Good news for those weary of spooky-to-downright-terrifying point-and-click adventures. Charger Escape, the newest release from Pastel Games, is not simply an excellent escape game... it is also one that features ponies! And farm animals! And kittens!! Must... refrain... from squealing...
With soft, beautiful art and a sweet story from Barbara Jarosik and programming by Mateusz Skutnik, Charger Escape is that rare game that manages to soothe and relax you even as it challenges your mind. There's a coziness about the locked barn in which you find yourself; everything looks clean and warm, especially in comparison to the night sky seen through the windows. The "Charger" in the game's title refers to the placid pony who occupies the barn's single stall; it will be the key to your escape, though in a most unexpected fashion. The game's interface is classic point-and-click, with nothing particularly new or exciting. It's worth noting, however, that I encountered exactly zero instances of pixel-hunting (yay!).
Charger Escape is not particularly difficult, nor is it very long. This does not mean, however, that it is not clever; the puzzles are well-executed and creative, even if they're not migraine-inducing. In the end, however, what really stuck out to me was the game's rich and whimsical environment. Most point-and-click games only "respond" if the player clicks on something directly relevant to the end goal of escaping; not so with Charger Escape. This game eschews such minimalism in favor of extensive interactivity. Click on the doves on the window, for example, and they coo and nestle together; bring your cursor near one of the horse's eyes and it will blink. Such small delights bring the already-charming game further to life!
Step into a softer world...
Walkthrough Guide
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Charger Escape Walkthrough:
Click on the broom to get a small key. Go right.
Use the key on the tool box in the upper left hand corner to get instructions.
Then click on the boots to reveal a horseshoe.
Click on the apple to put it in your inventory. Go right.
Click on the pitch fork to place it up on the wall.
Click on the green apple to put it in your inventory.
Click on the the left most carrot on the ground to put it in your inventory.
Click on the handle of the wheelbarrow to move it and reveal a yellow apple. Get the apple.
Click on the chicken sitting on the stack of hay on the right revealing a horseshoe with the eggs. You got to be kind of quick to grab the horseshoe. Go right.
Pick up the horseshoe on the ground. Leave the one on the wall alone.
Go right until you are back at the screen where two saddles are hanging on the wall. In the middle of the wall are two handles click on them both to reveal another room. Go in.
To the right of the screen you see a pair of tongs. Pick them up.
Click on the box holding the kittens three times to reveal a hammer. Pick it up.
On the right side and at the very top of the oven in front of you is a plaque. click on it to see the instructions for cleaning up the horseshoe. It should instruct you to go 0-1-0-2-0. Click on the down arrow to return to your normal view.
Use the latch to open the door.
Insert a horseshoe and close the door.
click on the red button.
Using the plaque instructions click 1, then 0, then 2, then 0.
Click on the red button and use the latch to open the door.
Use the tongs on the horse shoe, then use the hammer on the horseshoe, then click on the horseshoe to put the clean horseshoe back in your inventory.
Repeat the above for each of the remaining horse shoes.
Go to the screen with the pad locked barn door and the single clean horseshoe hanging on the wall. Place your three horseshoes in the corresponding spaces on the barn (Horse Shoe 1 goes upper left, horseshoe 2 goes in the upper right, and horseshoe 3 goes in the lower right space).
Go to the screen with the horse.
Undo the latch.
Look at the feeding and watering trough. Those symbols over the feeding trough tell you how to orient the horseshoes.
While you are here, you can go ahead and feed the apples to the horse if you like.
When you are ready, return to the horseshoes.
Click the upper left horseshoe until it faces right.
Click the upper right horseshoe until it faces down.
Click the lower right horseshoe until it faces to the left.
Pick up the rock that is now lying in front of you among the wreckage.
Go back to the oven.
Place the rock in the oven. This time you are going to look at the instructions in your inventory. They tell you 0-2-1-2-0.
Close the door, press the red button.
Click on 2, then 1, then 2, then 0.
Click on the red button and open the door.
Use the tongs on the rock.
Use the hammer on the rock. Click on the rock.
Return to the horse. Look at the food and water troughs again. Press the square above the water trough to fill it with water. Place the magic rock in the water.
You can now feed the carrot to the unicorn.
Return to the screen with the chickens. Look out the window. Click on the star.
One of the chickens moves to reveal a scoop. Pick it up.
Use the scoop on the open bag of feed in which the star fell.
Return to the horse screen.
Look at the food trough.
Use the scoop filled with feed on the food trough.
Congratulations, you just beat the game!
Posted by: Kyle E. Moore
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December 9, 2008 10:14 PM