Laura E. Hall is an American immersive artist, puzzle game designer, and writer. She has written several books about video games, immersive entertainment, and escape rooms.
Laura E. Hall | |
|---|---|
 Hall speaking at the 2017 Game Developers Conference | |
| Other names | L. E. Hall |
| Occupation(s) | Game designer, puzzle designer, author |
| Website | lauraehall |
Hall co-created one of the first escape rooms in the United States. In 2022, Hall was the subject of a documentary about solving an alternate reality game puzzle 14 years after it was set, called Finding Satoshi (""謎の日本人サトシ"").[1]
Puzzles
editHall began participating in alternate reality games in college, and played Perplex City. She became invested in puzzles after moving to Portland and attending Puzzled Pint events.[2]
After Perplex City's completion in 2007, Hall continued to work on a puzzle that was still unsolved, Billion to One. The puzzle focused on exploring the concept of Six degrees of separation by presenting a man's photograph and his first name, "Satoshi", asking players to locate him. In 2020, Tom-Lucas Säger used image recognition software and located Satoshi, reporting it to Hall, who ran the website tracking information about the hunt.[3]
In 2022, Hall was the subject of a documentary about the Billion to One puzzle, Finding Satoshi.[4]
Installation Art and Game Design
editIn 2014, Hall and five friends opened the first escape room game in the state of Oregon[5] and one of the first 22 escape rooms in the United States.[6][7]
She has since created escape rooms and immersive experiences around the United States[8] and the world.[9]
Her installation art and games have appeared in the Portland Art Museum,[10] XOXO,[11] and the London Games Festival.[12]
Writing
editHall writes about films, games, and culture for Letterboxd,[13] Dan and Dave’s Art of Play,[14] A Profound Waste of Time,[15] and The Atlantic.[16]
Katamari Damacy (2018)
editIn 2018, Hall published Katamari Damacy with Boss Fight Books about the creation of the 2004 video game Katamari Damacy, featuring interviews with creator Keita Takahashi.[17]
Planning Your Escape (2021)
editIn 2021, Hall published Planning Your Escape: Strategy Secrets to Make You an Escape Room Superstar with Simon & Schuster, about the history of the immersive entertainment genre and a toolkit for new escape room players.[2]
References
edit- ^ Barthelemy, Laurent (director), Dafoe, Willem (narrator) (28 February 2022). 謎の日本人サトシ～世界が熱狂した人探しゲーム～ [Finding Satoshi] (documentary) (in Japanese and English). NHK.
- ^ a b Brown, Andy (30 October 2021). "Laura E. Hall on how escape rooms are more like video games than you'd expect". NME. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
- ^ "A mystery cube, a secret identity, and a puzzle solved after 15 years". Wired UK.
- ^ "Finding Satoshi". IMDB. Mt. MELVIL. 28 January 2022. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ Hale, Jamie (2014-10-25). "Escape games come to Portland: 60 Minutes to Escape offers an interactive puzzle adventure". The Oregonian. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
- ^ June, Sophia (21 July 2021). "Laura Hall Created Portland's First Escape Room. Now She's Literally Written the Book on Them". Willamette Week. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
- ^ Spira, Lisa (26 June 2016). "Two Years of Room Escapes: The Growth of the US Market". Retrieved 4 February 2022.
- ^ Diehl, Caleb (21 December 2017). "Power Gamer: Laura Hall". Oregon Business. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
- ^ Kunkel, Leigh (1 October 2019). "Mind Games". American Way.
- ^ Coleman, Ben. "Laura E. Hall, Escape Artist". Portland Mercury. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
- ^ D'Cruz, Andrew (13 June 2016). "This Shared Portland Office Could Save Our Souls (and Our Wallets)". Portland Monthly. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
- ^ "2017 Festival". Now Play This. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
- ^ Hall, Laura E. (1 January 2022). "Dating the Movies: A Calendar of Film Moments • Journal • A Letterboxd Magazine". letterboxd.com. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
- ^ "The Art of Escape Rooms: Six Strategies for Success". Art of Play. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
- ^ "A Profound Waste of Time magazine Issue 2". Retrieved February 4, 2022.
- ^ Hall, Laura E. (13 July 2014). "What Happens When Digital Cities Are Abandoned?". The Atlantic. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
- ^ Hall, L. E. (17 October 2018). "Katamari Damacy's Creator Had To Move Mountains To Get His Game Made". Kotaku. Retrieved 16 September 2022.