Guests have become more sophisticated and our product needs to follow suit." Disney Theme Parks have always been at the top when it comes to large scale, interactive entertainment attractions. Doris Hardoon is a legendary Imagineer, and we don't use that term lightly. Her creative vision has graced every Disney Castle Park on the planet, from EPCOT to Disneyland and Disneyland Paris to Disney's Animal Kingdom, Disney Cruise Line, and beyond. Doris took a break from Disney to run her own design firm working on museums and other interactive design, but she returned to Disney as the executive creative director and producer for Shanghai Disney Resort. Her career at Disney theme parks and entertainment design has spanned over four decades. She joins us on REPOD to share her design philosophy and some life advice for aspiring designers. She's had a very interesting path in her career, starting with working as a model and becoming a well-known folk singer in Hong Kong in the 1960s and 70s. I especially enjoyed hearing her talk about working on the global theme parks and how “It’s important to culturally understand who you're creating the happiest places on earth for.” She talks about how to design spaces that appeal to the local audience while still maintaining an authentic Disney experience. She's now turned much of her time to mentoring the next generation of entertainment designers. In this episode, Doris shares some reflections and advice on how to build the right team to support your creative vision. She also talks about how to manage corporate politics, especially when it comes to large creative companies like Walt Disney Imagineering. Doris Hardoon is a true legend, and I hope you find this episode as inspiring as I did.   Full Show Notes   Episode Sponsors We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and COGS. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.   Support Us On Patreon Today Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we’ve been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events. By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected. Access exclusive Patreon content such as: The Bonus Aftershow The Spoilers Club Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles. Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy.   PG's Playhouse If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what’s game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes. Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you’ll take a listen and play along with us at PG’s Playhouse.   Buzzshot Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.   COGS COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.   Production Credits Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law Produced by Theresa Piazza Supported by Lisa Spira Edited by Steve Ewing Music by Ryan Elder Logo by Janine Pracht

    1h 20m

  8. 11/25/2025

    S10E8 - The PuzzleTales of PostCurious with Rita Orlov & Lauren Bello

    "Screenwriting is like a puzzle that the writers are putting together." When a television screenwriter who loves puzzles and immersive experiences turns her attention to creating a boxed puzzle game, the result is beguiling and thoroughly engrossing. The Morrison Game Factory has a deeply intimate and emotional story that pulled at my heartstrings while still engaging my puzzle brain. Screenwriter Lauren Bello created The Morrison Game Factory as puzzle challenge during the pandemic. It would have remained a small one-off game played only by her friends until Rita Orlov of PostCurious played it. She fell in love with the game, and worked with Lauren to produce the game under the PostCurious brand. We originally interviewed Rita of PostCurious on REPOD S2E7 when her award winning game Light in the Mist had just come out. Since then, PostCurious has continually produced hit after hit, including the charming puzzle-focused Ministry of Lost Things series, along with longer epics like Emerald Echoes and Threads of Fate which is a remake of the first game that Rita became known for. PostCurious games are impeccably produced. All the games have authentic-feeling props, heavyweight paper, and a beautiful artistic flair. The puzzles are intriguing, and range from light and playful to complex and layered. The storylines are always interesting and tie into the gameplay. Rita Orlov and Lauren Bello talk about their collaboration. We also spend some time dissecting all the new PostCurious games to hit the market since we last had Rita on Reality Escape Pod. I really enjoyed learning about Lauren's writing process, especially when she described it as a series of waveforms, layering the different plots, storylines, and vibe that she's trying to achieve. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to check out The Morrison Game Factory and PostCurious' newest game on Kickstarter, Ministry of Lost Things - Case 2: Finders Keypers.   Full Show Notes   Episode Sponsors We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and COGS. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.   Support Us On Patreon Today Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we’ve been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events. By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected. Access exclusive Patreon content such as: The Bonus Aftershow The Spoilers Club Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles. Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy.   PG's Playhouse If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what’s game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes. Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you’ll take a listen and play along with us at PG’s Playhouse.   Buzzshot Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.   COGS COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.   Production Credits Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law Produced by Theresa Piazza Supported by Lisa Spira Edited by Steve Ewing Music by Ryan Elder Logo by Janine Pracht

    1h 8m
See All (200)

Trailer

5
out of 5
119 Ratings

About

Your hosts David Spira & Peih-Gee Law explore immersive gaming from all angles. Our guests have made awesome stuff: ARGs, puzzle hunts, tabletop games, and of course, escape rooms. Our aim is to bring together different segments of the gaming world and share ideas between them.

Information

You Might Also Like