Planning document · generated from updates.md, live flow/API investigation, and your clarifications

Escapely Activity Mimic Plan

Replace the current GitHub Pages marketing-site replica with a minimal, purpose-built static mimic for only the Escapely activity-game steps that must change. Unchanged steps stay on Escapely. Changed steps are self-hosted on GitHub Pages and should preserve route naming as closely as possible to the live flow.

Target game: SPYHUNTER: AUSTIN Pages source: GitHub Pages static site Unchanged pages: remain on Escapely Old marketing mirror: remove completely
5local pages to host in first build
16+steps in full live game flow
2answer changes
1location/video text rewrite

Confirmed decisions

  • Host only the changed steps/pages locally, plus any dependent success pages that must remain seamless after a changed answer submit.
  • Remove the current public marketing-site replica from GitHub Pages entirely.
  • Puzzle #4 input copy changes from ENTER 5-LETTER WORD to ENTER 8-LETTER WORD.
  • Puzzle #4 new answer: NESKOWIN.
  • Puzzle #7 answer changes to TUXEDOS. No letter-count change needed. I previously miscounted; corrected here.
  • Rendezvous location text should use Umlauf Sculpture Garden and 605 Azie Morton Road.
  • The MEET ELSEWHERE? option should be removed so Umlauf is the only Agent Nightingale meeting location.
  • Prefer downloading and self-hosting video assets. If not feasible, embed from Escapely cleanly as fallback.
  • The final puzzle itself does not currently require a content change; the last required flow change is the final video-message page text.

Evidence-backed implementation implications

  • The repo currently mirrors the public marketing site, not the protected in-game flow. New route files will need to be introduced from scratch.
  • The target game flow is login-gated on Escapely, so local changed pages must be static and self-sufficient.
  • Since only changed steps are self-hosted, navigation must intentionally bridge between Escapely-hosted and GitHub Pages-hosted URLs.
  • Dependent success pages should be hosted when a changed puzzle submits locally and the next user-facing message needs to stay outside the authenticated Escapely flow.
  • Protected media retrieval is still a risk area; plan assumes a second pass may be needed to capture exact video/image assets cleanly.

Hosted-scope decision matrix

Flow step Live scene Route style to mimic Host locally? Why
Puzzle #4 — THE CARTOGRAPHER solution:65afce29f2217175db3444c5/65afce29f2217175db3444f1 /solution:65afce29f2217175db3444c5/65afce29f2217175db3444f1/ Yes Answer, hint copy, and input label all change.
Puzzle #4 success page congrats:65afce29f2217175db3444f1 /congrats:65afce29f2217175db3444f1/ Yes Dependent post-submit page after a locally hosted puzzle. Keeps the user from bouncing immediately back into auth-gated flow after a changed answer submit.
Puzzle #7 — THE SNAKE solution:65afce29f2217175db3444c5/65afce29f2217175db3444fc /solution:65afce29f2217175db3444c5/65afce29f2217175db3444fc/ Yes Accepted answer and hint-answer accordion change.
Puzzle #7 success page solution:65afce29f2217175db3444c5/65afce29f2217175db344543 /solution:65afce29f2217175db3444c5/65afce29f2217175db344543/ Yes Dependent post-submit bridge from the changed Puzzle #7 to the changed video-message page.
Final video-message page — INTEL LOCATED solution:65afce29f2217175db3444c5/65afce29f2217175db344527 /solution:65afce29f2217175db3444c5/65afce29f2217175db344527/ Yes Location text changes, rendezvous logic changes, and the MEET ELSEWHERE? behavior must be removed.
Final puzzle / RENDEZVOUS solution:65afce29f2217175db3444c5/65afce29f2217175db34452e Stay on Escapely No No requested content change at this stage. Keep external unless later review shows the preceding local page must directly hand off into a local copy for continuity.

Current recommendation: first build should host exactly these 5 routes. If later inspection shows the final puzzle page must be local for continuity or asset/auth reasons, add it as a sixth route.

Full flow diagram

Escapely-hosted unchanged GitHub Pages-hosted changed Bridge between domains
Start / Login live Escapely Game Mode choose casual Before Start prep screen Puzzle #1a username Puzzle #1b password Video Msg open Mail Bundle Puzzle #2 bilbo Puzzle #2 OK next envelope Puzzle #3a 721 Puzzle #3b diamond Puzzle #3 OK open Map Envelope Puzzle #4 local · NESKOWIN #4 Success local bridge page Puzzle #5 live Escapely Puzzle #5 OK live Escapely Puzzle #6 live Escapely Puzzle #6 OK live Escapely Puzzle #7 local · TUXEDOS #7 Success local bridge page Video Msg local · Umlauf only Final Puzzle external handoff

Page-by-page change plan

1. Puzzle #4 — THE CARTOGRAPHER
  • Clone layout and styling from the live page as closely as practical.
  • Change answer validation target from the current answer to NESKOWIN.
  • Change input label to ENTER 8-LETTER WORD.
  • Hint overlay: update answer accordion to NESKOWIN.
  • Hint accordion text becomes: First, locate your three coordinates to find two four-digit numbers associated with each. (Fun Fact: Home of the Proposal Rock at Neskowin Beach.)
  • Successful submit routes to local congrats:65afce29f2217175db3444f1.
2. Puzzle #4 success page
  • Recreate the success-state page as a local bridge.
  • Keep instruction: open Silver Clutch Envelope and scan QR code.
  • Primary CTA goes back to the live Escapely Puzzle #5 route.
3. Puzzle #7 — THE SNAKE
  • Clone live page structure and preserve current letter-count prompt unless live audit shows otherwise.
  • Accepted answer becomes TUXEDOS.
  • Hint answer accordion becomes TUXEDOS.
  • Successful submit routes to local success page .../65afce29f2217175db344543/.
4. Puzzle #7 success page
  • Host locally because it bridges directly into the changed final video-message page.
  • Preserve existing page look and next-step framing, then route into the local video-message route.
5. Final video-message page — INTEL LOCATED
  • Replace location text with corrected Umlauf language: Umlauf Sculpture Garden at 605 Azie Morton Road, Austin, TX 78704.
  • Use your revised urgency copy and remove any wording that suggests alternate locations.
  • Remove the MEET ELSEWHERE? option entirely from this local version.
  • Prefer self-hosted embedded video; fallback is clean external embed if download/hosting is blocked.
  • Next CTA hands off to the unchanged live final puzzle.

Proposed route strategy

  • Preserve Escapely-like route names using literal folder names where possible.
  • Examples:
  • /solution:65afce29f2217175db3444c5/65afce29f2217175db3444f1/
  • /congrats:65afce29f2217175db3444f1/
  • /solution:65afce29f2217175db3444c5/65afce29f2217175db344543/

If GitHub Pages path handling proves awkward with literal colons, fallback is a thin compatibility redirect layer that maps Escapely-like paths to slash-safe static files while preserving the visible route intent.

Asset and video strategy

  1. Capture exact live-page assets for the 5 local routes.
  2. Attempt to download all required images/video and store them inside the repo under a dedicated static asset tree.
  3. If video files are too large or protected in a way that blocks static hosting, embed the original source cleanly while leaving HTML/CSS/UI local.
  4. Do not depend on Escapely-hosted images for local pages unless forced by access restrictions; prefer full self-hosting for all non-video assets.
  5. Keep a source manifest documenting which assets are local copies vs external embeds.

Risks to manage

  • Auth/media risk Some protected assets may be difficult to extract cleanly.
  • Cross-domain continuity Users will move between GitHub Pages and Escapely unless more pages are later mirrored.
  • Route compatibility GitHub Pages may require path-compat workarounds for exact Escapely-like naming.
  • UI fidelity Final local pages depend on clean asset capture from the live site.
  • Hidden text/popup dependencies Some live overlays may reference old answers or old locations and need removal when captured.

Implementation phases

Phase 1 — Repo reset for the new purpose
  • Remove the current marketing-site replica from GitHub Pages scope.
  • Create a minimal static structure centered only on required mimic routes/assets.
  • Add a focused README explaining that this repo now hosts selective activity-game overrides, not a public-site mirror.
Phase 2 — Asset capture and route scaffolding
  • Capture HTML structure, styles, media, and overlays from the 5 local target pages.
  • Create route folders matching the selected live scene/congrats IDs.
  • Set up shared CSS/JS for modal, accordion, answer validation, and CTA transitions.
Phase 3 — Content and logic overrides
  • Implement new answer logic and copy for Puzzle #4 and Puzzle #7.
  • Implement corrected Umlauf-only location messaging and remove alternate-meeting behavior.
  • Wire local success pages and external handoff links.
Phase 4 — Verification
  • Manually test every route and transition in sequence.
  • Verify local answers advance correctly.
  • Verify external handoffs land on the intended unchanged Escapely pages.
  • Verify embedded video behavior in both logged-in and not-logged-in scenarios.

Recommended next action

Proceed with implementation using the 5-route local-host model above, while treating exact asset/video capture as the main unknown. If asset capture reveals that the final puzzle page must also be local for continuity, expand the plan from 5 local pages to 6 without changing the overall architecture.

File path: /home/brimdor/repos/escapely/activity-mimic-plan.html