Lume is a new puzzle adventure game from State of Play, creators of a few browser games you might know, such as A Short History of the World and A Break in the Road. The visual style is by far the game's most standout feature, as everything you see was created out of paper and cardboard before getting filmed in high definition. The awesomeness doesn't end with the graphics, though. Lume features some solidly challenging point-and-click puzzles that will cause even seasoned room escape veterans to stop and think on more than one occasion.
Grandpa is being his predictable old grandfathering self when suddenly the electricity goes out! He heads into the village, thinking something foul must be afoot, leaving you to solve a series of puzzles in the old man's tricky little house. It seems like everything here is sealed with a puzzle lock or bolted down by a riddle-ridden door. Fortunately for you, there are clues all around the place for solving each puzzle. All you have to do is find them!
The mouse is all you'll need to pilot this fantastic adventure, so simply point and click to the places you want to go or objects you want to interact with and the game will take care of the rest. You'll need to investigate everything you can get your cursor on, including seemingly inconsequential items stashed around the background bits. Having a piece of paper handy (you know, in real life, on your desk or something) wouldn't hurt, as there are a few instances when it's a good idea to write things down for later reference.
Analysis: Lume takes the best of point and click gaming, sprinkles on a dash of room escape-style puzzles, and layers on that amazing visual presentation that must be seen in motion to truly appreciate. The riddle-based puzzles will remind you of Big Brain Wolf, Eden's Quest: The Hunt for Akua or, if you're familiar with the Nintendo DS, the Professor Layton series.
The game takes place on a sort of 2.5D plane, panning and tilting from time to time to show some depth of the world instead of confining the space to two flat dimensions. A video on the game's website gives you a good idea of what to expect, and it will make you crave for more stop-motion animated games of this nature. Where's that new game from Platypus creator Squashy Software, Cletus Clay, anyway?!
Lume ends after around two hours of gameplay, which is quite a long stretch considering the genre and difficulty of this game. The budget pricing makes it an easy pill to swallow, not to mention the fact that every minute of gameplay is better than the last. This is also the first in a planned series of releases, so with any luck, we'll get more Lume before too long!
Lume has wonderful visuals, a superb soundtrack, and an excellent variety of puzzles ranging from lock-and-key to inventory to riddle solving. The difficulty is high enough to provide a good challenge without making you feel frustrated, and everything about the game beckons you to keep playing from beginning to end!
Windows:
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Mac OS X:
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Walkthrough Guide
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Lume Walkthrough
Outside the House
Click the white fence posts to add them to your inventory.
Go down the ladder and click the note on the red door.
The note gives you a hint to solve your first task: the letters "A" "G" and "A".
Click the doorknob to get a closer look at the combination lock.
Using the hint from the note, the code is alpha-numeric.
"A" is the first letter of the alphabet and "G" is the seventh.
Enter the combination 1-7-1 and click the green button under the doorknob.
Screenshot.
Inside the House - Downstairs
Click on the keyring hanging above the sink.
Find the three matching keys from the ring of duplicates.
Screenshot.
Click on the door with the electrical sign to go inside.
The Utility Closet
Use the three keys from your inventory on the generator panel with the circle, square, and triangle shapes.
Click on the panel again to view the fuse puzzle.
To solve the puzzle, you have to match pairs of fuses.
Each of the fuses corresponds to a number 1-12.
The paper on the left tells you which of the 12 fuses need to be paired together.
Start by identifying the numbers of the fuses on the panel.
Fuse 1 is the slot with the roman numeral for 1: I
Fuse 2 is the slot with the letter "B", the second letter of the alphabet.
Fuse 3 is the slot with the triangle, which has three sides.
Fuse 4 is the slot with the mathematical problem 6-2. 6-2=4
Fuse 5 is the slot with the letter "E", the fifth letter of the alphabet.
Fuse 6 is the slot with the 6 straight lines.
Fuse 7 is the slot with the number 7.
Fuse 8 is the slot with 8 lines (next to Fuse 6).
Fuse 9 is the slot with the roman numeral for nine: IX
Fuse 10 is the slot with the roman numeral for ten: X
Fuse 11 is the slot with the two geometrical shapes: a pentagon, a plus sign, and a hexagon.
A pentagon has five sides and a hexagon has six sides. 5+6=11
Fuse 12 is the slot with the roman numeral equation: III x IV
III is the roman numeral for 3 and IV is the roman numeral for 4. 3x4=12.
Screenshot.
Now that you've identified all the numbers on the panel, it's time to number the ones on the paper.
The single dot indicates the number 1. The square has 4 sides.
1--4
The star has 10 sides and the number 12 is given.
10--12
The three crosses indicate the number 3. The pentagon has 5 sides.
3--5
The number 11 is given. What looks like a number 6 has a line at the top, indicating that the number is actually upside down - it's a nine.
11--9
The seven dots indicate the number 7. The roman numeral is 2.
7--2
The number 6 is given. There are 8 vertical lines in a row.
6--8
Screenshot.
When you have matched all the fuses, press the Test button.
Leave the utility closet and go up the stairs.
Inside the House - Upstairs
Click on the gramophone handle and it will play a series of notes.
The notes are (red) A-E-F-B-E. Remember that order for later.
Screenshot.
Click on the large book at the bottom right corner of the bookshelf with "GRAMOPHONE" printed in on the side.
The note at the top says "9 #" and underlines the "one" in the title word "Gramophone", meaning that there are nine numbers hidden in the words of the passage.
#1 is the underlined one in Gramophone.
#2 is the number in (see fig. 2)
#3 is the word three.
#4 is the Fig. 2 again, next to the picture of the gramophone.
#5 is in the second paragraph, the "one" in the word gramophone.
#6-9 are the numbers in the date 1887.
Screenshot.
Remember the numbers and their order for later.
Click the drawing board with the pieces of paper for a closer look.
There is a graph on the left side and on the right are directions to the turbine position.
Follow the step-by-step guide using the coordinates on the graph to find the square where the turbine should be placed.
First, start at A5 and move 3 steps to the right.
A, 8
Move NW 6 steps. Note the compass in the upper left corner of the grid shows that NW is straight up.
G, 8
Turn 180 degrees (so NW is now straight down instead of up) and sidestep 2 steps NE (right).
G, 10
Walk backwards 3 steps.
J, 10
Go South 3 steps.
G, 7
If North was heading towards the house (straight down) head East (left) 2 steps.
G, 5
Move towards the house 1 step (down).
F, 5
Screenshot.
Hit "Check" at the lower left corner to check your solution.
You now know where to place the wind turbine, but you don't have all the parts. Go downstairs for now.
Inside the House - Downstairs
Click on the locked cabinet underneath the sink.
To open the padlock, you need to put in the correct 3 digit code 3 times.
Where have you seen a list before of 9 numbers?
Put in the 9 numbers found in the gramophone book, in order.
1-2-3
2-1-1
8-8-7
Screenshot.
After opening the lock, pick up the wrench and the electrical wire.
Click on the locked closet door under the stairs.
The lock is a keyboard. The keys must be hit in the right order to open the door.
The order of the notes can be found from the music played earlier on the gramophone upstairs.
Just like the notes in that music, the A key on the keyboard is colored red.
The order is A-E-F-B-E
Screenshot.
After you've successfully opened the lock, go through the door into the storage closet.
The Storage Closet
Pick up the binoculars next to the cash register.
Use the wrench on the hub dynamo of the bicycle's front wheel.
Pick up the hub and use the wrench again on the rusted body of the bike.
Take the frame poles to add them to your inventory.
Leave the closet and go outside the house.
Outside the House.
Click on the loose solar panel tile at the bottom of the roof.
To fix the panel, you have to turn the tiles so that the wiring lines up perfectly.
All the lines must be connected, as well as the 4 yellow wires on each side of the panel.
Screenshot.
Go up the ladder.
Click on the area with the red arrow to move to the lawn.
Use the binoculars on the distant landscape behind the trees to get a pleasant view of the village.
Exit the binocular view and click on the red arrow pointing down at the lawn.
This arrow indicates the area you found earlier on the graph, where the turbine can be placed.
All the turbine parts have been collected; it's just a matter of setting it up.
First place the frame poles.
Put the bicycle hub on the top of the pole.
Place the fence posts on the hub.
Lastly, add the electric wire to the assembled turbine to connect the power to the house.
When the turbine is completed, go back to the utility closet inside the house.
The Utility Closet
Click on the left panel for a close-up of the power meter.
There should be full power available to the house now, so press the big red button with the word "Connect" to start the power.
The End
Posted by: Trinn
|
May 23, 2011 4:08 PM