Covert Front Episodes 1 & 2

Why is this rated PG13? And is it an adventure game, an escape-the-room, what?

You tell me. It was only just released minutes ago. A proper review will be forthcoming. I figured since it was a war theme, I put PG13 on there just to be safe. I'll change it later once we know what's inside. But considering it's coming from Mateusz and a brand new series, I'm expecting this to be quite good.

But for now, I'm heading to bed. x_x

darn. I m stuck

i have past the library stage. Now what?

FINISHED! and no walkthrough!

...which means I get to post one. haha YES!

Nice game, if somewhat confusing end to it when it says 'To Be Continued' as it seems an odd place to stop. A lot easier than Submachine series!

ps: no need for PG-13 rating

FINISHED! (i think.... they said to be continued.......)

i brute-forced the clock, and ended up with 2:35, but the question is, how did you get the time first?

finished it too, and with no walkthrough either. great game! too short though...I WANT MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:)

Mieulium - You get the clock time from

the portrait of the woman in the main hall

Not done myself yet... enjoying it tho'

2:35 was hard

I know where you get the clock time

in the hallway with all the rooms, look at the picture on the wall with the woman its in the background

Come on - give us a clue for the library :)

does anyone know what to do with the matches?

Finished!

Ed - For the library, are you talking about getting in or what to do once you're in?

Getting In

You'll need a key. Go look carefully at seemingly inaccessable places

Take a look at the room. Is anything missing/not in its proper place?

Walkthough

go right and take sheers from box and hose from under the vines.
go left twice and use the sheers on the fuse box
Enter house and take note of the picture to your right
Go to the first door in your left
take matchbook from fireplace and icepick from middle cupboard(under table)
Go left and use the hallway picture to get the Clock Key
Go back to the hallway and look at the locked door
Use the icepick on the lock and get the crowbar
Head outside, go left and click the 'box' or wall
Use crowbar on sewer and turn off the pipe.
Head to the kitchen and down to the basement (next to fireplace)
Turn on the lights and use the pipe on the machine near the door and turn it on. Take the key.
Go upstairs
Take the first door on the left
Look behind the bed(table) and get the book.
Go back and use the library key on the rightmost door.
Place book in bottom row of bookshelf and pull out books;
1st row, fattest book
3rd row, nearest book
Take the rotating thing and turn left to take plans
Use zoom in and use the clock key on the cabinet and take ring
Go down to hallway and go forwards
Look at round indentation on the left wall of the picture and use ring
Head down and use the match on the oil lamp. Pick up fuse
Head right twice and use the fuse on the machine
Turn it on
go right and use crowbar on grate and head into it
use match.

bug - in the inventory, can have two items on top of one another. Not sure exactly what I did to trigger this, except maybe

moved the crowbar on top of the book

YAY i beat it

Complete Walkthrough

Honestly, it wasn't that hard. Because if I can solve it, everyone else should be able to.
.....although I wouldn't be surprised if somehow I missed something.

Now, I've organized this thing by floor, sort of like an intuitive 'if I were playing this step-by-step' format, rather than the "go here and grab this, and then here, and then go to this room and put it all together" taking all of the exploration out. That also makes it awfully hard to just use a Walkthrough as a guide of hints if you're stuck on just one problem. So, hopefully this gives you just a little help right as you need it...and hopefully I didn't miss any secrets or anything.

Are you sure you've looked everywhere?

Are you sure you've tried EVERYTHING?

Are you sure you've paid enough attention to your surroundings and all the details of the house, both inside and out?

Ok, if you MUST resort to the Walkthrough, here it is.:
Intro:

Flying Newspapers! Then...Don't you love that modern handbag? Give it a click.

Undo the clasp, of course. and then open it.

Take out the contents. You can play with the lipstick. :) Then answer your razor-looking hi-tech spy communication device. A mission!

In the Courtyard:

The door won't open, surprise. Turn right and grab the garden hose on the ground(for later). Look also at the statue and in the box. Grab the garden scissors.

Check out the left side. Note the grate in the corner and the fusebox on the side of the house. How to disable the locks?

Use your garden scissors on the gold middle panel. Dangerous kids, don't try this at home. The door is now unlocked (yaaay!)

Welcome to the von Toten Manor:
First Floor:

Don't you love this music? Turn into the first door on the left. Grab the orange matchbook behind the crate, in the fireplace. Open also the second drawer and take the scary labotomy ice pick from between the silverware. Back to the hallway.

Take a good look at that lovely portrait of the woman on the right wall. Blegh.

Click the locked door underneath the stairs on the right. Pick the lock with the ice pick to retrieve the crowbar from behind the lovely bottle of poison.

Head back outside to use it.

In the Courtyard, part 2:

Head left, to that grate in the corner. Pry it open with the crowbar and head down.

In case you can't figure it out, turn the wheel. Yes, that's really all. Climb up and back inside.

Welcome back to the von Toten Manor!
First Floor:

Let's go back into the kitchen, the first door on the left. Hang a left in front of the grate into the dark stairwell down to the flooded basement. Water + Electricity? looks dangerous. Hit the light switch on the right for a better view. Look, a key down in the lower left corner. But how to get to it?

Hook up the garden hose to the top of the pump. Flip the switch on the pump.

Grab the key, in case that was counterintuitive. Let's head back upstairs!

This time though, before you leave the kitchen, head into the dining room, through the archway on the right. You can check out the weird head on the right, but I never got it to do anything. Look at the clock on the left, though...doesn't that just feel like a puzzle?

Where have we seen a clock before?

Well, if you did as I told you, you should've seen it in the background of the woman's portrait. Put that time on this clock.

Last I checked, it read 2:35. Grab the key in the bottom right compartment, and back out into the hall.

Second Floor:

Hopefully you made your way upstairs, maybe stopping to check that lovely picture on the landing. Again, I think it's just a red herring, like the head and SO MANY things on this floor that seem like you should be able to pick them up.

Head into the first door on the left, von Toten's bedroom. This is where the magic happens...but I don't think the magic is what happened in here too recently--look at that mess.

After realizing you can't interact with or pick up ANYTHING, click the blue lamp at the left on the other side of the bed and grab the book off the nightstand.

Head into the second door on the left ....which only brings disappointment. There's nothing to do in here! That screw on the floor just taunts you, doesn't it.

Use the key from the basement on the right door. Books? Hmmm looks like a puzzle agaiiiin....

Place YOUR book on the lower right portion of the shelf. Then you can click around at all the books and try to match up the symbols

.....but in the end, no other books matter than those with that eagle insignia you might've seen around the house, so only keep those out, and push the rest back in. If you've actually TRIED to play the game and not just follow this Walkthrough, you should've found the guy's portrait on the back wall covered in that logo.

If you can't find both books, though, it's the short red one in the middle of the top shelf, and the 3/4 tall beige-grey one at the left of the third shelf from the top. Look, a secret passage!

Second Floor, continued:

Grab the rotating floaty ball things in the right corner, and then inspect the desk at the left. Grab the plans. Next, click the desk on the back wall, in the left corner.

Use the clock key in the gold hole. WHOOO BOOTY! Too bad you can't take it all. What a virtuous spy you are, indeed. However, jack the ring from the back right corner.

Go Back and click the desk with the red chair. Look at the book (which does you no good...but you can get a little joy from the name "Manfred" hehehe)

Go back, back to the library, back to the second floor, back to the first floor, and then, back to the back wall.

First Floor, yet again:

Let's go to the back wall and check out that portrait of Von Toten. If you head to the left, you see ....more stuff you can't do anything with. To the right of the portrait, you find a bathroom....again, with nothing to interact. I guess all that's left is the portrait itself, or more importantly....

a hole in the wall, featuring our new favorite symbol. Let's stick that ring in there, since the symbols match. Hey, pretty high-tech for 1904, hmm? Although that Razor device in the intro wasn't very believable either. haha

Well, I guess we're headed in. Go down the ladder.

Use your matches to light the lamp and illuminate the well-hidden fuse on the floor in the middle of the screen, right next to that rock. Right again and there's MORE stuff you can't mess with. Darn. One step over there, and you can interact with this big thing.

Sitck your fuse in the tray with the two others. Flip the round switch under the guages.

OH NO AN ALARM!!!! You wondered what those speakers were all over the house, didn't you? Turns out they weren't just broadcasting this lovely violin track. Head one screen to the right. Use your crowbar on the grate. Oops, broke it. No time to mope, head on in.

You're in the sewers, but you can still hear that blaring alarm. Hope you didn't wake the neighbors. Turn left to see...almost nothing. It's so dark. Light a match to see your way. It burns down and....to be continued? How suspenseful.

Congrats! You made it (with help)! All in All, a short game by comparison, I mean...no secrets, not a lot of excess stuff, puzzles pretty straightforward--unless I missed something. I'm sure we're just being lulled into a false sense of security, and the later chapters will be completely bewildering.

Aw MAN I put all of that time into writing mine, and then the Spoiler tags count was off because I missed ONE backslash on a closing tag. Mine's better than Radial's! haha so I hope you use it.

good one! really looking forward to more of this!

Seems illogical that you:

can't switch on the pump til you turn off the water... The water was still covering the power cord, either way

But a nice looking & atmospheric game!

30 mins, no walkthrough. A bit frustrating.

Reminds me of the Thief series. Excellent!

Great looking game.

Stuck in the

flooded basement.

the light switch?

Btw, Radial's walkthrough is pretty useless ;-)

It's only logical if the pump pumps out less water then what goes in in the first place, making turning the machine on pointless in the first place.

Just like the Submachine games, the only 'challenge' in this game is in the inane pixel hunting and no clear goals. Pretty nicely drawing backgrounds though. Next time make a good game.

Creating that many objects with which you can't interact is like describing a cluttered room in an interactive fiction (text adventure) game and then saying "you can't see anything like that here" whenever the player types "get x" or "examine x."

In other words (for the benefit of those for whom the above made no sense at all), it's lame, and it severely damages the reality of the world. The game looks nice, but there's just no meat on the bones. You can only interact with the objects that you absolutely need (except one, and I suspect that will be important in future installments), and trying to figure out where to click can be annoying at times.

But then again I'm not really a big fan of point-and-click games. It's just that the intro looked so promising...

Radial: thanks, that is some sense. Shouldn't stop you from turning it on, though... (even if pointless). But if you were right, wouldn't the level be rising? Unless there was an outlet (none was shown). But it ain't a physics simulation :)

Suho1004: yeah, very cool intro! I feel some of the same frustration, but I guess we either accept the (artificial) terms of the genre, or not. And relying on those constraints is a legitimate strategy for solving the puzzles (like a crossword with some letters filled).

In response to those who complained about the visual dead-ends in the game, that is, things you can look at but not interact with, I think this is something that Scutnik has employed all throughout the Submachine series - that is, including purely decorative elements to create a sense of familiarity with objects in the world so that when you see them again, they resonate with you - ah! Why is this item here? That might be a clue!

In the context of this game, where almost EVERYTHING is new (I say almost because some things remind me of Scutnik's previous works) it can be confusing and frustrating, but I expect it to pay off in future installments. Plus Scutnik is a great artist (reminds me sometimes of Kosuke Fujishima), so it's not without at least aesthetic value.

Hit bug in inventory that I assume killed my game. The ring got stuck in an alternate spot and I couldn't use it.

Where's the replay element in this?

Ha. Wait. Never mind. Just realized this wasn't an entry.

Ha, I guess I'm the opposite of you. I get Bonte's stuff no problem but I needed the walkthrough for this.

Throwing out an idea here - maybe all those 'dead end' clues are not dead ends at all - this is only the first chapter - who knows what subsequent chapters will bring?

Yahoo !! I've got to be the OLDEST (60) player here to finish without a walkthrough!! I think my head is getting better with age......

As usual, I loved this game. This guy's work is great.

Red herrings add an element of realism that dry games miss.

I think I got the same inventory bug as a few other players have already experienced. I was tryingto see if you could combine objects in the inventory, so I grabbed the matches and dragged them over the "mystery object" and now the two are overlapping in the same inventory slot. However I can't grab the matches again to finish the game (even though I can still see them atop the "mystery object").

Nice game though.

There definitely is an element of pixel hunting which annoys the heck out of me - however, if you solve the puzzles correctly, there actually isn't much pixel hunting.

That is, there's no section where you click on a seemingly blank space - the bit where you attach the garden hose is hard to find, but it's not actually pixel hunting and does make sense once you get it right.

i can't get the

clock to work. i set it for the time, and the little door doesn't open.

Mach:

Set the big hand EXACTLY on the seven, & the little hand EXACTLY on the two.

In most usual pixel hunts, you click randomly all over a seemingly innocuous space in order to find where you pull up the carpet or zoom in on the wall or whatever; in here, it's the opposite. You have to find the importance in a realistic world full of interesting stuff. I find myself wanting to write down all of what I find, in case I'll need to remember it in a later installment.

Interesting note: "Toten", if I'm correct, is German for "Death". Spooky.

In my opinion, the Submachine games made more sense. In a realistic setting, the predetermination of adventure game choices can very easily become ludicrous. To wit:

I'm a spy. I have a mission: To search the hideout of an elusive scientist and find out what he's up to. By the time I've gone through the whole house, I've found everything from the man's murder scene to some kind of enormous doomsday machine in the basement. With my objectives fulfilled as completely as I could possibly have hoped for, I'm thinking it's time to report back to headquarters with this big pile of secret plans and this mysterious object that defies known science.
...Strangely, though, I don't feel like going. What's that you say, voices in my head? Activate the machine? OKAY!

Didn't I just recently played a game of the series that broke in the middle?

Are only 1st halfes of the games produced?

Yaaay my Walkthrough got used! Thanks, Jay. :) It's so awesome finally not only to have done this WITHOUT the Walkthrough, but to get to help so many other people who might get stuck. **beams**

P.S. thanks to Fritz for the shameless ego fluffing.

I would just like to say that this was fun but I REALLY enjoyed the submachine games. maybe a little more substance or confusing elements would help......

First of all, kudos for graphics, sounds and atmosphere. All in all the feel of the game is pretty much like steping .

But I always like to rant about stuff I don't like than to applaud the stuff I DID like. So here it goes.

I didn't care too much about the story. In flash point-and-click adventures I think the story shouldn't be to complex or sophisticated. In other words, I don't care who the chick is or why she's in that house. Or perhaps I didn't find the story as engaging - I'll always take a sense of mistery and/or confusion then longish set-ups, explanations and whatnot.

Puzzle-wise, the game also failed to deliver in certain degree. Too many dead-ends, too many pixel-hunts. Constant zooming-in on stuff which apparently served nothing (but was there probably to "get me into the story") was more irritating then anything else. Couldn't there be at least some internal monologue, so I realize I should be confused/scared/intrigued/amused by the blood on the floor? And to get back on puzzles often I've found out I was overthinking stuff - in expectation of difficult logic challenges I often totally missed the simplest solutions.

The abrupt ending also left me hanging. Wasn't it better to use all that effort into creating more puzzles, more stuff to pick up and use, more, I don't know, "substance"?

Bottom line is the game looks gorgeous, plays smooth but the gameplay feels rather half-baked and rushed. I enjoyed each and every Submachine sequel FAR more then this. I hope future installments will be less pixel-hunty and more challenging.

It wasn't so hard.....I did it with no walkthrough...I can't wait for the next episode.

Hmm... just adding on the the fact that there are many non-clickable, yet potentially useful stuff, I also found something that is clickable but I think is useless.

upstairs, i noticed that if i clicked towards me, i would turn to the back of the wall and there would be a barometer there, and I could change the setting by clicking on it. Just in case that helps in the next part

help me i put the right time on the clock but i still cant get the key

To: jojo Scroll up to my spoiler message "To: Mach". It'll tell you how to get the key.....

hehehehe!!! :)
I finish the game already!! ^_^

Wow-great game! Easy, yet oddly complex. And the main characters a girl-f**k yea!

Why do they make these games so dark you just point and click blindly? No fun whatsoever when you have no idea what you are doing and can not see any objects.

Wow, that was an awesome game. I think I'm going to love it way more than the Submachine series!! D:

Can't wait for part 2.

how do you turn on the thing to suck up the water in the basement?

"Head to the kitchen and down to the basement (next to fireplace)
Turn on the lights and use the pipe on the machine near the door and turn it on. Take the key."

Ummm, slight problem, I can't find the key, no matter where I looked. OR clicked.
Please help?

I found the key, [libary] but it wont let me pick it up??

Ha,

you can beat it without getting the weird rotating thingy, or the secret plans!
Not like a real spy would actually DO that...

great game fun to play
only a shame i didn't found the maches... withought help ;-)

I used to be an adventure girl, but now I can't get enough of point and click!

ooh so cool! the sound was quite creepy, so i turned the volume off. I can't wait for the next one, this one was so fun. I only looked at the walkthrough once because of one time when I got really stuck.

I didn't put the book from the bedroom in the bookshelf

It's games like this that make me want to become a game maker when I get older.

Brilliant game!! Love the submachines and can't wait for episode 2. Major thanks to Jacob for the walkthrough!! I got stuck at one bit and the separation between topics is excellent if you're only having trouble at one stage. Thanks again!
Elisha, Australia

There's blood on the floor. I don't think it should be counted as Kidsafe when it contains blood.

how do i turn on the basement light?

hello

Im stuck on the light switch no matter how I click the right button on the screen i cant seem to find it. Is there a hand that will appear whenever I click the hand I go back to the basement... please help...thanks

I really enjoyed that! Any idea when the next one will be out?

Wow. No shortage of discussion on this game here. :)

I just wrote a mini-feature on Mateusz Skutnik and his work, touching on Covert Front but really digging into the Submachine games. Please check it out.

wow, so cool! i love the top spoiler, it's so funny!

Wow, for a top secret spy, this operation seems to be carried out sloppily. You leave the scissors in the wires, the ice pick in the cupboard door, and the various keys in various locks. You also

turn on the machine

we finished it without help

I am new to this site and have relly enjoyed looking at the games you list and yes I have had to resort to the excellent help provided.

I see that Covert Front, Episode 2 will be available 20th October. I look forward to your comments and hopefully will get involved myself.

What do you do with the book? I suck at this but I love these games. And what does the hose in the basement do?

This is going to sound really dumb, but...

is the lipstick just untwisting it?

lol

Thanks Jacob!!!!Your Walkthrough Was SO HELPFUL!!!!Thank you again.

Haha sarcastic or not, thanks to everyone saying such nice things about the Walkthrough! I just saw that part 2 had been posted, so I'm obviously too far behind to solve that first, but I'm glad to be immortalized on JayIsGames with a Solution for my favorite online game genre.

Thanks to Elisha, Will, Chimera, and AdamLin007 especially for the kind words, and I'm really glad that I could help. :)

how does one turn on the light switch....i can't find the stupid thing!!! argh

Wow this game is so cool. I only needed help from Jacob's walkthrough once, and after I was done I went through it just to make sure I didn't miss anything.

I loved all of Jacobs comments on the walkthrough. Too funny!

I need help with almost everything i think i am not even close to be done.

omg, im going crazy on this light switch in the basement. Can someone PLEASE explain to me where to find it? I know its on the right side but geesh.

That handbag:it has a lipstick that you can play with,a comb,a wallet(bad you can't open it,I woud use the money for a videogame,and that SUPER COOL....thing.Then she says KILL THE LIGHTS in the taxi.It's not fair,lights must live their lives!In the garden,if I have a hammer, I can destrow that statue(it's ugly).When i cut the wire with the scrissors,the scriissors...burned, but why i didn't die?That thing at the front of the door:WHAT IT'S that thing??Whe you zoom that door under the stairs there is another door.Inside it's a bedroom(I forget to tell you that I want to drink that lovely posion).Left at that picture where you put the ring there is something(it writes BAXTERS PAT 1868).In the right of the picture there is the bathroom.That statue head what reprezents(in the right at the clock that needs do be set at 2:35?
You can put the hose to the pump and start it in dark for automatic lights.That small picture with the town what reprezents?But that lion,chigarette and lighter?Or that strange thing with FINE,CHANGE,RAIN?
And the blood in the bedroom and that strange room with a screw.
I wanted to take all,not only that ring.