Today we're going to plunge into the vast, bottomless depths of the ancient past—aka, 2007—to bring you an enjoyable, well-crafted escape game. Another Room, by Japanese designer Mofuya, is a sweet, semi-short example of classic pointing and clicking.
The game isn't anything fancy, to be sure. No photorealistic graphics, no cut scenes, nothing dazzling or over-the-top... at the same time, however, everything is executed with near-perfect competence. The game's puzzles are simple but well-crafted; while not wildly creative or different, they nonetheless offer a satisfying variety of problems to tackle. The room's neat, somewhat subdued appearance is pleasing to the eye and makes it simple to navigate the surroundings. And, although Another Room's interface can be slightly clunky (combining items takes a few too many clicks), on the whole the game plays easily and intuitively.
One dubious element to this generally excellent game arrives at the very end: in a somewhat unfair twist, it's extremely easy to die just as you're about to escape (what a sucker punch!). While I like the idea of having to learn from your failures and replay the last bit a few times to get it right, in the absence of a save feature this can become an exercise in tedium. I won't ruin the ending or the surprise, but I will offer a piece of advice: just when everything seems set, take one more gander around the room and see if anything has changed. You should especially think twice if you still have unused items in your inventory.
But hey, who doesn't enjoy a little danger? Another Room is a ton of fun, a prime specimen of classic escape gaming goodness. Enjoy!
Walkthrough Guide
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Full walkthrough (ridiculous amounts of spoilers):
Posted by: Lavos
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March 18, 2009 3:41 AM
I know Lavos just posted a walkthrough, but, I've always wanted to do one, so here's mine.
Posted by: silliee
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March 18, 2009 3:48 AM