The Escape Key Project

Welcome to this new adventure I’m calling The Escape Key Project! 

This new project is my way of flexing my creative muscles while tackling a unique challenge: building an escape-room-style experience within the tightest of constraints.

I love escape rooms—playing them, designing puzzles for them, and exploring new, unusual mechanisms. But I’ve found that I’m most creative when I work within a strict framework. And that’s exactly what I’ve set up here.

The Challenge: One Room. One Key. One Chance.

Picture this: a plain, featureless room. No fake fireplaces. No secret bookcases leading to hidden chambers. In fact, there is no second room—just one simple space. In the middle is a desk, a chair, and a retro-futuristic computer (think: what people in the 70s and 80s imagined future computers would look like). On the black screen, glowing green text explains the challenge:

You have one hour to escape. The door opens by pressing one key on this keyboard. You only get one chance—choose wisely.

Simple? Not quite. The keyboard shows only the letters A to Z and the space bar. Only one of those keys will set you free—the rest will lock you in. The real game is discovering clues scattered around the room that tell you which keys not to press. Phrases like "not Q," "do not use Y," and so on. Some hints will be hidden in plain sight, while others will be concealed within the furniture or props.

My Creative Constraints

This project comes with some self-imposed rules:

  • No themes. If there's a theme, it’s minimalism—an empty room.

  • No padlocks, combination locks, or keys. I want to avoid the usual escape room tropes and instead focus on pure deduction and discovery.

  • One room only. No hidden passageways or secondary chambers.

This is not a criticism of traditional escape rooms (I’ve played and loved many that use locks and keys). In fact, I was inspired by a fantastic lock-free game I played in Woking, which showed me how creative you can get when you ditch the usual tools.

The Plan: 26 Props, 26 Clues

Here's the mission: over the coming weeks, I’ll design 26 props—one for each letter of the alphabet. Each prop will somehow reveal that its corresponding letter is not the escape key. I’ll be documenting every step of the way:

  • Weekly blog posts right here on my site

  • A podcast episode to go along with each post

  • Plans and files shared with you—STL files for 3D prints, SVGs for laser cuts, and code and wiring diagrams for any electronics involved

Some props will be simple. Others will be wildly complex (and that’s part of the fun). I’ll share everything so that if you want to build your own versions, you can. And if you’ve got ideas or suggestions, I’d love to hear them! Every project I’ve worked on has improved thanks to input from others.

A Sneak Peek

Without giving too much away, the first prop is inspired by something you’ll find in almost every office or room around the world—especially any place with ventilation. It’s been a joy to build, combining my love for physical crafting with laser cutting, Cricut design, 3D modeling (on a software that’s been a steep learning curve!), and creative puzzle-making.

I’ve already made some exciting finds—my recent eBay purchases include a fire extinguisher I grabbed for just £3.30 shipping. I’ll be curious to see how they package that… and I may need to hide it in the garage to avoid questions at home!

Join Me on the Journey

So that’s the plan: 26 props, 26 clues, and one big creative challenge. If you’re into puzzles, props, escape rooms, or just love seeing ideas take shape, I invite you to follow along. And if you’ve got feedback, suggestions, or ideas—I’m all ears. Let’s make this journey interactive and collaborative.

Thanks for reading, and I’m excited to share more with you each week. Stay tuned!