October 2017 Archives

So, I ask you, landlubbers, arrrre you ready to walk the plank - I mean, be locked in an escape room? Recently, we reviewed Trapped: Wayne's Chamber, a one-room escape theme where you must find incriminating evidence on a serial killer. Now there's already a sequel - Trapped 2: Pirates is the second in this series, revolving this time around a swashbuckling theme. Supposedly, Captain Morgan's chamber is full of treasure, and it's your chance to escape and make off with it! Somehow Mike has survived from that first encounter with Wayne and is enthusiastically prepared for a second dose. You're going to need all your intuition and wits about you, though, to solve the puzzles and make off with the pirate loot. Oh, and did I mention, the treasure's cursed? Not that you would believe that, mind you...

I played Beglitched a few months ago, so my excitement about it isn't as high as it was then, but I do know that I enjoyed it. What may turn people off about it initially is that looks like another match-3 game, but like Gridland, the Match-3 mechanic is paired with a strategy element that makes it engaging, in addition to the visual aesthetic and art and dialogue.

Have you ever played one of those real-life scenarios where you were placed in a room and given a certain amount of time to escape? In one of their newest adventures, Carmel Games gives you, the main character, a one-room escape challenge. Follow Mike along in his visit and search for the evidence needed to convict a serial killer! You'll need to solve several puzzles and mysteries, including the killer's...dentist appointment? There's also a stranger you will encounter, despite that there is no mention of it by the clerk who let you in. What could he be doing there?

It seems that the weeks are getting shorter and shorter...believe it or not, it's Wednesday again and the new Weekday Escape is here!

With MayMay you visit three one-scene rooms and all the codes you break and the puzzles you solve lead to ownership of five candies. Really. Riddle Escape locks you in traditional Japanese room (again) with your four lollipops (five minus the green one given to the snail) and before you get out of there they are licked away! Good, after escaping from Funkyland's rooms you'll need some space in your stomach to pack down edible reward.

Have a good time and enjoy!

Growing up is naturally one of life's most fun adventures. But with that being said, it can also be challenging. Sometimes these challenges come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and several different adjectives.

Butterfly Soup is labelled on the tin as a game about "gay Asian girls playing baseball and falling in love" but that one-clause description really doesn't do it justice. The meticulous attention to detail and effort placed into character development set it a tier above many others in the genre. Using an optional feature showing the internal thoughts of the characters, you are shown a much more complete picture of their thoughts, feelings, and fears. The pacing of the story is also constructed well, showing how the four girls' stories intertwine as you change point of view throughout the game from one girl on to the next.

Using a dinghy to cross the ocean can be filled with danger. Before you know it, something will puncture your dinghy and you end up on an island with fighting crabs and monkeys, where you have to collect coconuts to trade for bones and material to fix that dinghy again.

Quick, think of something you wouldn't be caught dead doing. Basketball? Springing off a trampoline? Mini golf? KabisCube has taken the concept literally in their refreshing platformer Corpse Box Racers, built with Unity. Your character is a ragdoll type stick figure whose time on this world may have come to an end, but fun with them is only beginning! Your objective is to keep their body safely inside a cardboard box as you race through levels and do all sorts of stunts, some no less than throwing the body through a hoop to score points. I recommend playing through the campaign mode first to familiarize yourself with the controls and mechanics, then moving on to some challenges or infinite mode.

Life can be a bit pretentious sometimes, can't it? Today we bring you another installment in the Pretentious Game series first featured on JiG four years ago.

The new Weekday Escape is here, time to reward yourself after a week's hard work!

A long time has passed since you visited Maroya's place. The kittens are still there, not a day older and waiting for your help. After you are done with cats, little robot in Cyonmage's game needs your help too in the experiment measuring its intelligence quotient. The next Gatamari's game is a long one and requires concentration and "do not disturb" sign on door. And finally comes a special bonus, an excellent game by Leonard 2:50!

Have a good time and enjoy!

You find yourself in a familiar place with a yet unfamiliar feeling: in the middle of your large but empty high school building. As you pace the desolate halls, nothing but the occasional sound disturbs you: a bell rings, a door mysteriously slams shut. Your only form of interaction in this place appears to be with scattered notes and an archaic computer system. It appears that your character is in the middle of some investigative journalism, asking questions about something innocuous as soda, despite more foreboding matters. When you finally approach the abandoned computer workstation, it is almost as if it is trying to speak out to you. Even more bizarre, apparently someone has gone missing from the school in a cold-case twist all these years ago, and it is up to you to resolve the mystery...

Wake up... Wake up! It's time to wake up now, again! But wait, something strange is going on. You're reliving the same day over and over again. Possum Town clearly needs your help to try and solve this mystery. It might have to do something with that Music Box.

Just a kindly reminder, it's Wednesday. That means three escape games are here for your fun!

All three games are of the same style this week. Shiesuta has locked you up in nice room with garden view, Neat Escape invited you to a traditional inn and has you locked up there too and Riddle Escape, for a change, left you locked in a temple entrance hall. What a manners! At least they left the music on.

Have a good time and enjoy!

In Walls can Bleed, you explore another of Lu Muja's creations, which can be called anything but dead content. Playing as Detective Margh with the aid of your vowelless partner Ghvnn, your aim is to help gun shop owner Bratatat with an alleged "phantom robber." As a world-class detective in this world, you naturally agree to give this case your best shot. A message reading "I KNOW YOU DID IT" is streaked in red across the back of a wall. According to Bratatat, the message continues to reappear, even after he's washed the wall. Frustrated, the owner sets out a security camera with the aim of capturing the culprit on film. However, there is only one problem - the video never manages to capture anything, just the appearance of the mysterious letters again!

Do you remember when you used to go visit your friend? They lived deep in the woods, just across the old railroad tracks in their house. It was always a long walk to get there but well worth it, even if your mother didn't exactly approve. And so is the premise of Rook's Wirewood Daughters. You'll want to grab your headphones and turn the volume up for this one as you drift through the ephemeral puzzle world. The soundtrack will haunt you, and as you progress through the game, a girl's voice narrates the backstory. You pick up object after object - random, typical things and yet wonder if they carry and sort of significance in this very surreal walk through the woods.

Your Weekday Escape, your relax and your escape from everyday routine is here!

MayMay's game is full of puzzles, but there is no reward for solving them, they let you repair and paint your wall only. Tired from painting all you want is to get home and have some rest, but alas, Vitamin Hana has changed the entry door code! And Neat Escape locked you on a balcony in peaceful sunny day, not to sunbathe or admire a view, but to escape.

Have a good time and enjoy!

Hello loyal, long-time users and readers of JiG. I come back to you again asking for your help and support. The situation of JayIsGames is critical, with a lack of funds to maintain the servers hosting the whole site: 11k reviews and 5k games since 2003.

You can mainly help us with two actions:

-pledge money using Patreon or Paypal. Every month we have fewer Patrons who unfortunately pledge less money. We were around $900 a month one year ago and we are now at $480. As you know, every contribution is appreciated and give some privileges with beautiful badges. You can see more details there: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=915465

-contribute by writing reviews for games you played and enjoyed recently. We work with a Google doc so it's very easy. One year ago we had more than 25 persons who wanted to write. They did awesome work and I really want to thank them for all the time devoted to JiG. Unfortunately we have now only Chrpa and Arceus who continue to contribute actively. I want to thank them too for their loyalty. So we need new writers/reviewers, or maybe some of them who are already in the list and read this message might want to help more now.

I'm open to other suggestions, ideas (even change of ownership) in order to help the site reach a broader audience. We created a forum ( https://jayisgames.com/forum/ ) to promote discussion on all games (not only the games which were reviewed). So please feel free to use it to discuss the games you like, don't like, games where you need help etc. The JiG community is a 14 year old community. It would be a shame to have to change the name to Jay Is Dead.

Thanks in advance.