Announcing Our Next Original WebXR Game, The Escape Artist

Paradowski Creative is proud to announce our next original WebXR title, The Escape Artist.

Fresh off the success of our first release, Above Par-adowski WebXR Mini-Golf—which garnered multiple Game of the Year awards, saw half-a-million made putts in its opening weeks and was showcased on the Meta Quest browser homepage and developer blog—the team’s next game will feature story elements, art direction and unique puzzle mechanics never attempted on the web.

“Paradowski is filled with all kinds of creative people,” says VP of Creative Technology Andy Wise, “For some that shows up as visual or technical engineering, and for others it comes through their ability to tell a good story through design or writing. An escape room gives our team an ideal canvas for exploring a range of mechanics beyond swinging a putter, and immersing players in the game’s narrative as much as its visuals.”

Creative Director Caroline May agrees. She’s writing the game and sees storytelling as central to the art form.

“If what sets games apart as an art is the sense of agency you have as a player, no amount of visual fidelity or complex mechanics can make up for a weak storyline. Thoughtful character construction, narrative, and deeply resonant human themes, even if they’re presented in a totally surreal environment, are critical to creating a sense of choice and consequence.”

For this project we’re partnering with Wonderland Engine, a 3D development platform and editor for building web-based AR/VR experiences. Wonderland founder and CEO Jonathan Hale explains how our teams are working closely to enhance both our game development process and the engine itself, while sharing our findings to benefit the wider immersive WebXR community:

“Paradowski Creative have very high standards for building polished user experiences on a very high technical level. For us this means that they provide qualitative feedback while pushing the limits of Wonderland Engine both artistically and in technical scope,” says Hale, “For us, this is a great opportunity to production-prove Wonderland Engine with a highly-polished WebXR experience.”

Wise concurs: “When Wonderland approached us about building on their platform, we were all in. Their engine’s built-in optimizations are helping our developers and technical artists squeeze as much as possible into our next WebXR title, so we can focus on telling a great story.”

May says creating and publishing original content is an ideal creative exercise that can also drive business growth.

“For Paradowski, original content like this is the ultimate vehicle to flex all our capabilities across disciplines, from technical art and development to storytelling and design. In line with our vision of an open, accessible and interoperable immersive web, we’re eager to contribute in ways that advance the entire community of makers. And in the end, these projects end up bringing new clients in the door.”

Paradowski is a company of designers, developers and technical artists making award-winning work on the frontiers of the immersive web. The Escape Artist is currently slated for release in June 2023.

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“You find yourself inside a strange, surreal room not your own — with no way out. After a familiar companion helps you escape, you’re free to explore the beautiful but volatile landscape beyond in this immersive story about the creative process, becoming stuck, and finally letting go."