Great Escape

​​​​​​​Date: September 2025

Audience: Virtual escape room enthusiasts and puzzlers alike

Responsibilities: Puzzle logic, instructional design, and development

Tools: Articulate Storyline 360

Synopsis: While in New Orleans for the ATD Conference in 2024, I visited an Escape Room with a group of coworkers. Everyone had a blast, and the experience inspired me to recreate some similar puzzles virtually. Before I even opened Storyline, I mapped out the "route" users would need to take to successfully escape, and from there developed a series of rooms in which to house the different puzzles. I wanted users to "collect" items as they went and see them displayed, which I accomplished using a combination of states, triggers, and variables. Finally, I added a series of custom hints linked to the "Help" button that change based on what the user has accomplished thus far.

Small visual design caveat: I used free graphics, so the quality of some elements is lacking. My focus for this project was more about the programming, so the visuals could be upgraded at some point.

Key Features:

• Custom item bank that houses users' items as they collect them

• Puzzles that build on one another; users must complete some puzzles to "unlock" others

• Custom hints that change based on the portion of the experience the user is struggling with