I hate the winter. I know, I know, just last week I was rhapsodizing about white Christmases and hot chocolate and all sorts of cozy cold-weather indulgences... 
but seriously, there comes a time when it's just too much. For me, that moment occurred last Friday; after spending the morning watching a beautiful snowfall from my apartment, I ventured out into the day to find... gray, grimy slush. Sleet. Slippery sidewalks that threatened my life at least eighteen thousand times. After five miserable minutes of trudging through the streets, my boots soaked by a deceptively deep icy puddle, I decided that I was finished with all this silly winter stuff. I want blue skies! Warm seas! A deck upon which to lounge, preferably while sipping a ridiculously frilly drink (at least two umbrellas, please). I need a Weekday Escape at the Cottage! Good as the real thing? Not quite. It is still, however, an invigorating shot of sunny goodness in the midst of this dreary week.
Cottage is a lovely little game from 58works in Japan. It really does manage to convey the feeling of inhabiting a private island getaway; the graphics are so gorgeous and the colors so rich that I could nearly feel the balmy breeze. Paradoxically, of course, your task is to escape from this little piece of paradise. Luckily, doing so is a lot of fun. Cottage manages to successfully combine cleverness with a relatively low level of difficulty; while the puzzles may seem simple, they are still creative and inspired enough to delight even the veteran escape gamers among us. Due to the fairly straightforward progression through the game, Cottage will not take up all that much of your time. In my opinion, however, a short, beautifully-crafted experience is infinitely superior to a longer, less-polished game, and Cottage is without doubt one of the most refined and professionally created escape games that I've played in the recent past.
Cottage's interface is flawless and intuitive, and pixel-hunting is nowhere to be found (ha ha ha). I do wish that the developers had included some sort of music, as the game's near-silence does somewhat detract from its otherwise-cheerful atmosphere; besides this quibble, however, Cottage is just about perfect. Fabulous graphics, fun puzzles, and an adorably surprising ending... it warms even my cold, grumpy New Yorker's heart.
Make a mojito, shed your sweater and turn up the heat!
Walkthrough Guide
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Beat it! Let's see if I can get a walkthrough out before anyone else...
click on the deck chairs to zoom in to that part of the scene
lift up the left cushion. take the wooden "x"
lift up the right cushion. notice the spot of red beyond the right chair and take the red martini
back up from the deck chairs. click on the right plant to zoom into that part of the scene
take the other wooden "x" that is in the railing.
back up from the plants. click the "x" you just got and the magnifying glass to look at it. then click the other "x" to select and click the "x" being looked at to combine the two into a wooden star
click to zoom in on the door. use the star on the top of the door to open it. go inside.
turn to the left. notice the number of shells in each cell of the cross formed by the 3x3 shelving: 1=bottom, 2=top, 3=center, 4=left, 5=right.
open the lower right door in this shelving. take the blue martini
turn two to the left so you are facing the doorway. open the lower right of the four cabinets and take the white fish.
go back out the door and click in on the deck chairs, then click on the drawer with the umbrella in between them.
click on the cells in the order specified by the shells in step 8, take the yellow fish.
click out then go back into the room. turn once to the right so you are facing the easel. pick up the pole to the left of the window.
click on the easel, then pick up the pencil.
turn right, then go back out the door. click to the left to go to the dock.
click to the right of the dock so you are looking under the deck, at a beach ball. use the pole to get the beach ball.
look at the beach ball. use the pencil to pop the ball and get the green fish
go back inside the room. click once to the left, then click on the left of the couch.
use the pencil to remove the broken part of the wall, then get the red fish.
soom out and click one to the right, so you are staring at the glass door. click to the right of the potted plant to zoom in on the map of italy.
click on the knob to lower the map.
put fish in the slots such that the colors of the italian flag are formed: green to left, white middle, red right.
look at the yellow fish. click on it and take the key from within.
turn around to face the doorway. use the key on the upper left cabinet. take the bottle.
look at the bottle. add the red martini, then the blue, to the bottle.
look at the easel. put the contents of the bottle on the easel.
note the number of legs each animal has. the squid has 10 (8 tentacles+2 arms), the starfish has 5, and the spider has 8.
face the doorway again. click on the lower right cabinet to bring up a keypad
the easel tells you the combination: 1058. Take the handle.
face the glass doors. go outside. use the handle on the trap door. take the conch
face the glass doors again. click on the thin horizontal line in the distance to call the whale with the conch.
return to the dock, click on the whale, and you've escaped!
That was my first walkthrough, so I hope it was satisfactory!
Posted by: jonmay
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December 24, 2008 12:53 AM