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RECON speakers, Anne & Chris Lukemans' headshot in a gold, art deco frame with the RECON logo.
10 April, 2023

Adaptive Difficulty: Strategies For Making Games That Both Newbies & Enthusiasts Will Love

Delivering Game-Changing Immersion

Adaptive Difficulty:

Strategies For Making Games That Both Newbies & Enthusiasts Will Love

Speaker Session
RECON speakers, Anne & Chris Lukemans' headshot in a gold, art deco frame with the RECON logo.
Anne & Chris Lukeman
CU Adventures

Champaign, Illinois, USA

The Talk

As the escape room industry matures, it becomes increasingly important to design games for both first time and experienced players. These two audiences have a lot in common, but thinking about how your game accommodates both can make the difference in converting a player to a true fan and reinvigorating your customers to love the hobby (and not treat it like a passing fad). Anne and Chris will talk about a variety of low tech and high tech solutions along with the pros and cons of each.

The Speakers

Chris & Anne Lukeman have owned and operated Champaign-Urbana Adventures in Time and Space (“CU Adventures”) since 2015. Their immersive escape room experiences are consistently highly ranked on review sites and have won several international awards (2020 & 2022 Golden Lock Awards, 2019-2022 TERPECA nominee, 2022 Best of Morty, 2020-2022 Bullseye Awards). They’ve received national attention for bringing their traveling pop-up escape games to Gen Con Indy (the largest gaming convention in the western hemisphere), as well as their pandemic era at-home games (The Lost Temple, Floor 13, Solve Our Shirts).

Before moving into the immersive space full-time, Chris & Anne were indie filmmakers and professional videographers for the University of Illinois. They enjoy board games, TTRPGs, and having two very adorable cats.