It's no secret that I derive profound enjoyment from room escape games. Plop me down in a locked chamber, toss in a generous handful of puzzles, perhaps a dash of intrigue or humor—mmm, I'm already getting the warm fuzzies. I have great love for the genre, even when it is stripped down to those most basic elements. 
A handful of designers, however, have reached beyond and above this set formula; in addition to displaying proficiency with the genre's core mechanics, they in some way imbue their creations with originality and ingenuity. Another Side, a wonderful new escape game from Aqua Flash, is one such example of inventiveness.
In Another Side, you inexplicably find yourself confined within a dollhouse-like room, a pretty little place marred by the giant wall of rock that exists in place of a door. That's right, there's not even a door to unlock! There's plenty to explore and examine, however: the bookshelves covered in strange symbols, the many cabinets and drawers, the odd picture of flowers and butterflies. And, interestingly, there's that mirror. It doesn't seem to do anything special, though. Guess you'll just need to keep an eye on it...
Another Side has a dreamlike, slightly unsettling feel to it that I really liked; I was very much reminded of Alice in Wonderland (though that might have something to do with the little blue dress worn by the protagonist). Although there was nothing to suggest it was "that kind of game," I kept expecting something to jump out at me—it was just a little too quiet and still, y'know? Slightly ominous, almost. And indeed it is possible to come to an untimely end, though if so it will be from your own careless actions, not as a result of foul play.
As interesting as a game's ambience might be, however, mood is nothing without a solid base of quality puzzling to sustain it. Happily, Another Side provides a number of interesting, creative challenges; most seem straightforward at first glance, but then there's a little hitch or quirk that may leave you, well, puzzled (ha! ha!). I like this aspect of the game; nothing is so obscure or confusing that the player will be completely at a loss, yet solutions tend to be multi-layered, created with a thoughtfulness that may not be apparent at first glance. A piece of advice: if something seems a bit too simple, it probably is. Pay strict attention to detail.
I could go on, but a lot of the fun with this game is discovering the designers' aforementioned creativity. In summation, Another Side is a well-executed, good-looking escape game with a very fun "plot device," so to speak; I think you'll have a good time with this one.
Step through—er, into—the room:
Walkthrough Guide
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COMPLETE WALKTHROUGH
Click on the wooden table in front of you
open the drawer and take the card with CBF on it. Examine the card. You should find some dots on the back
Back away from the table and turn to your right. That's you in the mirror! Click on the left drawer to zoom in on it. Click it again to open it and take the screwdriver
Back away from the left drawer. Now click on the right drawer. Open it and notice the book. Make note of the symbol on the cover. Open the book and look at the four symbols. Note their order.
Click to your right twice. Click on the champagne glasses. Notice something?
Take the coin from the 2nd one.
Zoom out to a view of the bookcase. Click on the trophy on the left. Click it again to move the cup off the base. Click the bottom of the base to invert it. How could we get these large screws off?
Use the coin you just got to remove the large screws.
Click the bottom to remove the base and then use the screwdriver to remove the small screws from the metal plate. Remove the metal plate and take the yellow box. Also take the small screws that you just removed.
Back up and click to your right, so that you are facing the chairs. Click to the left of the left chair and pick up the handle.
Back up and click to your right. Click on the empty bottom shelf on the right. Place the handle on the lid. Place the screws on the handle and click again to lift. Take the wrench.
Examine the yellow box. Use the wrench to open it and take the "L" key.
Back up so that you can see yourself in the mirror. Use the "L" key to open the left cabinet. Turn on the power.
Back up and turn twice so that you are facing the bookcase. Remember the symbol from the cover of the red book in the drawer? If not, check it and come back. Click on the left bookcase. Now click on the books that show the same symbol as the one in the drawer. In each of these books is a symbol on the left and two flowers on the right. Write down which of the petals are red for each of the four symbols, because these change from game to game. There are two books in the left bookcase and two books in the right bookcase that you need to look at. You should have the information you need for eye, the man, the bull, and the owl.
If you haven't already examined the keypad on the desk, do so. It reveals that we are after a four digit numeric code.
Now turn right and click the picture on the wall to look at it more closely. We need to use the information from the books to decipher this code. The number of butterflies surrounding the flowers is an indication as to the number that results from the given combination of red petals. For instance, on the top left one we see that no red petals means no butterflies. However, for the top right picture we see that one red petal on the left equals four butterflies. Below this picture we see that two red petals on the right is equal to two butterflies. So left petals are worth 4 and right petals are worth 1. Got it? This is proven by the bottom left picture. Two left petals plus one right petal equals nine butterflies ((2x4)+1)=9) . Use this idea to figure out the value of the four symbols from the bookcase. Like I said, these differ from game to game, so I can't tell you exactly what they are. Now, how do we apply this to our code?
Turn and face the desk and click on the keypad to bring it up. In the red book from the drawer we saw the four symbols in a specific order...
eye, man, bull, owl
Now use this order as the code to the desk. You should be greeted by a small keyboard.
What should you play?
Remember the small card that we picked up at the very beginning?
It said CBF. Nifty that these are all notes on a piano...
If you don't know anything about a piano, then just click on the far left key, then the far right key, and then the middle white key.
This should have opened a card slot on the top of the desk. Click on it. What would go there?
Our card! ... But it doesn't fit!
Flip it around by examining it and clicking on the edge
Put the card in the slot and notice that the random dots on the back now become music notes on a staff.
If you know how to read music then you're golden. Just play the notes on the keyboard. If not, well then this is going to be more difficult for you. Just follow along...
5th white key from left, 3rd black key from left, 3rd white key from left, 2nd white key from left, 1st black key from left, 3rd white key from left
This should have opened a flap on the table that revealed a key.
Take the "R" key from the table and go to the right cabinet. Open it and turn on the second power supply.
Back up and look at the mirror. The blue, green, and yellow lights around it should be lit up now. Notice that you are no longer in color... What happened?
Click your reflection. You have now entered into a black/white mirrored reality.
Click to your right two times to look at the bookcase. Look at the middle symbol of the left bookcase. It looks like an upside down and mirrored version of the one from the book cover. Now zoom in on the left bookcase. Find the three books that bear this symbol. Quickly click on all three books, so that they are all pulled out at the same time. If you do it correctly you should hear a knock. Back away from the bookcase and examine the opened compartment. Take the yin piece.
Click on the right bookcase and find the three books that pull out in a similar way as the ones from the right. There should be one on each row. Click these books quickly so that they open the other compartment. Now back up and take the yang piece.
Turn to your left and examine the board. Write down (or remember) the symbols for the eight planets. (that's right, eight. Remember... Pluto isn't a planet anymore)
Turn to your left again and look in the left drawer. It is a friendly notice that turning off both power switches while in the mirror world will kill you. You don't want to start over, do you?
Look in the cabinet above that drawer and not the arrow. If you try to click above that arrow nothing happens. So, why don't we
go back through the mirror and click where that arrow would have been if it were not in the mirror world
Click above and to the left of the power supply in the right cabinet should yield a small key. What could this go to?
Go to the view of the chairs and picture and click under the little brown table. It should bring up a small key slot. Insert the key. Now how many times should we click it?
It has to do with the clock.
click twice on the left and three times on the right. You should hear a noise.
Back up and look where the picture was. Click on the circle to view it more closely. These are the same symbols from the planets. What could be the correct order?
Think back to 4th grade
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
Once you've entered the planets correctly, back out, turn right, and go through the mirror. Once through the mirror, turn right and examine where the planet board used to be.
Place the yin and yang accordingly and they will rotate.
Back up, go through the mirror and turn off the power supplies, otherwise the door will remain locked.
Now just turn to the right and open the door. You're out! Boy that sure is going to be a long walk down that dirt road...
WHAT'S THAT? An alternate ending you say?
ALTERNATE ENDING WALKTHROUGH
Complete the game through every step except actually opening the door.
Notice the wall lighting on either side of the door? Click on the left side of the left one. Use your wrench to unscrew that bolt
Do the same to the other side of the same lighting unit
Now back up and click the left lighting to remove the cover
Click on the panel to zoom in. Insert the coin. The lights will start blinking. Click the button that says "PUSH" Voila! A key!
Take the key and go outside. There should be a car waiting for you.
From what I can understand whichever color you landed on when you clicked PUSH determined what car you got. I landed on blue and got an SUV, pink yielded a sedan. I haven't landed on yellow yet.
Use the key to get in the car and drive away with your teddy!
Posted by: kevin
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September 10, 2008 8:58 AM