YOANN SCHULER
My Work
Puzzle Design
My main task for the entirety of the internship was to design puzzles, starting from high level ideas given to us by Xavier, the head of the project. We would use very short iteration cycles, designing a few puzzles over the course of the day, debriefing each day, and refining the best ones throughout the week.
Narrative Design
Xavier had a lot of narrative intentions for this project as well, and thus finding a way to incorporate them was a challenge we had to take on frequently. I wrote short tales, journal entries, and figured out where to place them, in order for the players to find them without confusing them for actual hints or gameplay elements.
Documentation
Documents were, more than ever, an important part of the project. Since the internship only lasted for 2 months, and the project was to be put to life a long time after our departure, every puzzle needed to be correctly documented, for other people to use said documents.
We created a few gameplay-unrelated documents, like instructions on how to put the escape room back in place.
The Project
Legendes Escape Villefranche is a company founded by Xavier Bottet, CEO of La Suite Studio, specialised in VR experiences. Xavier decided to change course, and to start Legendes Escape from scratch. We were recruited to help creating two rooms : Les Sorciers de Calador, a witchcraft inspired adventure, where players try to seal an ancient evil back in its tomb, and another unrevealed room, about which I cannot disclose more information yet.
The Team
This was my first game design internship, and I'm very grateful to Xavier Bottet for this opportunity, and for his mentorship during those two months. Huge thanks to Julia Bourdin as well, which shared with me all the tasks I mentioned above, and without whom it would have been a bit lonelier.