Escape Room - Star Sign Killer
This was the final effort of the Fall 2022 Escaperoom class at NYU’s ITP program. Students were tasked with making a fully functional, themed, decorated, and operational escape room. Me and three others created a themed room around the idea of a “Star Sign Killer”, taking great inspiration from the infamous Zodiac Killer. The experience ran for a week, and had approximately 30 visitors play our game.
Sound Circuit Breaker Puzzle
This puzzle was devised and created entirely by me, and was the first puzzle that players encountered. The lights in the room would be off, and the only light-source would be the mysterious flickering power box.
The box itself was made out of a converted film light box. The two barn doors were riveted together, making one full door. The players would see the large red button at the bottom, since it was illuminated. After pressing the button, the lights would stop flickering, and a series of tones would play.
The jack-knife switches would then have to be thrown in a way which would either raise, or lower the pitch, until all of the tones were equal. The writing on the right was meant to guide the players.
Video demonstrating puzzle. Once the player got the correct answer, the room lights would turn on, revealing the rest of the puzzles to the players.
This puzzle was one of the final puzzles, and involved aligning transparent film strips together to reveal the potential victim’s name.
Transparency Puzzle
The filmstrips were printed on transparent plastic paper. The bottom right hand corner also revealed what sign the possible victim was, which would be a clue to determine the final answer.
Players would align the possible combinations of the transparencies in this box, designed and 3D printed by me. The slots would allow for three options, preventing players from stacking more than are required. The red dot would indicate the orientation of the image.
The numbers on the top right of the transparencies would help possible combos be made, and made it easier for us to track which combination was correct.
The laser puzzle was the most ambitious and hardest to assemble puzzle in the whole game. It consisted of a large frame, an acrylic sheet, 6 servo motors, and a green laser.
Laser Puzzle
The puzzle would be “revealed” after a false ending wherein it’s revealed the killer was watching the whole time. When revealed, players would have to use a switch box to move the lasers into the zodiac symbol of the target, which was the M shaped Virgo symbol.
We initially tried to use a wifi-connected system for the controller, but had to switch to a wired set-up since it was not connecting reliably. This is the board for the resistor based switching system.
To make a laser visible, you need interference in the air. We used incredibly fine mica powder along with several DC fans to occasionally blow the powder around inside the assembly. It was not the best solution, but it worked for the sake of the puzzle. Once all of the buttons are in the correct position making an M symbol, the game would be won, and the killer would turn himself in.