A Game Design Case Study
Dot Sa’w Out
This is a real-life escape room created by the EscapeTalk team, and I'm proud to serve as the lead game designer for this project.
DOT SA’W OUT
Intro
About the Game
Dot Sa'w Out is a Sci-Fi escape room with a strategic gameplay twist. Our team meticulously crafted every aspect of the game, from the core gameplay mechanics to the intricate riddles, immersive decorations, engaging dialogues, and everything in between. This game has been recognized with an award at the "Best Escape Room" festival in Iran.
Idea
The gameplay idea draws inspiration from role-playing games, where each player assumes a specific role with unique abilities and powers, as well as resource management.
Scenario
Set in the year 2090, the game revolves around the aftermath of a catastrophic event: a meteorite approaching Earth. Dr. Hansel Heywood spearheaded a project to launch rockets to destroy the meteorite, but it tragically backfired, resulting in the destruction of the eastern half of the planet in one of humanity's greatest disasters.
Three months later, a mysterious signal emerges from the eastern part of Earth, prompting NASA to dispatch agents to investigate. Players step into the shoes of these NASA agents, embarking on a journey to the eastern region to uncover the secrets behind the signal and confront the unknown challenges that await them.
Gameplay Design
Game Flow
At the start of the game, players will select a character and don its corresponding attire. Each character comes with unique abilities tailored to different roles, aiding players in overcoming challenges. As they progress through the game, solving puzzles and unraveling the storyline, they'll encounter a time machine. This time machine serves as a pivotal tool for time travel, allowing players to rectify Dr. Heywood's errors.
There are four main eras they must travel to, each with its own cost and set of challenges.
Core
We began by designing the core gameplay mechanics. Our goal was to craft an immersive experience centered around resource management, where each task is constrained by limited resources. Here's the gameplay structure we envisioned:
Task
Each task within the game requires its own set of resources. We've identified "Time," "Energy," "Speed," and "Gravity" as the primary resources, with each task demanding a specific amount of these resources. However, the primary resource that poses the greatest challenge and diminishes over the course of the game is "Time."
Challenges
To acquire these resources, we designed challenges aimed at presenting significant difficulty. For brevity, let's focus solely on the challenges we crafted to obtain the "Time" resource.
Physical Challenges: Within the escape room, players must swiftly evade a menacing creature. The creature's attacks gradually deplete the time machine's fuel, directly impacting the mission time available to the players.
Riddles: Players encounter numerous locations where they must solve intricate puzzles or riddles to navigate through or escape from various areas.
Puzzles: Each task presents its own set of puzzles to solve. Making mistakes during these puzzles will lead to a decrease in the available time.
Abilities (TAPs)
Where do players gain resources, and how do they overcome these challenges? Well, there are several Time Acquisition Points (TAPs) strategically placed to assist players in completing their tasks. The primary resource replenisher, known as Time Boxes, can be discovered within missions during time travel. It's the players' responsibility to locate these capsules and deliver them to their teammates stationed at the time machine. This enables them to charge the machine and buy time for their friends actively engaged in the mission.
In addition to Time Boxes, each player possesses a unique ability that aids the team in completing missions more efficiently. It's up to the players to strategize and decide whether to keep certain roles in the safety of the Time Machine or send them out on the mission. Here are the ability cards:
Stop Watch: Stops the time for 3 minutes during a mission.
Wise: Can solve 3 riddles with a direct hint.
Guard: Grants immunity to the team against "Time Guardians" for 3 minutes, preventing the team from taking damage.
Gadget: Has tools to repair the time machine.
Switcher: Activates a time portal, allowing two players to switch between being in the mission and being in the time machine.
Clone: Clones an ability for 2 times.
Missions
There were 4 main missions in the game which players needed to travel to that mission’s time. And traveling to a specific time had costs they should pay with the resources they find.
Flero: Presents a physically demanding challenge within a cave environment. Players encounter straightforward riddles, but they must contend with numerous "Time Guardians" lying in wait. The optimal strategy for this mission is to bring along the Guard, providing immunity against the Time Guardians' attacks.
DaVinci: Set within a rustic wooden cottage, this mission involves minimal physical challenges but features numerous difficult riddles and puzzles. It's advisable to bring along the Wise ability, and perhaps even the Clone ability to double the effectiveness of Wise.
Prism: In this mission, players encounter a series of tasks requiring tools, with some also solvable through riddles. Given the high-stress environment resembling a robbery task in the game, it's advisable to bring along the Gadget ability.
Gagarin: This is the ultimate challenge, featuring a physical puzzle requiring exceptionally high levels of collaboration and teamwork. Additionally, there's a crucial final math riddle to solve, where the Wise ability can prove invaluable.
Scenario
Characters
We've crafted 8 primary characters within the storyline. The central figure is Dr. Hansell Heywood, with other characters such as Remi, the helpful assistant robot aiding players in the time machine to solve their riddles. There's also the Time Guardian, a character residing across different timelines in 2090 tasked with managing time machines and preventing alterations to the past. Additionally, there are other characters specific to each mission.
Story
After the agents arrive at the signal's origin, they discover it's being sent by a robot named Remi, Dr. Heywood's assistant. The agents then embark on a journey to various points in time before the rocket project to address the root causes of Dr. Heywood's mistakes. By successfully completing their missions, they alter the present timeline in such a way that the bomb is never created. However, in the game's final scenes, they come to the realization that the past cannot be changed, and they themselves inadvertently caused the problem with Dr. Heywood's bomb. As a final solution, they attempt to shut down Remi to halt the bomb's countdown just 15 minutes before the impending explosion.
Riddles & Puzzles
I developed 28 riddles for the game, which spans approximately 2.5 to 3 hours in duration. Each puzzle was meticulously crafted through a specific process. I began by designing the mechanics of the riddle, selecting the clues, and formulating the problem statement. Additionally, I ensured that each riddle contributed to the narrative of the story. Below are sketches of the riddles, each intricately linked to a specific clue in the game.
Sketches
Riddle Document
Outcome
Awards
Diamond Award
Dot Sa’w Out received numerous accolades, winning prizes in three festivals for the best escape rooms in Iran. Remarkably, it clinched the prestigious "Diamond Award" for being recognized as the best escape room in Iran in one of these festivals.
Players
6,000
In the span of one year, Dot Sa’w Out attracted an impressive 6,000 players.
Revenue
1.2B Rials
In one year, Dot Sa’w Out generated a remarkable outcome of 1,200,000,000 Rials.