Shannon McDowell Investigates Cultural Bias in Escape Rooms Victor Media Group

Shannon McDowell (she/her) is a board game inventor and puzzle designer who was hired to research and mitigate cultural bias in the puzzles for the 2019 Red Bull Escape Room World Championships. Shannon walks us through how she became a professional puzzle designer, how cultural biases manifest in escape rooms & puzzle design, and how to design puzzles that are challenging while remaining inclusive.






00:02:07 - How We Connect Through Games

00:04:28 - Meet Shannon

00:10:21 - “We Haven’t Seen Everything That’s Possible”

00:17:36 - Cultural Bias in Escape Rooms

00:20:26 - Five Categories of Cultural Bias in Puzzles

00:24:55 - How to Make a Bad Escape Room

00:38:18 - How Hints Can Make or Break A Puzzle

00:50:55 - On Physical Accessibility in Escape Rooms

01:01:00 - The Value of Inclusivity in Gaming






Resources

Shannon’s publications - https://www.shannonmcdowell.ca/publications-media

Shannon’s free puzzles - https://www.shannonmcdowell.ca/puzzles

SCRAP Entertainment Inc - https://realescapegame.com/about/

2019 Red Bull Escape Room World Championship - https://www.redbull.com/gb-en/events/red-bull-escape-room-world-championships-final

Cryptex Hunt - https://cryptexhunt.com/2022/






Support my show! www.bubblegumbitchcraft.etsy.com






Credits

Guest - Shannon McDowell, https://www.shannonmcdowell.ca/

Production by Victor Media Group, Inc. - https://victormediagroup.co/

Original Music by Byson - https://spoti.fi/3eoC47l

Creator / Host - Clara Mount (@bubblegum_titan on Twitter)

Executive Producers-- J.B. Adams and Gerard Mitchell

Sound Editing - Anna Hughes