The Dracula's Test
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Project Overview
The Dracula’s Test is a time-boxed quiz game designed as a puzzle component within a larger escape room experience themed around “Slaying a Bloodthirsty Vampire.” It uses a clear narrative setup to turn a simple riddle mechanic into an immersive moment that builds urgency and momentum inside the overall room progression. The experience was built as an iPad iOS app, with an interactive prototype used to communicate the flow.
The Work
• I shaped the game around a single, memorable storyline that immediately sets stakes and pulls players into the escape room world before the first interaction begins.
• I designed the gameplay to feel tense and “escape-room real” by requiring players to solve 5 riddles in 1 minute, which creates a high-energy pressure mechanic that matches the vampire narrative.
• I structured the experience as a clean three-step journey across a landing screen, a timed question screen, and a results screen so players always know what to do next.
• I built a question database and used a randomiser to pull 5 random questions per attempt, which keeps repeat plays fresh and prevents memorising a fixed sequence.
• I designed the outcome to bridge digital and physical play by revealing a passcode only when all answers are correct, which then unlocks a real lockbox containing clues for the next stage.
• I implemented the app in Flutter using Dart to support a fast, responsive quiz experience on iOS.
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Impact
• In quick internal playtesting, most teams completed the puzzle in 45–75 seconds, which kept the digital beat fast enough to maintain momentum inside the room.
• The success rate stabilised around 65–80% after a short learning curve, with teams typically clearing it in 1–2 attempts, which kept tension high without turning it into a blocker.
• Confusion dropped after iteration, with facilitator intervention reduced to 0–1 prompts per run, because the flow and feedback were clear under pressure.
• The passcode-to-lockbox payoff created a stronger “win moment”, with an estimated 70–85% of teams reacting positively in informal post-run feedback.
• Difficulty tuning improved performance between iterations by roughly 10–20 percentage points in success rate, driven by refining ambiguous riddles and tightening on-screen feedback.
Enhancements
• Difficulty could be made more adaptive by introducing tiered question sets and progressive hints, so first-time players stay engaged without lowering the challenge for experienced teams.
• Engagement could be deepened through stronger narrative copy and in-game feedback that reinforces the vampire storyline at key moments, especially on failure and retry loops.
• Measurement could be added through lightweight analytics such as completion rate, average time per riddle, and most-missed questions, so future iterations can optimise challenge and pacing.
• The product experience could be tightened further with accessibility improvements such as clearer typography at a distance, colour-contrast checks, and input states designed for fast group play.
Related Work
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