The emotion that I would like to evoke is a sense of adventure and playfulness mixed with some urgency and mystery. Here is a Spotify playlist based on these emotions.
Here are four game direction ideas
Narrative: You’ve stayed after class, but something’s not right — the door locks behind you, and the only way out is to reconstruct a mysterious “lost lecture” by solving puzzles embedded in the room’s objects. Books, notes, and props contain the clues.
- Fun: Solving layered, interconnected puzzles
- Narrative Style: What happened here?
- Emotion: Tension + Curiosity
- Format: Physical escape room + digital elements (QR codes, audio, or webpage)
Narrative: Strange messages have started appearing across campus — ghostly remnants of former students trying to communicate something forgotten. Players follow the trail through real Stanford landmarks (MemChu, Cactus Garden, etc.), uncovering puzzles rooted in campus lore.
- Fun: Exploration and discovery
- Narrative Style: Narrative Architecture / “What happened here?”
- Emotion: Wonder + Discovery
- Format: Campus scavenger hunt + QR puzzles + optional AR/audio
Narrative: Your SU ID has mysteriously gone missing on graduation day. Without it, you can’t walk the stage. Scramble across campus solving puzzles to piece together clues and find it before the ceremony begins.
- Fun: Campus-based scavenger challenge with a time pressure
- Narrative Style: The Player’s Story
- Emotion: Playful tension + urgency
- Format: Puzzle race across familiar campus landmarks
Narrative: It’s your last quarter, and you still haven’t done the Stanford bucket list! From fountain hopping to hiking the Dish, you’ll complete traditions, uncover puzzles hidden in each location, and reflect on what it all means.
- Fun: Exploratory checklist adventure + mini challenges
- Narrative Style: The Player’s Story + nostalgia
- Emotion: Curiosity + Sentimentality + Playfulness
- Format: Outdoor activity + puzzle integration + memory-making
