Room Escape Artist

“ Beware: Black light will reveal things you might not want revealed.”

Are you looking to turn your party into a rave? Black light. Trying to find that pet stain you missed? Black light. Hiding secret messages in plain sight? You guessed it, it’s black light! To celebrate our April Fool’s Day project – a whole cookbook and party planning guide for hosting a black light dinner party – today, we explore everything about black lights.

Joining us are the Wild Optimists: Juliana Moreno and Ariel Ruben. They created the Escape Room in a Box series and have since collaborated on many tabletop games and interactive marketing campaigns. Their newest game is Lovecraft and Poe, a cooperative strategy tabletop game. Players choose characters with variable strengths and weaknesses, and work together on an ever-changing board to defeat unique villains in every game.

Today’s game is In the Black, a Taboo-style guessing game where every answer includes the word “black.” Lovecraft and Poe will be available via Kickstarter soon, so follow Wild Optimists and sign up for their newsletter to stay informed. You can also learn more about their work on REPOD S1E3.

Time Stamps

• 01:49 Game: In the Black
• 09:08 About: Wild Optimists’ New Game Lovecraft & Poe
• 19:52 Topic: The Black Light Dinner Party Cookbook
• 23:59 Topic: About Black Light
• 32:20 Credits

Guests: Juliana Moreno & Ariel Rubin of Wild Optimists

The Wild Optimists is an award-winning interactive design company devoted to creating new ways to play. They dream up playful experiences with a focus on games and puzzles for at home gaming, live events, site specific installations and brand marketing. The goal is always to enhance the guest experience by giving players the chance to be the hero.

WO began when Juliana Moreno and Ariel Rubin combined their theatre degrees and Hollywood writing and production backgrounds with their life-long love for gaming to create the first ever at home escape room game: Escape Room In A Box: The Werewolf Experiment. After licensing that project to Mattel, they have since created eight other published tabletop games, selling more than half a million units.

Building upon that success, Wild Optimists has brought the gaming experience beyond the table and out into the real world. Collaborations include interactive design for theme parks such as Universal Orlando and Mall of America, marketing campaigns supporting high-profile Film/TV properties for studios such as Sony and Amazon, and live immersive experiences for companies such as Hasbro, AEG, and the Santa Monica Pier.

Wild Optimists is on a mission to make the world a more joyful, connected, and playful place.

More Podcasts from Peih-Gee & David

If you enjoy PG’s Playhouse, check out Reality Escape Pod (REPOD), where your hosts David Spira & Peih-Gee Law explore immersive gaming from all angles, alongside guests with incredible experience in this realm.

And by supporting Room Escape Artist on Patreon, you’ll get access to the REPOD Bonus After Show ($5 per month and up) and the Spoilers Club ($15 per month and up) where we chat in depth with creators about iconic escape rooms… spoilers and all!

Production Credits

• Hosted by Peih-Gee Law & David Spira
• Puzzles by Peih-Gee Law
• Produced by Theresa Piazza
• Supported by Lisa Spira
• Edited by Peih-Gee Law
• Music by Matt Farthing
• Logo by Theresa Wagner