S10E3 - Will & Kim Rutherford, Escape Artist Greenville
"With a performer, players can make their own stories."
Will and Kim Rutherford met at a summer pool party while in college. Kim recruited Will to help her win a floaty race across the pool. Alas, they lost. " I thought the floaty race was for fun and apparently it was for, I don't know, life bragging rights or something," says Will.
Since then, the couple have gone on to many other creative adventures, including creating home haunts. Will even proposed to Kim on Halloween while they were both still in their costumes.
So when Will and Kim played their first escape room, they immediately thought it could be like a permanent home haunt experience that they didn’t have to tear down and put up every year. They jumped in with both feet, and although they made a lot of mistakes along the way, Escape Artist Greenville was born.
Today they have the second highest ranked escape room in the USA (Castle Fluffendor). They’ve also created a three-hour experience that combines three of their top escape rooms into one narratively cohesive saga called The Chimera Corp Saga. REA reviewer Matthew Stein calls it “a masterpiece of episodic storytelling.”
Will and Kim join us on REPOD to talk about the thought process behind their compelling games. I especially appreciated hearing about how they’re escape room enthusiasts themselves, and regularly travel the world playing games and seeking inspiration. They tell us, “we are trying to go to the most diverse, immersive experiences that we can and seek out things that actually are a little outside of our comfort zone.”
The Rutherfords have also recently joined the team at Keepers of Balance and helped them launch their first project, the epic Temple of Light, which recently won a Golden Lock award. Will and Kim have a boundless enthusiasm for the escape room industry, and I hope you find this conversation as inspiring as I did.
Full Show Notes
Episode Sponsors
We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and COGS. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.
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PG's Playhouse
If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what’s game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes.
Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you’ll take a listen and play along with us at PG’s Playhouse.
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.
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.
Production Credits
Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law
Produced by Theresa Piazza
Supported by Lisa Spira
Edited by Steve Ewing
Music by Ryan Elder
Logo by Janine Pracht
Österreich