[The following is a winning entry in the YouAreGames: Reviewers, Assemble! contest. Congratulations to Mike for writing the winning entry, and thank you to everyone who sent in Lights reviews!]
I don't remember what happened, but somehow I have awoken in a strange room. In the room with me are several desks, atop of which are several computers. There is no apparent exit.
Examine computers.
Each one is displaying a Room Escape game! If it weren't for the fact that I am trapped in this room with amnesia and a headache, I would find this development delightfully postmodern!
Play Room Escape 1.
That did not take very long. The puzzles were obvious, the narrative facile, and judging from the art I'd say the developer is heavily fond of the line tool in MS Paint. What a disappointing Room Escape game!
Play Room Escape 2.
This game is at least attractively rendered, but I am at a loss for what to do next.
Examine sofa.
Nothing happens.
Examine behind sofa.
Again, nothing happens.
Examine next to sofa, just where the shadow intersects the floor and baseboard.
GAAH, nothing, GAAH!
Examine walkthrough.
It says I should click just to the right of the sofa's shadow, below and to the left of the potted fern, but just outside the shadow of said fern. Really, Mr. Developer! This persistent, persnickety pixel-hunting has put me off this particular program, permanently!
Play Room Escape 3.
I have collected a glass of water, a scrubbing pad, a pair of nail clippers, and a stuffed toy capybara. What now?
Click about randomly.
Hrmm...
Combine objects randomly.
Well then...
Examine walkthrough.
Oh for criminy's sake on a rusty pogo stick! I'm supposed to plug in the toaster on the counter, shear the wire with the clippers, pour water on the wire, then scrub the resulting burn marks from the formica to reveal the code to unlock the icebox?! This insidious, ill-formed illogic insults my innate inductive intelligence, indeed!
Play Room Escape 4: Lights.
Hey I recognize the developer, Neutral, responsible for such gems as Sphere, Vision, and other classics of the Escape the Room genre. Perhaps this new game, Lights, will live up to the standards of its predecessors.
Continue playing Lights.
Huzzah, this game is all I could hope for and more! Warm, inviting 3D environments! Clever puzzles that don't rely on excessive pixel hunting or bizarre leaps in space-logic! Even Full Motion Video footage of an adorable Papillon! This computer title calls out its so-called competitors and, uh, okay, this one is getting away from me.
Examine just-opened secret door, revealing green fields, sunshine, daffodils, and two ponies.
Maybe in a second, after I find the secret ending.
Analysis: I do like me my escape games, bite-size portions of adventure gaming that they are, but while I am a little more tolerant than our alliterative protagonist, I do share some of his frustrations with the genre. It's a type of game whose creation is easy to execute but difficult to master, and even the best games often suffer the same pitfalls. It's tough to come up with puzzles that are at once difficult enough not to be boring but logical enough not to be frustrating. The remarkable thing about Lights, and Neutral's games in general, is that they walk this line with aplomb.
The trick is that the game keeps no undue secrets. What I mean is, all the items and locked cabinets are apparent either from the wide shots of the room, or from looking closely at things you were likely to look at anyway. You never stall because you weren't clicking on the right place to open the proper drawer, so the challenge is not in finding these secrets, but in figuring out what to do with them. What's more, the puzzles are interconnected, so you never feel like you are hopping from one discrete puzzle to another. This overall sense of momentum accounts for a large part of Lights' success.
Another area where Lights succeeds is in instilling a sense of exploration. New areas are constantly opening up, so just as you have exhausted one part of the room, a new part is made available to explore. One of the best parts of classic adventure games is the feeling of making new discoveries, and it is great that Neutral recreates this sense in micro-form.
Plus, even though I'm a cat person, I really do like the Papillon. Or is it a Pomeranian? Either way, it's totally unaccountable.
I should note what might be a small quibble for some people. There is a reflex-based mini-game that you must beat to progress in the game, and while I had no problem with it, it might not be what some are looking for in an escape game. There is an easy mode for this game, but this has the downside of taking much longer to complete.
Quibble aside, Lights is easily another grand success for the Neutral development team. If you like escape rooms with logical puzzles, exploration, and cute, tiny dogs, then I highly recommend it.
Walkthrough Guide
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Lights Walkthrough
Examine trunk - note key is chained to padlock.
Take binoculars - note 4 holes in shelf.
Return to first screen. Look up.
Use binoculars with marks on window frame. Note tic-tac-toe board.
Examine plants. Note screw in pot of yucca plant (far left).
Examine central picture to reveal green buttons.
Turn right. Look under right hand side of couch for duck head.
Examine duck head to see that the stem is hexagonal.
Look under brown cushion for handheld game.
Look to left side of couch (below watering can) - look behind couch to collect ball of paper.
Unfurl ball of paper to get info for green buttons behind central picture.
Look on top shelf of circular shelves.
Collect orange ruler from right of green box.
Note hole in box is hexagonal.
Use duck head with box.
Look to right of couch. Press red button. Note holes above and below button.
Note grille closes when button is not depressed.
Turn right. Look at high shelf. Examine paper behind vase.
Examine hamster picture. Note screw behind frame.
Examine door, note 3 digit code in Roman numerals.
Turn right. Open bottom drawer of desk. Remove solar-powered device.
Examine device. Note 4 feet on bottom.
Examine light and function of on/off buttons.
Look at right of desk. Note letters.
Use orange ruler with letters to find code.
Turn right. Place solar-powered device on shelf where you removed binoculars.
Look at central picture. Use code from letters, orange ruler, and ball of paper to obtain key.
D heart, A diamond, A diamond, C star, B heart was my code, but this changes each game.
Use key with desk drawer to obtain hook and rope.
Use hook and rope with screwdriver.
Return to button on couch. Press button, pull rope.
Collect screwdriver.
Use screwdriver on screw behind hamster picture.
Move cupboard.
Open hatch. Note code.
Code corresponds to placement of noughts and crosses on tic-tac-toe board.
Using O for on and X for off button (as indicated by the piece of paper behind the vase), use the code on the light to obtain a battery.
Use screwdriver on plant to to obtain a locked box.
Use locked box on key padlocked to trunk. Open box.
Get second battery from now unlocked box.
Use batteries with handheld game.
Play Hiyoko Bridge handheld game. Note hiscore.
Beat the hiscore to obtain code for duck head.
Use code from beating hiscore on Hiyoko Bridge to obtain flat-head screwdriver.
Use flat-head screwdriver with panel on door. You now have a panel and some screws.
Use binoculars to obtain triangle code from hallway.
Use panel and screws with red button on sofa.
Retrieve key from grille.
Use key with green triangle picture.
Press buttons according to triangle code from hallway. Get catapult.
Use nuts with catapult.
Use catapult with key in hallway to obtain key - you may have to hit it several times!
Use binoculars again - note 4 digit numerical code.
Return to solar-powered device. Note the function of the buttons.
Red button is 'enter', central button multiplies by 10, right button adds 7. Use buttons in combination to input numerical code.
Obtain Roman numeral code from solar-powered device.
Use Roman numeral code with cupboard to obtain pet food dish.
Return to hatch. Place pet food dish on red spiral.
A dog will return with the key, but won't drop it.
Return to solar-powered device. Input code again. When the bell rings, return to the hatch to collect the ball.
Use ball with hole behind triangles picture.
Collect can of dog food from grille.
Open can. Use can with food dish.
Shut hatch and reopen. Dog should now be eating the food. Collect key.
Unlock door.
Lift cushion, note bone.
Lift triangles panel.
Turn around. Look behind the door. Note code.
Look at bars.
Press red button.
Turn back around. Note penguin picture is now on floor to reveal an alcove.
Use the new code with the puzzles to obtain the key.
Use the key to open the door. You're free!
Posted by: xadoc
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June 2, 2009 3:12 PM
For the second ending:
Follow xadoc's walkthrough (thank you for typing that all up, xadoc!) but stop at step 73! Instead of taking the first exit, follow these steps:
DON'T use the key on the door! Turn it over and look at the back. I think it's a random number.
Use the four digit number on the solar powered box. The panel should open and give you a key.
Use the key on the chest. Get the mirror.
Looks like the mirror has a place to hang it. Where have you seen things hanging?
There's three pictures hanging. Which one is pointing at something that needs light?
The far left painting. Hang the mirror from the hook (you don't need to move the painting.
Go back down the hall where the light is now shining. There seems to be a solar panel under that arrow panel. But it won't stay open...
Hold it open until the lights all light up.
The bars to the doggy hall are now open!
Posted by: Lorem Ipsum
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June 2, 2009 3:59 PM
FYI a general purpose trick to solving the number box (step 55 on Xadoc's walkthrough):
Look at only the least significant (right-hand) digit. Figure out what multiple of 7 has that digit. Then subtract that from the 4 digit number, and work on the 2nd place.
For example, say your number is 2472:
2452
-42 (7*6)
------
241_
-21 (7*3)
------
22__
-42 (7*6)
------
-2___ becomes 8 (since there are no negatives)
To solve, work backwards (x can be anything): press left button until you get x8, then middle to shift. Press left until x22, then shift. Then left until x241, shift, left until 2452.
It's admittedly a little confusing, but it worked for me.
Posted by: OverZealous
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June 2, 2009 4:10 PM