Before the Exit: The Game series, you’ve never published anything like an escape room game. Was there any hesitation in accepting Kosmos’s request when they commissioned you to develop these games?

Absolutely not, there was no hesitation. Quite the contrary, we were very happy about their request. We visited our first Live Exit Room in December 2014 with our whole family. We were very excited about this experience and talked about this adventure with our editors Ralph Querfurth and Sandra Dochtermann on a Kosmos gathering. As it turned out, they had already had the idea for publishing an Exit game, so we were probably in the right place at the right time. So we had the great fortune to develop these games.

The first three games in the series are available in the US, but there are three additional titles currently available in Germany — with several others in the pipeline. The response worldwide has been overwhelmingly positive. Did you have any idea that there would be such a demand for these games?

For years Live Exit Rooms have been a worldwide phenomenon. It was only a matter of time before someone created a boardgame version. Nobody could have imagined how successful these games would be. We knew that we’d invented a good game, but we were uncertain how players would respond. It was absolutely overwhelming and totally unexpected when Kosmos announced that they’d already sold 100,000 copies in just three months.

How long does it take you to fully develop and create a game for the Exit series?

It’s difficult to specify a period. We’re collecting ideas for new puzzles all the time. If we have enough in our “riddle box,” we start to build a prototype. Therefore, we need about one week. Next follows the rounds of testing, where we have to change a little something again and again. The test period lasts about three months.

Of the Exit games you’ve designed thus far, was there one that was more difficult than the others to create?

The Abandoned Cabin — our first one, of course. We had to invent not only the puzzles, but also develop a solution system that works without a gamemaster. In all the games that followed, we could rely on this existing system.

One of the things that sets the Exit series apart from other at-home escape room games are the engaging themes, with riddles that are thoughtfully integrated into the storyline. The settings come from Kosmos, after which you develop riddles to create a working escape room game. Do you find this strategy (developing riddles around a theme, rather than compiling riddles and making a story around them) to be limiting, or is it helpful to have something on which to base each game?

Not every setting comes from Kosmos. The Abandoned Cabin and one of our novelties for next autumn, “The Dead Man on the Orient Express” (working title), were our ideas. We think it’s much easier to find new riddles if you like the theme. Often the setting helps to create suitable puzzles.

One board game review site, Shut Up & Sit Down, declared that “Exit has broken my ability to judge good puzzles,” explaining that the puzzles “are the sort of thing where when you solve them, a smile stretches across your face like a sunrise, first because you’re pleased with how clever you are, and then because you’re impressed with how clever the designers are.” That’s quite the compliment! How do you go about creating such intricate and stimulating riddles?

In fact, that is a great compliment. But, we can say that there’s no recipe for it. Each puzzle is created in a different way. Some of them occurred to us in our dreams, some came about by a “flash of inspiration,” some are well-known puzzles in a new guise, and some arise during a creative weekend. Also, focusing on the available materials is helpful. We often think about what riddles are possible with the disk, box, or any cards. Last spring we had an exciting weekend with our editor Ralph. Together, we visited four Live Exit Rooms in just three days — a kind of inspiration. Between the visits we developed new puzzles. At the end of the weekend, another novelty called “The Weird Villa” (working title) was finished.

One area of criticism for the games in the series is that they’re not re-playable because you often must destroy components to solve certain riddles. What is your response to this kind of feedback?

Why should an Exit game be replayable? If you solve all the riddles in each box you know every solution. There‘s no reason to play it again. Admittedly, you can’t give it away to other players, but that’s why we have the opportunity to create extraordinary puzzles. Puzzles where when you solve them, “a smile stretches across your face like a sunrise.” ;-)

In addition to Exit: The Game’s 2017 Kennerspiel des Jahres nomination, another game of yours, Word Slam, was selected to the 2017 Spiel des Jahres Recommended list. When you were developing it, were you conscious of the need to make it stand out from other word-based party games? How do you think you accomplished this?

We wanted to create a party game for teams, where every player is involved all the time — something like our all-time favorite, Time’s Up! You’re right, it should stand out from other party games. We had the idea of explaining terms with just about 100 different words. One player on each team explains at the same time. The special feature of Word Slam is that your opponents not only see the explaining words provided by their own teammate, but they can also hear the guesses of the rest of your team and use these guesses to find a correct answer. It doesn’t matter whether you’re playing with four or ten people — everybody is part of the game at any time! We think this is the reason why it stands out.

Gen Con 50 attendees: Check out the KOSMOS event schedule at http://bit.ly/2rnJc92 and sign up to play Exit: The Secret of the Premiere, a mini Exit game by Inka & Markus Brand. Members of the fastest team to solve the game each day will win copies of the 2017 Kennerspiel des Jahres-nominated titles Exit: The Abandoned Cabin, Exit: The Secret Lab, and Exit: The Pharaoh’s Tomb. Attendees can also purchase their own copies at KOSMOS booth #2735, but act fast: only 50 copies of each title will be available each day! Word Slam, as well as Monster Trap, a new children’s game from Inka & Markus Brand, will also be available in the KOSMOS booth, and attendees can sign up to play these games and more in the events hall.