Here at Weekday Escape we're always trying to bring you the latest and greatest in room escaping, although sometimes latest doesn't always mean greatest and vice versa. In this case we're going back in time, digging through archives of our favorite designers and coming up with a gem by Kotorinosu, Shape. Yes, long before Shadow, Dangerous GenKan Escape 2, or Mirror Escape, Kotorinosu decided to taunt us with a room escape that depends on your spatial perception and ability to observe and deduce using various shapes found around the room. This makes for not only one interesting theme (something often lacking in the room escape genre) but a lot of fun for the mid-week break.
The room in Shape is very bare, with sparse furnishings and little decoration. Move around this barren space with side-screen navigation bars and the occasional clicking on an item to gain a close up view. There is the usual room escape shenanigans involving finding and using any object that isn't nailed down, but the central theme of Shape are the puzzles and the shapes used to solve them. Despite the paucity of furnishings or other decor there is a lot of puzzle-solving to be had in this amusing little room escape.
Other than the lack of a changing cursor to indicate hot-spots there's not a lot to criticize in this wonderful mind exercise by Kotorinosu. The puzzles are logical and flow pretty easily from one to the other, there are no color puzzles to trip up the color challenged, numbers and letters are in English, and a keyboard is included in the game for the one puzzle that depends on a specific keyboard format. What is left is logical, fun, challenging escaping awesomeness for your room escaping entertainment.
Walkthrough Guide
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Shape Walkthrough
General Information
Pay special attention to shapes, whether on the wall, on the floor, or on other clues. Shapes are the key...
Remember to examine everything you pick up, objects may be hiding clues.
There is only one way out, although it may not be the way you are thinking...
Good luck!
Exploration
You begin by facing a couch. On the wall behind the couch are some interesting shapes.
Click on the right couch cushion to lift it and you will find a pencil (unsharpened). Take the pencil.
Click on the shapes on the back wall. Clicking between the two left shapes will bring them into close up. Clicking between the two right shapes will bring them into close up.
Nice shapes, aren't they? They may be important later.
There's one more thing to do here. Click on the right corner of the room and you will see that the rug flips back. Underneath is a button and a club symbol.
Back up then go to the left corner to find a button and a heart symbol. Back up.
Turn right.
You are now facing a large cabinet. There are two sliding doors at the bottom of the cabinet, two drawers in the middle, and two glass doors on the top of the cabinet.
Click on the bottom doors of the cabinet for a close up.
Click on the left door to open it. Inside is a note, take it.
While the note is in close up, click on it to open it up. Now you see colorful pictures that say "super slimes".
Notice that the lower right corner of the note is folded up slightly. Click on that corner to turn the paper over.
All you see on the back is a picture of a pencil. Maybe you need to draw on the note? But the pencil we have is unsharpened.
Close down the note, then click on the right sliding door to open it.
Inside is a box with a 4 digit code. No clue what it is right now, so back up twice.
Click on the drawers in the middle of the cabinet for a close up.
The close up of the drawers shows that the left one has a handle, while the right one is missing a handle.
Open the left drawer and take the object (book).
While the book is in close up click on the right side to open it. It says "When all else is lost..."
Click on the right page twice more to see another clue, a pentagon which equals 5.
Close down the book and back up.
Click on the glass doors at the top of the cabinet for a close up. There's some sort of bird figurine in there, but the doors are locked.
Back up.
There is a clock on the wall, but it is very high up. If you click on it, you will only see the underside.
Fortunately, there's a small footstool on the ground that moves. Click on the stool to move it underneath the clock, then click on the clock for a close up.
Now you can see the clock face. Click on the hands and you will see that there are three, and each has a shape on the end. Back up.
Before you leave check the corners of the room again. Now the club symbol is in the left corner, and in the right corner is another button and a diamond symbol. Back up.
Turn right.
You are now facing a fireplace. You can click on the fireplace for a close up, but there doesn't appear to be anything to do here.
The diamond symbol is now in the left corner, and there is a spade symbol and another button in the right corner.
Turn right.
You are now facing a door. Of course, it's locked.
The spade symbol is now in the left corner, and the heart symbol is in the right. So the corners of the room have card suits and buttons underneath the carpet.
Turn right.
You should now be back where you started, at the couch. Time to solve some puzzles!
The Four Digit Code Box
Turn right to face the cabinet, then click on the lower sliding doors for a close up.
Open the right sliding door to show the box.
Now we just need a code for the box.
Remember, this game is all about shapes...
The clue for the box is in the book (from the drawer). It said "When all else is lost..."
Look at the clue in the book again and notice that there is something funny about the fonts. Specifically, the shape of the word "else".
In fact, ELSE is actually upside down numbers. If you put them right-side up you will see the code 3573.
Put in the 4 digit code then click the "enter" button.
We now have a key!
Back up twice.
The Clock Puzzle
Place the stool underneath the clock and click on the clock.
The clock has three hands, and each hand has a different shape on it.
The clue for this puzzle is also in the book.
The clue in the book is the pentagon which equals 5. A pentagon has 5 sides.
Each clock hand has a shape, hexagon, square, and triangle.
Each shape has a specific number of sides. Hexagon = 6, square = 4, and triangle = 3.
Click on each hand to move it and place it on the number on the face that corresponds to the number of sides of the shape.
The hexagon hand goes to 6 o'clock, the square hand goes to 4 o'clock, and the triangle hand goes to 3 o'clock.
Once the hands are in place you will hear a loud click.
Click on the clock face to open it and reveal a box. Take the box.
The box is locked, and it has a 4 digit code that uses symbols.
Back up.
The Top Cabinet Doors (Glass Doors)
Click on the top (glass) cabinet doors for a close up.
Use the key to unlock the doors.
Take the bird figurine from inside. Notice that it has an odd-shaped hole on the top of its head.
Back up.
The Puzzle Box
Turn left to face the couch.
Look closely at the shapes on the wall behind the couch, then look closely at the box with the shapes buttons.
Again, shapes...
The shapes on the back wall are silhouettes of certain shapes on the buttons. Those shapes have been cut in half, then placed back to back.
The shape on the far left is the silhouette of the fish, if the fish was upright (head at the top and tail at the bottom).
The next shape (2nd from the left) is the snowman.
The third shape is the cat if it were tilted on its side (those notches are the ears).
The fourth shape is the skull.
Therefore the buttons need to be: fish, snowman, cat, and skull.
Pull up the box from your inventory, then set the buttons.
When you have the shapes correct, the buttons will spell "open". Click on the top of the box to open it.
Inside you will find a wind-up key, take it.
The Bird Figurine
Pull up the bird figurine from your inventory.
use the wind-up key in the hole in the head of the figurine. Yay, it's a wind-up toy!
But how do we wind it up?
The clue is in the note we found in the cabinet...
Pull up the note from your inventory.
Look closely, the clue is in the shapes, not the words or the colors.
Each shape has a wind-up key in a circle. Look closely at the circles.
Notice the arrows? Each circle has an arrow which indicates a direction, either right or left.
The sequence is: left, right, right, left, right.
Pull up the bird again. Notice if you hover your mouse over the wind-up key on the left or right, arrows appear. Use these to turn the key according to the clue on the note.
When you get the sequence correct the mouth will open to reveal...another key. Take the key.
Close down the bird.
The Drawer Handle
Well, we now have a key. Seems a bit early for the escape, though, doesn't it?
If you are still facing the couch, turn left to face the door.
Use the key you got from the bird on the door to unlock it. Yep, it's not a way out.
There are two drawings revealed by the open door, one on the wall, one on the inside bottom of the open door.
Click on the wall drawing, it appears to be mountains and a sun.
Click on the drawing on the inside bottom of the door.
It looks like a stick figure sitting on a long fence. Hmmm, have we seen a shape that looks like that fence?
Yes, we have. The grating on the fireplace.
Back up from the door and turn left.
Click on the fireplace for a close up.
Count the posts (the vertical pieces) of the grate from the left. The figurine's leg was the 5th from the left.
Click on the 5th from the left post and you get the drawer handle! Note: You cannot do this until you open the door and see the drawing.
Back up from the fireplace once you get the handle and turn left.
Click on the drawers in the middle of the cabinet for a close up.
Place the handle on the right drawer to open it and get a utility knife.
That'll come in handy!
The Four Corners Puzzle
If the knife is still in close up, click on it to extend the blade.
Close down the knife and pull up the unsharpened pencil.
Use the knife to sharpen the pencil.
Close down the pencil and pull up the note.
Click on the lower right corner to flip the note over. Notice the drawing of a pencil on the back?
Use the sharpened pencil on the back of the note. Now we have another drawing, a shape with a heart at the top.
A heart! Maybe this is a clue for the buttons underneath the carpet?
Look closely at the picture. Yes, another shape.
This time the shape indicates the order in which to push the buttons underneath the corners of the carpet.
If you look closely you will also see little arrows on the lines of the shape, indicating direction.
The line starts at the bottom, where the two little stick figures are, then it goes up to the heart shape.
From the heart it goes left, then across, then back up to the heart.
Imagine the room as an abstract shape, a diamond.
At the top of the diamond is the heart shape. That would mean that the bottom of the diamond is the diamond shape (it's across the room from the heart).
The spade would be the left point of the diamond, the club shape would be the right point.
Tracing the line of the drawing, you would start at the diamond, go up to the heart, left to the spade, right to the club, then back up to the heart.
So the order to push the buttons is: diamond, heart, spade, club, heart.
Once you push the buttons in the correct order you will hear a noise. Turn to the wall with the cabinet and the clock, and the cabinet has moved!
The Alcove
Enter the open space revealed by the cabinet.
Inside you will see a table with a computer on top. Underneath the table is an object on the floor, take it (magnifying glass).
Click on the table for a close up and you will see a drawer with a 3 digit code key.
Back up and click on the computer for a close up.
Click again on the screen and you will see two files, memo and image.
Click on memo and you will see & = 7.
Click on image and what looks like a drawing of the sun, although one of the lines is longer.
You can click on the keyboard of the computer for a close up. This will be handy.
If you click to the right of the keyboard you will see a USB slot for a flash drive of some sort.
Back up three times until you are back in the main room.
The Image Puzzle
The file on the computer labeled "image" showed a picture of a sun, but with one of the rays longer than the rest.
Where have we seen a picture of a sun?
Inside the door that goes nowhere, that's where!
Turn right (or left) twice to face the door, then open it.
Click on the picture of the mountains on the wall behind the door for a close up.
What can we add to this picture to make one of the rays longer?
How about the magnifying glass? Maybe it's a clue that we need to use the magnifying glass!
Use the magnifying glass on the sun picture and you will get three symbols: ( # $.
I'm sure that clue is useful for something...
Getting Out
Back up from the door, turn right (or left) twice to face the cabinet, then enter the alcove.
Click on the computer for a close up, then click on the keyboard for a close up.
This is a QWERTY keyboard. Notice the symbols above the numbers?
You can click on both the right and left side of the keyboard to see all of the numbers and symbols.
Using the symbol clue you got from the sun picture, you get the code 934 (9 = (, 3 = #, 4 = $).
Back up then click on the 3 digit code lock on the table beneath the computer.
Enter the 3 digit code and take the flash drive.
Back up, then click on the computer for a close up, then click to the right of the keyboard to see the USB slot.
Use the flash drive on the slot and back up once.
Notice that there is a third icon on the monitor now that says "exit".
Click on the monitor for a close up then click on the "exit" icon. A new picture pops up.
This appears to be a square frame of some kind, with a circle in the center where the cross-bars meet.
Where have we seen a shape like this before?
Back up three times to the main room.
Click on the glass doors on the top of the cabinet for a close up.
Click on the doors to open them. Note that the shelves now show a frame just like in the picture on the computer.
Click in the center where the cross bars meet and a button appears. Click on the button for a close up then click again.
Enjoy the cut-scene of the fireplace opening up.
Once the scene is done, back up twice then turn right once to face the fireplace.
Click inside the fireplace to escape!
Posted by: grinnyp | August 24, 2011 2:58 AM