S2E4 - The King of Smash - Ken Hoang on Competitive Gaming

In season 2, episode 4, we discuss possible futures for competitive escape room playing with the King of Smash, Ken Hoang.

Ken was the world champion of Super Smash Bros. Melee for five years and helped create much of the high level competitive gameplay. Ken was also an extremely strategic player on Survivor: Gabon. 

Smash Melee was originally designed as a party game, not for competitive play. However, by exploiting glitches and mechanics that were built into the system, whether intentional or not, Ken was able to develop an expressive and unique style within Smash Melee, and become a top competitive player. This same strategy of exploitation has caused much of the recent evolution in Survivor.

With this perspective, we discuss whether there is room for competitive play in escape rooms, and what that evolution could look like. Episode 4 is a bit of a smashup mashup, but it was fascinating to look at escape rooms through a competitive lens.

Show Notes

Episode Sponsors

Thank you to our sponsors: 

• SEO ORB - Marketing and SEO optimization created specifically for escape rooms by an enthusiast.
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Production Credits

Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law

Produced by Lisa Spira

Edited by Steve Ewing of Stand Inside Media

Music by Ryan Elder

Logo by Janine Pracht