Kai Pearson's Portfolio

Unit 7

Puzzle/ escape room game design document

What is an escape room?

“A room in which people are locked in order to play a game requiring them to solve a series of puzzles within a certain amount of time to accomplish a goal, typically finding the key to unlock the room.” – oxford languages , google search.

Market research

To decide on key game mechanics and a theme for my game idea, I searched through some escape-room/ puzzle games on the web and that I had personally played.

I initially chose 7 games that are already on the market, and picked the key genre/ theme of the game and compared their features with each other

MechanicLiteral escape roomDesk based puzzlesFactory escapePower station puzzlesTool based escapePhysics based puzzles
InventoryYesPossiblyYesYesNot neededYes
Puzzle piecesPossiblyYesNoYesNoYes
Keycard’sYesPossiblyNot neededPossiblyNot neededNot needed
MovementYesMinimalYesYesYesMinimal
CharacterYesNoYesYesYesNo
RundownPossiblyNoNoYesPossiblyNo
FuturisticPossiblyYesYesYesYesPossibly

From my initial research I have decided that some key game mechanics inspired by other puzzle games on the market should be: inventories, literal collectable pieces of a puzzle to open doors or power things, and there should be a character that can move around and interact with the world.  Furthermore I will plan a futuristic and rundown scene as the futuristic theme seems to dominate the market. However not all puzzle games are set in a destroyed scene, which I would like to set my game in.

4 of the main games I will replicate ideas from:

  • Terminal [Escape Room] -CCF Studios (2023)
  • THE LIFT: Supernatural Handyman Simulator – tinyBuild (2025)
  • Portal 2 –Valve (2011)
  • Alien: Isolation– Feral Interactive (2014)

CCF Studios (2023). Terminal [Escape Room]. [online] Roblox. Available at: https://www.roblox.com/games/14026026722/Terminal-Escape-Room [Accessed 9 Oct. 2025].

tinyBuild (2025). THE LIFT: Supernatural Handyman Simulator on Steam. [online] Steampowered.com. Available at: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3283240/THE_ LIFT_Supernatural_Handyman_Simulator [Accessed 9 Oct. 2025].

Valve (2011). Portal 2 on Steam. [online] Steampowered.com. Available at: https://store.steampowered.com/app/620/Portal_2 [Accessed 9 Oct. 2025].

Feral Interactive (2014). Alien: Isolation on Steam. [online] store.steampowered.com. Available at: https://store.steampowered.com/app/214490/Alien_Isolation/ [Accessed 10 Oct. 2025].

Story

Your ship crashed into an asteroid during hyperspace and most people in cryo-sleep were  woken up by emergency protocols and ejected from the ship. However your wing of the ship was damaged and didn’t activate emergency protocol. The damage in the hull caused loose wires to touch and a Surge of electricity activated one pod; yours. All systems are damaged and large portions of the ship are missing. The life support system is damaged and has drained the air into space. You have to collect peices to open doors and move through the ship to get to the main generator and restart it to resupply the life support systems with power.

Level design/art direction

I was inspired by portal 2’s abandoned/ ruined facility theme and alien isolation’s space ship and hallways.

Valve (2011). Portal 2 on Steam. Available at: https://store.steampowered.com/app/620/Portal_2/ [Accessed 17 Oct. 2025].

Video uploaded by SHN Survival Horror Network (2015). Alien: Isolation 1080p Full HD Longplay Walkthrough Gameplay No Commentary. Available at: https://youtu.be/1pvaw3tqgaw?t=306 [Accessed 17 Oct. 2025].

With these 2 inspirations I planned a rudimentary layout idea for the escape room.

  • The cuboids will be explorable rooms.
  • The black lines between them will be hallways
  • The blue circles will be closed doors that you have to open
  • The orange circles are doors you have to close
  • The red circles are a key card and the corresponding door
  • The large circle in the centre is the generator
  • The grey rectangles are destroyed modules of the ship which may be visible from windows/ open doors

Puzzle interactions:

Collectable objects such as wires, fuses, screwdrivers etc. These will be stored in your inventory(pockets) and are used in puzzles on surfaces to open doors and more rooms. Large puzzle to activate generator at the end with most of the collected parts being needed to turn all systems online again.

The images below are my puzzle interaction inspiration from the game terminal.

Ebanez, K. (2024). Roblox Terminal Escape Room Standard Mode answers for Chapters 1-4. Available at: https://www.destructoid .com/roblox-terminal-escape-room-standard-mode-answers-for-chapters-1-4/ [Accessed 17 Oct. 2025].

These images show more of the puzzle system I want to build and also how you can find the pieces around the ship

Images from already referenced steam page, click large image to visit site

I plan to create a inventory system to store these puzzle pieces and tools, and also a interactable placing area on a object that I would be able to place around the ship.

Created mechanics:

  • Randomly spawning pieces to find
  • Randomly generated puzzle to power
  • Randomly spawning card to find then scan to win
  • Countdown and loss screen
  • Win screen

The puzzles integrate into the story and theme as the sci-fi wiring and doors fit the spaceship theme and because your space suit only has limited supply of oxygen the loss screen is you passing out from suffocation.

Development logs:

Gameplay video