Client:
GöteborgsOperan
Dimh's services:
Concept development, game design,graphics,
UX/UI, frontend, 3D
How do you turn Mozart's The Magic Flute into a digital Escape Room?
Escape Room is an interactive digital experience on both mobile and VR for the Gothenburg Opera to spark curiosity and lower the barriers to performing arts for the 18-35 age group.
Let us now take you through the creative process and the work we at Dimh have put in to realize a unique and exciting experience for the Gothenburg Opera.
Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, or The Magic Flute, is a classic opera that is over 230 years old. Approaching something new and modern around such a beloved and iconic opera is a challenge that requires both respect and courage.
But at Dimh, these are precisely the kinds of challenges we are passionate about. It is in our DNA to always go one step further—to dare to push the boundaries of what is possible. We want to create digital relevance and meet the target audience where they are, with content that inspires them to physically visit the performing arts.
Our mission was to create an experience for the Gothenburg Opera's Operaverse. A virtual opera house developed to introduce opera in a new and creative way. We were tasked with developing a unique experience in VR and app format that would spark curiosity and interest in opera while lowering the barriers to entry for the performing arts.
By allowing the audience to become co-stars in an interactive drama, we used storytelling to create a prologue that does not alter or influence the original opera. Instead, it functions as a standalone complement that leads into what then unfolds on stage. What's more, the experience could live on even after the performances have finished on stage.
Deliverables:
Preliminary study
Concept development
UX and user-centered design
Game design
Game development
Marketing materials
The project is a response to the fact that only around 300,000 residents of Västra Götaland visit the opera each year, and that many people, especially younger adults, have preconceived notions about what opera is.
Many people at Dimh have a genuine interest in opera and belong to the intended target group aged 18–35. At the same time, Operaverses' main task is to reach and engage people who do not already have a relationship with opera. Therefore, it was important for us at Dimh to review the existing target group research, but also to conduct our own analysis to get a clearer picture of where we should focus our efforts.
Our research clearly showed in several studies that almost 60% of people in Sweden between the ages of 18 and 35 have listened to true crime podcasts or played murder mystery games. But what does this actually have to do with The Magic Flute?
The Magic Flute is neither a murder mystery nor true crime. So how can these two worlds meet?
This is where we at Dimh show what we are good at – by understanding the target group,
the customer's needs, and the product's full potential.
During our concept development phase, we didn't just work on target group analysis, we also immersed ourselves in the entire story of The Magic Flute. This involved countless hours with Spotify playlists, careful reviews of previous productions of The Magic Flute on YouTube – and (reluctantly) watching The Magic Flute from 2022.
But the research didn't stop there. We also had the unique opportunity to visit the Gothenburg Opera and take part in exclusive behind-the-scenes material: props, costumes, set design, stage art, and VFX material that would be projected on stage. In addition, we got to sit down with Göran Gademan, dramaturge at the Gothenburg Opera, who has a deep knowledge of The Magic Flute – including details that many today have forgotten.
One of these details was that the story consists not only of the well-known plot, but also of a prologue that is often overlooked. This is where we found the key to our creation.
The prologue contained a drama and a mystery that we could build on.
A mystery that could begin even before the first act of the opera.
In the story, Tamino lands in a desolate place. As the protagonist of the story, he has no idea where he is or where he comes from, but is soon drawn into a grand tale of love and adventure.
We at Dimh chose to reinforce this state of uncertainty. By encapsulating the feeling of being lost, we wanted to let the user experience the same thing as Tamino. He has forgotten who he is. His surroundings are incomprehensible—the language is unreadable, the place is incomprehensible—but he has a strong feeling that he is on his way somewhere.
It is up to the player to find out how. To solve the riddle and bring Tamino to the first act, where the opera begins.
After carefully studying the Escape Room concept – through articles, game tests and actual visits to real escape rooms – it became clear that it takes more than a strong story, narrative voice and environment to create an engaging experience. Players also need something concrete to solve.
A puzzle is always appealing, but balance is crucial. If it is too simple, the experience quickly becomes uninteresting, and if it is too advanced, it risks becoming frustrating. We therefore needed a system with natural progression—a structure where the difficulty level could be balanced, but where the solution is still possible to understand for those who crack the logic behind it. At the same time, it needed to be something unique.
We searched for a long time. Hundreds of websites, over a hundred fonts—but nothing met our needs.
So we decided to create something entirely our own. Not just our own font, but our own coding system.
Inspired by ancient and extinct written languages, combined with pattern recognition and mathematical structures,
we created a visual language that could both carry the story and function as a game mechanic tool.
The result was OperaSun.
To create the link between the experience and the performing arts, we collaborated with the opera and drew inspiration from the ongoing process. We got to see the sets, props, and costumes, went through the storyboard, and talked about the background of the characters in The Magic Flute. We used all these impressions to create an environment that reflects the mood of the opera with a touch of mystery. Visitors to the opera will recognize it from the very first moment if they have played our experience before.
To create a strong and credible link between the digital experience and the performing arts, we began working closely with the opera. We took part in the ongoing creative process behind The Magic Flute by studying the sets, props, and costumes, as well as reviewing the storyboard and immersing ourselves in the characters and narrative world of the work.
These impressions formed the basis for the design of our 3D environment, creating a space that reflects the mood and aesthetics of opera, but which is also enhanced by an element of mystery. The result is an environment that familiarizes players with our experience through the visual language of opera.
For opera-goers who have experienced our escape room before the performance, there is an immediate sense of recognition – an extension of the experience that blurs the line between the digital and the theatrical.
We had the honor of having a real pro in our recording studio.
Inspiring, fun, and a big thank you to Åke Zetterström.
Arijanit visits &friends with Christer Hedberg and records sound effects for Escape Room. Who would have thought that the sound of scraping sandpaper is the sound you hear when you pick up a book in the game?
At Dimh, we are driven by the belief that experiences should be as accessible as possible to their target audience. When the question of platforms arose, the choice was obvious – we developed a solution that spans Android, iOS, and VR, meeting users where they already are.
A central part of our approach is the iterative development process, where user needs and behaviors drive the outcome. Despite a limited timeframe, we scheduled several testing sessions to ensure that the experience not only worked, but also engaged users.
The process began analogously—together, we solved puzzles with pen and paper to test the basic concept. We then gathered insights into navigation and user flows on mobile devices. Finally, the test subjects got to step into the experience for real, explore the environment, and solve the mystery in VR. Each step provided valuable feedback that refined the experience and brought the project closer to its goal.
The Escape Room game is available at operaverse.se.
Experience the game at your own pace. Step into the experience, explore the environment, and tackle the mystery that forms the basis of the project.
