FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Bora "Max" Koknar
[email protected]
Website: aboutlastnightgame.com
Award-Winning Bay Area Designers Return with "Playable Crime Thriller"
After a successful initial run, About Last Night... reopens with an expanded narrative, additional puzzles and a new creative team member.
FREMONT, CA (February 2026) — What kind of story do you want to tell tonight?
That question sits at the center of About Last Night...—part escape room, part immersive theater, part social strategy game. The two-hour production opens February 26 at Off the Couch Games in Fremont for a limited run through April 5. Tickets are $75; need-based discounts available at aboutlastnightgame.com.
Created by Golden Lock and IMMY Award winner Shuai Chen (Patchwork Adventures), CALI Catalyst Award recipient Bora "Max" Koknar (StoryPunk), and experience designer Casey Selden (Palace Games, Odd Salon, We Players), the production asks 5-20 participants to piece together what happened at a tech CEO's underground party, and decide which truths, if any, to make public.
The Setup
Marcus Blackwood, Silicon Valley VC darling CEO of NeurAI and host of last night's illegal underground rave, is dead.
You, as a participant, wake up the next morning, heads pounding and missing a significant chunk of your memories. That's because minutes before his death, Marcus used NeurAI's proprietary technology to steal your memories and store them into tokens (which are locked away behind puzzles). These stolen memories could contain a participant's alibi for Marcus' death, evidence of another participant's wrongdoing, or trade secrets that can be sold for profit, and perhaps all three.
Participants must decide, as individuals or small teams, which Non-Player Character to align with: a true crime reporter who wants to expose the truth, or a corporate toady offering cash for Marcus' dirt (both personal and professional). Participants must also decide, collectively, which version of the story they will reveal to law enforcement when the police inevitably arrive. But, as they say, one person's alibi is another person's conviction...
The Design Philosophy
"We wanted to build something accessible" says Koknar, whose previous work includes The Super Secret Society: A Playable Play (2023), that explores complex and timely themes like generative AI, culture, and the dangers of implicitly trusting charismatic leaders during times of crisis. "You don't need to be an actor, a puzzle expert, or a social butterfly. Our goal for the game is to let you shine based on whatever strengths you bring."
The production draws from escape room puzzle design, Chinese jubensha-inspired roleplay, and economic trading systems. Puzzles unlock narrative. Narrative drives the puzzling. Negotiation determines which version of events becomes "the truth."
"We want both tracks — puzzle-solving and story — to have real payoffs, not just one supporting the other." notes Chen, whose company specializes in unique puzzle-based experiences.
Casey Selden, who designs experiences that disrupt traditional narratives, joins the creative team for the February run, contributing as lead writer and environment designer. "My job is making strangers comfortable doing uncomfortable things together," she says. "This game lives in that space."
The Themes
Set in near-future Silicon Valley, the production explores data commodification through gameplay. Memories become currency. The truth becomes malleable. The value of personal information becomes dictated by 'the market'.
"In an age when our ability to connect is increasingly commoditized, we wanted to create a space to explore that through fiction," says Koknar, "and make the metaphor playable."
The Return
The limited December 2025 run sold out over a third of its performances. Player feedback validated the genre mash-up, while highlighting opportunities for growth.
The creative team is using the downtime between runs to expand character arcs, double the story content, add environmental Easter eggs to discover, streamline the social strategy elements and redesign the endgame sequence.
The production's blend of digital and analog storytelling allows faster iteration than typical immersive theater or escape room experiences. "Every run teaches us something," says Koknar. "This is ambitious, it's DIY, and it's constantly evolving. That's the point."
Production Details
Title: About Last Night...
Venue: Off the Couch Games, 555 Mowry Ave, Fremont, CA 94536
Dates: February 26 – April 5, 2026
Schedule: Thursdays & Sundays (7pm), Fridays & Saturdays (8pm)
Duration: ~2 hours
Capacity: 5–20 players per performance
Recommended 16+. Accessibility and content information at aboutlastnightgame.com.
Tickets: $75/person (need-based discounts available)
Info: aboutlastnightgame.com
Press Contact: [email protected]
About the Creators
Shuai Chen is founder and Chief Puzzle Officer of Patchwork Adventures. Her Order of the Golden Scribe: Initiation Tea won the 2023 Golden Lock Award, No Proscenium's Best Immersive Experience Award, and the 2024 IMMY Award for Outstanding Immersive Work. She represented Team USA at the Escape Room World Championships and her team recently broke the Guinness Record for most escape rooms played in 24 hours (34 rooms). Her background in neurobiology (MIT, Stanford) informs experiences where memory, perception, and reality blur.
Bora "Max" Koknar is founder of StoryPunk, a creative studio specializing in immersive storytelling. He received the 2022 CALI Catalyst Award for equity-centered practice. His work includes The Super Secret Society: A Playable Play and Shoggoths on the Veldt. During the pandemic, he produced over 450 digital events employing 200+ artists. He previously served as Co-Artistic Director at Dragon Productions Theatre Company (2019-2021) and Associate Artistic Director at Epic Immersive (2015-2019).
Casey Selden has guided 10,000+ guests through immersive experiences over a decade, from renegade museum tours to The Racket, a film noir team-building game built on black market deals and murder. One of Odd Salon's most frequent speakers, she has researched and performed 20+ original lectures on history and science.
Off the Couch Games is Fremont's premier escape room venue, partnering to host this fusion of escape room mechanics and immersive theater.
Press Resources
High-resolution photos available at: aboutlastnightgame.com/press
Press tickets available upon request
Interviews scheduled upon request
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