REPOD S5E9 – Wishes and Well-Wishes: Celebrating 50 Episodes of REPOD with David Spira and Peih-Gee Law

In Season 5, Episode 9, David and Peih-Gee celebrate the 50th episode of REPOD! As they reflect on the journey to 50 episodes, David says that his perspective shift comes from observing Peih-Gee’s growth as both an escape room enthusiast and podcaster, transitioning from regional enthusiast to having a more global perspective. David has been covering this industry for almost ten years. It’s startling to think about the influence that Room Escape Artist has had, which we don’t realize until guests mention it on the podcast.

We spend some time pondering magic wishes… if we could wave a magic wand and wish some things into existence at different points along the player journey, what would they be? We also listen to messages from past guests and play a game Peih-Gee created based on some of the escape rooms we’ve covered in our Spoilers Club show.

We’re both extremely proud of this podcast, and are grateful for this wonderful friendship and collaboration. This podcast wouldn’t exist without all the support from our sponsors and listeners. Thank you for supporting us for 50 episodes, and here’s to 50 more! (or 50,000 more, as Peih-Gee said on the podcast.)

Thank You to Our Sponsors

We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: Morty App, Resova, and RECON: The Reality Escape Convention. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.

Topics Discussed in this Episode

• [1:49] David and Peih-Gee look back on 50 episodes of podcasting together. David mentions that he re-listened to the first few episodes for comparison’s sake, and found that they were actually better than he expected them to be.
• [4:16] Peih-Gee talks about how her perspective has changed over the course of podcasting about escape rooms. She says she appreciates things like nuance and interesting mechanics more. She’s also grown more interested in documenting the ways that the industry has diversified. 
• [6:08] David says that his perspective shift came from observing Peih-Gee’s perspective grow and change. He says that his talk at RECON 2023 is inspired by watching Peih-Gee grow from a regional enthusiast to having a more global perspective. 
• [8:03] Peih-Gee talks about regional flavors and how eye-opening it has been to travel and play escape rooms.
• [9:09] David talks about becoming aware of how long he’s been covering the escape room industry—nine years of running Room Escape Artist. 
• [9:59] David and Peih-Gee reflect on the work they put into the podcast to make sure they’re offering high-production value. 
• [11:53] Peih-Gee says that after working on the podcast, she’s realizing how much of an impact Room Escape Artist has had in shaping the escape room industry. She says that some of the best creators have been able to take criticisms or bad reviews of their games and turned these into opportunities to improve. 
• [12:30] Peih-Gee mentions Gjis’s interview where he talks about making big changes like improving their endings and hint system after reading REA reviews of the DarkPark games. 
• [12:40] Peih-Gee tells a story about how a Patreon backer remarked that David should charge consulting fees, and he replied that he just wants people to support the Room Escape Artist Patreon. He wants to be community funded so they can stay neutral.
• [16:04] Peih-Gee and David share their escape room “wishes” and discuss some of the things they would love to see happen in escape rooms through the player’s journey. David’s wish for the booking process is that escape rooms would be more clear about the nuances of the room, for example, horror, trigger warnings, accessibility requirements, flashing lights, etc. Peih-Gee wishes for more pictures of the actual escape room so she can see the production value. This also helps her remember if she’s played that room before.
• [17:40] Wishes for the on-boarding experience: David wishes for a leaner intro, and especially wishes that gamemasters would just believe him when he says that he doesn’t need to hear an intro on how locks work. Peih-Gee wishes for a room that’s filled with mini-games and puzzles designed to teach players how to work the different types of locks while providing onboarding and helping first-time players practice solving escape room-style puzzles.
• [19:34] Wishes for in-game experiences: David wishes for in-game photo ops where players get a great candid photo of the team during the game. Peih-Gee agrees and says she just wants more souvenirs from escape rooms, whether it’s an in-game photo or something that you’ve made in the course of the game like a painting or perhaps food that you’ve cooked. 
• [21:31] Wishes for a better post-game experience: Peih-Gee wishes for “yay rooms,” a term she learned after interviewing Chris Alden from Palace Games for the Spoilers Club. These are small antechambers where the group can celebrate and have some closure after completing a game. David wishes that companies would have a program designed to not only sell their next escape room, but that would encourage players to become part of the escape room community at large. 
• [23:56] Peih-Gee and David discuss the benefits of offering discounts to repeat players, or offering a discount when someone books every single game in a day.
• [25:35] Peih-Gee and David discuss the flyer culture of Los Angeles. David thinks it’s overwhelming when there are too many flyers. Peih-Gee talks about “flyer etiquette.” 
• [26:39] David says he thinks the amount of flyers is too much and he has a hard time distinguishing between them. Peih-Gee counters that she loves looking through all the different flyers and learning about the different rooms.
• [32:51] David and Peih-Gee listen to some audio messages from past guests. The first message is from Tommy Honton, a guest on Season 3, Episode 7.
• [34:03] Peih-Gee says she appreciates that Tommy mentioned the humor in the podcast, because it’s not always easy to inject and they work hard at it.
• [35:02] David talks about producing episodes that even very experienced designers can learn from. He cites our previous guest Johanna Koljonen from Season 3, Episode 2. He says that having an episode on Nordic LARP was risky because we didn’t know how it would be received, but it turned out to be one of our most popular episodes.
• [36:26] Peih-Gee says the thing she appreciated most about Johanna’s episode was how good she was at explaining a concept and giving a concrete example.
• [37:24] They listen to a message from Alexander Gierholz, a guest on Season 4, Episode 4. Peih-Gee and David reflect on being able to celebrate amazing creators and help shine a spotlight on their work.
• [42:13] The hosts listen to a message from Chris Waters, a guest on Season 3, Episode 8. David talks about his interview style and how much he loves surprising guests with the right question that gets them really excited.
• [45:19] The hosts hear from Anne and Chris Lukeman, guests on Season 1, Episode 4. Peih-Gee tells a funny story about how Chris titled his message “audio Lukemen.”
• [47:02] The hosts hear a last message from Jonathan Driscoll, a guest on Season 4, Episode 5. Peih-Gee says she’s glad every message mentioned something different. She’s glad that Jonathan gets value from hearing about mistakes and failures. David agrees and mentions Lukas Rauscher’s interview from Season 4, Episode 11. He says a number of people wrote in after that episode to say that it helped them feel less alone in their struggles.
• [51:09] David talks about their tour in Montreal and says he is impressed with how Jonathan is constantly iterating and improving his games. He mentions the newest game, Forgotten Cathedral, (review coming soon) as being especially breathtaking.
• [52:00] Peih-Gee runs a game for David that she created based on the escape rooms they’ve covered in the Spoilers Club, which is a show featuring in-depth walkthroughs of iconic escape rooms with behind-the-scenes secrets. She explains that she’s taken the titles of escape rooms that they’ve covered for their Spoilers Club episodes and changed one word of the title to something that rhymes with that word. She then created a new description of the game based on that new title. David has to guess the title of this new escape room.
  • Example: You’re exiting the same door over and over again, emerging into new rooms where you are suddenly deluged by an oozing goo.
    • Answer: Slime Machine, based on Time Machine, by Not Another Escape Room
• Here are the game questions so you can play along at home. (Scroll to bottom of the show notes for answers.)
  • 1. In this game, you’re on a Goonies-style adventure when you suddenly stumble upon the local pub.
  • 2. In this game, you’re earning your way into a local crew by breaking everything in their home.
  • 3. In this game, you consult a medium to discover what happened to your favorite piece of cookware.
  • 4. In this next game, you are shepherded through a fancy dinner by a very mean nobleman, eating as quickly as you can. 
  • 5. A voyeuristic creature saves us from a misguided mushroom in this musical romp. 
  • 6. In this wearable game, you’re trying to figure out the correct frequency.
  • 7. In this highly immersive game, you are separated into two rooms in the beginning, but eventually come together so you can figure out the family’s secret recipe for detergent. (Both words have been changed) 
• [57:33] Peih-Gee talks about being really proud of her ideas for creating the bonus AfterShow and Spoilers Club show. She also says that she feels like she’s really grown as an interviewer and asks better follow up questions.
• [59:30] David says he’s most proud of the silent collaboration that takes place in Google Docs, where he and Peih-Gee coordinate for the recording like “the Vulcan Mind Meld,” as Peih-Gee puts it.
• [1:01:10] David and Peih-Gee talk about the appreciation they have for each other and for their listeners.
• [1:01:22] David tells a bonus story about the time a woman named Amanda sent him an email saying she really liked escape rooms.

Leave us a voicemail

Got a question or thought for the podcast? You can submit a voice recording by calling the Room Escape Artist not-so-hotline that always goes straight to voicemail (551-227-7273).

Resources Mentioned in this Episode

• Spoilers Club
• Escape, Immerse, Explore escape room Tours
• Reality Escape Convention 2023

Answers to the Escape This Rhyme game:

1. In this game, you’re on a Goonies-style adventure when you suddenly stumble upon the local pub.
   • Cutthroat Tavern, based on Cutthroat Cavern from 13th Gate.
2. In this game, you’re earning your way into a local crew by breaking everything in their home.
   • Smash House, based on Stash House
3. In this game, you consult a medium to discover what happened to your favorite piece of cookware.
   • Pan From Beyond, based on Man From Beyond from Strange Bird Immersive
4. In this next game, you are shepherded through a fancy dinner by a very mean nobleman, eating as quickly as you can. 
   • Fast Supper, based on Last Supper from Quest Tavern
5. A voyeuristic creature saves us from a misguided mushroom in this musical romp. 
   • Peeper and the Fungus Among Us, based on Keeper and the Fungus Among Us from Headlock Escape
6. In this wearable game, you’re trying to figure out the correct frequency.
   • Solve our Hertz, based on Solve our Shirts from CU Adventures.
7. In this highly immersive game, you are separated into two rooms in the beginning, but eventually come together so you can figure out the family’s secret recipe for detergent. (Both words have been changed) 
   • Soap Blend, based on Hope End from Ministry of Peculiarities.

About the Reality Escape Pod Team

Co-Host: David Spira

David is the co-founder of Room Escape Artist, a resource for escape room creators and enthusiasts alike. From the start, he applied his professional skills as a digital experience designer to the burgeoning industry of escape rooms. David is full of ideas: from in-depth research pieces to new content types… like cute animals solving puzzles. He is always pushing REA to try new things, take risks, and be something more. He is also the co-founder of RECON, a convention for the escape & immersive game industry, as well as the co-host of REPOD, a podcast exploring escape rooms and immersive gaming. 

Co-Host: Peih-Gee Law

Peih-Gee is best known for being a fan favorite contestant on the reality show Survivor, where she played first in Survivor China in 2007, and again in a returning All-Star season Survivor Second Chance. She calls Survivor “the greatest immersive game in the world.” She is the co-host of REPOD, a podcast exploring escape rooms and immersive gaming. She also hosts RECON, the Reality Escape Convention, and writes for the REA Hivemind. Loves: narrative-driven games with lots of player interactions & clever wordplay. Hates: Math puzzles and poor functionality that distracts from immersion.

Producer: Lisa Spira

Whether she is editing REA’s content, leading the Hivemind, or wrangling the logistics for RECON or the Escape, Immerse, Explore Tours, Lisa is the reason that everything runs like clockwork. As a linguist and data expert, Lisa also leads our Industry Data efforts and is responsible for our annual Industry Reports. Lisa is the heart of REA and also bakes all of our escakes.

Editor: Steve Ewing

Steve is passionate about all things audio-visual. A childhood King’s Quest compulsion became a zeal for escape rooms. A high school NPR habit evolved into a podcast addiction. And in his most fortunate turn of fate, a lifelong love for PBS science shows became a career filming and editing nature documentaries for Lindblad-National Geographic Expeditions. He is thrilled to lend his talents as an editor for Morty.app, Constructed Adventures, and the Reality Escape Pod. Steve loves to be surprised by an escape room that’s off-meta. Flip the script on any element — the way you build a set, open a lock, or even give a hint and you’ve got his attention. He’s even been suckered in by a fake refrigerator door.

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