Escape from the Room 202
One of the best things about doing Weekday Escape is the chance to peruse the work of new room escape designers. There's a lot of...well, not-so-good stuff out there, but every once in a while you happen across someone who really gets the genre, and then it is a pleasure to introduce them to our faithful readers. This week we're featuring one of those relatively new designers (at least, new to Weekday Escape), Tsukisuna-sou and their wonderful room escape gem Escape from the Room 202.
Despite the unimaginative name this is quite a fun and imaginative little classic one-room escape. The puzzles are nicely varied and there is a lot of combination and use of found objects, always a plus when trying to find your way out of a locked space. Navigation can be a little tricky at first due to the fact that the usual side-screen bars tend to only move you about 45 degrees as opposed to the usual 90 degrees, resulting in some lovely head-on and kitty-corner views of this pretty little room. There is an easy to use inventory system (which features a lovely "about" button), the ability to mute both the incidental sounds and the rather repetitious music clip, all that's missing control-wise is a save button, which would be nice because Escape from the Room 202 has two endings, albeit the simplest iteration of two escape endings (getting out with or without a particular object in hand).
On the downside (and isn't there always a downside?) the game is in Japanese, so the beginning and ending text is incomprehensible to anyone who doesn't read the language, rather like Tesshi-e games used to be. Inside the game, however, the dialogue text is thankfully in both English and Japanese, so while you may not understand the set-up or conclusion you will not be confused within the game itself. At least, not confused as to language, the puzzles might confuse you a bit at first. The other problem is the usual lack of a changing cursor and the concomitant pixel hunting. Some of the visual clues can be a bit hard to see amongst the brightness that permeates the space as well.
What is nice to see with Escape from the Room 202, though, is a designer who seriously understands how an escape game should flow. The puzzles are pretty logical and easy to figure out, making this escape a perfect bite-sized mid-week break. There is also something else we like to see in room escape designs, lively little touches that are not necessarily important to the gameplay but that add that extra something that elevates an escape from standard to delightful. You have to love a game that features both an Akabeko (think Japanese bobble-head paper mache cow) and the idea that anything is better with a little olive oil (a person after my own heart). Let's welcome Tsukisuna-sou to the ranks of promising game designers and have fun playing this wonderful new effort.
Walkthrough Guide
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Escape from the room 202 walkthrough
Room corner: blue-framed door to your left, left end of table in front of you.
Click chair.
Underneath the desk, you see a 4-digit panel.
We looked down, now what should we do?
Look up (anywhere).
You can see the column in the corner has a small shelf at the top.
Evidently you can't reach it.
Room corner: cabinet (with plants) to your left, blue-framed door to your right.
You can see a small box on the column in front of you.
You could use the handle but it doesn't work.
It has a diamond shape on it.
You can see a panel with two black dots.
Now it looks as though it was a drawer without a handle.
You can see a panel which needs a code.
It needs four digits, which you don't have.
And it also has a star marked on it.
Click on the plants.
Huh. Weird shapes. How'd they get them to grow like that?
Clicking any plant shows you its underside,
where you notice some markings. Is advanced horticulture required?
Also,
See the frame of the picture to the right?
Click that too...
It has the same markings.
Click the lower edge to look somewhere else in the room and...
find another panel, with the same markings!
Room corner: arches to balcony on your left, cabinet (with plants) to your right.
Plants.
You have probably looked at these before.
Drawer
Luckily this one has a handle.
You found a piece of paper,
with nothing on it!
Picture
When you are looking at it in closeup, have an even closer look...
Hey! You found a key!
Now, on the other side of the cabinet,
Do you remember what was below the other picture?
Why don't you look beneath this one?
A really small, locked cabinet...
so we use the key we just found here...
which doesn't work.
Let's look through the archways.
The one to the right, just in front of us.
Someone left a wineglass there from the night before, probably. Better pick it up before someone steps on it and cuts their foot.
Archway wall, leading to balcony
There is a fluorescent light above the middle arch
You can't do anything to it.
There is a code panel on the wall
It needs 4 digits,
and it has a diamond marked on it.
I assume you have already found
what you get when you look through the archway on the right?
Through the middle arch, you see
a toaster,
but you have nothing to put in it. :(
Room corner: right end of table to your left, arches to your right
A typewriter, and a poster of the same typewriter. A technology nerd, nothing wrong with that.
Look at the poster.
It has the number "852" on the bottom.
Look at the typewriter.
Oh go on! Use the code...
852
You found a diamond shape (yes it is really a rhombus).
Use the diamond.
Where?
The tiny cabinet on the column...
and you found a handle.
Use the handle.
Where?
The drawer in the cabinet that was missing one...
(place it carefully in one of the holes)
and you now have some olive oil!
Use the olive oil.
I wonder how?
Does the key need lubricating?
Do we need to eat something?
Do we need to waterproof some cloth?
Or make some paint?
Or make some paper translucent? Wait a minute...
The paper has a code!
Use the paper code.
Where?
It has a star...
so use it on the panel on the cabinet.
"2542"
So now we have a long stick.
Use the long stick.
Where?
On the small shelf at the top of the column?
Apparently not.
What other high place?
I think that light above the archway looks odd.
A silver key (strange way to hide a key).
Use the silver key.
Where?
Well, a keyhole...
that we tried before...
underneath the picture on the cabinet.
Bread! Off to the toaster with you!
Use the bread.
Toast it.
Be patient.
A watched pot never boils.
So go away and come back later.
You have toast!
Use the toast.
How? Where?
Well it has a 4 digit code, go and look for places to use it.
Oh.
So we might as well eat it. Wish I had some butter.
Or, what some people prefer on their bread is...
Oil!
So now we have another code and a symbol
Use the code on the panel with the symbol, and add 200 to it...
5287
Wine! now we're talking. Wine and toast. Good breakfast.
Use the wine.
Oh yes! Get yourself a glass...
Another code. Off you go and use it.
On the last place that needs a code...
Which is underneath the table, remember?
Now we have a chest.
Use the copper key.
(I don't think copper is really such a good metal for keys: it's too soft should not be relied upon in room escape situations.)
Use it on the chest anyway.
Luckily for us it held up, so now we have
a rake.
Use the rake.
On closer examination, this is just the end of a rake. I have some of these, they're always falling off their stalks...
Why don't you fix it?
Get the stick...
Uh! Ok, the other way 'round. Start with the stick, now put the rake end on it.
That's better.
Now we can reach further.
So try the shelf on top of the column again.
A gold key!
Solve mystery of the strange symbols on the plants.
I think, because there are symbols on the picture as well, that we don't have to mess with the plants,
Just count the symbols. Off you go.
I get 8 'o's,
3 'x's,
and 6 triangles. So the code would be...
836
And we how have an Akabeko. He looks a bit like a hippopotamus to me.
Use the Akabeko.
Or don't. After that toast and wine, we have run out of food. let's leave.
Use the gold key.
On the blue-framed door.
Next time I'll bring some chicken. (Maybe we did need to do something else with the Akabeko, let us know if you figure it out.)
Posted by: ruufy
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August 10, 2011 7:05 AM
WALKTHROUGH
Exploring
You begin facing a corner with a blue-accented door to your left and a table to your right. There is a column in this corner. Click near the top of the column. There is a shelf up there that you can't reach. Click the gray bar near the bottom of the screen to go back.
Click the seat of the leftmost chair. You zoom in on a keypad that needs a four-digit code. Back up and turn right.
You can now see a typewriter on the table. Zoom in on it. It needs a three-digit code. Back up.
See the picture of a typewriter on the wall? Zoom in, and note the three-digit code. Back up and turn right.
You are now facing three open doorways. On top of the middle doorway something is sticking out, but you can't reach it.
You can also see another keypad towards the left that needs a four-digit code. This keypad has a diamond shape next to it.
Zoom in on the table you see through the middle doorway. There's a toaster through there, but you don't have any bread. Back up and turn right.
You are now facing another corner with the doorways to your left and a shelf with plants to your right. Click the bottom of the column in that corner. Take the wineglass.
To the left of the plants, you can see the corner of a picture frame. Click it to zoom in. Click the picture itself to move it, and take the copper key. Back up.
Now click the bit of shelf that the picture is sitting on. There's a cabinet door, but it's locked. Back up.
Click the drawer underneath the plants. Open it up and get the piece of paper from inside. Back up and turn right.
You are now facing the fourth corner of the room, with the blue-accented door to the right and a shelf with plants to the left.
Click the keypad you see to the left. It needs a four-digit code, and has a star next to it. Back up.
Note that there is another drawer under the plants, but it is missing a handle.
Click the plants. If you zoom in on each of them, you can see they have various shapes on them (circles, triangles, and X's).
When in the view where you see all four plants together, click the picture frame to the very right of the screen. You see a picture of a statue, with more symbols on it. Click the bar at the bottom of the screen, and you are taken to another keypad, which needs three digits. Notice the shapes above the numbers. Back up.
Click the column to the left of the door. There is a small cabinet in the column, with a diamond-shaped hole in it. Back up.
Solving puzzles and using objects
Remember the number from the typewriter picture on the wall? It was
852
Type that into the typewriter, and get the blue diamond piece.
Go to the column to the left of the blue door and zoom in on the cabinet there. Put the diamond into the diamond-shaped hole in the door and get the drawer handle.
Put the handle on the right-hand drawer underneath the plants. Open it up and get the olive oil.
Bring up the paper in your inventory. Use the olive oil on the paper, to reveal some numbers, and a star shape.
Go to the keypad underneath the plants. See that star? Enter the number from the olive oil-stained paper:
2542
Hit OK, and get the brown stick from the drawer.
Turn so you're facing the three open doorways. Use the stick on the thing over the middle doorway. You now have a silver key.
Turn right from the three doorways, and click the cabinet underneath the picture to the left of the plants. Use the silver key on it, and take the slice of bread.
Go to the toaster in the middle doorway. Put the bread in it. Back up, than zoom in on the toaster again. Take the toast.
Bringing up the toast in your inventory, you can see four numbers. But you can't use those numbers anywhere in the room. Maybe the toast is missing something?
Bring up the toast in your inventory. Use the olive oil on it to reveal more numbers, and a diamond symbol.
Go to the keypad with the diamond shape in the three doorways view. Use the number you get from the olive oil-drenched toast on the keypad:
5087 + 200 = 5287
Take the wine.
Bring the wineglass up in your inventory. Use the wine on it. A number is revealed.
Go to the keypad under the table (click the seat of the left-hand chair to get there). Enter the number from the wineglass:
3326
Hit OK and take the wooden box.
Use the copper key on the wooden box. Take the bamboo rake.
End game
Go to the column to the right of the blue door, and click near the top to see that shelf. If you try to use the stick on the shelf, nothing happens. But what if you elongated the stick?
Bring the stick up in your inventory. Use the bamboo rake on it. Now use that on the shelf. You get the gold key.
Use the gold key on the blue door. This is the regular escape.
Alternate cow ending
Follow the first two steps under "End game", but don't unlock the door and leave. Instead, go the the plants.
Viewing each of the plants individually, count all the circles, triangles, and X's you see (you might have to look hard). Then click on the picture to the very right of the plants. Add the symbols on the picture to the count from the plants.
Now, when viewing the picture of the statue, click the bar at the bottom of the screen, which takes you to the keypad. Enter the number of each symbol you counted:
Circle = 8
X = 3
Triangle = 6
Take the akabeko (red cow statue).
Go to the blue door and use the gold key on it. This is the cow ending.
Thanks to everyone who helped me figure this game out!
Posted by: nerdypants
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August 10, 2011 5:46 PM