Trapped Part 2: The Dark
Rodrigo Roesler of Rabbit Tell has released Trapped Part 2: The Dark, the middle installment in a trilogy of puzzle adventure games distinguished by a literary flavor and an unusual perspective. The Dark, like The White Rabbit before it, gives you a third-person isometric view of the story. You move your well-dressed, blank-faced character by clicking on the floor where you want him to stand, or on the object you'd like him to investigate. Helpfully, your pointer will turn red when it rolls over things in the environment you can affect directly.
Use objects you've found by clicking on your "items" tab to bring up your inventory, then on the item you need, and finally on whatever you'd like to use it on. You can't combine items directly, so often you'll need to utilize several objects in turn to solve complex problems. Using the [i] key to raise the inventory menu and [T] to put away items in hand will make your life easier.
I also recommend selecting "zoom" on the "options" tab as soon as humanly possible, in order to save yourself some unhealthy squinting. Those of you who had your eyeglass prescription permanently altered by the last game may now breathe a sigh of relief.
Play all the games in the Trapped series:
Analysis: This series has a lot more in common with the old Infocom text adventures than it does with modern point-and-click games. Rather than relying on abstract puzzles and thorough visual investigation, the Trapped games plop you in a mundane environment, lavish you with a huge inventory, and then ask you to be extremely clever.
You'll have to become the MacGyver of amnesiac adventure game heroes, usually making the best out of what you have, since few of the items you'll find look like keys that fit specific locks. Of course, everything in The Dark does have a purpose, but sometimes you'll feel like you're just picking up random bric-a-brac and contraptioning your way through the game. It's refreshing.
The downside is that the logic of the game world isn't entirely consistent. Some of the puzzles require knowledge of the real world, while others require a kind of dream logic, and it's difficult to know what type of problem-solving you need to apply when. Sometimes you won't even know what obstacle you're supposed to be tackling. If you enjoy having your brain stretched in surprising directions, you might love it. But it also might prove very frustrating.
Just remember that nearly everything you see or read is an important clue, even if it just looks like a touch of atmosphere.
Of course, text adventures had one giant advantage: the length of time it took to do anything was exactly equal to the time it took to type it. Here, you have to watch your hero amble slowly from place to place, often without knowing if you're making progress. Thankfully, Roesler confines the opening puzzles to a limited area, but by the end of The Dark, you'll once again be wandering around a giant maze of rooms any time you want to try a new tactic. It must be possible to fix this without sacrificing the series' distinctive style.
Cheers to Mariolinamay, Max, Softer, Stephen, Mauvejet, and Kari for suggesting this one. =)
Walkthrough Guide
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this is the walkthrough, in fullness. i dont take credit for any of it, im just bringing it together in one part
COMPLETE WALKTHROUGH:
Walk to circle of light, take COIN, BLACK KEY
Walk to long table, take BOOK, CONCRETE SPHERE, FLASK OF GLYCERINE
Click on MIRROR twice, take MIRROR
Click on small table to place MIRROR facing the long table
Click on MIRROR
Click on long table to take METAL BAR
Enter Room 2
Walk to small table, take WINE, GUNPOWDER
Return to Room 1
Place GUNPOWDER in locked door
Use LIGHTER on GUNPOWDER/locked door
Take CHAIN
Enter Room 3
Walk to small table, take COMPASS, JELL-O
Walk to long (not L) table, take MAGNIFYING LENS
Click on scale model 3x to take SMALL COIN, SMALL KEY
Return to Room 1
Use KNIFE to remove loose stone on "North" wall, take MAGNET
Return to Room 3
Use BLACK KEY on door to enter Room 4
Use MAGNET to take METAL COVER
Use CHAIN on watermill and ring on brick wall
Use METAL BAR on watermill
Click on hole (where METAL COVER was) to turn on water
Return to Room 1
Use LIGHTER on long table's Bunsen burner
Use METAL COVER on Bunsen burner
Use FLASK OF GLYCERIN on Bunsen burner
Use WINE on Bunsen burner
Enter Room 2
Take WOODEN BOARD from flooded hole
Fill FLASK with water
Return to Room 1
Use FLASK OF WATER on Bunsen burner
Use JELL-O on Bunsen burner
Use FLASK on Bunsen burner
Enter Room 4 via Room 3
Use WATERPROOF GLUE on watermill
Use WOODEN BOARD on watermill
Go through hole in brick wall to enter Room 5
Use SMALL KEY to open the safe, take MEMO, CARVED CRYSTAL
Return to Room 1 via Room 4, 3
Take MIRROR, place in circle of light
Place MAGNIFYING LENS on small table
Place CARVED CRYSTAL on small table
Click on wall to view--take note of the marks' locations (which ring, which spoke; this changes per game)
Return to Room 5 via Room 3, 4
Unlock door using CARVED CRYSTAL's marks--note the various ring sizes to the right of each dial and match up the marks
Enter Room 6
Return to Room 5
Return to Room 6
Climb up ladder
Flip down trapdoor
Click on diary, take RED KEY
Use RED KEY on door to enter "MASTER" BEDROOM
Use SMALL COIN on scale model well
Take PILE OF WOOD
Walk to well, take DEAD FROG
Enter KITCHEN
Face cupboards, take SPOON, COOKING PAN
Walk to refrigerator, take MEAT
Walk to table, take CABBAGE LEAF
Enter HALL
Click on both sides of bar to take ICEPICK, VODKA
Click on armchair to take BUSINESS CARD
Walk to left potted plant
Use SPOON on plant to take COIN
Enter CORRIDOR
Enter LIVING ROOM (upper right door)
Click on bookshelf to take BOOKMARK
Click on armchair under window to take SMALL KEY
Return to CORRIDOR
Enter BATHROOM (lower right door)
Click on toilet 2x to take NEWSPAPER
Click on sink to turn on water
Use COOKING PAN on sink
Return to KITCHEN via CORRIDOR, HALL
Use PILE OF WOOD on stove
Use VODKA on stove
Use LIGHTER on stove
Use COOKING PAN on stove
Use CABBAGE LEAF on stove, click to take COOKED CABBAGE
Return to YARD
Use COOKED CABBAGE on dog
Use MEAT on dog
Return to KITCHEN
Return to YARD
Use SPOON on dirt by well to take CRAP KEY
Use COIN on well
[haha...] Use COIN on well, take THINGAMAJIG
Use ICEPICK on rabbit statue
Use DEAD FROG on rabbit statue
Click on KITCHEN door
Click on rabbit statue to take FROG, BROKEN ICEPICK
Return to HALL via KITCHEN
Use CRAP KEY on DINING ROOM door
Face low cabinet, take JELLY JAR
Walk to long side table, take BUSINESS CARD
Use SMALL KEY to unlock short side table, take COIN
Return to KITCHEN via HALL
Use JELLY JAR on flies over cabbage
Enter YARD
Use JAR OF FLIES on small hole in wall
Use FROG on small hole in wall, take METAL PIECE
Use COIN on well
Return to LIVING ROOM via KITCHEN, HALL, CORRIDOR
Call WR National Bank (see NEWSPAPER; 555-2265)
Return to HALL via CORRIDOR
Click envelope by front doors, take CREDIT CARD
Enter KITCHEN
Use CREDIT CARD to open knobless door
Enter "CLOSET"
Use CONCRETE SPHERE on battery acid on floor, take METAL PIECE
Return to HALL via KITCHEN
Use THINGAMAJIG on metal box on end table
Use METAL PIECE on metal box
Use METAL PIECE on metal box
Take WHITE KEY
Enter CORRIDOR
Use WHITE KEY to unlock BEDROOM
Use KNIFE on man [awuh-oh!]
Click on man, take FRONT DOOR KEY
Click on BEDROOM door
Posted by: andy | January 5, 2008 5:12 PM