6 Doors Escape

This was really bad.

The idea of having several interlocking mini-rooms is a good one, and the Weekday Escape are full of examples of this concept being done well (most notably, some of the Esklavos games that received coverage fairly recently). But this is just incoherent. The puzzles aren't challenging at all, the item collection is annoying and nonsensical, and in addition to being very obviously made of lazily-photoshopped random images, it's not even particularly appealing lazy photoshop, as far as lazy photoshop goes. Does someone involved own First Escape Games or profit somehow from people accidentally clicking the obnoxiously in-the-way "dangerous forest escape" banner? I literally cannot think of another explanation for this.

It's understandable that under these circumstances, it's difficult to maintain the same standards of quality control. However, the reason that people care about this site is that you've had some standards of quality control. It's not that hard to make sure something isn't terrible.

Yes, everyone is entitled to their opinions. So here's mine.

• The picture in the review doesn't match the game. Not sure why. (-1).

• Decent graphics. (+1).

• Annoying banner. (-1).

• You have to hunt for a few hidden objects that blend into the background - that's fine. It tests my observations skills. (+1)

• You have to hunt for a few hidden objects that are invisible - that sucks. The only way to find them is to move your mouse back and forth until the cursor changes. (-1)

• It's obvious where some of the items/clues are to be used. It's so easy, it feels like it's a game for kids. (-1 because I'm an adult).

• For other items, there is no way of knowing where they are to be used - no clues, no logical connection, no cursor change. The only way to work it out is to drag and drop the items EVERYWHERE until you get lucky. (-5).

• Items/clues found in one place are used in another place, which sometimes involves backtracking. Normally, that's a positive. But because of the previous point, it becomes a negative. (-5)

• "Hint" button takes you to a video walkthrough. That's not a hint. (-1).

That gives a grand total of -13.
I can't even give it one mushroom.

Did I have fun? In case it wasn't obvious, the answer is no.

This post is not directed at anyone. It's just my subjective opinion of this game.

Pixel hunting, followed by more difficult pixel hunting. I didn't have too much fun.

That said, kudos to Dixie for getting out there, trying to find a game worth playing, and submitting something she enjoyed.

Thanks for posting the game, Dixie. I liked the bright colours, I liked how it went back and forth with new areas becoming live in old places. I didn't mind the very simplistic puzzles very much; I probably wouldn't have minded them at all if I wasn't frustrated by pixel hunting.

But I have to agree about the pixel hunting. It was bad enough on the first screen, but it got to be terrible near the end with so many places to search, plus having to search everywhere with a knife or a crowbar. (I finally used a video walkthrough to save some of the pixel hunting, but there was a bit of hunting even with the walkthrough to help.)

It would have been a great game if only there was something that made every hotspot stand out visually just a little bit.

I was sad to notice that the main emotion I felt at the end was relief, not satisfaction.

I think we should consider some points. Again, sorry for my English:

-Errare humanum est: I made a mistake with the image. It's fixed now.

-You have perfectly the right to not like the game but some people like it so it's a bit rude to speak about 'maintain the same standards of quality' while this game is decent. The current note is around 3.50. We met worst ratings...

-This game is in a 'Play This!' format and not in a 'Review' format (the tab linked to the article). Dora already explained when she created this new format that 'Play This!' format is for the games which deserve to be tried. They do not meet our best standards of quality for a 'Review' but they deserve something.

-I receive 1-2 review per day so around 7-10 per week.
I test all of them but publish only one or two per week so the control of the quality is still there but unfortunately Mateusz Skutnik does not produce a game every week.

-We are not affiliated in any way with the site which has the banner in the game. So no profit there.

-I prefer to encourage. So thank you again Dixie for sharing this game and for the next one, please find a true gem!

Thank you Ernest for your comment. For sure it helps a lot.
I should have written 'This game is now in a 'Play This! format'.

i concur with ernest about all the effort going into keeping jay is games up and running... i was crushed after graeme set lazy laces aside (he has a busy life with his work, wife, a 2 young kids) but i almost cried when it looked like JIG was going as well...
thank everyone for all their efforts!

that being said, i didn't think this game was as terrible as some others do... there were some annoying spots i.e.

but i pushed through and still enjoyed the game :)

I was a little dismayed to see a game from one of the low-effort Flash game factories featured here. There's no shortage of them unfortunately, pumping out games at the rate of one or more a day, and they're all just pixel hunts, code papers, and finding shapes, repeat ad nauseam. I always looked to JiG to sort the wheat from the chaff, and this is certainly chaff. It isn't that it's not a Neutral game - very little is - it's that games like this are just mindless clicking. There's nothing to figure out, no puzzle, the digital equivalent of putting shapes into holes.

But the sad truth is, there's very little wheat being produced anymore, certainly in browser gaming. The quality developers we used to see so much content from have either stopped or drastically slowed development and there's no one new to fill that growing void. Mobile gaming seems to be where the industry is heading, especially with Flash on its deathbed. So I don't know what the answer is, but I hope featuring more of whatever this game is isn't it. Not having to wade through this sort of thing has always been what sets JiG apart.

Okay I played it, and I see what people mean about it being "bad".
It certainly does induce frustration during gameplay.

There are games similar to this that are lovely to play. I think my opinion of the game would become much higher if just one thing was 'fixed'. E.g. make the cursor change over ALL the hotspots, not just some. Might be helpful information for the developer. Heck, I wouldn't even begin to be able to make a game like that one.

It's often the little things that draw us in or repel us to a game.

For example, the handful of bugs and glitches that still exist in Lego video games years later is the reason I never rush to pay full price. Still love them, but FFS if you can spend time making sure Captain Jack Sparrow walks with a little swagger, you can check to see if you've forgotten to test for sticking spots or if you actually finished making that bridge.