PLAYERS’ ACCOUNTS OF CULTURAL BIAS IN ESCAPE ROOMS

This study examines the experiences of cultural bias by escape room enthusiasts when playing live action puzzle-based games in foreign countries, cultures, and languages with a focus on how the cultural bias impacts their enjoyment of the game and what form the cultural bias takes. Through content analysis of 33
interviews of enthusiasts from 4 continents, culturally referential puzzles are quantitatively categorized according to a socio-cultural model adapted for escape rooms. The data provides viewpoints that can allow escape room puzzle designers to evaluate the potential cultural bias in their own designs, thus making their games more approachable for players from different cultural backgrounds.