This week's feature is a game dating allll the way back to 2006, the intriguing and extremely entertaining Diversity, created by a group of students from Sweden.
Diversity is more of an escape-the-house game, rather than escape-the-room; in order to finally achieve freedom, the player must exit first a bedroom, then an office, then a nursery and finally a bathroom. This aside, Diversity is a well-executed, if fairly standard, point-and-click game, no doubt inspired by the classic Crimson Room. The player must find and combine objects, solve puzzles, etc, in order to continue. As the game progresses, however, you might notice something strange: upon exiting each room, you will most likely have unused items in your inventory. How strange, especially considering that you begin each new room with the inventory wiped clean! Something else must be going on...
Here begins the real fun of the game. As its name might suggest, Diversity contains a multitude of slightly different endings, all dependent upon the choices of the player; in each room, many of the necessary objectives can be achieved by one "good" and one "bad" path. A bar at the bottom of the screen tracks the relative goodness or evilness of your choices, so you can gleefully watch yourself achieving angelic status or, if you're like me, descend into moral decrepitude. What I like most, however, about this particular feature is that it directly affects the game's environment; the darker your choices, the dirtier, more dismal and run-down the rooms become. This is especially profound in the bathroom, where—if you've been very bad indeed—you might have a few gruesome surprises in store.
With five separate endings, Diversity has significant replay value and will no doubt keep you entertained for a good while. If you've played it before, surely you'll enjoy revisiting the game; if this is your first encounter, you're in for a real treat.
Find your path:
Walkthrough Guide
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One walkthrough of Diversity
General starter hint:
The pointer turns to a hand if there is something to poke at.
First room:
Start from what you can see: a chest of drawers.
Pick up the magnifying glass
Turn left to the bed
In this view there is only one clickable item!
Turn left to a small cupboard
... and pick up whatever you can get inside
Turn left twice
Investigate these cupboards too!
...like in "Private Investigator" ...
... and find a can of hair spray.
Combine two of your inventories
And combine the result with another one
Use the result to scare away the ugly kid
Pick up and play!
Turn right to the door
Well, there's only two clickable points...
Try the keypad
Listen to it!
Copy the melody from the tape recorder to the keypad
- and the door will unlock!
Second room - Office
There are some drawers under the desk
You might as well poke at the computer, wen you're at it.
Turn left
Always check the waste baskets in this kind of games!
Try crowbar or key to get into a drawer
Turn left
As I said just before ;-)
Didn't the game suggest it was a handle you found?
Turn left
Check the drawers (as always....)
You did find a key in the previous view, didn't you?
Turn left. Back where we started!
Well, WHAT might a computer need to work?
Let the meta game begin!
This time, take a closer look at the printer
and the waste baskets
Use the things you found to get yet another level of game-in-game
When you get bored, step right from the computer and tamper with the door instead.
A red key might do it.
Third room - Nursery
It is always a good idea to check book cases for clickable areas
Maybe the upper shelf?
Turn left
Seems to be nothing useful here. Yet.
Turn left again.
Still nothing you can use. Or reach?.
Left again.
A cupboard!
There are not very many locks in this
room
But didn't you find
one?
Combine two of your
inventories
In this kind of games, other people's
diaries are NOT forbidden lecture!
Turn left
You can look at the usual suspects here, if you like.
Turn left a few times more, till you see the bed.
Remember the diary?
Hey, wasn't there something you could not reach? Go for it now!
Turn left, just once
Find a place to poke at.
High.
You did break the bed a bit, remember?
Good, now let's find the door.
Fourth room - Bathroom
Start at what's close.
turn
left
A flower and a cupboard. Perfect hiding places.
Turn right
A classical place to look!
Right again
Try the usual suspects...
Rats... blocked...
How about
making a little cat toy?
Almost done. Search the washing machine and rubber duck if you like
Then return to where you
started
There's something hanging from the
ceiling.
With a lock.
You did make a cat toy, didn't
you?
Posted by: JIGuest | August 20, 2008 7:46 AM
To be GOOD:
Bedroom:
Use magnifying glass to examine naked woman picture (That doesn't sound good, but it's better than use it for dart practice)
Put water from melting frozen knife using hairspray + Zippo combo into the flower pot on the desk.
Give the boy in the closet a carrot, allowing you to take the tape player.
Office:
Plug extension cord into the computer.
Use key to unlock and open drawer with printer on it.
Baby Room:
Draw a heart on the paper by clicking the RED marker.
Use key to open lock on the diary.
Bathroom:
GOOD bathroom:
Give toy mouse + dental floss combo to the cat under the sink.
EVIL bathroom:
Use ducky to suck up bathwater.
Squirt ducky with bathwater in it at washing machine to short-circuit it.
Pour the caustic soda into toilet.
Scrub toilet with caustic soda in it with brush. (all clean!)
To be EVIL:
Bedroom:
Use dart on naked woman picture, thus destroying it.
Stab the kid sitting on tape with knife.
Set the kid on the tape on fire with hairspray + Zippo combo.
Office:
Clicking on the elevator Up-Down buttons (huh?).
Clicking CANCEL after pressing the printer's green button. You can do this repeatedly, and your score will keep going down.
Putting the virus infected floppy into the computer.
Use crowbar to break into drawer with printer on it.
Baby Room:
Draw the skull on the paper by clicking the black marker.
Use needle to pick the lock on the diary.
Use needle to poke holes in the bouncy ball on the shelf.
Bathroom:
GOOD bathroom:
Pour petrol on the cat in sink cabinet.
Pour caustic soda on rubber ducky in the tub.
EVIL bathroom:
Pour petrol onto the rat.
Set petrol soaked rat on fire using Zippo lighter.
Put flaming rat in washing machine to short it out.
Endings:
Pure Evil:
A photo of a creepy looking family with razor sharp teeth, red angry eyes, and a fiendish smile, and the words from them: "Send us a postcard from hell, A-hole! Love Mum, Dad, and Damien"
Bad:
Photo of a gangster-ish family, with the father chewing on a cigarette, and the words from them: "Hey son, or.. Grandpa.. or.. eh.
Neutral:
Photo of badly drawn and blandly regular people wearing gray, and the words from them: "Hello son! We have no strong feelings about your return what so ever."
Good:
Photo of a smiling, regular family with a little boy in a red cap, and the words from them, "Hi son welcome back. Mum dad and Jack."
Angelical:
Picture of happy smiley beautiful family, and the words from them: "See you in heaven Son! Love, kiss, and hugg. Mum, Dad, and Jacob."
Posted by: Ainegue
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August 21, 2008 1:59 PM