All room escape games have secrets. Some room escapes, however, keep their cards especially close to their chests, relinquishing their grasp bit by bit; these are sometimes the most frustrating, and often the most intriguing. Sagrario's Room Escape is such a game, and a superb one at that.
The first thing you'll probably notice is how very bare the room seems. Designer Valentin Sagrario has chosen a decidedly minimalist aesthetic; the small, warmly beige space contains nothing but a door, a chair, a picture and a metal briefcase. Well... that's not entirely true. Upon a second glance, you might begin to perceive small, easily overlooked details: the faint outlines of panels against one wall, a scrap of paper, a loose floorboard. Once you really begin to look, you'll be astonished at how much this ostensibly near-empty room does, in fact, hold; the simplicity of the space belies the true complexity of the puzzles contained within.
Ah, the puzzles. Sagrario's inventiveness is definitely impressive; the number, quality and variety of puzzles are top-notch. I experienced more than a few wonderful "aha!" flashes of sudden insight; those sorts of moments are the mark of a really great escape game, one that effectively straddles the line between logic and perplexity. Notable is that maybe more than any other room escape, Sagrario's Room makes great usage of the inventory; you'll find yourself frequently combining items, manipulating and using them in multiple fashions. This is probably a byproduct of the relative spareness of the room itself, and one that I really enjoyed.
As excellent as Sagrario's Room is, a few areas could use some tweaking. First, while it's not terribly excessive, there are a few instances of frustrating pixel-hunting. The interface can be a little bit annoying, as it's not possible to change views while an object is selected; this doesn't make sense, and ultimately just results in a lot of excess clicking. Some sort of soundtrack would have been nice, and would have really added to the room's overall atmosphere. Finally, I had a difficult time identifying a couple of the collected items, which (especially considering how important the inventory is) at times significantly delayed my progress. For this reason I suggest, when stuck, trying to combine everything with everything else; even if A and B do not appear to have any relationship, using one with the other might be a vital step in escaping.
These minor complains aside, Sagrario's Room is really wonderful. The game's graphics are some of the best in any room escape, comparable to the sublime Vision; for that reason, even this minimally decorated space appears elegant and chic. The puzzles are creative, complex and extremely enjoyable. Oh! One more thing: although there's not an actual save button, the game remembers your progress and, upon your return, gives you the option to continue or begin a new game. As Sagrario's Room is quite long and difficult, the existence of this feature is a relief, and also bespeaks the professionalism of the game's creator.
Polished, perplexing and profoundly entertaining: a near-perfect escape game.
Walkthrough Guide
Sagrario's Room Walthrough
Since the codes in this game are randomized I've explained how to get and use the codes rather than just what code to punch in.
Look behind the briefcase for a key.
Turn left and open the left panel. Collect the test tube.
Turn left and look under the lawn chair from the left for a note on how to open the right panel.
Look at the chair from the other side to find a battery.
Turn left and look at the picture. Look at the bottom left corner for a battery and a place to put the key.
Open the picture and collect the key.
Use the new key to open the briefcase, by clicking on the latches with the key.
Collect the folder, the swiss army knife, the laser pointer, and the cube.
Use the corkscrew on the swiss army knife to open the tube with the note, this code will be used soon.
Zoom in on the outlet on the wall with the panels.
Use the knife to pry off the cover, and the screwdriver on the swiss army knife unscrew the outlet.
Collect the third battery.
Put the three batteries into the laser pointer.
The laser pointer will give you the code for the safe, XX being the number that was on the paper in the tube.
The safe will open automatically once you get the code right. If it doesn't work one direction try the other. You do not have to pass 0 every time like on traditional locks.
Get the ratchet and the radio.
Move the switches on the radio until it only players the higher tone. Each switch is one beep.
Collect the note, and use the swiss army knife to pry off the magnet from the speaker.
Use the ratchet to unscrew the bolts from the chair.
Put the magnet on the bottom of the ratchet, then stich the ratchet in each of the holes left from the chair, you should get 4 batteries.
Now it's time to open up the right panel. As per the directions on the note from under the chair, just hold the button for 10 seconds.
Collect the gold bar.
Face the safe, in the bottom left corner there is a loose panel. Place the gold bar on it and then cut the string that you see using the knife.
Pick up the gold bar, remove the panel, and get the black light.
Place the 4 batteries into the black light.
Now that we've got all the tools we need it's time to work on getting the keys for the lockbox in the briefcase. Start with the left panel.
You'll see 7 buttons that change color when pressed. If you use the blacklight on them you will notice it looks like a piano.
Look at the briefcase, you'll see a logo with four letters all with a color. These corrospond to the piano keys.
From left to right the order of the keys is C D E F G A B. Match the colors with the letters it gave you on the panel and it should give you the key.
Next lets work on the right panel. You'll see a keypad with 9 buttons and one larger button.
To start press the button and write down the order of the colors on the lights above the keys.
This is the order in which you will enter the codes. To find the code use the blacklight on the colored cube in your inventory.
Match the pattern of the die on the panel, for each color. After you enter all six it should give you the key.
Now the third panel is a bit more work. To locate it face the wall with the briefcase and use your black light.
All you need to do here is push the right eight buttons. You already have the first four, on the note you got from inside the radio.
Across the top of the pad are letters, A,B,C,D. And the numbers go down the side, 4,3,2,1. So the top left button is A4, and the bottom right button is D1.
You'll need a notepad for this part. There are 4 codes hidden around the room that you need the blacklight for. One is in the outlet, one is in the safe, one is in the floor where you got the black light, and the other is on the gold bar in your inventory. Write the four codes down. You should organize them in this order, GO, OD, LU, CK.
Open up the envelope you got from the briefcase. GOOD LUCK. Look familiar? Use the black light on the GOOD LUCK, and you will see the letters are connected.
The G is connected to the D, the first O to the C, the second O to the U, and L and K are connected to each other. Using the codes you wrote down from around the room you will need to mix and match. The codes you wrote down all have 2 letters = a letter and a number. For example, GO=A4. In this case G=A and O=4. OD=C4, O=C and D=4. Since G and D are connected it would make A4. Using this formula mix and match the codes until instead of GO, OD, LU, CK, you have GD, OC, OU, LK.
The new codes you just made are the missing four codes from the note in the radio.
Once you put in the code the key will be given to you.
Use all three keys in the lockbox inside the briefcase.
Get the door handle.
Use the door handle on the door.
Leave!
Posted by: Kero
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February 25, 2009 12:02 AM