Dec 12, 2018
Dennis visits the San Fernando Valley home of Ariel Rubin to talk with Ariel and Juliana Patel, the co-creators of "Escape Room in a Box" which is exactly what it sounds like; a home version of an escape room. They talk about how they met playing werewolf, getting the idea, creating the incredibly complicated prototypes, the support they got from the game community, finding a factory to make the game and the red locks that drove them crazy. They also talk about putting together their Kickstarter campaign, their nerves going in, following the advice of previous campaigners, working the media and making their goal of $19,500 in 14 hours and finishing the campaign with $135,000. They also talk about being women in an industry that's historically very male and being an inspiration to other women and girls. They recall how they got the licensing deal with Mattel, going in to pitch and play test with them and what it's like to work with Mattel on an ongoing business. Other topics include: getting flown to the Netherlands to speak at a conference, creating games for weddings, why they named their company Wild Optimists, juggling their busy leaves, winning a big award and the Halloween costume that was totally prescient. www.escaperoominabox.com