From Strangers to Teammates: How a Mini Escape Room Connected a Conference After-Party
Client
What the customers say:
"Genuinely the best after party we went to at YC Startup School!"
The Challenge: Delight Top Builders
Google DeepMind was hosting an afterparty for YC Startup School, bringing together a room full of founders and builders who were looking to connect.
They wanted to give everyone something memorable to do, and an organic reason to meet each other while they did it. The experience had to feel special enough for a DeepMind-hosted event, but flexible enough that guests could jump in and keep the party going.
The Handstand Magic
We turned Studio 37 into a builder-focused mini escape room called “Secret Transmission,” with three hijacked machines scattered around the party.
The machines were magnets for curious people. Guests wandered over, started playing, and joined forces with whoever else was there. Suddenly, teams were exploring the party and solving together.
And they stuck with it. Over four hours, guests finished 96% of sessions they started and there wasn’t a single half-hour block without teams playing.
After solving all three machines, players earned a prize and saw their names go up on the finishers board which was broadcast live at the party. The whole experience gave DeepMind a fun way to surprise their guests, and gave attendees a natural way to make new connections.
Favorite Moments
Client
More Case Studies
Interactive Tech Demo
Three unique demos turned new Gemini Audio models into memorable guest experiences.
Global Collaboration
Vimeo unified 1,100 employees around the world with a cross-collaborative competition.
Holiday Party: Hotel Leda
A holiday party reimagined as a living, narrative-driven world with puzzles and surprises.
Full Company Onsite
A hybrid escape room experience spanning puzzle boxes and epic in-office installations.
Weekly New-Hire Onboarding
A capstone event for Dropbox's new-hire onboarding increased engagement and reduced ramp time.
Week-Long, Global Company Kickoff
3,000 global employees competed in a week-long challenge.
New Office Launch
We helped Chime celebrate its new office opening with a week-long scavenger hunt.
In-Office, Month-Long Escape Room
This premium escape room brought an immersive mystery to the office for 2 months.
Campus-Wide Hunt Experience
A pirate adventure built around Stripe's Oyster Point campus, with immersive actors, hand-drawn maps, and buried treasure.
Philanthropic Offsite Activity
Crisis Text Line's first ever offsite featured a puzzle competition with a philanthropic twist.
Onsite Team Building w/ Stop-Motion Videos
We brought energy, puzzles, and creativity to a company-wide onsite.
Connecting Distributed Employees
An on-desk puzzle box that becomes a worldwide adventure.
Campus-Wide Kartwheel Race
LinkedIn’s campus turned into a living "Mario Kart" track for one memorable day.
Escape Room Inside The Office
A premium escape room brought an immersive mystery to Google's office for 2 months.
Students Explore Europe
A series of European city scavenger hunts educated students.
Rebrand for 160over90
Vegas became a playground as 800 folks discovered their agency's new brand.
Tej's Marriage Proposal
Handstand's lead Android developer proposed to his wife with The Hunt.
The Great Assistant Hunt
1,500 employees explored Google's campus with immersive actors.
Sierra Scales Culture
Scaling fast, Sierra used a custom Hunt to connect its whole team in one epic culture-building day.
Gamified Multi-Day Conference
A 4-day campus-wide scavenger hunt that connected thousands of colleagues from all over the world.
Summer Associate Programming
5 years of being THE program for Gunderson's SF summer associates.
Groovy Holiday Party
2,000 Googlers were immersed in a 70s-themed holiday party puzzle experience.
Silicon Valley Leadership Summit
Prosus leaders explored Silicon Valley's innovation history through a custom scavenger hunt at their leadership summit.
NYC Offsite Scavenger Hunt
A custom scavenger hunt was the capstone team event for a remote branding agency's offsite in its founding city, Manhattan.
International Offsite
A four-day, invitation-only puzzle narrative that turned a historic Irish hotel into the stage for The Colonel's centuries-old game.
Energizing a Cabo Offsite
A Survivor-style beach competition turned a 70-person offsite into a Field Day for the ages.
Plan your own team adventure
We deliver world-class custom events to exceptional companies. Yours is next.
