Little Hostage

June 20, 2008

Platform: Flash

Tags: escape, flash, free, game, kidsafe, macwinlinux, pointandclick, puzzle, zibumi

By Jess | add to favorites | add to your website | Comments (41)

Jess When we reviewed The Final Spell in March, one of developer Zibumi's previous escape-the-room games, it was met with a mixed reception; some players really enjoyed the game's levity and ease, while others criticized the lack of polish and depth. Happily, the fine people at Zibumi seem to be quick learners! Their newest release, Little Hostage, preserves the finer points of Final Spell while adding complexity and cleverness. While still not excessively challenging, Little Hostage is a fun, satisfying game perfect for a coffee break or random escape-the-room craving.

Little Hostage further continues the saga of Tom "Tucker" Crubucker, the plump, perenially-perturbed-looking magician-in-training. After celebrating the successful completion of his exams (a la the end of The Final Spell), Tom wakes to find himself locked in a small, rather eclectically-furnished apartment. He will, once again, need your help to escape (and find out who is holding him in captivity!). The puzzles are on the whole fairly simple, though the designers have thrown in a few rather clever touches that hold the player's interest and add depth to an otherwise straightforward task; one involving a mechanical hula doll especially made me happy.

While I have a deep appreciation for ingenious enigmas and love unraveling a seemingly impossible puzzle (see: Jess's next review), sometimes it's really nice to play something well-designed, entertaining but not-too-tough. Little Hostage will probably be completely by veteran escape-the-room artists in 30 minutes or so, and those new to the genre will find it to be a relatively accessible introduction to the beautiful world of point-and-click. All in all, it's definitely worth your time.

Help the hapless would-be Houdini: Play Little Hostage!

Little Hostage walkthrough now available!

Currently 4.1/5
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Rating: 4.1/5 (69 votes cast)

Walkthrough Guide

Walkthrough

Take the token, it's in the leftmost brown bowl.
Turn right. Take the battery from the table.
Note the token next to the doorway. Take the token.
Read the paper on the table. Note the three numbers in question two. They change each game!
Turn right twice. Enter the code into the lock. The lock opens. Pick the fishnet.
Use the fishnet on the fish in the aquarium. You get the fish.
Zoom in on the dancer-doll. Put the battery in the side. Press the red button to make her dance. It's a pattern of 8 sides (left, right, left ,right, etc. This also changes every game.
Zoom out, click right twice. Enter the room.
Click left twice. Zoom in on the metal panel with the two arrows. Input the directions from the dancing doll. It will open. Inside you find a token and a butterfly-key.
Zoom out once. Note the vase with sticks, pickup the stick without anything on it.
Turn left. Pick up the token below the window.
In the same screen, pick up a green chili from the plant.
Turn right, leave the room.
In the other room, turn left. Use the stick on the blue thing above the door.
Turn left again. Use your butterfly key on the butterfly closet. Pick up the blue butterfly.
Note that there is something in the butterfly-closet. It's a key, pick it up. It's hard to see, it's on the bottom, to the left.
Zoom in on the red machine. Put your 4 tokens in the machine.
Pick up the orange snail.
Zoom out. Turn right twice. Use the key on the cabinet. Pick up the Blue Curacao and the square piece of paper.
Turn right. The next instructions may vary each game, I don't know. Use the butterfly on the top-left bowl. Use the blue curacao on the middle-left bowl. Use the blue thing on the bottom-left bowl. Use the snail on the top-center bowl. Use the fish on the bottom-center bowl. The chili goes in the bottom-right bowl.
The blue key will have come out, pick it up and turn right. Enter the room.
Turn left, use the key on the closet. Pick up the orange neck-tie. On the boxes that are above the bottom-most boxes, one of them has a piece of paper, pick it up.
Turn left, enter the room, turn right, use the orange neck-tie on the middle-most bowl.
Take the orange key. Turn right, enter the room. Look under the bed, and use the key on the chest.
Pick up the token and the green ring.
Zoom out. Turn right twice. Enter the room. Turn left twice.
Zoom in on the machine. Insert the token. Pick up Kermit. Zoom out and turn left.
Use the ring and kermit on the remaining bowls and pick up the last key.
Turn right, enter the room. Use your green key on the last chest.
Pick up the piece of paper.
Turn left twice. Enter the room. Turn left.
Use the three pieces of paper in the three empty spots on the door. The door opens.

Posted by: Maqrkk | June 20, 2008 2:14 PM

41 Comments [leave a comment]

W00t, first post! Anyway, great game, graphics could be improved maybe?

Posted by: Ze Baron

| June 20, 2008 12:40 PM

Well, it might be rather easy, still I managed to get helplessly stuck :)
I did a lot of things and see a lot of things to do still, only don't have the objects to do them. But I'm patient :)

Fun little game, I like it.

Posted by: bioLarzen

| June 20, 2008 12:59 PM

I think part of the frustration is that every item you get is part of one linear puzzle that leads to (what I assume is the) final solution. I've gotten four different paths, each of which has led me to getting one bubble filled. And now I can't find anything else.

Posted by: The_Corruptor

| June 20, 2008 1:17 PM

If you seem to be unable to utilize the fishnet:

YES, it is really there to catch the fish in the aquarium. But, I guess, it's just hard to catch the exact moment when you have to click on the fish. Keep trying - it worked for me :)

Posted by: bioLarzen

| June 20, 2008 1:17 PM

OK, finished.

There are some hard parts in it, but overall it's really not that hard. I enjoxed playing it.

Posted by: bioLarzen

| June 20, 2008 1:20 PM

I've just watched the ending, and I'm left with the thought:

Wait, what?

Posted by: Koios | June 20, 2008 1:21 PM

So, I beat it. Some of the puzzles are good, some are not, and there's at least one area that might as well be a pixel hunt. Overall, it's mediocre, and once again, it needs polish to be more than an okay game.

Posted by: The_Corruptor

| June 20, 2008 1:27 PM

Aw, sorry some of you are finding it mediocre, I really liked the game. Especially the bit with the

clear bubbles and different colored objects

Posted by: Jess

| June 20, 2008 1:34 PM

stuck...where is the net or three digit code whichever is first.

Posted by: loudude

| June 20, 2008 1:34 PM

the spheres on the walls

seem to be related to colors. left is blue, middle is orange, and right is green. you use items of those colors on the spheres to fill them up. fill up all the spheres in a row, and you get a key of that color. blue things are, butterfly, eye thing above safe, and liquor. orange things i have found are, orange snail, and hankercheif in the closet unlocked by the blue key. the hot tamale in the room with the bed is the only green thing i have found. i suspect the fish is the final orange thing, but i cannot find the fishnet.

Posted by: andy | June 20, 2008 1:39 PM

andy,
the fishnet is in the cabinet below the fishtank.

Where is the middle tile?

Posted by: jdunce

| June 20, 2008 1:48 PM

Andy, please put spoiler tags around that information. What you've written essentially gives the game away. Thanks.

Posted by: Jess

| June 20, 2008 1:51 PM

nevermind, I found it.

Posted by: jdunce

| June 20, 2008 1:52 PM

Working on a walkthrough, unless someone else stops me!

Posted by: muddgirl

| June 20, 2008 1:57 PM

what do you do with the hula girl. I put the battery in and I've made her dance 50 times, gotten nowhere

Posted by: jon | June 20, 2008 1:58 PM

the cabnet looks like a safe, and I CANT OPEN IT!

Posted by: andy | June 20, 2008 1:59 PM

walk us through muddgirl!

Posted by: Joe | June 20, 2008 2:05 PM

Jon, concerning the hola girl

The watch the way the hola girl dances

in the room with the bed, there is a box on the wall with the door

the door needs a left and right code

watch the hola girl dance then count rights and lefts, go to the second room and put in the code exactly the way she dances

Posted by: Ninjaz | June 20, 2008 2:10 PM

I escaped, but I can't figure out how to get the

last token for the red machine. I assume it's in the chair???

Posted by: hotpinkparks

| June 20, 2008 2:10 PM

Watch the hula girl, she gives you a clue about how to open one of the safes

Posted by: snick | June 20, 2008 2:11 PM

Walkthrough

Take the token, it's in the leftmost brown bowl.
Turn right. Take the battery from the table.
Note the token next to the doorway. Take the token.
Read the paper on the table. Note the three numbers in question two. They change each game!
Turn right twice. Enter the code into the lock. The lock opens. Pick the fishnet.
Use the fishnet on the fish in the aquarium. You get the fish.
Zoom in on the dancer-doll. Put the battery in the side. Press the red button to make her dance. It's a pattern of 8 sides (left, right, left ,right, etc. This also changes every game.
Zoom out, click right twice. Enter the room.
Click left twice. Zoom in on the metal panel with the two arrows. Input the directions from the dancing doll. It will open. Inside you find a token and a butterfly-key.
Zoom out once. Note the vase with sticks, pickup the stick without anything on it.
Turn left. Pick up the token below the window.
In the same screen, pick up a green chili from the plant.
Turn right, leave the room.
In the other room, turn left. Use the stick on the blue thing above the door.
Turn left again. Use your butterfly key on the butterfly closet. Pick up the blue butterfly.
Note that there is something in the butterfly-closet. It's a key, pick it up. It's hard to see, it's on the bottom, to the left.
Zoom in on the red machine. Put your 4 tokens in the machine.
Pick up the orange snail.
Zoom out. Turn right twice. Use the key on the cabinet. Pick up the Blue Curacao and the square piece of paper.
Turn right. The next instructions may vary each game, I don't know. Use the butterfly on the top-left bowl. Use the blue curacao on the middle-left bowl. Use the blue thing on the bottom-left bowl. Use the snail on the top-center bowl. Use the fish on the bottom-center bowl. The chili goes in the bottom-right bowl.
The blue key will have come out, pick it up and turn right. Enter the room.
Turn left, use the key on the closet. Pick up the orange neck-tie. On the boxes that are above the bottom-most boxes, one of them has a piece of paper, pick it up.
Turn left, enter the room, turn right, use the orange neck-tie on the middle-most bowl.
Take the orange key. Turn right, enter the room. Look under the bed, and use the key on the chest.
Pick up the token and the green ring.
Zoom out. Turn right twice. Enter the room. Turn left twice.
Zoom in on the machine. Insert the token. Pick up Kermit. Zoom out and turn left.
Use the ring and kermit on the remaining bowls and pick up the last key.
Turn right, enter the room. Use your green key on the last chest.
Pick up the piece of paper.
Turn left twice. Enter the room. Turn left.
Use the three pieces of paper in the three empty spots on the door. The door opens.

Posted by: Maqrkk

| June 20, 2008 2:14 PM

The thing that killed me:

The small key in the corner of the butterfly case. I completely missed it despite going back to that screen several times.

Very frustrating.

Posted by: JR | June 20, 2008 2:21 PM

i got the passcode! here is a hint,

the passcode is randomly generated, so if you cant find it, close out, and restart. something will be changed, look for it, and you have the passcode!

another hint, this ones a dead giveaway in my opinion,

double-spoilering for saftey, you sure?

the first digit cannot be one or zero. the other digits cannot be zero.

Posted by: andy | June 20, 2008 2:27 PM

The ending

is from the book "The little Prince" Cute, huh?

Posted by: Malka | June 20, 2008 2:31 PM

This was a good and easy game. The only problem I had with it, and that wasn't logical,

was figuring out that you had to get the safe code from the piece of paper. You'd only pay attention to the numbers in question 2, if you refreshed your game at least once. So I can't see any logical way of actually figuring that out.

But apart from that, definitely a good game.

Posted by: ThemePark

| June 20, 2008 2:32 PM

Walkthrough:

Pick up the card and turn right

Pick up the battery on the desk and look at the note

Look at the second question and remember the numbers in that order

Leave looking at the note and pick up the second card in the bottom left of the room

Turn right two times to face the fishtank

Use the three numbers that you got from the note and use it as the combination on the fishtank

Pick up the fishnet inside the cabinet under the fishtank and use it on the fish to pick it up

click on the hula dancer to zoom in on her and use the battery on the slot on the right.

click the red button on thee machine and watch her dance. remember the exact order she goes(i.e. l,r,l,l,r,l)

10:

go right two times and enter the bedroom

11:

Turn right once and grab a green pepper from the plant. and the card on the bottom right of the window

12:

Turn right again and click on the panel on the wall to zoom in.

13:

Click the arrows in the order that you saw the hula dancer dance

14:

Pick up the butterfly key and the fourth card

15:

zoom out and grab the stalk of one of the plants in the vase

16:

leave the bedroom and turn left

17:

use the stalk on the blue thing above the door

18:

turn left again and click on the red machine

19:

insert the cards into the slot and click on the snail.

20:

Use the butterfly key on the butterfly case to open it and grab the blue butterfly and the key in the bottom left of the case

21:

turn right two times and use the key on the cabinet below the hula dancer and pick up the blue wine and the card behind the glassses

22:

turn right and use each of the blue objects on one of the bubbles in the left column. until all are blue and then grab the key

23:

turn right and enter the bedroom and then turn left

24:

use the key on the keyhole of the closet

25:

grab the orange tie and on one of the boxes there is a faint blue line in the white spaces and grab that card

26:

turn left leave the bedroom and go right

27:

use the orange items as you had before with the blue items in thee middle column and grab the key

28:

turn right and enter the bedroom and click under the bed

29:

use the orange key on that box and grab the card and the ring

30:

leave the bedroom and turn around and go back to the red machine and insert your card

31:

grab kermit and turn left to insert your green objects and grab the green key

32:

turn right go into the bedroom and use the key on the little box on the table

33:

grab the card(you should now have three of these) and turn around leave the bedroom and turn left

34:

use the three cards on the three slots on the top of the door and you're done!

Posted by: Gibel

| June 20, 2008 2:41 PM

is there any way to get the last token

Posted by: jon | June 20, 2008 2:51 PM

ThemePark, regarding the safe code:

I didn't refresh at all; I just plugged in those three numbers because the question referenced an aquarium, and I was trying to open a door below an aquarium. So it makes a little sense, though not enough in my opinion. I was really surprised when it worked.

Posted by: Neddo

| June 20, 2008 5:35 PM

Aw. The ending had me laughing out loud. I guess if you've never read 'The Little Prince' it makes no sense, but other than that it was very cute. Especially the cry of terror and frustration from the guy.

Posted by: Fishy | June 20, 2008 5:41 PM

Not exactly kidsafe intro, IMHO.

Well, depends on what you think the h word should be classified as :p

Posted by: Kgummy

| June 20, 2008 6:10 PM

So funny...and perhaps indicating a third installment? I enjoyed it.

Posted by: dsrtrosy

| June 20, 2008 8:45 PM

I beat this back when it showed up on Lazylaces. I'd write a narrative walkthrough if I could be bothered.

Posted by: SonicLover

| June 20, 2008 8:50 PM

I hate it when the solution to a puzzle is some random unrelated thing. Like the hula girl. This is why I can never beat these things on my own.

I thought the math question puzzle was clever though. Maybe a bit too subtle, but at least it was logical..

Posted by: zbeeblebrox

| June 20, 2008 11:46 PM

i thoroughly despise any game that gives you text to read but forces you to read it on the games time. LET US CLICK THROUGH!!!

Posted by: Sloth

| June 21, 2008 7:55 AM

Holy copyright infringement Batman! I couldn't believe all the brands the author decided to put in his game!

Also, seriously, the narrative was way too cutesy and broke the fourth wall way too much.

Posted by: dotcomlarry

| June 21, 2008 9:39 AM

The third math question is NOT kidsafe.

Posted by: anonymous | June 21, 2008 2:34 PM

HAHA the answer to the third math question for those who didn't bother doing it is -9 months. So what do YOU think his dad was doing at the time?

Posted by: plosfas

| June 21, 2008 7:13 PM

Explanation of the ending:

This is a reference to the popular children's classic Le Petit Prince or the Little Prince. He is on the moon. Read the book (it's short!) to understand what the sheep and the rose mean.

Posted by: joye

| June 22, 2008 12:51 AM

Did anyone get the soft spot on the wall? I saw it there but I don't remember doing anything with it.

Posted by: Davin | June 23, 2008 2:59 AM

Haha I got so lucky.

My hula doll did all right side hip thrusts - when I got infuriated with the arrow code box on the wall, I just hit right a bunch of times and it opened!

Posted by: haha | June 27, 2008 2:29 PM

Thanks to Maqrkk for the walkthrough. It made much more sense than Gibel's.

Posted by: Carly Parker | July 19, 2008 6:46 PM

Update