How Coin Crew entered digital gaming with Escape Academy
blog.playstation.comBefore Escape Academy, Coin Crew Games produced location-based entertainment (LBE) experiences such as escape rooms and arcade cabinets. Producing an escape room called Space Squad in Space is how Wyatt Bushnell and Mike Salyh met, placing them on the path to founding Coin Crew Games.
The original goal for the studio was to design casual arcade experiences for large groups of friends to have some friendly competition. These first arcade cabinets took the shape of the licensed racing machine Hot Wheels: King of the Road and Coin Crew Game’s first original title, Battle Bowling.
Battle Bowling pits up to four people against each other who must frantically spin a large orb to navigate a hazardous track and knock over the most pins. It will bowl your mind.
During the development of our third cabinet, the pandemic struck, forcing the closure of physical entertainment spaces. We figured out how to translate our talent and experience into a digital title. This exploration brought us to the idea of bringing the escape room experience to the digital space.
And thus, Escape Academy was born!
Unlike most digital titles, physical experiences range from three to sixty minutes, so a key component is ensuring the game is immediately understandable with zero tutorialization. Players need to understand the objective simply by looking at the cabinet. Becoming practiced at simplicity was a key component in making Escape Academy accessible.
In the case of Hot Wheels: King of the Road, the goal is simple. Outdrive your friends and be the first to the finish line.
Regarding puzzle design, an essential component is building clues and ways for players to deduce the solution. In real-life escape rooms, everything is a potential clue at
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