2022
The Ghosts of Casa Loma
An AR escape-room game for a historic castle
{game experience design, AR development, interaction design, playtesting}
Overview
Designing an AR escape room in a historic castle
The Ghosts of Casa Loma is an AR escape room game developed during a 100-hour internship with Secret City Adventures. Working in a two-person team, I contributed to the game flow, storyline, AR development, and interaction design. The experience combines the physical environment and props with an AR website, allowing players to discover and piece together clues through both physical and digital interactions.
Game Design
Connecting physical and digital clues
The game was designed around the physical space rather than treating AR as a separate layer. Players use a flashlight, blue light, physical props, and their phones to uncover different parts of the clues. The game flow connects these actions into a sequence, so information discovered in one part of the experience becomes useful in the next.
Testing
Refining the game through playtesting
The game went through multiple rounds of player testing during development. Testing focused on how players interpreted clues, moved through the space, and understood the relationship between the physical props and AR interactions. These sessions helped identify points of confusion and refine the game flow and interaction details.
