Les frontières de l’évasion : Une taxonomie du jeu d'évasion

Abstract

We propose a taxonomy of escape game completed with definitions of key terms in the domain. We define an escape game as a game in which players embody characters in an environment, where the consultation of elements external to the game is not allowed, that rests on discovering and completing predefined challenges of different natures, in order to accomplish one or several objectives. We define several subtypes of escape games (live game, video game, game book and game in a box), as well as the key notion of “challenge” and some of its subtypes. This definition excludes partially similar forms of games from the field of escape game, such as murder parties or armchair treasure hunts, as well as some collaborative board games and puzzle video games. We discuss whether or not to include in the field of escape games some scavenger hunts and point-and-click video games developed before the contemporary rise of escape games.

Keywords

• taxonomy
• definition
• applied ontology
• escape game
• video game
• simulation