How QR Codes Are Used in Puzzle Hunts / Escape Games and Their Game Design
Why Escape Games and QR Codes Work Well Together
A real-life escape game (escape room) is a form of entertainment in which you gather clues in a room within a time limit, solve puzzles, and escape. QR codes add a new dimension to this experience: "connecting physical space with digital information."
Scanning a QR code on the wall displays a hint for a cipher, a QR code inside a locked box becomes the clue to the next room, and scanning several QR codes in the correct order generates the final password. Staging like this creates an interactivity that physical locks and puzzles alone cannot achieve.
Planning companies such as SCRAP (one of the major puzzle event planning companies in Japan) run shows that actively incorporate QR codes. Real-life escape games are widely enjoyed in Japan as well, and QR codes have become one of the means of differentiating the experience.
Techniques for Staging QR Codes That Deepen Immersion
In an escape game, it is not enough for a QR code to simply "show information when scanned." The design needs to enrich the game experience while maintaining immersion.
Integration into the story: Explain within the story "why the QR code is there." For example, give the QR code a narrative reason to exist, such as "an electronic memo left by a researcher," "an encrypted communication log," or "a clue generated by an AI." When a QR code appears out of nowhere, players are pulled back to reality.
Gradual disclosure of information: A design in which, rather than showing the whole answer with a single QR code, information is revealed little by little as players scan several QR codes in stages. This keeps up the players' sense of accomplishment and their desire to explore.
Conditional access: A QR code that becomes scannable only after a specific puzzle has been solved. It is physically visible, but scanning it displays "You do not have access yet," and the lock is released when another puzzle is solved.
Town-Walking Puzzle Games and QR Codes
In addition to venue-based escape games, QR codes are an indispensable tool in "town-walking puzzle games" that use an entire town as the stage. Participants walk around the town with a map in hand, scanning QR codes at designated spots to work their way through the puzzles.
One of the major advantages of this format is that the existing townscape can be turned into a game field as it is. Simply by placing QR codes within everyday scenery, such as store signs, park benches, and station pillars, the whole town becomes a huge puzzle field. Some local governments and shopping streets adopt town-walking puzzle games as a means of revitalizing their area, and QR codes function as an interface that connects participants with the community.
Town-walking puzzle events are held in places such as busy shopping districts and tourist spots around Tokyo. As participants walk around the town to solve puzzles, they get a reason to visit stores and facilities they would not usually stop by, and ripple effects on the local economy are also expected.
Using QR Codes in Online Puzzle Games
QR codes also play a distinctive role in online puzzle events. There is a format in which a kit mailed to participants includes a QR code, and scanning it launches a dedicated web app that starts the puzzle game.
By connecting a physical kit (paper clues, props) with digital content (videos, audio, interactive puzzles) through QR codes, an experience close to an escape game can be offered while participants stay at home. You solve a cipher written on a paper clue, enter the answer into the web app via a QR code, and the next stage is unlocked. An experience design that moves back and forth between analog and digital is a strength unique to QR codes.
Points to Watch in Game Design
When building QR codes into an escape game, there are points game designers should keep in mind.
- Securing a scanning environment: QR codes are hard to read in a dark room. Coordinate the lighting design with the placement of the QR codes to secure the brightness needed for scanning
- Dependence on the network: If a QR code links to an online destination, the game is interrupted when the venue's connection is unstable. Design important clues so that they can also be displayed offline
- Smartphone batteries running out: If a smartphone battery runs out during the game, players can no longer progress. Charging spots or an alternative route that does not depend on QR codes need to be prepared
- Accessibility: Consideration for participants who do not have a smartphone and for those unfamiliar with operating QR codes. A design that assumes one smartphone is shared within a group is desirable