It all started with the pandemic. Locked down in our houses we thought: what if we challenged ourselves and built an Online Escape Room? Without hesitation, we jumped into puzzle design, experimenting, testing, and just having fun. We used the lockdown time to get our creative juices flowing and build our first game.

Dozens of puzzles, hundreds of hours, thousands of coffee cups later, we had a prototype. The prototype with an unnamed antagonist who trapped the players but gave them a glimmer of hope in the form of timed puzzles to solve. However, we quickly realized that the antagonist needs a name. That's how the Cryptic Killer was born.

We loved the name so much, that we started brainstorming ideas for his background. We created his childhood and family, we worked on his past crimes, we formulated his goals, and brought him to life. That's when we knew he was going to be a recurring presence in our games.

What about the detectives, Ally and Old Dog? An antagonist needs someone to oppose him. Ally and Old Dog are following his trail and discovering the truth behind his actions. The truth, that they might not like. The truth is that they have a strong connection with the killer.

On their journey, they'll learn more about the Cryptic Killer, and about themselves. Will they overcome their weaknesses, confront their fears, and catch the killer? That's something that the players will have to discover.

The Cryptic Killer series is intended to span through 5 chapters of our story:

• Unboxing the mind of a Cryptic Killer (released)
• Parallel Lab (released April 28, 2022)
• Anagram Asylum (pre-production)
• The Better Half (to be announced)
• (to be announced)

5 games in total will allow us to complete this part of the story and provide a conclusion for current events. But will this be a complete story? Time will tell…