FuzionGamz: reality meets gaming in a dynamic interactive adventure

FuzionGamz is a dynamic interactive attraction that redefines live entertainment with a next-generation, location-based experience; fusing the action of laser tag, the puzzles of escape rooms, and the immersion of video games into one seamless experience.

It is designed to get families off their screens and engage them in real-life play that brings them together. Players explore high-tech environments, using physical and mental skills to solve mysteries, defeat enemies, and complete missions across four different stories, becoming the heroes of their own adventure.

FuzionGamz is a versatile concept suitable for various venues like FECs, theme parks, and escape rooms. It ranges from a single room to a multi-level attraction, featuring various themes and storylines suitable for various settings and locations.

Patented new technology enables the game to respond in real time to individual players’ actions, making the experience truly interactive and engaging for all ages. Rick Briggs, CEO of FuzionGamz and Attractions, speaks to blooloop about the concept and its potential.

A new way to play

For Briggs, FuzionGamz was the natural evolution of a career spent inventing new ways to play. “That’s just what I do,” he says. “I’ve been designing interactive play for 40 years. Every day, I think about what hasn’t been done yet.”

With that mindset, Briggs carefully observed several key trends: immersive experiences, projection mapping, escape rooms, and video games. Then, he set out to create something that combined all the best elements of these in an entirely new way.

“'Immersive’ is so overused, it’s lost meaning. To us, what matters is being dynamic; experiences that change and respond to you.”

Projection-mapped games, he notes, are fun but often feel abstract or cartoonish. Meanwhile, attractions like Meow Wolf offer realism, but their environments are static. Briggs sought a middle ground: “We set out to build something that’s always changing, but feels and looks real, like you’re in that world.”

FuzionGamz’s environments are hyper-realistic but also move, shift, and react to the players.

Escape rooms also influenced the concept, particularly their focus and group engagement. “You’re dialled in for an hour, solving together. We wanted to keep that focus and add speed, fun, and family play."

Ultimately, FuzionGamz is “The best of escape rooms, laser tag, and video game play combined.”

The FuzionGamz mission

"With every new product we’ve designed," says Briggs, "my goal has been to create new ways for people to play together, doing something special and unique they can't do anywhere else."

In a world dominated by screen time, the FuzionGamz team aims to flip the script. Their approach doesn’t involve fighting technology but rather reshaping how it’s used.

The games are intentionally multi-layered, designed to allow a child, a teenager, and an adult to participate in their own ways simultaneously, encouraging collaboration and communication across generations.

“We like to speak to people in their own play languages. It gives them a reason to have fun together, sharing the experience, communicating with each other, and plenty to talk about after.”

But while FuzionGamz uses video game mechanics, the aim isn’t to draw people deeper into virtual worlds. "We're not trying to put people in a video game. We're trying to bring the video game to life around them."

That distinction is crucial. FuzionGamz experiences are active, physical, and social, unlike the stereotype of isolated gamers with controllers in hand and headsets on.

Personalisation driven by Unreal Engine

FuzionGamz is powered by Epic Games’ Unreal Engine. Initially developed for video games, Unreal Engine has expanded into virtual production, architecture, and immersive attractions. For FuzionGamz, its strength lies in rendering complex, multi-user interactions in real time.

“It allows us to have a lot of people in the same space, doing different things simultaneously in real time,” says Briggs. “There’s no limit to how many people can be doing their own adventure.”

Imagine a single wall in a themed experience. With Unreal Engine, that wall can host multiple stories at once.

“You can have one wall with shared elements, while people interact with different parts at the same time—some having fun, others on a mission, or fighting the boss.”

In short, it's a personalised game for everyone. To make this possible, FuzionGamz uses high-speed tracking cameras that monitor players and devices.

“We can track a person down to the pixel on the screen they are aiming at,” says Briggs.

This enables the system to recognise who activated what, their history, and the outcomes they are working towards. It means two players can interact with the same object and achieve different results, with the experience evolving based on who is playing.

Something for everyone with FuzionGamz

Inclusivity isn't an afterthought either; it’s integrated into the very framework of the play itself. From children to grandparents, and from non-gamers to hardcore players, the system ensures that everyone can participate meaningfully, regardless of age, ability, or experience level.

“We use our play pyramid to create something that works for all levels of players simultaneously,” says Briggs. This segments the audience into four levels, from non-gamers and casual players at the base to experts at the top. The trick is to cater to all these levels, at the same time, in the same space.

Take the haunted house-themed experience. The walls might be alive with spiders of various sizes moving across the walls of a haunted mansion. A child can run in and squish them, triggering animated effects. A grandparent might do the same, enjoying the fun without needing to “play a game” in the traditional sense.

“You’re just blasting spiders. You don’t have to go any deeper than that. It’s fun, it’s silly, and it’s accessible.”

However, the system offers more for those who want to go deeper. Players can take on missions, unlock powers, and summon characters. For more dedicated gamers, this leads to larger missions and ultimately boss battles, all within the same compact space.

Everyone belongs in the story

At the top of the pyramid are those players who’ve mastered everything. “They love being the ones that people gather around to watch and ask, ‘How did you do that?’” says Briggs. “They become heroes within the system. And the great thing is, we can have hundreds of heroes a day.”

However, one of the most subtle yet innovative touches is the “hint” book, disguised as an artefact within the game. It’s a physical, low-tech guide with hints, mission overviews, written within the storyworld language to help parents or guardians follow along and participate, especially if they’re not tech-savvy.

“We have one of the most high-tech attractions around, but it’s this little book with old-school ‘words of wisdom’ that makes it fun for everybody,” he says.

“A parent who doesn’t want to play a game but has an eight-year-old who does? This booklet tells them everything they need to know, while staying inside the storyline and plot to be part of that experience together.”

This approach has fostered intergenerational moments, such as grandparents reading clues aloud while grandchildren pay attention and plot missions together. It shows that inclusivity in play isn’t just about accessibility; it’s about offering choices and creating a world where everyone belongs in the story.

The first FuzionGamz experience

After two years of testing and tech development, FuzionGamz is ready for its first public launch.

“We’ve been building the beta and testing until we’ve perfected it,” says Briggs. “We’ve just opened the first one in Springfield, Illinois, this fall, and it is playing really well, getting a great guest response.

This debut location is the company’s first public venue and a living laboratory, allowing the team to refine the experience and gather feedback from real-world players. Yet the Springfield site is just the beginning.

The company’s scalable model supports both small and large venues, ranging from pop-ups to flagship sites, while maintaining a consistent core experience through technology that dynamically transforms spaces in real-time.

“There’s a version that’s as small as a single room. The idea is that you can create a full experience even in one space.”

The flexibility lies in how players interact with themed environments through a "portal" system. Entering a room offers choices like haunted, Aztec, or magical portals. Once activated, the room transforms to fit that world.

“If you choose the Aztec portal, you're transported to the inside of an Aztec temple. You have to figure out how to advance through clues and collaboration. Then you're transported back to the portal and can choose again.

“It's like having infinite worlds in just one room.”

Larger venues with interconnected spaces boost capacity and enrich the experience, allowing visitors to move between rooms for a more varied journey.

It’s a model designed for adaptability: small enough for a single urban storefront, durable enough for a multi-room destination experience, and scalable for markets nationwide.

Where will the tech take us?

Regarding the future of FuzionGamz, the path forward is less about rigid planning and more about discovery. For Briggs, innovation has always been a journey of unexpected destinations.

“FuzionGamz was created as a platform for an endless variety of interactive stories and games to take place.

"Stories and games will be told and played together, much like in different episodes of a TV season or different releases of games. Guests will always be able to return and continue within other stories and games that will be released every year.

"The FuzionGamz system is a white box with all the technology embedded, so that anything is possible inside.”

This openness to possibility is what drives Fuzion. That philosophy has guided his past work, from the evolution of interactive water play structures to the transformation of MagicQuest from a single attraction into a resort-wide experience adopted by Great Wolf Lodge.

The Springfield location will serve as a launchpad, but what comes next depends on how the industry and audiences respond.

“Once we've unveiled this to the world, the fun part will be seeing what people ask us to do with it or suggest themselves. The platform is so flexible and the technology so responsive that the possibilities are really exciting”

Shared experiences are key for FuzionGamz

For the creators of FuzionGamz, success isn’t merely measured in sales or growth. It lies in the moments shared between guests. “The real takeaway is the photos, the memories, the stories they share afterwards,” says Briggs. “That’s what sticks.”

What signals a successful experience happens after the game: families sitting around the lobby or a restaurant table, laughing about what they just did together, as well as talking about what they learned.

“That’s when we know we’ve done it right. When they come out buzzing and recounting the adventure, they’re not just playing, they’re connecting.”

Fuzion’s experiences are deliberately designed to promote social interaction, not just within families or friend groups, but occasionally with strangers. Whether it’s a child asking another how they unlocked a power, or one group helping another complete a mission, the aim is shared discovery. Those peer-to-peer moments can be truly magical.

Ultimately, those spontaneous, shared interactions define the true success of Fuzion’s worlds.

“When we create those moments, then I’d call that mission accomplished,” says Briggs.

Rick Briggs will attend IAAPA Expo 2025 in Orlando, Florida, taking place from 17 - 21 November. Attendees can arrange a meeting by email to learn more about FuzionGamz.