I recently had the chance to sit down with Vincent Kovar, a lifelong gamer and creator whose journey is a fascinating tale of turning digital dreams into real-world adventures. We talked about his ambitious project to transform an entire town into a live-action escape room, a scavenger hunt, and a historical tour all rolled into one. It’s a story filled with big ideas, unexpected challenges, and valuable lessons for anyone interested in creating immersive experiences.

Seeding The Future

Vincent’s passion for gaming started in the early days of personal computing. He even coded his first game, a text-based adventure inspired by H.P. Lovecraft, on a Vic-20 computer with a mere 5K of memory. From those humble beginnings, his interest in creating interactive, multimedia experiences grew. He loved board games and early video games but felt they were missing a certain level of immersion.

This quest for a deeper experience led him to escape rooms, murder mystery boxes, and subscription-based puzzle games. He was fascinated by the idea of solving a puzzle and then entering the answer on a website to unlock the next part of the story. This blend of the physical and digital world was exciting, but Vincent wanted to push the boundaries even further. He teamed up with a friend, an amazing designer who owns a performance space in a small town north of Seattle, to bring a truly unique idea to life.

The World as Your Game Board

Instead of containing the experience within four walls, Vincent decided to use the town itself as the game board. They mapped out a play space that was three blocks wide and six blocks long, turning the historic section of the town into a giant, open-world puzzle.

A key challenge was creating clues that wouldn’t become outdated. They focused on immovable objects like statues and historic markers. They also cleverly sought out details that weren’t visible on Google Maps Street View, forcing players to physically be in the location to solve the puzzles. For instance, they found two public clocks that showed different times, a detail you could only notice by being there in person. The goal was to make people look up from their phones and truly see the world around them. As Vincent put it, he wanted to create an escape room “inside out,” where the entire town was the puzzle to be solved.

Analog Heart, Digital Brain

“The idea was you would have to look at the real world around you. So it was trying to make it an escape room inside out.”

To guide players on their journey, Vincent created a beautifully designed book called “Through the Keyhole.” This wasn’t just any book; it was filled with puzzles, word scrambles, and historic maps of the town that were intentionally out of date, adding another layer to the challenge.

The book was designed to work hand-in-hand with technology. Throughout the town, participating shops would have QR codes in their windows, often hidden within a poster featuring a rabbit with antlers, the game’s recurring symbol. Players would solve a puzzle in the book, scan a QR code with their phone, and be taken to a simple website where they would enter their answer. A correct answer would unlock the next clue, sometimes delivered through music or even voiceovers from actor friends.

This intricate system required players to have all three pieces to succeed: the book, the online component, and the physical town itself. You couldn’t solve the game with just one or two of the elements.

When Ambition Meets Reality

Vincent’s project was incredibly ambitious, and with that ambition came a host of challenges. He learned that every time you add a new element to a puzzle, the complexity increases exponentially. What started as a fun idea quickly grew into an eight-hour-long experience, far longer than the leisurely game they had initially envisioned.

“Every time you add an element, it increases the complexity of your puzzle exponentially. My puzzle is also actually, after walking through it, it’s about eight hours long.”

The initial concept was even grander, with plans for live actors and launching the game during a local beer festival. However, the logistical and financial realities of hiring performers, creating costumes, and coordinating a live event became overwhelming. They realized they needed a more self-sustaining model that could run without constant management.

Coordinating with local businesses also proved to be a hurdle. While many were interested, ensuring that shops were open, staff were trained, and special items were stocked required a level of logistical planning that was difficult to manage from an hour and a half away. These experiences taught Vincent a crucial lesson: sometimes you have to scale back the grand vision to make something that is truly achievable and enjoyable for the player.

Think Like a Director

Drawing from his background in theater, Vincent emphasized how crucial it is to be audience-focused. Just like in a play, you get immediate feedback from your audience in an escape room. If a joke falls flat or a puzzle is too confusing, you know right away.

“If you want something done, give it to a theater kid because they can, you know, build a world out of duct tape.”

This mindset influenced his design process. He structured the game for small teams of three to five people, allowing different players to take on different roles. One person could manage the book, another could handle the phone and the digital side, and another could be the “spotter,” looking for clues in the environment. This approach ensures that everyone, regardless of their skill set, can contribute and feel engaged. It’s about creating a varied experience that appeals to different ways of thinking, from cryptography and math to simple observation.

Vincent’s journey is a testament to the power of a creative idea and the perseverance it takes to try and bring it to life. His project is a powerful reminder that some of the most engaging adventures happen when we step away from our screens and explore the rich history and hidden puzzles that exist in the world right outside our doors.