“A Product Designing Experience”

If you asked me to list some of the skills a good escape room designer should possess, it would look extremely similar to Robert ‘Fro’ Myers’ resume. With a background in theater set design, and a degree from MIT in mechanical engineering, it’s little wonder that David calls Fro’s escape room company Boxaroo “a total package company.” 

Boxaroo’s creations encompass a wide variety of both theme and play structure. Whether it’s escape rooms, digital puzzle hunts, or massive ballroom games, they all follow the approach of designing around the player’s journey. In this episode, Fro goes into detail about their “user centric” design process, which starts with  mapping out the emotional arc of the player during the escape room.  

Something unique Boxaroo offers their players is their stats. After playing a game, the team receives a printout tracking their stats in the game. The nerd in me deeply appreciates the chance to see my score percentile. I really enjoyed hearing Fro talk about his design process and how much consideration they put into not only the player’s experience, but also their game masters’ experience, especially when it comes to simplifying the reset. Check out this episode for a look into a mechanical engineer’s approach to designing escape rooms.

Thank You to Our Sponsors

We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: Morty App, Buzzshot, and COGS. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.

Topics Discussed in this Episode

• 00:13 Sponsor Break: Buzzshot, Escape Room Marketing Software
• 02:54 Boxaroo Origin Story
• 08:13 User Centric Design And Designing For The Player Journey
• 13:10 Mystery of the Magician’s Study
• 14:11 Fire Code Compliance
• 16:37 Conundrum Museum
• 19: 48 Storyteller’s Secret
• 22:46 Sponsor Break: Morty App, Discover And Track Escape Rooms
• 24:22 Printout Of Player Stats
• 27:26 Sponsor Break: Cogs By Clockwork Dog, Interactive Show Controls
• 29:48 Colby’s Curious Cookoff
• 32:28 Large Format Ballroom Games
• 39:32 Secret Formula For Large Games
• 41:02 Influence Of Magic The Gathering
• 44:24 Advice From A Mechanical Engineer
• 45:24 Winning The MIT Mystery Hunt Team
• 46:44 Looking For A New Location And The Boxaroo Cinematic Universe
• 53:08 Bonus Story: Escaping Storrow Drive

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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

• Boxaroo Website
• Colby’s Curious Cookoff Website
• REA reviews of Boxaroo Games:
  • Mystery of the Magician’s Study
  • Conundrum Museum
  • The Storyteller’s Secret
  • Colby’s Curious Cookoff
  • The Perfect Heist 

About Robert ‘Fro’ Myers

Instagram: @boxaroo

Facebook: @boxarooboston

TikTok: @boxaroobos

Fro is the owner at Boxaroo, a Boston escape room, where he combines his background in mechanical engineering and product design with his love of games, puzzles, and theater.

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