The Mad Pen & Quill designs story-driven puzzle experiences, escape room-inspired tabletop adventures, and immersive games for the curious, the clever, and those up for a bit of ink-stained mischief.
Story-driven Puzzle Experiences
Dungeons & Dragons Escape Games
Offerings from The Scriptorium
Step inside The Scriptorium — the creative heart of The Mad Pen & Quill — where puzzles, adventures, and ink-stained curiosities take shape.
Puzzle Experiences
Original escape-room-style games, immersive experiences, and clever challenges for the home, office, classroom — anywhere! Designed to spark collaboration and that glorious “aha!” moment.
Tabletop Adventures
Home-brewed and custom-made escape room-inspired TTRPG sessions, online or in person. Where story and puzzle intertwine, and collaboration and clever problem-solving take center stage.
Puzzle Design, Creative Consulting
Conceptualization, puzzle design, and creative collaboration for games and experiences that need a sharper hook…
...or a stranger spark.
Selected Works from the Archives
Classroom Pop-up Escape Room
CURRICULUM COMBINED WITH COLLABORATIVE SOLVING
Incorporating teacher input on actual learning concepts, I created this pop-up escape room with rotating, team-based puzzle stations that included students’ reading and current curriculum. I defined roles for each student to encourage collaboration, communication, and shared problem-solving.
The Keeper’s Quest
ESCAPE ROOM-INSPIRED D&D ADVENTURES BUILT FOR STORY, PUZZLES, AND UNFORGETTABLE TABLE MOMENTS
An ongoing series of interconnected tabletop one-shots, The Keeper’s Quest blends immersive storytelling, character-driven play, and escape-room-style puzzle solving into a singular D&D experience. A recent in-person special event with San Francisco Bay Area Puzzle Game and Escape Room designers featured original NPC voice contributions from celebrated creators in the Escape Room and Immersive Entertainment community.
The Darkspyre Series
ORIGINAL AT-HOME ESCAPE ROOM SAGA BUILD WITH IMMERSIVE SETS, HANDCRAFTED PROPS, AND A STORY THAT DEEPENED WITH EVERY CHAPTER
Created for family and friends, Darkspyre became an 8-episode escape room series with original characters, recurring mysteries, custom-built environments, and deeply integrated physical puzzles. What began as an at-home experience grew into a sprawling proof of concept for the kind of immersive, story-first puzzle worlds The Mad Pen & Quill was built to create.
Meet the Keeper
I’m Dwight Hulse — puzzle designer, tabletop storyteller, and the self-appointed Keeper of The Mad Pen & Quill.
I create story-driven experiences that invite people to think, collaborate, laugh, and chase that glorious “aha!” moment. This is where I gather the games, mysteries, and immersive oddities I most love bringing to life.