Room Escape Artist

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The Wonder Factory: Francine Boon & Victor van Doorn of Sherlocked (REPOD S8E12)

“A vision into the future of what I want escape rooms to be.”

Peih-Gee Law
4–6 minutes

“A vision into the future of what I want escape rooms to be.”

After 1,200 escape rooms, it certainly takes something remarkable to capture the #1 spot on David Spira’s list of favorite games. As he tells us in this episode, his favorite game shifts from  moment to moment, but in this particular moment, that game is The Alchemist, created by Francine Boon & Victor van Doorn of Sherlocked Escape Rooms in Amsterdam.

David had this to say about The Alchemist:

“It’s a wonder factory. It is filled with impossible moments and machines, and it made me weep with joy during the finale each time I watched it. I think I saw the finale three times when I came to visit. I just love this game and it feels like a vision into the future of what I want escape rooms to be.”

hero image for repod season 8, francine boon & Victor van Dorn of Sherlocked Escape rooms. man in glasses and goatee in black hoodie. man with light brown hair and beard smiling in a grey blazer with a blond woman smiling in a short sleeve black turtleneck propped over his shoulder. Asian woman in safari outfit smiling with a machete over her shoulder.

It’s not the first time that Sherlocked has created a game that has shaped the future of the escape room industry. Victor started playing escape rooms in 2012 when the industry was still in its infancy, and a few years later, he started Sherlocked, along with a few other partners. Sherlocked’s games The Architect and The Vault are noteworthy for the level of immersion they created at the time. They used actors and “cold starts” to truly create the feeling that players were in a movie. 

We can see the influence of Sherlocked throughout much of the escape room scene in The Netherlands today. Many of the games there make use of actors, with immersive onboarding. Additionally, many are set in historical buildings, just liked Sherlocked is. Victor and Francine are creative alchemists in their own right, combining their skillsets to create wondrous, magical games.

close up of solar system model with gears under
blond woman in orange jacket squatting in front of golden balls surrounding concentric circles, background of workshop office
top down view of circular room with tall bookshelves and hexagonal table with two people standing looking up
blond woman in blue sweater and black skirt standing in the middle of a room with a wrought iron balcony wrapping around. the room is partly built.
man with light brown hair and short beard in maroon sweater holding onto a vertical pole attached to a brick wall
people standing around a wooden puzzle box that is open to reveal velvet compartments and golden constellations.
A curved wall of bookshelves that goes up to the ceiling, with a stained glass window in the middle and an orrery in front.
The image is focused on the orrery in the foreground. Blurred in the background is a wall of bookshelves with a stained glass window in the center.

This is the season finale for Season 8 of Reality Escape Pod. Season 9 will launch in April. Meanwhile, we are excited to release some off-season content. Plus, keep an ear out for PG’s Playhouse, a new show launching this winter. If you want more content, we have over 100 episodes of the Bonus Aftershow available to Patreon Supporters, as well as our Spoilers Club, which offers in-depth coverage of iconic escape rooms. Thank you so much for supporting our show!

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.

Morty

Morty is a free app for discovering, planning, tracking, and reviewing your escape rooms and other immersive social outings.

Morty News:

  • Morty is rolling out Instant Bookings directly via the app.
  • Escape Room Owners can join the Morty Partner Program for in-app bookings.

Special Badge for REPOD listeners:

You can learn more at MortyApp.com/REPOD to sign up and get a special badge for our listeners. (This works for existing users too!)

Buzzshot logo featuring a rounded square with a white "Z" surrounded by stylized z shaped graphics

Buzzshot

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

logo for COGS, the C looks like a gear, and it's white text over a purple background

COGS

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Topics Discussed in this Episode

  • 00:13 Sponsor Break: Buzzshot, Escape Room Marketing Software
  • 04:30 Origins
  • 07:33 Victor and Francine’s Backgrounds
  • 19:25 The Amsterdam Stock Exchange Building
The old trading floor of the Beurs van Berlage; the old stock exchange building that Sherlocked calls home.
The old trading floor of the Beurs van Berlage, Sherlocked’s home.
  • 22:21 Sponsor Break: Morty App, Discover And Track Escape Rooms
  • 25:09 The Ambitious Build of The Alchemist
A curved wall of bookshelves that goes up to the ceiling, with a stained glass window in the middle and an orrery in front.
Photo by Cijrille Kurvers
  • 31:29 Sponsor Break: Cogs By Clockwork Dog, Interactive Show Controls
  • 34:41 The Alchemist: Attention to Detail & Giving up your Phone
  • 42:11 The Lost Cabinet
A wooden box with a cryptex set against it, locking it.
  • 45:40 Collaboration With Ruud Kool of Diorama Games
  • 49:02 Free-Climbing Buildings
  • 50:57 Superpowers and Skillsets
  • 57:39 Bonus Story: The Legendary Tenure of Sam

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

About Francine Boon & Victor van Doorn

man with light brown hair and beard smiling in a grey blazer with a blond woman smiling in a short sleeve black turtleneck propped over his shoulder

Instagram: @sherlocked

Facebook: @getsherlocked

About Francine

Francine is a sociologist turned Mystery Maker. Ever since she was little, she created experiences for people: for birthdays, to process loss or break-ups, or just because. She never really knew this was a profession until 2019, when she joined Sherlocked to spearhead the company together with Victor. Ever since then, she’s made The Rijksmuseum Escape Game in 2019, guided the creation of multiple online games, city quests and home mysteries, does custom B2B design consulting and facilitation, and created The Alchemist together with Victor.

About Victor

Victor is a founder and the creative director of Sherlocked, which according to David Spira of Room Escape Artist, has been one of the 3 most influential companies from the early days of the European escape room scene.

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