Laura E. Hall

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 namesL. E. Hall
Occupation(s)Game designer, puzzle designer, author
Websitelauraehall.com

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

Hall 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

In 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

Hall 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)

In 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)

In 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
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. "A mystery cube, a secret identity, and a puzzle solved after 15 years". Wired UK.
  4. "Finding Satoshi". IMDB. Mt. MELVIL. 28 January 2022. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. Spira, Lisa (26 June 2016). "Two Years of Room Escapes: The Growth of the US Market". Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  8. Diehl, Caleb (21 December 2017). "Power Gamer: Laura Hall". Oregon Business. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  9. Kunkel, Leigh (1 October 2019). "Mind Games". American Way.
  10. Coleman, Ben. "Laura E. Hall, Escape Artist". Portland Mercury. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  11. D'Cruz, Andrew (13 June 2016). "This Shared Portland Office Could Save Our Souls (and Our Wallets)". Portland Monthly. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  12. "2017 Festival". Now Play This. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  13. Hall, Laura E. (1 January 2022). "Dating the Movies: A Calendar of Film Moments • Journal • A Letterboxd Magazine". letterboxd.com. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  14. "The Art of Escape Rooms: Six Strategies for Success". Art of Play. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  15. "A Profound Waste of Time magazine Issue 2". Retrieved February 4, 2022.
  16. Hall, Laura E. (13 July 2014). "What Happens When Digital Cities Are Abandoned?". The Atlantic. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
  17. Hall, L. E. (17 October 2018). "Katamari Damacy's Creator Had To Move Mountains To Get His Game Made". Kotaku. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
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