Japanese game developer Dghgbakufu is one designer who combines simple yet beautiful visuals with challenging puzzles for escape games, and here's just one more great example in Concrete Stairs 3. There's no narration, no story, no music. Just a room. With puzzles... logical puzzles! Sometimes that's all we need out of a decent escape game. You extraordinary escapers know the drill; click to move around this room full of concrete stairs, examine and solve puzzles and collect just a few items to aid in your eventual freedom. Oh, and if you have a photographic memory this game will certainly exercise it. If not, a pen and paper might come in handy...
You only need to check the "Best Of" results of years past to view the amazing talents of escape game developers who favor sumptuous visuals and presentations. However, point-and-click aficionados can also appreciate the minimalist stylings of some game developers as long as the puzzles are strong and the escapee is left feeling that warm glow of satisfaction upon opening the final door, and Concrete Stairs 3 definitely succeeds there.
Walkthrough Guide
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Concrete Stairs 3 Walkthrough
General Information
Hover your mouse over the sides of the screen and any time you see a stairwell and the screen will darken slightly to indicate areas that can be moved to.
Use the mouse to click on clues for close-up views, and to solve puzzles.
There are four puzzles to solve, each one yielding a gem that you need to escape.
The puzzles and the clues are not exactly near each other, so there will be a fair bit of climbing and descending the stairs.
Navigation
Room 1
This room is the opening scene of the game.
In this room you will find the Arrow Safe Clue, which is a circular panel with a maze-like clue and a small unlocked safe.
Open the small safe to collect a PAPER CLUE.
Room 2
Click left from the view with the circular panel in Room 1 and go upstairs one level.
In this room you will find the Number Combination Safe, two small panels with coloured square combinations which are clues for the Four Colour Combination Safe (one red, one blue), and another flight of stairs leading up.
Room 3
From Room 2, in the view of the Number Combination Safe, click right once and go up the stairs.
In this room there's the Arrow Safe and a Colour Grid clue for the Numbers Safe.
Room 4
From the view of the Colour Grid Panel in Room 3, click right once and go upstairs.
This is the topmost room, and contains the Four Pillars, a set of stairs leading down to the other side and a lit passage that is inaccessible for now.
Room 5
From the view of the Four Pillars in Room 4, click left once and head down the stairs.
In this room you will find the Four Colour Combination Safe and the Four Green Buttons Safe Clue.
Room 6
From the view of the Four Colour Combination Safe in Room 5, click right once and head down another flight of stairs.
In this room there are two small panels on one wall with coloured squares which are also a clue for the Four Colour Combination Safe (one green, one gray), and the Four Green Buttons Safe.
Going down the stairs from this room takes you back to Room 1.
The Puzzles
The Arrow Safe
The Arrow Safe is located in Room 3
Using the buttons on either side of the arrow, you can rotate the arrow both clockwise and counter-clockwise.
But in which directions do we move the arrow to crack the safe?
The clue to the arrow safe is in the opening screen of the game.
Screenshot.
Click the buttons in the following order:
1 x Right
3 x Left
1 x Right
1 x Left
2 x Right
When you hear the click, click back out to open the safe and collect the 4-SIDED RED GEM from inside.
The Four Green Buttons Safe
This safe is in Room 6 (just off Room 1).
Looks like the buttons need to be clicked in a particular order to crack this safe.
Locate the clue for this safe by clicking out of the close up view, click left once and go straight up the stairs.
Screenshot.
The idea is to read the columns from left to right but imagine that each column is divided into 8 segments from top to bottom, so read from left to right 8 times starting from top left and finishing at bottom right. For instance, the first line across the top will be all gray, so no clicks. The second line produces one green square in the third column so click button 3 first. The third line going from left to right shows that buttons 1 & 2 are still gray, button 3 is still green and now button 4 needs to be green, so the second click is button 4. And so on...
This results in a combination of 6 clicks.
Click the buttons in the following order, from left to right:
3
4
1
3
2
1
3
When you hear the click, click back out and open the safe to collect the 10-SIDED YELLOW GEM from inside.
The Four Colour Combination Safe
This safe is in Room 5.
There's a grid with buttons that when clicked on show Red, Green, Blue and Gray.
But what's the combination?
The clues for this safe are in two separate rooms.
There are four panels with groups of four squares in different colours.You can find the clues in Rooms 2 & 5.
The idea is to place the combinations of colours in jigsaw like fashion so that they fit on the grid.
Screenshot.
For the colour-blind, click the buttons on the grid in the following order:
1-2-2-2
1-1-3-2
1-0-3-3
0-0-0-3
When you hear the click, click back out and open the safe to collect the 6-SIDED GREEN GEM
The Number Combination Safe
This safe is in Room 2.
There are two clues for this safe.
In the opening screen on the opposite wall to the circular panel is a safe. Click to open the safe for a paper clue showing three different coloured columns with lists of letters.
The second clue is a wall panel showing a higgledy-piggledy grid with 3 different coloured columns, and can be found in the room with the Arrow Safe. Screenshot.
The idea is to fill each column in the higgledy-piggledy grid with the letters from each column on the paper clue, corresponding by colour.
The result looks something like this (which hopefully will assist people with colour-blindness in solving this one):
--G--S----S--SZ-GR--N-R-
-RX-ZV-NF-V-
NVESXO-FH-O-
FOUREIGHTSIX
HI-VU-ZTWR--
T--O--XW-V--
W--I--E--O--
------U--I--
Locate the four numbers hidden in the grid.
486
Use the numbers on the safe and when you hear the click, click back out and open the safe to collect the 8-SIDED BLUE GEM
The Four Pillars
Each pillar has a slot on top for gems to be placed into.
From left to right, the slots need a 4-sided object, a 6-sided object, an 8-sided object and a 10-sided object.
Place the gems in the following order from left to right:
4-sided Red Gem
6-sided Green Gem
8-sided Blue Gem
10-sided Yellow Gem
Once the slots on the pillars have been filled, your escape will become clear.
Posted by: Chiktionary
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January 4, 2012 4:37 PM