Even though escape rooms are often advertised as being more physical and "real life" than their digital videogame counterparts, the scenarios in which most escape rooms are set is actually bizarrely barren and devoid of life. Sure, sometimes that makes sense - you wouldn't necessarily expect to find random people wandering through a crime scene, or to encounter other hostages imprisoned in a serial killer's lair.

But there are plenty of other scenarios in which I think escape rooms could be made more engaging, more dynamic, and deliver a more interesting experience if players were given opportunities to interact with other characters. It is not always possible (nor desirable) to employ human actors in the room itself, so in this video I'll describe three animatronic animated characters that can be used in a variety of ways to provide such in-game interactions. Each one uses an Arduino microprocessor, and a handful of other common electronic parts. They can be fully-automated, or operated remotely by a gamesmaster, where they could also be used as hint-delivery systems.

00:00:00 - 00:04:52 Introduction and Overview
00:04:53 - 00:09:39 Shy Guy
00:09:40 - 00:12:07 Squawkers McGraw
00:12:08 - 00:14:27 Sentient Lifeform
00:14:28 - 00:15:58 Wrapup

For further details about this, or any of my other #escaperoom tutorial videos, please see   / playfultech