They say home is where the heart is, and in the case of No Place Like Home by Sachka and Ray, it looks like your heart has pretty low standards. In this escape game, you find yourself unable to sleep in a room that has definitely seen better days. You're restless; you've read all your books before, and the television keeps playing the same movie over and over. Yet you can't leave... for a number of reasons. Click around to explore and use the arrows at the edge of the screen to navigate. When you pick up an item, you can double-click it in your inventory to examine it more closely, something you'll need to do to to solve a few particular puzzles and combine certain objects. Since the game doesn't repeat text, you can click on "..." in the lower right above your inventory to scroll through a log of everything you've read so far.
Despite the vaguely unsettling vibe the game gives off (or maybe even a little because of it), No Place Like Home is a beautiful game wrapped up in an engrossing atmosphere that perfectly draws you into the sad, scattered brain of the main character. It's also fairly difficult, no thanks to a lack of changing cursor that can leave you click-click-clicking around when you're stuck, but also because the puzzles can be a bit abstract and require quite a bit of fiddling with your inventory. What makes it great, however, is the way the story and setting creep up on you as you explore your dingy little world bit by bit. It's a great example of telling a narrative through your environment, using setting and clues rather than simply setting the player down and explaining everything. While it may require more than a little thought (you asked for a brain, didn't you?), and a dose of patience besides, No Place Like Home is a challenging, beautiful escape game that expertly weaves story and gameplay together for a great experience.
Walkthrough Guide
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NO PLACE LIKE HOME WALKTHROUGH
Take the stuffed lion from beside the bed next to the cabinet.
Take the first piece of paper from under the pillow, and the second from behind the picture on the wall.
Click beneath the bed and take the two papers and the pinball.
Back out and turn to the right twice to face the television.
Click on the plant to remove all the leaves and take the scarecrow toy.
Turn to the right to face the kitchen.
Take the spoons, kettle, and knife from the counter.
Open all the cupboards and take the funnel, oil can, and more spoons.
Turn on the faucet and use the kettle on it to fill it with water.
Click on the burner to turn it on and place the kettle with water on the flames. Wait for steam to emerge.
Use the oil can on the steam from the kettle. Double click on the oil can in your inventory to view it close open, and click on the peeling edge of the lable to remove it.
Turn to the right twice to face the door.
Open both drawers to take the screwdriver, the battery, and the papers.
Go back to the kitchen and click on the vent at the top of the screen. Use the screwdriver to remove the screws.
Remove the vent and take the papers and photo inside.
Double click the spoons in your inventory, and click on the close up view to bend them.
Double click on the oil can to enter a close up view. Use the spoons, pinball, funnel, and screws on the oil can. Use the screwdriver to tighten the screws when you're done.
Turn to the right and use the screwdriver repeatedly on the cabinet until the doors open. Take the battery and papers.
Double click the tin man for a close up view, and use the photo on him.
Click on the door in the tin man that appears and open it to take the heart. Click on the photo again to put it back in your inventory.
Double click on the heart in your inventory to enter a close up view. Click on it one to reveal the pin.
Double click on the lion to enter close up view. Use the heart pin on him as a medal. Wait until the medal rips the lion.
Click the stuffing in the lion twice to take the lighter.
Double click the lighter to zoom in on it. Click it once to turn the flame on.
Double click the scarecrow to zoom in on him. Use the knife on him twice.
Use the lighter on the scarecrow's head to light it up. Take the key that falls from his sleeve.
Turn to face the desk beside the bed.
Open the drawer, take the snowglobe, and place the lit scarecrow in the open drawer to reveal the code. Take the scarecrow when you've written it down.
Use the key on the desk's locked cabinet to open it. Take the box inside.
Click on the bulletin board above the desk to look at it. Click and remove all the papers and advertisements until you are left with post-it notes. Memorise or write down the pattern.
Go into the bathroom and take note of the yellow tiles above the bathroom sink. Use those to complete the post-it note pattern, overlapping the first yellow tile on the bottom left with the last post-it note on the bottom of that pattern.
Take the pill bottles and the water glass from above the bathroom sink.
Double click the box to zoom in on it. Use both batteries on it.
Enter the pattern you made with the post-it notes and bathroom tiles on the squares on top of the box. Press the red button. If done correctly, it will open. Take the brick.
Turn to face the table with the phone on it. Click on the painting above it to zoom in on it.
Click on the painting a few times until it reveals the safe behind it.
Put together the words you get from Dottie's photo, the back of the oil can lable, and the torn up papers to get HOME IS OUT THERE.
Use the code you found in the drawer (where you used the lighted scarecrow) to decode the HOME IS OUT THERE message. So since O=0, E=3, and I=1 you get...
The code is 031033. Enter it in the safe and turn the knob.
Take the cord and the paper inside the safe. Answer the phone.
Turn to the TV and use the cord on it. Click on the TV screen to zoom in.
Answer "a shoe" to every question posed.
Use the brick to smash the TV and take the shoes.
Double click the shoes to enter a close up, then click them again to view the sizes and memorize them.
Go to the kitchen and fill the glass with water from the tap.
Take as many BLUE pills as you need to, using the water glass, until the screen fills with light and you get a message about your head hurting. These next steps need to be done QUICKLY or your progress will reset. Yes, ALL of it.
QUICKLY: Turn around until you find yourself faced with a large metal door and a keypad.
Click on the keypad and enter the shoe sizes 9127 as the code.
Posted by: Dora
|
August 22, 2011 7:28 PM
Full Walkthrough
Looking Around
if you have found everything here, you have all initial inventory, and a few clues, that you'll need.
Facing the Bed
You should be able to find a lion and two notes, and ...
Under the bed,
a ball bearing and two more notes.
The Desk
Two notes, and ...
In the garbage,
a note
In the drawer,
a snow-globe. (And a hint about words you can't see yet).
On a message board above the desk,
two notes, several interesting pieces of paper, and some interesting sticky notes.
Facing the Door
In the cabinet,
a battery, a screwdriver, and a note.
Facing the Phone
Just note that the cabinet is locked, and you can look up more closely at the painting to find a note.
In the Kitchen
Two spoons, a knife, the kettle, and ...
In drawers above the sink,
a funnel and two more spoons.
In drawers under the sink,
A tin can.
High on the wall,
notice a grate.
And notice that you can turn on the tap, as well as the burner.
Facing the Television
On the plant,
after you move away several leaves, a toy scarecrow.
Facing the Bathroom
After you turn on the light you can go in, where you'll find
a note, two bottles of medicine and an empty glass. Also note interesting discolouration of the tiles.
Now, if I've done this right, you should only need to do something first when I've noted it. Often the order is important, but not always.
However, please note this: When you get your 15th note, you get information that can make you lose the game and need to begin from scratch. Depending on how much you've done, you may be able to use some knowledge to try again, or you may need to assemble everything again. So DO NOT follow the directions on the 15th page until you are ready for that possibility.
The Papers (top-right inventory slot)
- Move them by clicking and dragging.
- Click a page once to select it, which incidentally brings it to the top of the pages.
- Rotate them by clicking the selected page. (ie, you must click twice, but not too quickly, to rotate a page once).
- You should be able to form a word.
It says "THERE".
The Phone Cupboard
You can get this open without a key...
Use the screwdriver. Inside, a battery and a note.
The Grate
If you found the screwdriver, you just need to click it to use it, and then carefully click each of the five screws. When you're done, click the face of the grate to take it away.
Inside,
a note, and a photograph. Note that the back says "HOME".
The Toys
Well, you've got the cowardly lion and the scarecrow. If you've found all the initial inventory items above, you can find the Tin man, too.
You can make him out of the things you have.
Click into the spoons, and bend them.
You need to get that label off of the tin can.
Fill up the kettle with water.
Place it on the boiler, and hit the switch.
Wait a few moments for it to heat up.
Hold the can in the steam.
Tear off the label. Note that "IS OUT" is written on the inside.
Now piece him together:
Begin with
the can.
For arms and legs,
use the bent spoons.
For a head,
the ball bearing.
And of course,
the funnel hat.
However,
to make him permanent, you need to finish The Grate:
Use the screws to keep everything together.
Now what? Well, you have everything you need to.. do something. This is where the logic starts getting tricky. (If you weren't already thrown off by the need to make a tin man.)
Basically, you need to give each of the toys their lost thing. And yes, it matters very much what order you do this in.
The Tin Man
The Tin Man was missing his Heart. How can you give him one?
As in the movie, "simply" prove he already has one!
Give him the photograph of Dorothy. After you wait a moment, you should get a heart-shaped brooch back.
The Cowardly Lion
The Cowardly Lion needs courage.
You must show him, too, that he has it already.
Give him a medal of valour.
Click on and open the brooch you found, and pin it to him. After a moment, it will rip and you will find a lighter inside his stuffing.
The Scarecrow
The scarecrow needs a brain. How can you make him bright again?
First, get to his "brain":
Take off his hat, and using the knife, cut off his hair.
Next,
start the lighter, and illuminate his head with it...
ie, start a fire in there.
The Desk - The drawer and the locked cupboard
All right, you have a dark area that needs illuminating. Forget the desk lamp just above the drawer, you can't use it.
Have you finished the Toys yet? Go back and do that.
Place the lit scarecrow in the drawer.
And a locked cupboard...
Have you finished the Toys yet? Go back and do that.
When you look at the scarecrow again, he is holding a key. Use it on the door to get a box.
The Box (which you get from the desk)
Well, first things first. It's missing batteries.
Did you open the Phone cupboard yet? So put them in.
Now...
Clicking around gives you lit yellow squares.
You are "following the yellow brick road". But where?
Two previous clues: In the bathroom
the yellow tiles
and near the desk.
the sticky notes.
Put those together (there is some overlap) and you will see to fill in the road along the X's:
XXXOOOOO
XOXOOOXX
OOXXOOXO
OOOXXXXO
Hit the switch, and you have yourself a brick.
The Painting
Interestingly, there's something you can do with this immediately.
Click near the top several times until you move the painting away to reveal a wall safe.
It's six digits. Do you have any six digit clues? Probably not yet.
Make sure you've finished with The Toys.
This gives you clues for 0, 1 and 3, from the drawer.
After finishing The Papers and part of The Toys, you also have
Three sets of words: "HOME", "THERE", and "IS OUT".
These make the phrase "HOME IS OUT THERE.
Yeah? So? Well, you should be able to use your hint from the drawer now.
How about if I do this? HOME IS OUT THERE -> OE I O EE
-> 031033. Enter that to find a cord and a note.
The Television
Finish with the Painting first.
OK, plug in the TV. Zoom in.
Go through the psych test. If you get it "wrong" you can restart with A again, so feel free to play around.
Do you see a common element in the questions? How about if you think of how Dorothy gets home in the movie?
Answer "shoes" every time (CBBAC), and you get a special message with an image of shoes.
Putting it all together...
If you've done everything else, you should have:
- The television flickering on shoes,
- A yellow brick,
- 15 notes,
- A glass of water,
- Two medicine bottles,
- A snow globe,
- And several previously used inventory items.
DON'T TAKE THE PILLS YET. You need something else, first.
That doesn't leave much, I guess.
The snow globe doesn't do anything.
The shoes are not just an image.
Hit the TV with the brick and retrieve the shoes.
There is something written inside.
Remember this: 9127
Once you have the one extra thing, you can follow those instructions:
Fill up the glass with water. You'll need to do this several times.
Take 120mg of medicine. Which one?
Both are Morphid. One is 10mg, one is 50mg. Easiest way is two pills of each.
You'll have 30 seconds to act now... but at least if you get it wrong you can easily get here again:
Just go to the bathroom to get both the pills and the water. Take them again.
Here's the right way:
Turn to the door.
Look at the pin-pad.
Enter the code from the shoes.
You win! I guess.
Posted by: Parmeisan
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August 22, 2011 8:06 PM