Time Escape is aptly named, as it may indeed take you quite a bit of time to complete—this game is long! Not that that's a bad thing, of course (can we really ever have enough pointing and clicking goodness?). An escape-the-house, rather than escape-the-room, adventure, 
Time Escape is a complex quest that will test your wits and boggle your mind.
December 31st, 1999. A mysterious conversation occurs between two concealed figures, only to be cut short by an unseen disaster. 100 years later, you wake up in a library, disoriented and alone. What are you doing in this strange house, and how can you escape? What connection is there between the events of the past and your situation now? To find out, you'll need to follow the trail of clues left by your predecessors and unravel the mystery of your own identity. If you're lucky and use all of the house's resources wisely, you might even get out in one piece.
Analysis: James Young, the university student creator of Time Escape, cites Mateusz Skutnik's Submachine series as one of the inspirations for his handiwork. This is definitely apparent in the game's appearance, play style and general mien; like the Submachines, Time Escape involves traversing a many-roomed building, picking up a large number of both generic and odd items and using them in expected and unexpected ways. Young also borrows a few other, more specific, elements of Mateusz's games, such as clues in the form of a series of cryptic notes and a backstory based in time travel and otherworldly phenomena. I do wish that in a few instances, Time Escape had deviated a bit more from the Submachine formula (for example, Young has a nearly identical system of finding "secrets" in the form of tiny colored balls), but on the whole the similarities do not detract from the game's creativity or quality. And really, could he have chosen a better developer to emulate?
I definitely enjoyed Time Escape, but at times the game tested my patience with the sheer amount of backtracking that was necessary to complete the adventure. I found it easy to become disoriented when navigating the house's various floors; a map would have been invaluable (the provided compass didn't prove of much use to me). Combined with the fact that many of the items obtained are used in earlier parts of the house, the game occasionally became more taxing than fun. Also, I found it frustrating that some seemingly-obvious actions, such as smashing a brick wall with a hammer, were discarded in favor of more dubious solutions; this meant that at times the game devolved into a "try everything with everything" clicking fiesta.
Despite these criticisms, I think that Time Escape is great. The graphics are quite nice, the interface is clean and simple and the soundtrack adds a wonderful ambiance. Creating such a complex, lengthy and atmospheric game is quite an achievement, especially for such a young designer; I can't wait to see what Young comes out with next! Enjoy.
A larger version of Time Escape is available, but is lower in resolution.
Walkthrough Guide
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Text Walkthrough
Each room will be given a description, getting back to it after the initial time will be on you (not very difficult, but saves me a bit of writing). This walkthrough is already really really long.
1.
Opening room, blue book on lowest book shelf. Click it and enter 295360. Take the wheel.
2.
Go left once and click on the middle painting. Enter 20 15 40 55 20 5
to open the safe. Take the blue round key.
3.
Go right once and go through the door into the yellow room.
4.
Open the bottom cabinets and take the chain.
5.
Go right once and take the wine glass from the right cabinets.
6.
Go right once and take the pitchfork from next to the fireplace.
7.
Go right once and go through the hole in the wall to get into the purple room.
8.
Go right once and get the pipe from the upper drawer on the left.
9.
Go right once and remove the chair from blocking the door. Also pick up the 2 cog halves and combine them into a cog wheel.
10.
Go right once and enter the white room.
11.
Go right once and put the pitchfork in the horizontal opening over the door. Go through the door to get into the kitchen.
12.
Get the yellow potion off the shelf.
13.
Go right once and take the silver key from the bread basket and the fork from the upper left drawer. Take the cheese from the freezer.
14.
Go right twice. Take the 3 knives from the right hand side and the hammer from the left-middle cabinet.
15.
Go left once and use the hammer on the cabinets to the right of the door. Use it about 4 times until the wall is gone. Take the blue fuse.
16.
Go back to the fireplace wall in the white room and use the cheese on the mouse hole on the right. Quickly click on the mouse.
17.
Go back to the opening room and use the hammer on the floor on the left side of the wall with the cage. Take the screwdriver.
18.
Go to the purple room and head up the stairs. Go left once and into the bathroom. Put the chain on the top right of the toilet to make a handle.
19.
Go right twice and take the soap from behind the reflective mirror.
20.
Exit the bathroom and move the plant on the left. Take the gold key.
21.
Go to the purple room and use the gold key on the locked compartment under the stairs. Go left once and take the matches from the compartment.
22.
Go to the kitchen and use the silver key on the locked floor under the table. Enter the basement.
23.
Use the matches on the torches on the wall for light (do this in all rooms).
24.
Go right and use the pipe on the missing pipe section. Insert the wheel on the knob. Turn to get water running in the house.
25.
Go right twice and take the wine bottle from the 2nd shelf from the bottom on the right side. Insert the cog wheel into the opening in the middle of the door. Enter map room.
26.
Combine the potion with the wine bottle.
27.
Remove the box from the gold pile and take the 2 keys stuck in the gold.
28.
Combine the soap with the smaller of the two keys.
29.
Go left once and use the 3 knives on the dartboard. Then use the fork on the dartboard. Take the orange gem.
30.
Leave the basement and go to the bathroom. Fill the wine glass with water from the tub.
31.
Go to the white room, and use the matches to light a fire in the fireplace. Take the red round key.
32.
Go to the purple room and put the blue and red keys into the door at the bottom of the stairs. Enter the study.
33.
Take the sword from the wall.
34.
Go right once and use the Old Key on the cabinet lock. Open the cabinet and pull out the box. Use the greased key on the box. Take the black gem.
35.
Go right once and take the middle painting.
36.
Go right once and solve the puzzle. Counting from 1-25, starting in the upper left, put an X in every square EXCEPT 1, 2, 5, 6, 10, 18, 21, 22, 24, 25. Take the keycard from square 18 when you solve it.
37.
Leave and use the sword on the rope holding up the packing in the upper right corner. It will fall into the basement.
38.
Go to the yellow room. Use the hammer on the small end table to the left of the green couch. Take the table leg.
39.
Go to the white room, go right twice, click on the painting on the right to reveal a metal panel. Stick the table leg in the circle to the left of the panel and pull it down. Take the blue gem.
40.
Go to the basement and go right twice to the skeleton area. Click on the middle area to go in further.
41.
Take the dynamite from the sewer grate.
42.
Go right once and remove the sewer grate with the screwdriver (click on the screws in each of the 4 corners). Take the red fuse.
43.
Go right once and put the dynamite into the pile of rocks. Light it on fire to reveal an exit back to the kitchen.
44.
Go right once and click on the metal screen to enter the deepest part of the basement. Put the red and blue fuses into the fuse box. Turn on the power by clicking on the left side of the box.
45.
Go right and click on the box in the lower right corner. Take the green gem. Move the boxes on the left and take the skull painting.
46.
Go right twice. Turn on the saw. Use the large painting of the blue dress on the saw to cut it in half. Turn the saw off and take half of the painting.
47.
Exit the basement (you now have to use the window to travel between the kitchen and white room).
48.
Go to the yellow room and hang the dress and skull paintings on the wall. Click the 3 red buttons. Take the red gem.
49.
Go right once and pull down on the handle on the right side. Go up the ladder.
50.
Go right once and click on the computer on the right. Insert coordinates 5 1 6.
51.
Go right once and put the square on the left into its socket. Push down on the red lever on the right side. Wait a few seconds and take the purple gem.
52.
Go right once and put the gems into the wall. Starting at Midnight and going clockwise: green, blue, black, orange, purple, red.
53.
Use the glass of water on the power source to the left of the gems to disable it. Then open the wall safe with the 6 gems. Take the 2nd key card.
54.
Go to the white room and use the hammer on the security camera.
55.
Use keycard 1 on the door and then keycard 2 on the door. Enter the secret area.
56.
Click on the computer and input HAMMER as the password. Wait for dialogue.
57.
Put the mouse in the cage. Pour the potion on the mouse to calm him. Put the skeleton's cap on the mouse.
58.
Wait a few seconds, put the cap back on the skeleton. Click the mouse. Take the silver key.
59.
Go right once and use the silver key on the 3rd box from the left on the bottom row. Take the paintbrush.
60.
Go to the kitchen and dip the paintbrush in the paint, then paint the wall. Do this twice. Take the Big Key.
61.
Go to the purple room and use the big key on the fancy looking door to get out.
Video Walkthrough
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4kepFf0M3g
Posted by: Tasselfoot
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January 14, 2009 7:18 PM