Hotel Bianco-Bianco
Here at JIG we like to offer an "escape from the everyday" for each Weekday Escape. So this week how about a nice vacation in an empty hotel? There's something... unsettling about an empty hotel, isn't there? Peer around the vacant, echoing corridors and you almost expect creepy twins, an old lady with a large knife, or — worse yet — the Carpenters. 
(Quick, name those three movies!) Fortunately for those of a delicate constitution, this week's escape game, Hotel Bianco-Bianco, features none of those things. All you have to do is escape the lobby, no ghosts involved.
Atmosphere aside, Hotel Bianco-Bianco comes packed with the standard room escape features: navigation bars to move around with, a handy inventory control that involves double-clicking objects for a close up, a changing cursor to indicate hot-spots (thank you!), and even a save button if you feel like stopping for a while and coming back later. All of the things that make life easier if you're a professional escape artist or just trying to get home.
Bianco-Bianco's escapes run a wide gamut, from quirky to creepy, to the sappily sentimental. What they do have in common, however, is quality. Beautifully rendered visuals, logical puzzles, slick design, these are always present when Bianco-Bianco brings us a new escape. There are even two different endings to discover.
Hotel Bianco-Bianco continues the tradition of quality design inherent in the developer's escapes. The eerily empty lobby aside, this looks like an upscale establishment, one you might not mind spending a night in. What follows is not the most difficult escape out there, but one that is clever, logical, and has a nice twist on the old theme of two endings. The quality shows everywhere, from the finely rendered backgrounds to the ease of navigation, from the simple inventory controls to the blessed relief of a changing cursor. Bianco-Bianco even kindly offers us a save button, although the escape is simple enough that you shouldn't need to use it.
Perhaps the only downside to this charming little locked room is the presence of a color-based puzzle, which can make the going difficult for some. Hotel Bianco-Bianco is not rocket science, but an escape game which illustrates how to create a good room escape game. A nice combination including use of found objects, puzzles, and a little ingenuity, and you should be out and looking for new accommodations in no time. You know, a place where there are actually living people? Never stay in a hotel where the clientele is conspicuously absent, that's all I'm saying. Checking in!
Walkthrough Guide
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Hotel Bianco-Bianco Walkthrough
General Information
Watch for the changing cursor, it indicates hot spots that can be clicked on.
Double click on objects in the inventory for a close up.
There will be directions for the color blind in the walkthrough.
Exploration
The game begins facing a nice locked wooden door.
To the right of the door is what looks like a yellow switch plate. Click on the switch plate.
Click on the switch plate again for an even closer close up.
Looks like something should go there, but we don't have anything yet. Back up twice.
There's a red box on the wall to the left of the door. Click on it for a close up.
Okay, we can't open the box. Back up.
Turn right.
Nice TV alcove!
On the wall to the left of the alcove is what looks like a long wooden bar. Click on it.
The bar appears to be attached to the wall. There also seems to be something on the lower attachment.
Click on the lower attachment for a close up.
Looks like we need a screwdriver. Back up twice.
Click on the TV for a close up.
Hmmm, no obvious switches, and no apparent remote. Nothing we can do yet, so back up.
Click on the plant to the right of the TV for a close up.
Hey, there's something in the dirt! Click on the small red & white object in the planter. Is that a battery?
Back up and turn right.
You are now facing a couch, with a coat rack to the left of it. Click on the coat rack for a close up.
There's something about that top prong of the coat rack. Click on the top prong of the coat rack for a close up.
Looks like we need a Phillips head screwdriver. Back up twice.
Click underneath the couch for a close up.
Looks like there's something underneath the couch! Click on the item to pick it up (circuit board).
If you look at the circuit board, you will notice that it has two squares marked "pow". Looks like we need another battery.
Back up and turn right.
You are now facing the lobby desk. Click on the right side of the desk (where the wine bottle is sitting) for a close up.
Okay, we have an apple in a Plexiglas box that needs a four digit code, and a functioning calculator that we can't pick up. Back up.
Click on the area to the left of the desk to move behind the desk.
What's that on the lower counter, is that a screwdriver? Take it!
Well, we now have a Phillips head screwdriver, that's good.
Below the counter is a green cubby, click on it for a close up.
More wine bottles! Click on the left wine bottle to move it and take the red object (a coin?).
The area just above the green cubby, and just below the white counter, appears to be a hot spot. Click on it.
Take the white object that is between the cubby and the shelf (handle).
Back up twice.
Let's click on the three shelf cubby on the wall for a close up.
Okay, we have numbers and colors in each of the cubbies.
Top row, from left to right, is red, blue, and green.
Middle row, from left to right, is yellow, purple, orange.
Bottom row, from left to right, is white, gray, cyan.
I'm sure that the numbers and colors mean something. Back up twice.
Hey, look up! Way up, above where the red cubby is, is a small red and blue object. Shame we can't reach that high.
Time to solve some puzzles!
Getting the Stick
Turn until you are facing the television.
Click on the wooden bar to the left of the TV, then click again on the bottom of the attachment point.
Use the red coin on the screw.
Back up once, then click on the stick to take it.
Back up again.
The Coat Rack
Turn until you are facing the couch.
Click on the coat rack twice for the extreme close up.
Use the screwdriver on the coat rack then back up once.
Click on the top rack of the coat rack to take it. Once it is in close up click it to turn it around.
Back up.
The Circuit Board
Turn until you are facing the desk.
Use the wooden stick on the mysterious object up in the ceiling above the desk.
Cool, a second battery!
Double click on the circuit board in your inventory to bring it into close up.
Use the batteries in the square areas marked "pow". once you do, an arrow will appear in the lower right corner of the board. Click on it.
Okay, there's a clue on the back of the board.
The number 102 (in blue type) = 28.
There's also a 9 x 9 drawing, showing the color blue in the top middle square, and 102 in the bottom middle square.
I'm sure that's a clue.
Click the little black arrow beneath the circuit board to turn it back over.
Close down the circuit board into your inventory.
The Television
Turn until you are facing the TV.
Click on the TV for a close up.
Use the circuit board on the TV.
A clue!
INO = + x =
A = 301 (yellow text).
B = 102 (cyan text).
C = 202 (green text).
Well, that clears everything up!
Back up.
Getting the Apple
Turn until you are facing the desk.
Click to the left of the desk to go behind it.
Click on the wall cubby for a close up.
Okay, the cubby is 3 x 3.
Where else have we seen something that is 3 x 3?
Remember the calculator?
Think of the cubby as a calculator keyboard.
That would make the bottom row equivalent to 1, 2, 3, the middle row would be 4, 5, 6, and the top row would be 7, 8, 9.
Now think back to the clue on the back of the circuit board.
102 (in blue text) = 28.
The number 102 is in the bottom row middle, equivalent to the number 2 on a calculator keyboard.
The color blue is in the top row middle, equivalent to the number 8 on a calculator keyboard.
Therefore the clue from the TV would be:
A = 301 (yellow) would be 74.
B = 102 (cyan) would be 23.
C = 202 (green) would be 59.
If you use the calculator to do the math, it will give you the correct answer.
Remember, + x =.
Don't approach this like a regular math equation, where you would do the multiplication first.
74 + 23 is 97.
97 x 59 is 5723.
Back up twice until you are facing the desk.
Click on the wine bottle on the desk for a close up.
Click on the box with an apple for a closer close up.
Enter the four digit code that you figured out from the TV clue (see spoiler above).
Once the number is entered, back up once.
Click on the front of the Plexiglas box (you will see a small yellow bar).
Take the apple.
Back up.
Let's Escape!
Turn until you are facing the door.
Click on the yellow switch plate to the right of the door twice.
Use the white handle on the little circle. All right, a lever!
But we can't pull it down!
Pull up the piece of the coat rack.
That pronged end looks like it would be just the right size to hold the apple.
Use the apple on the pronged end of the coat rack piece.
Close the coat rack piece back into the inventory, back up once, then use it on the handle.
Success! Back up.
Click on the red box to the left of the door for a close up.
Click on the red box to open it. A key! Take the key.
Click on the door handle for a close up, then use the key on the keyhole.
Back up, then click on the doorknob.
Click on the open door to go through.
The end! Or is it?
Second End
Once you are out the door, you will see the words "the end" hovering in front of a mouse and a small door.
Click on the door handle and you will get a message: "you didn't need me..." and a number keypad.
What numbers did you not use in solving the apple puzzle?
You didn't use 1, 6, or 8.
Click on 1, 6, and 8 and back up.
Click on the doorknob again.
Good End!
Posted by: grinnyp
|
April 28, 2010 5:55 AM