Cognitive Science 0281 - Designing Escape Rooms

In this course, students will design, build, and manage an escape room on Hampshire campus under the guidance of Professors Fay and Kallok. Though the professors will provide team leadership and direction, the students will be the ones creating the escape room, including concept art, storyboards, game design, puzzle design, set design, set construction, painting, lighting, sound design, production management, marketing, and live production. The set construction portion of the course will occur immediately following Thanksgiving, so students should be prepared to commit significant effort during that week. Students are expected to be skilled in at least one discipline relevant to escape room design, listed above. To facilitate the substantial collaboration that will be required outside of class hours, there is also a reserved lab time from 1pm - 4pm on Fridays. Prerequisite information: At least two semesters of course work in a discipline or disciplines related to escape room design, such as set design, lighting, painting, game design, audio design, project management, marketing, etc.

Independent Work As with most things, the more time you put into this course, the more you will get out of it. You should expect to spend at least eight hours per week (on average) doing activities outside of class, including assignments, reading, playing, playtesting, experimenting, and anything else related to the subject matter. There will be a materials fee of $40, or $0 if needed and you contact Ira/Peter in advance.