JUNE 30TH, 2026
#006: What makes a game hard?
A Note from Jol:
Hi all!
Got a joke for ya: Why are puzzles great teachers?
.... They help you see the bigger picture! 👀
Okay... okay.... I'll just get into this edition!
-Jol @ The Escape Game
Question of the Month:
“How do you guys figure out difficulty levels?”
Submitted by Isabelle DS.
Ooooo, this is a heated one!
Difficulty is SO subjective, especially for puzzles and escape rooms. Like, I'll go on record and say that I believe The Heist is harder than Prison Break! So, as you can imagine, ranking our games is a littttle bit tricky!
Luckily, we've recently playtested for TWO new experiences, so we've been tweaking lots of puzzles & difficulty levels. What better time to chat with Daniel, one of our game designers, on this topic!
Choose an experience:
6/10 Difficulty
Playtesting Murder with a Side of Meatballs
What's this game?
If you are unaware, we launched a BRAND NEW game this past month! Murder with a Side of Meatballs is a new take on a typical escape room, focusing on solving a mystery rather than escaping a scenario. With this shift in form, our game team conducted a thorough testing process to get the experience just right.
Difficulty ranking:
Going into the creation process for Meatball, our team set out to build a 6/10-difficulty game. Designing on the easier side can be challenging, as Daniel R. notes that our team tends to create puzzles harder than intended. This testing process was a lengthy one, as our team noticed the experience was not only harder than intended but also ran into some momentum issues. Watch to learn more!
Hudson's Personal Escape Games!
Meet: Hudson! A 13 y/o escape room enthusiast, TEG fan, and at-home architect! Not only has he played our escape rooms across the country, but he also recreates them from memory for his family and friends after playing them! I had the pleasure of meeting him this week while he was visiting Nashville, and got to speak about his process of creating rooms.
Coming from a background in theatre production and tinkering, he uses cardboard, tools, and tech to recreate our games right in his living room (and every other room of the house!) No detail is missed: cameras, background music, and hints are all set up and managed by Hudson.
When we talked about the challenge of this process, he noted that the hardest factor for him is creating immersion, but that each iteration he makes gets better and better. Take a look at some of his creations here!
— Hudson
Hudson's Home Escape Games!
