Cipherdelic - An Escape Room Podcast

In the final episode of Season 1 we chat with Toby Powell of Escape the Review, one of the most important resources for those looking for escape rooms in the UK. We discuss how reviewing escape room experiences can be tricky, what makes a great game, and what the outlook of the UK scene is as we begin 2023. What direction will the industry head in, and how can operators stand out from the crowd?

Want to get in touch with Toby? You can reach out to him via @escapethereview on Facebook or Twitter, or get in touch through escapethereview.co.uk

Want to get in touch with The Cipherdelic Podcast? Reach out to us on our socials - @cipherdelicpod on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

This show was hosted by Dan Collins (TimeTrap Escape Rooms) and Jamie Ridgewell (Imaginarium Design), co-produced and edited by Andrew Ingle (Imaginarium Design) and co-produced by David Tynan (TimeTrap Escape Rooms).

In this episode we talk to Bob Melkus, CEO of Fox in a Box Room Escape. We discuss how he went from operating one escape room venue to over 20 worldwide across four continents through a franchising model. What are the pros of franchising, both to the franchisor, and the franchisee? What are the difficulties of being a global business, especially in the escape room space? And how close did we get to a Star Wars themed escape room?! We chat through all of this with Bob.

Want to get in touch with The Cipherdelic Podcast? Reach out to us on our socials - @cipherdelicpod on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

This show was hosted by Dan Collins (TimeTrap Escape Rooms) and Jamie Ridgewell (Imaginarium Design), produced by David Tynan (TimeTrap Escape Rooms) and produced and edited by Andrew Ingle (Imaginarium Design) .

This is part two of our chat with Nick Moran, the creative mind behind Time Run and Sherlock: The Game is Now. His most recent creation is the open-world adventure, Phantom Peak, located in Canada Water in London.

In this episode we talk all things Phantom Peak. Is there much overlap between creating escape rooms and designing large open-world experiences? How can players interact with this open-world, whether it is their first or tenth visit? Also discussed is the sexual prowess of a Platypus and Nick's dream projects - Scooby Doo escape room/experience anyone?

AUDIO QUALITY: We apologise for the poor audio quality from the hosts on this episode - thankfully Nick is crystal clear though.

Want to get in touch with Nick? Reach out through @MoranFox on Twitter.

Want to get in touch with The Cipherdelic Podcast? Reach out to us on our socials - @cipherdelicpod on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

This show was hosted by Dan Collins (TimeTrap Escape Rooms) and Jamie Ridgewell (Imaginarium Design), produced by Andrew Ingle (Imaginarium Design) and David Tynan (TimeTrap Escape Rooms) and edited by Ana Iscru (TimeTrap Escape Rooms).

In this episode we chat to Nick Moran who is the creative mind behind Time Run and together with Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss he launched Sherlock: The Game is Now. His most recent creation is the open-world adventure, Phantom Peak, located in Canada Water in London.

In part one of our two part chat with Nick, we get to know a bit more about his journey into the immersive live-experience industry and talk failures, as well as successes. We talk about his love of structure in game design, and how simple narrative can elevate an experience. How much do puzzles really matter and what is the most important element in live game design? Also included are his love of cloth, and how close we were to seeing Professor Moriarty in robot form.

AUDIO QUALITY: We apologise for the poor audio quality from the hosts on this episode - thankfully Nick is crystal clear though.

Want to get in touch with Nick? Reach out through @MoranFox on Twitter.

Want to get in touch with The Cipherdelic Podcast? Reach out to us on our socials - @cipherdelicpod on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

This show was hosted by Dan Collins (TimeTrap Escape Rooms) and Jamie Ridgewell (Imaginarium Design), produced by Andrew Ingle (Imaginarium Design) and David Tynan (TimeTrap Escape Rooms) and edited by Ana Iscru (TimeTrap Escape Rooms).

In this episode we talk to Ralph Querfurth, Senior Product Manager of Family & Adult Board Games at KOSMOS Germany. Ralph is one of the brains behind the inception and creation of the EXIT board game series, bringing the fun of escape rooms into your home in the form of a tabletop experience. How did he conceive the idea, how long does it take from inception to shelf, and what advice would he give those wanting to enter the board game industry? All of these questions and more are answered in this episode.

Want to get in touch with Ralph? Let us know and we'll connect you!

Want to get in touch with The Cipherdelic Podcast? Reach out to us on our socials - @cipherdelicpod on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

This show was hosted by Dan Collins (TimeTrap Escape Rooms) and Jamie Ridgewell (Imaginarium Design), produced by Andrew Ingle (Imaginarium Design) and David Tynan (TimeTrap Escape Rooms) and edited by Ana Iscru (TimeTrap Escape Rooms).

In this episode we talk to Martyn Ruks. Martyn is one of the founders of Chronyko, an immersive learning company based in Reading. Gaining inspiration from escape games, immersive theatre, technology and learning theory he has been working in the field for over 15 years. He shares with us his thoughts on the huge potential learning through play has in the training and development world, and why more businesses should be adopting and harnessing it’s power.

Want to get in touch with Martyn? Reach out through @Chronyko on Twitter or Facebook or @Chronyk0 on Instagram.

Want to get in touch with The Cipherdelic Podcast? Reach out to us on our socials - @cipherdelicpod on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

This show was hosted by Dan Collins (TimeTrap Escape Rooms) and Jamie Ridgewell (Imaginarium Design), produced by Andrew Ingle (Imaginarium Design) and David Tynan (TimeTrap Escape Rooms) and edited by Ana Iscru (TimeTrap Escape Rooms).

In our very first episode we talk to Katie Falcon-Uff, co-founder and creative brain behind TimeTrap Escape Rooms and Imaginarium Design in Reading, UK. She specialises in designing and building historically-themed escape rooms, such as TimeTrap's flagship experience Pudding Lane, and that's what we'll be talking to her about.

Want to get in touch with Katie? Reach her through @ImaginariumDes on Twitter or Instagram.

Want to get in touch with The Cipherdelic Podcast? Reach out to us on our socials - @cipherdelicpod on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

This show was hosted by Dan Collins (TimeTrap Escape Rooms) and Jamie Ridgewell (Imaginarium Design), produced by Andrew Ingle (Imaginarium Design) and David Tynan (TimeTrap Escape Rooms) and edited by Ana Iscru (TimeTrap Escape Rooms).