I have a confession to make. My name is Jessica, and I'm a point-and-click addict.
Curse you, Pierre Gauthier! You have fed my pixel-hunting, puzzle-solving, key-finding need and I am hopelessly hooked. And what's more, you've made it playable in both French and English, bringing forth my latent guilt about neglecting my college francais. Why, Pierre? Why?
Ok, enough absurdity (for now). MuseLock is a good-looking, highly enjoyable little point-and-click room escape game with creative, interesting puzzles that only occasionally venture into the illogical. As I mentioned before, Pierre has provided both French and English versions; this offers a nice opportunity for players to practice another language, and the English adaptation is surprisingly good (avoids becoming "Frenglish," so to speak).
Surprisingly enough, the player wakes up in a room with no recollection of how he/she got there and an odd collection of objects as clues. Happily, pixel-hunting is mainly avoided (I have to admit, though, that I made good use of the tab key) and, at least for the first part of the game, necessary actions are straightforward enough for the player to make some progress without too much random clicking and item-combining. A word to the wise, however: you can (and probably will) die with one misstep, so use some caution.
Analysis: I liked this one a lot. I especially enjoyed the game's use of light (you'll see what I mean), and I appreciated how easy it was to navigate around the room. I really only have a few gripes: a save feature would have been really nice, as you can not only die but pass a "point of no return" when the game is unfinishable, and one crucial action in the game seemed to me to be a bit arbitrary. Besides theses minor issues, however, MuseLock is an excellent example of the genre.
A true pleasure for any point-and-click aficionado, this one will have you puzzling for quite a while:
Walkthrough Guide
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Not sure if I'll be the first, but here's a walkthrough.
I didn't figure all of this out by myself, there were important hints in the preceding comments.
Grab the paper, and have a look at both sides of it, it has useful clues.
Go right once, click on the trash can, and retrieve the orange juice can.
Go left three times and zoom in to the panel below the flickering window thing. This is a projector -- turn it on by clicking the "glowing sun" button in the middle of the top row.
Now turn around and look at the screen -- it has a symbol on it. Go back to the projector and change the "channel number" with the left-right arrows. Note the symbols corresponding to each number, 1 through 9.
Take the faceplate off the projector by clicking on it.
Go left four times until you're squarely facing the screen, and can see the doormat. Click on the doormat to zoom in, and then again to lift it, and retrieve the gold key.
Click on the door, and use the key in the keyhole to unlock it, then open it from the door handle. Click in the doorway until it asks if you want to exit the room or pass your hand through the beam -- pass your hand through the beam, note the killer spikes.
Back up until you're square with the screen wall again, then click on the control to the left of the screen. Use the up arrow to raise the screen.
The screen-raise zooms you out. Zoom back in to the control, open the right-side panel (beside the arrows) and retrieve the fuse.
Zoom in to the plexiglass panel below the puzzle panel that was revealed behind the screen. Put the paper in the small hole near the top of the glass, just right of the fuse bank. It will make a sort of funnel. Pour the orange juice into the funnel, and short out the system.
The puzzle is now active -- click on all four corners and then the center to solve, and then hit the "unlock" button to lower the glass. Retrieve the burned-out fuse.
Go left twice, and zoom in on the chair. Find the hot spot on the right arm, and retrieve the small box. Put the burned-out fuse in the small hole in this box and retrieve the key.
From the chair, go right once, and find the box under the desk. Use the little key in the lock, and click on the cover until it asks if you want to remove the cover or take the box. Choose remove the cover.
Defuse the explosive by clicking on the wire near the chunk of stuff on the lower right side of the box. You know this is the explosive from studying the paper.
Now it's safe to take the box -- take it, and then "inspect" it and click on the explosive to put a chunk of it into your inventory.
Put the gold key in the holder under the desk that the box came out of.
Go back to the fuse panel, and put the good fuse in the left-side fuse slot. This turns on the electrical outlets to the desk and to the mid-room projector.
Turn around, and zoom in to the sculpture. Put the chunk of explosive on the glass, near the bottom center.
Back up one step, and click on the pedestal thing in the middle of the room -- this is another laser projector, and it now has power. Put the projector faceplate on this projector, and turn it on with its "glowing sun" button in the center of the top panel.
The laser detonates the explosive, and smashes the glass. Retrieve the black-light bulb from the sculpture.
Go to the desk, and click on the inside of the lamp to zoom in, and put the black-light bulb into the lamp. Turn on the lamp by pressing the switch in the base. The room will glow blue.
Turn around and look at the paintings -- in black-light, they have symbols on them which you saw when playing with the first, wall-mounted projector. Note the four digits corresponding to these four symbols.
Go to the keypad beside the door, and type in the numbers. The green light will come on. If the keypad has been closed by previous attempts to solve, you can reactivate it from a small button on the right-hand side in the under-the-desk view.
It's now safe to go through the door. You're out!
Thanks to Allegra and seventh-degree for posting hints to bits I found tricky.
Posted by: Urban Garlic
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August 26, 2007 4:30 PM
Here's my complete walkthrough for MuseLock:
Pick up the piece of paper from the desk. Note that when you inspect it, you can flip it over.
Most of the stuff on the back is a red herring. Even the symbol is not really useful.
IMPORTANT SAFETY TIP #1:
Look under the desk. See that little box on the wall? It looks a lot like the illustration on the front of the paper you have. Do not remove the box from the wall at this time. Unless you like to die in explosions, in which case, go for it.
Turn to the right. Click on the wastebasket. Click on the item in the wastebasket. When you inspect it, you will see it is a half-filled can of OJ. Mmm! Too bad you can't drink it.
Turn right until you are facing the wall with the screen and the door. Click on the doormat. Click it again, and it will lift to reveal a key. Pick up the key. Back out until you are facing the door again.
Use the key on the lock of the door. Hey, it works! Cool! Open the door.
IMPORTANT SAFETY TIP #2:
Man, what an easy room to escape! Uh-oh, what are those beams of light running up and down in the doorway? Try to go through the door and select "Pass hand in the ray" -- Hmm... maybe there's more to this than we thought.
Turn to the right until you can see the funky little panel on the wall opposite the door, just beneath the flickering light panel. Click on the little panel. Click the middle button on top (with the sun-like symbol) between the arrows and the number 01. Get ready for some ballet. Back up, pirouette and look at the symbol on the screen. Make a note that it is symbol #1. Spin back to the panel, click the right arrow to change the number to 02, back up, pirouette and make a note of the new symbol on the screen. Lather, rinse, repeat until you have recorded all nine symbols.
After you have recorded all nine symbols, click the panel to take the projector cover. Back up and click on the little device standing in the foreground of your field of view. It's another projector that needs a cover. Good thing you have a cover. Pity the projector's not powered. Maybe later.
Back up and turn until you are again facing the screen. Click the tiny control panel next to the screen. Click the up arrow to raise the screen. Click the mini-panel next to the arrows to reveal a fuse. Collect the fuse.
Back up until you are looking at the instrument panel revealed when the screen went up. Note the buttons that don't work and the plexiglass panel on the bottom that can't be opened... but has a convenient little hole in it. Use the paper on the hole; it will make a nice little funnel for you to pour a little OJ into. ZAP! Hmm... The lights went out.
At least now the nine buttons work. Manipulate them until you have reversed all their positions.
Hit the four corner buttons followed by the center button.
Press the button with the lock symbol on it. The panel will slide open. Take the now burned-out (and orangey-smelling) fuse.
IMPORTANT SAFETY TIP #3:
Do not put your good fuse in the left-hand slot at this time. If you do, you will be treated to a brief view of the little box under the desk issuing a cloud of poisonous gas. Buh-bye.
Turn until you can see the armchair. Click on the chair. Find the little rectangular area on the arm of the chair that opens when you click it. Remove the little box from the arm of the chair. Inspect the box.
Put the burned-out fuse into the hole, and the box will open. Remove the key from the box.
Go back under the desk to look at the little box. Use your new key. You can now remove the cover of the box.
The white blob in the lower right is the explosive. Click on the wire that goes into the explosive to remove it. Congratulations! You're an expert bomb defuser! You may now safely remove the box from the wall
While you are here, put the old key (the one that opened the door) into the gap between the contacts on the wall where the box was removed.
IMPORTANT SAFETY TIP #4:
If you don't do this now, you will have to do this later, and if you inadvertently do it while there is power running to this circuit, you will fry like a chicken.
Inspect the box from under the desk, and click on the white blob of explosive. A small piece will come off.
Back up and turn until you are facing the odd glass case with the light bulb sculpture in it. Place the little bit of explosive on the case.
Time to power up the second projector. Go back to the fuse panel and put your good fuse into the left-hand slot. Return to the projector (which should be flashing a bunch of numbers on the little panel in the upper right) and press the power button. You should be treated to a lovely view of the case exploding open.
Grab the bulb. Return to the desk and put it in the lamp. Press the button on the base of the lamp to turn it on. A lovely blue light shines through the room.
Turn to look at the paintings on the wall. Note the shapes of the blue silhouettes now visible in the white spaces. Hmm... Do they correspond to any numbers? Why yes they do!
Face the door. Click on the keypad next to the door. Enter the four digits corresponding to the shapes on the paintings. The code is different each time you play. You should hear a beep and the green light on top of the keypad should light up.
You may now leave the room. Congratulations!
Posted by: Dan Someone | August 26, 2007 4:35 PM