The history of the creation of the creepy escape room "Mad Veterinarian"
creating a escape room in the horror genre
About game
This is the second escape room that I built for clients from France in the resort town of Nice.
The first escape room is "Number 1408" you can also read about it in the portfolio.
The task was to build a scary quest with interesting riddles for a minimal budget.
It was not easy because the prices in Nice are very high. But thanks to ingenuity, searches in landfills, as well as stalking an abandoned factory, this project was successfully completed in a very short time.
The game received very good reviews from players for its unusual riddles and daring start to the game.
The first escape room is "Number 1408" you can also read about it in the portfolio.
The task was to build a scary quest with interesting riddles for a minimal budget.
It was not easy because the prices in Nice are very high. But thanks to ingenuity, searches in landfills, as well as stalking an abandoned factory, this project was successfully completed in a very short time.
The game received very good reviews from players for its unusual riddles and daring start to the game.
The plot of the game
The plot tells the story of a doctor who conducted forbidden experiments on animals. With the aim of crossing animals and plants to obtain a new species.
They found out about this in the clinic in which he worked as an ordinary doctor.
He was kicked out in disgrace and stripped of his doctor's license.
The doctor continued his work and began to kidnap people to conduct his monstrous experiments in his home laboratory.
The players became victims of the mad scientist and ended up in a cage in his basement.
The mad doctor will return in an hour and then they will not survive his inhuman experiences.
They found out about this in the clinic in which he worked as an ordinary doctor.
He was kicked out in disgrace and stripped of his doctor's license.
The doctor continued his work and began to kidnap people to conduct his monstrous experiments in his home laboratory.
The players became victims of the mad scientist and ended up in a cage in his basement.
The mad doctor will return in an hour and then they will not survive his inhuman experiences.
Gameplay
This is a classic escape room with a duration of 60 minutes.
The game has one large room divided into 2 locations.
The first location players enter with bags on their heads is the camera.
The disgusting atmosphere of the toilet bowl and the grill is all that the players see.
After the players solve 4 riddles and get out of the chamber, they find themselves in the laboratory hall.
The entire location is cluttered with real medical equipment, operation tables, surgical lamps, spectrometers, and other devices.
There are 10 riddles in the second location. All of them can be completed in any order.
This is done due to the small size of the location so that people can split into small groups and solve the escape room in parallel.
After solving all the riddles, the last final riddle opens, after solving which the players are released.
The game has one large room divided into 2 locations.
The first location players enter with bags on their heads is the camera.
The disgusting atmosphere of the toilet bowl and the grill is all that the players see.
After the players solve 4 riddles and get out of the chamber, they find themselves in the laboratory hall.
The entire location is cluttered with real medical equipment, operation tables, surgical lamps, spectrometers, and other devices.
There are 10 riddles in the second location. All of them can be completed in any order.
This is done due to the small size of the location so that people can split into small groups and solve the escape room in parallel.
After solving all the riddles, the last final riddle opens, after solving which the players are released.
Development features
I wrote the script for this escape back in Russia. And when I arrived at the construction site, all the riddles were already painted. But all the same, they had to be adjusted taking into account local peculiarities:
- Cost of materials
- availability of some components and electronics
I also had to completely reconsider the approach to the scenery, since it was very expensive to buy building materials in Leroy to create everything from scratch.
And it was impossible to get beautiful ready-made furniture suitable in style.
It took about 2 weeks to find the decor, during the search we went to neighboring Italy to an abandoned psychiatric clinic.
Hoping to find furniture or equipment as a basis for decor.
The clinic was closed back in 1970. But there were problems with the removal of things, the owner of the building did not get in touch.
We were lucky and again in Italy we found an abandoned cosmetic factory. In which there were laboratories. And meno in them we found a huge amount of furniture, appliances and surroundings debris from which 90% of the game environment was made.
Coincidentally, this plant was closed due to cruelty to animals, it was in these laboratories that experiments were carried out on animals, the effect of cosmetics on them.
I did all the riddles on the basis of relay circuits. There is not a single microcontroller in the game. This was done to make everything as reliable as possible.
This escape game was done on a tight schedule. The blueprints for all the riddles were made in four weeks.
And the production of riddles from laser cut parts took about four more weeks.
To convey the pirate atmosphere, I chose as the primary colors: dark wood, copper, green patina and orange for the decorative elements.
This combination of colors gives things and riddles the spirit of antiques.
Also for the main riddle "porthole" a special appendix was written.
When players solve the gear riddle and turn the handle. In the porthole, the animation of diving not the bottom of the sea is activated. At the bottom of the sea, players see a clue for the next riddle.
- Cost of materials
- availability of some components and electronics
I also had to completely reconsider the approach to the scenery, since it was very expensive to buy building materials in Leroy to create everything from scratch.
And it was impossible to get beautiful ready-made furniture suitable in style.
It took about 2 weeks to find the decor, during the search we went to neighboring Italy to an abandoned psychiatric clinic.
Hoping to find furniture or equipment as a basis for decor.
The clinic was closed back in 1970. But there were problems with the removal of things, the owner of the building did not get in touch.
We were lucky and again in Italy we found an abandoned cosmetic factory. In which there were laboratories. And meno in them we found a huge amount of furniture, appliances and surroundings debris from which 90% of the game environment was made.
Coincidentally, this plant was closed due to cruelty to animals, it was in these laboratories that experiments were carried out on animals, the effect of cosmetics on them.
I did all the riddles on the basis of relay circuits. There is not a single microcontroller in the game. This was done to make everything as reliable as possible.
This escape game was done on a tight schedule. The blueprints for all the riddles were made in four weeks.
And the production of riddles from laser cut parts took about four more weeks.
To convey the pirate atmosphere, I chose as the primary colors: dark wood, copper, green patina and orange for the decorative elements.
This combination of colors gives things and riddles the spirit of antiques.
Also for the main riddle "porthole" a special appendix was written.
When players solve the gear riddle and turn the handle. In the porthole, the animation of diving not the bottom of the sea is activated. At the bottom of the sea, players see a clue for the next riddle.
Download a pdf file with a detailed story about how this escape room was built. There are many photographs in it, as well as a story about the search for scenery in an abandoned psycho hospital in Italy.
