You may have heard of the Japanese escape game developer Neutral (an umbrella name for the actual developer Mya). Most famous, and which gathered 730 comments on EG24, was Elements Escape (May 2015).
I found it exhausting -it just went on, and on, and on. It was an immense challenge, and extremely rewarding to make it out- which took me almost 5 hours and my desk trash can was overflowing with scribbled post-it notes when I finally escaped.
Elements was the longest and most challenging of Mya's creations, and by far, one of the most lauded escape games of all time. It was the culmination of years of learning, perfecting, and self-challenge.
And I think that's the point we often miss about game developers: That the latest that we play from a developer is another level of skill on display, another personal challenge for the developer that has been met and conquered. Something very much to be lauded. And to play it is a privilege that we as gamers can say thank you for.
I think of the art of creating escape games the same way Stephen King thinks of the art of writing books: "It is the tale, not he who tells it.".
In that, he means: The story, the journey, already exists with a length that is predetermined. He has said he does not write the story, but simply watches what unfolds and faithfully records it.
The 'creation' aspect is mastery of the tools to accomplish that and focused perception to present it.
I'd like to live in that place where stories and journeys already exist. But because we have artist-creators that make them visible here, maybe I already do.
I have to agree. Over the years of creating games I have learned a lot. It isn't just about making a game for the players to escape. I always think of it as more, a story, puzzles and my own creativity. It is challenging as a game developer to create a large game, for it to make sense and all of the details that go into it. I love trying new things, coming up with new ideas and challenging myself as well as the players. I personally do not like to play escape games which is ironic because I have to play all of the games that I make. I do however love to create something that will touch so many people in so many different ways. That by itself is what makes it so much fun for me.