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Terminal House


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Rating: 3.6/5 (109 votes)
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Weekday Escape

JessThis week we travel a bit back in time to visit Terminal House, a classic escape-the-room game that we've neglected for far too long. Developed by GUMP, Terminal HouseTerminal House is the first of a series of four adventures that chart your oddly pastel-blue hero's quest to gain freedom from mysterious captors; perhaps the least sophisticated of the group, it is nonetheless excellent. Equal parts ominous and goofy (a strange combination that somehow works), Terminal House's only major flaw is its inclusion of multiple tough mini-games that can easily become tiresome and discouraging; while the concepts are great, the execution is a bit lacking.

Many escape games begin with the awakening of a confused protagonist. The hero of Terminal House, however, appears more baffled than most; first angry and then bewildered, he seems to be unsure of anything at all. His befuddlement is understandable, though, as his enemies must be diabolical indeed to construct such an odd room for him to escape from. Oh, it looks normal enough at first glance: a couch, a soda machine, a projector screen, nothing too weird. After a little exploration, however, things take a turn for the bizarre... a computer-like device that dispenses money in exchange for photographs of Santa Claus and cavemen? Sodas that increase your strength and reflexes? An arm wrestling machine? Strange, to be sure. But wonderful! I love the game's quirky sensibility, its commingling of surreal elements and standard escape-the-room tropes.

Unfortunately, some of those same great features are also the source of the player's potential frustration. While the game itself is fairly straightforward and not terribly difficult, a few of the necessary hurdles (most specifically, the arm-wrestling mini-game) can be downright confounding. I actually came pretty close a number of times to abandoning the game completely, but eventually my stubbornness won out. I'm glad it did; besides those few teeth-grinding moments, Terminal House is a really great game. The graphics are simple but well-made, the soundtrack is excellent and the puzzles creative and interesting; if you can muster up the patience and skill, you're in for a rewarding and fun experience.

If you like Terminal House, be sure to check out the subsequent games in the series, Rental House, Guest House and Boat House. Each installment improves on the previous ones in ways both small (i.e., adding a save feature) and big (retaining the quirk while reducing the frustration). The full four-chapter experience is one of the best of its kind, and it's absolutely a journey worth taking.

Play Terminal House

94 Comments

First one to be stuck. Have camera, USB cable, blue notebook. Usb fits on camera, which connects to computer-like device.... then what?

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queen-of-diamonds January 21, 2009 9:40 PM

Yay, I was looking forward to today's escape game!
And not exactly unexpected... I'm already stuck XD

I have

A camera, a long metal stick, an USB cord, a blue book, a DVD, an electrical cord

Used the stick to pull down the screen.
Put the DVD on the DVD player. Used the black cord with the wall outlet to plug the DVD player, turned it on, turned the lights off and the image of a green landscape appeared. And now there seems to be nothing else I can do there and with the lights off I can't move. I'm obviously missing something.

And there's the USB cord that doesn't seem to fit the computer....

Let's see how many other ways of getting stuck I can find.

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Alright, time for me to get my hands dirty in another room-escape game :D

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Ok, so,

I got as far as getting the projection screen down with the projection playing and on a whim pointed the camera at it. Bingo! But what am I meant to be taking photos of? The cows mooing? The little people? Santa? Also, I can't seem to pug the camera into the computer type thing, even with the USB cord attached

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Oh, no, wait

I found the little place on the right of the computer where you plug the camera in. But now it wants a number! A number up to a maximum of 8 digits it seems. Hmmm.

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Ok, so where do you find the metal stick and the cable???

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Here's my progression notes so far:

items:
Blue Disc -> under couch cushion
USB Cable -> under couch cushion
Metal Stick -> under couch
Blue Key -> on the projection screen
Blue Book -> top drawer of computer desk
Camera -> top drawer of computer desk
Power Cable -> on top of vending machine

1. pull down projection screen with long stick, get blue key

2. use long stick on the top of the vending machine. Get Power Cable

Password in book:
G H
E D
B I
A G

circle with 100
circle with 1000

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i cant find the stick and power cord for the projector
have cd book camera and cord for camera..

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Well this is difficult...

So I am able to plug in the camera to the machine by...

clicking on the side of the machine

Also, I found the blue key...

on the left hand bottom of the screen when it is pulled down

The key opens

the tiny hole above the desk

What then? I don't know how to beat...

the arm wrestler. I click on the buttons to the right (like guitar hero) but nothing seems to stop him! He is super strong!

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Alright, cracked the computer code

The letters refer to the unmarked numbers on the keypad. A = 1 which is the bottom left hand button. THerefore the code is:

78542917

Hope that helps someone :D

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Have anyone figured out the password yet?

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Ok, as Jess said, the mini arm wrestling game is confounding. I've almost got it, though and here's where I think the trick is:

You need to use the arrow keys, not your mouse and try not to get too over excited and mess up the order of the dots. I found that I did a lot better if I stayed calm and pressed the arrow keys in a very methodical way, getting into the rhythm of it before the machine says, GO! Seems like a no brainer, but it took me at least fifty tries before I figured that out, so I hope it helps someone.

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Whew, ok

So, I figured out that you have to take pictures on the projection screen using the camera, then plug them in to the computer, which calculates their value. Getting three containing santa and a man got me 150 points. Once the screen zoomed back out, I was able to open the panel on the machine and take the 100 coin. Used that in the drinks machine to get the purple can, drank it. Apparently that made me 'more skilled'. Now I'm trying to beat the arm wrestling machine, but either it's ridiculously hard or I'm ridiculously bad at it...

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Updated notes:

Note that this spoiler contains a whole (very rough) walkthru to where I am right now. It's not all nicely hidden behind a tree of spoil. You have been warned. (This has the code the the computer, btw)

items
Blue Disc -> under couch cushion
USB Cable -> under couch cushion
Metal Stick -> under couch
Blue Key -> on the projection screen
Blue Book -> top drawer of computer desk
Camera -> top drawer of computer desk
Power Cable -> on top of vending machine

1. pull down projection screen with long stick, get blue key

2. use long stick on the top of the vending machine. Get Power Cable

3. Click on the couch cushion, plug cable into wall.

4. put disc in DVD player

5. look at screen, turn out light

6. use camera on screen

7. use blue key on hole above desk to start arm wrestle

8. dbl-click camera, combine USB cable with Camera

9. look at projection screen, turn out lights

10. use camera on screen, take 3 pictures of just Santa.

11. Hook the camera into the computer, hit the spacebar.

12. Password = GHEDBIAG (taken from blue book) = 78542917

PROTIP: Button 1 is the bottom left, so the numpad goes:

789
456
123

13. Click on the part of the computer to the right, get the 100pt coin

Password in book:
G H
E D
B I
A G

GHEDBIAG
78542917

circle with 100
circle with 1000

[Fixed your angle brackets. Please use < and > instead of typing just the angle brackets, because in HTML they have special meaning and can mess up the page. Please use Preview to be sure your comment appears as you expect. Thank you! -Jay]

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Cory, if this game follows the ____HOUSE trends, you'll need to

drink the energy juice. Probably both cans

to beat the arm.

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Just discovered that

you can repeat the photo taking exercise to get more money, allowing the purchase of more cans of purple/blue energy drink. I'm going to neck a couple more of those, then we'll see about this arm wrestling game!

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For those having issues with the arm...

You can buy more than one can of each flavor of soda, up to five times each. The more you drink, the easier the game is. You get a bonus ending if you max out on soda.

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I think I've almost got this one beat. My next post or so should be a nicely formatted walkthrough.

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I am guessing since we get a blue soda for 100 (?) the (10000) in the journal tells us how much we need for the red soda.

Anyone have any ideas on how to get that 10,000?

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But people, I can't figure out how to

put the camera + cable + photos in the computer

I appreciate some help. =D

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Thanks people!

It never even crossed my mind that I could take more pictures, get another coin each time, and purchase more energy drinks! This time I'll kick that stout arm's, um, arm, for sure!

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Cory: It gets a lot worse, trust me. :P

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Is there some kinda trick I'm missing to the

2nd photo game

I've been doing it for maybe 15 minutes and I've only topped 1k once.

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Ha hah! I defeated the arm!

You have to keep taking pictures of Santa and drinking energy drinks. You max out after 5 drinks, and then its incredibly easy to beat the arm because your strength is greater.

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nerdE: Here's the necessary steps...

--Setting up the Camera--
1.

dbl-click the camera in your inventory

2.

click the side of the camera (the little flappy thing near the back

3.

click it again and I think the cable should just automatically connect.

--Taking Pictures--
1.

Once you have the DVD player all set up, face the screen, turn out the lights, and use the camera on the backdrop

2.

Take 3 good pictures, then turn on the light and go to the computer

--Hooking up to the Computer--
1.

Click the computer, then click the desk by the bottom-right of the computer. It should show you the USB port

2.

Go back to main computer view and click the spacebar

--The Password--
1.

It's encoded in the blue book... read the spoilers in other notes on this site to find it, I've posted it up twice I think.

--Downloading pictures--
1. Once you've entered the password once, you simply have to press the spacebar in the future to get the system to download the pictures. (intentionally not spoiler'd)

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2nd photo "game"

In the secong picture-taking game (Using the red DVD that you get from beating the blue arm) you only want to concentrate on taking pictures of UFOs. Think of a UFO's color as it's level. The higher the level, the more points it gives you. The levels:
1. Gray
2. Black
3. Yellow
4. Blue
5. Pink
6. Red

It doesn't really matter, but what a UFO abducts affects how many levels it rises.

Cow- Up 1 level
Man- Up 2 levels
Santa- Up 3 levels

One red ufo, entirley in the shot, with nothing else, should net you about 3500 points.

All that, and not ONCE have I been able to reach past 10,000 points in one shot.

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after beating the blue arm, you receive a key with which you can insert into the small keyhole above the desk to fight a stronger red arm. i assume that you need to drink many red cans in order to beat it, however, none of my silver coins allow me to purchase a red drink. how do you get the other, more expensive soda? i've topped 3.9k on the picture game yet it still threw out a silver. ;(

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Never mind >.< As soon as I typed that out, my next try I got 12,000.

Now to do it 4 more times...

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rkr: you have to get them like dead center... or pair two or more up in one shot

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ugh... i keep getting like 97##

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Oh my word. This

taking pictures of quickly moving UFOs is too hard at this hour. When the mooing sound the cows make seems funny, you're either very tired or you're a toddler

and since my toddler will be waking up early, I'm going to have to call it a night and resume this during "nap time" tomorrow. Thanks for the help everyone.

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One more thing I noticed:

What a UFO abducts also affects the direction it will travel in. If it abducts a cow it will continue on in the same direction, but if it abducts a man or Santa it will change directions.

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Grar. The second computer game is definitely not very nice to anybody at all, much less me. My high score is like... 42** points. stupid game.

And I don't really mean it's stupid. I'm just frustrated here.

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I almost had it beat, then I clicked on a bookmark and ended up closing the game >:( why doesn't it have a save feature :(

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Great game and all that... but I accidentally clicked on an inconveniently placed banner ad while chasing a UFO, and I'm not starting again this late at night.

I'll try again tomorrow.

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No offense - but you may want to change the "rating-g" to something else, considering that one of the first words mentioned is the "f" word.

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Thanks, Wendy. Fixed.

(*shakes fist at Jess*) ;)

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Finally beat it, with both MAX. I definitely liked the ending. How

The UFO drops you off, and you sit up, and then it comes back and zooms overhead a few times, as if trying to make a decision, or it's looking for something, then picks you back up and zooms away. Cue maniacal laughter. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHHHHH!!!!

It portents of sequels. Which would be all well and good, if those three sequels weren't already released. >_<

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nightninja January 22, 2009 12:23 AM

Hi. I'm new. Here's what I got.

The only way you can get the 10k coin is by playing the second game and you need

3 photos of red spaceships on their own or 2 or more spaceships that are not pale. The score is based on the colour and position of the spaceships

After that you have to

Get gold coin to get the red drink, not sure how many to max it.

Then you have to

use silver key to unlock second enemy

In order to win, you just have to

tap all 3 until you manage to obtain a rhythm and then you play like guitar hero style

Hope all this helped!

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when taking the photos on the second game, i figured out that

taking photos only of de UFO's is the best

the red UFO's give more points (about 3000)

also taking photos with more than one UFO gives good score

but still can't get the 10.000 points needed, my best was about 8.000 in like 20 minutes.

someone has make it?

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To beat the 2nd game, one big tip:

You get max points for a red UFO (~3.5k) ONLY if the UFO is centered in the photo, so take your time and be prepared to let a lot of red UFOs get away. Took me ~30 min to get 5 red sodas.

Also, re: the gooder ending:

If you've drunk 5 (max) of each soda, at the end you should see a gleaming object left of the blue figure. Click it (a stone), and you bean the UFO that dropped you off - it splashes down in the ocean.

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By the way,

you don't need to max the sodas in order to win the arm games... I won the second one with only three sodas.

I don't know if it's easier to beat the game because my computer is slow...

[Edit: Spoiler added ~ Kayleigh]

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Well, I give up on this.

Getting a score of 9995... that being my best score for the second photo shoot, I give up.

the ships move too quick to get good shots, at least for me.

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CatSaidMoo January 22, 2009 3:04 AM

Yay, 6149th terminator!!!
I don't know if you guys saw this or not but...

I found a rock next to me on the beach after escaping and it was automatically thrown at the UFO. Two endings possibly???

Very fun escape game.

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@Forsythe

You can click the gleaming object without having maxed sodas, too. Instead of the ship crashing though, it just bounces off, and then the ship comes and gets you again.

Also, to anyone

Did anyone else, when playing the 'red' arm wrestling rhythm game suddenly get lightning strikes on the buttons and push the arm really far down? That happened to me: I had only drank 2 of the red sodas. I think it has to do with hitting a lot in a row, but I'm not sure.

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use the same strategy for the ufo guys - two in the pic = more points.

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password for the comp

78542917

[Edit: Spoiler added ~ Kayleigh]

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FGSFDS

I effing hate Guitar Hero

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Yeah me too FGSFDS!
thanks for the comments people, I would never had figured this game out otherwise aaarrrggg!
cool game tho! love santa LOL!

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@Jesse: Yeah, I got lightening strikes on ALL of the hits on my 3rd go, (failed miserably on first two!) I think it's more to do with getting them right on the circle.

As for another tip to the 2nd computer game:

Staying to one side is easier, I stuck to the right, and just adjusted height for the ships that were on the screen and waited for a red to come my way. BTW... 2 reds, a blue and a pink got me just over 10k in one photo!!!

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How do you buy purple sodas?? All I seem to be able to buy with $100 are blue sodas

I still haven't been able to beat the arm wrestling game and I think it's because all I've drank so far are blue sodas...

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queen-of-diamonds January 22, 2009 11:38 AM

Well, I quit yesterday because it was way too late to think straight.
Started it again today and it was all going great until the second picture game... it's incredibly frustrating trying to take pictures of Ufo's that move that fast with an interface that doesn't respond as fast. And, on top of it all, having to do that 5 times is ridiculous. That only has earned it two mushrooms less from me.

I'd enjoyed the House series so far -the previous installments had an combination of mystery and sci-fi I found really appealing- but this one is way below average. It is sort of understandable given this was the first of the series, but still...

I think I'm calling it quits on this one :/

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Jay is Games has me OBSESSED with Escape the Room games. I love Weekday Escape, but I wanted to scream before I got my second RED soda, and called this one quits. Stupid robotic arm! Minigames, schmini games.

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This is a disappointing game. Usually the "[X] HOUSE" games are great. I understand what Gump was going for here with the minigames, but I want searching for clues and items and solving puzzles in my room escape games, not twitchy reflex tests. Especially not when they're tuned to such a degree that you have to make dozens of attempts to have a hope of success. Would have been better if the twitch aspects were (a) less difficult or if there were easier ways to make them easier; (b) less repetitive; and (c) less of a proportion of the entire game.

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Count_Spackula January 22, 2009 1:44 PM

Yay! Game done. Went back & got 2nd ending, cool game. I'm not sure what every one is talking about the 2nd computor game being hard, just boring waiting for the red ones to pop up.
Once you know how red ones are made then you watch certain UFO's. Easy really.

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"You are 6193th terminator."

Gotta love Engrish.

Here's a tip for the camera mini-game:

You get higher scores if each of your pictures has multiple subjects; in the first part, try to snap a picture of Santa when something else is in the frame.

With the UFOs, don't bother taking a picture unless you can get at least two color-changed (i.e., anything but gray) ships at the same time. This can take quiet a while; you'll have to just sit and wait until they cooperate enough to cross each other after picking something up.

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One thing about the second photo minigame...

I did much better when I waited until a santa appeared before I worried about taking a picture. Concentrate on the UFO that picks him up, and hopefully it will turn red for max points.

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For those frustrated with the arm games . . .

Use the arrow keys, not the mouse.
There is no penalty for extraneous clicks.
You can click more than one column at once.

A foolproof (although inelegant) strategy to win is simply to mash all three arrow keys (left, right, down) furiously until you win the game. Not really very sporting but the arm game might be a little too tough for the 'escape the room' mindset.

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I really wish they'd release a game that was just photographing UFO's!!!! It's totally the best part of the game...especially how you can score over 9800 several times in a row and it's worth nothing!!!!!

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I stopped playing at the arm wrestling.

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I go to arm wrestle the guy and the screen whites out and doesn't come back. I'll try on the home PC later tonight I guess.

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What am I supposed to be taking pictures of? How am I supposed to know how many points I need?

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bluebird5 January 22, 2009 5:48 PM

Hey, when I got a red key, it

opened the second drawer

which had

a red disc and a silver key

THEN I could get the red arm to wrestle, and see the UFOs.

No rock in my ending, just a beach.

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Arg. I know that

the metal rod is under the couch.

But how do I get it? I can look under the cushions, and the game tells me there is nothing behind the couch.

Can I retrieve the stick/rod/reachy-thingamagig at the angle where I can see the couch, the power outlet and the corner of the projector?

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Anonymous January 22, 2009 7:24 PM

Riduculous!! The arm wrestling is stupid, in that even if I cheat like denied recommended and hold all 3 keys down, I still lose, and I have the max drinks!! I think my computer is too fast because nothing is slowing down no matter how many drinks I have. I quit.

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Grrrr. I did it. Finally. Great idea, but the difficulty level of the minigames made it not much fun. And the pixel hunt on the computer annoyed me. I thought I'd clicked all over it.

If we wanted to play silly mini games like the photos and the arm wrestling we would do so elsewhere.

A certain level of difficulty makes beating the challenge a triumph. This level of difficulty only makes it a relief. Even when I sussed out the 'key mashing' approach for the arms.

However, saying that I managed to find an easier way to beat the UFO photo challenge:

Concentrate on taking well-centred pictures of red UFOs. A good shot can be worth as much as 4000 on its own and it's easier than trying to capture more than 1 UFO in shot.

More info:

They turn red seemingly after they have collected a certain number of 'points' - i.e. it takes lots of cows, but fewer cave men and only a couple of Santas to turn them red.

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To the multitude of people having trouble with the second photo game, and stopping because of it:

It takes a lot of time. Seriously. It took me upwards of half an hour to get 10,000 points 5 times. Just be patient and if you don't give up, you'll make it eventually.

A tip for you people:

If you wait until a UFO becomes red, then try to snap a picture of it, obviously this will earn you more points. Unfortunately, your camera thing moves rather sluggishly. This can make it really hard and frustrating, especially combined with the fast-moving UFOs.
More obvious:

Wouldn't it make sense, then, that if the UFOs weren't moving so fast, it'd be easier?
Super obvious:

Wait for the UFO to stop to pick something up, and it won't move for the second that it's doing so. Thus, if you wait for a red one to stop to pick up something else, and can make it to it in time to snap a picture, it's a lot easier.

Using this method, I managed to be able to snap near-dead center pics relatively easily. Remember, though, this DOES take a long time. Don't give up just because you couldn't get it within a good 5 minutes.

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@Jesse: True, I was just documenting what I'd seen.

Yet another tip for the 2nd game:

I found it easier to hang out in the middle - the UFOs move way too fast on the edges - and snap them as they were doing pickups, as waycooler suggests.

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Another tip for the photogames

spend your coins immediately - don't wait like I did to get 5 and then find you actually only have 1!

then again, maybe I am the only one dense enough to do that ....

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I'm not sure what you're definition of rating-y is, but usually (at least on TV) it means it's OK for youth. I'd suggest removing that tag if that's what your definition of "Y" is...there is a curse word in the beginning of the game.

(Actually, our "y" rating is not for youth, it's for yellow. We just changed our rating system to move away from an age based system to a content based system so that all of our readers (and their parents) can decide what level of content is appropriate as opposed to us arbitrarily deciding what is appropriate for a thirteen year old and what is not. For a further explanation of the rating system, you can click on the rating icon at the top of the post, or just click here. In this specific case, a y rating, or yellow rating does indicate that there is some concern of inappropriate language. Sorry for the confusion, but it is a ratings system we've just started so some confusion is to be expected. Thanks! -Kyle)

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In the second camera game:

When a UFO picks up a Santa, it levels up twice. If it picks up a caveman or a cow, then it only levels up once. I found it was easier to wait until a Santa appeared, then wait for a UFO to pick it up. If you have a red UFO and another color UFO, you can get a lot of points. You can even get enough that you only need two photos to make the 10,000 mark.

Also, the UFOs move randomly left or right once they pick up something. There's no set pattern, as far as I could tell.

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There are so many things about this game.

First of all, the MUSIC gets VERY ANNOYING. Especially when you have to do the minigames again and again and the music changes back and forth and overlaps and creates a cacophony that is hardly bearable. Turning the music off is not an option included in the game, which leads me to believe that the creator is either deaf or has poor musical taste.

The minigames... I could go on and on about the minigames.

The photography one is just plain stupid. The game itself is interesting and could have been more rewarding of the camera control was more responsive (e.g. didn't trail sluggishly behind the mouse cursor). The larger problem is the PREPARATION. To begin the game, one must turn off the lights and click the screen with the camera selected. Fine.

THEN you must approximate the value of your photographs by turning ON the light, moving to the right, clicking on the computer, clicking on a very small area in a corner of the screen, clicking the USB port with the camera selected, going back to the screen, and pushing a button. As if that were not enough, you must wait agonizingly as the photographs are appraised, the horrible languor of the process accentuated by the realization that you were only 50 points away from the score you needed for those damn coins.

This means you have to try the game AGAIN, which means clicking in the corner of the screen AGAIN, unplugging the camera, going back to the screen, going back to the room view, going left, turning the light OFF, and clicking on the projector screen with the camera selected.

You will invariably do this at least fifty times.

Be advised: as soon as you get a coin, use it IMMEDIATELY. If you keep it in your inventory and pick up another coin, it will disappear and be WASTED. Which means you have to go back and do the game FIFTEEN MORE TIMES.

This is just the beginning.

The ARM WRESTLING GAME. The most annoying thing about this minigame, in my opinion, is that it makes you think you can win when you literally CAN NOT, due to not having had ENOUGH ENERGY DRINKS. Also, the slightest mistake sets you back a long way which can only be recovered by a long stretch of consistent perfection.

It does not help that the game is not synced to the music, as the conventions of rhythm games (which it is clearly trying to be) mandate.

I must say, though, that it was immensely rewarding to get the lightning bolts going on the second try. This was the only exciting part of the game.

All in all, not worth playing. Aggravating minigames, the lack of any real puzzles, and the sheer quantity of clicking the player must do to accomplish anything make this game annoying at best, and infuriating at worst.

The whole thing is compounded by the completely unrewarding ending. Don't play this.

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I'm the 6261th terminator!
The special ending is so satisfying.

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Yay! Finally! The UFO picture taking was so hard!
Here's a hint for the UFO taking

when taking the UFO's aim for the blue and pink and red ones and always try to take double UFOs. Since there's no time limits, just take your time.

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So glad that Andolus made that long post about the minigames so that I only have to say: what he said.

@Little Sister or anyone else wondering if the

stick

really is there:

Start the NOT-zoomed-in couch. There's a pixel or two you can click on halfway between the left end of the couch and the DVD/projector.

But, I wouldn't bother - the minigames make this game an exercise in persistence rather than fun.

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allimarie January 25, 2009 3:03 AM

Totally, absolutely, 100% NOT worth it.

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allimarie January 25, 2009 3:18 AM

Sorry to post again, but HOW does this game have such a high rating? Gump's games have been getting slowly, but progressively better, so I was relatively unafraid when I started this game -- especially considering it's high-ish rating. After a few minutes of playing, I came and rated it 2/5. When I finally finished, I wished I had waited to rate it. It deserves 1/5 at best!

Andolus said it exactly right.

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OpenTheGait January 25, 2009 3:55 PM

I am the 6278th Terminator. I am 6277 better than Arnold Schwartzeneger.

This game is totally worth it just to see santa being abducted by a UFO. And its totally worth playing just to see a UFO blow up by throwing a little rock at it!
The setting was really boring, I have seen way too many escape rooms that look exactly like it. The minigames were a nice touch though. Id love to see more photograph games like this or like pokemon snap.
The gameplay was SO annoying! Going back and forth from screen to computer to pop machine 30 times, ten steps each time gets really old.
Arm Wrestling is stupid. Energy drinks are stupid.

And, yes, I CAN move in the darkness! SHEESH!

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This game would be a lot better if it were slowed down a bit. I found the music during arm wrestling to be quite the hindrance.

It would also help if the camera cursor wasn't at all elastic like it is.

Others have said that the tedium of going back and forth between the screen and the computer was just outrageous, and I agree.

This having been the first game in the series, I have to say, I guess it's good that it was reviewed last. I probably wouldn't have played the rest of the games. Judging from the rest of the series, it would seem that GUMP learned what not to do, because the House games were a lot better.

Just a word about the review: Those "few teeth grinding moments" account for 80% of the gameplay.

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seasweptmom February 1, 2009 9:50 PM

The max of drinks on blue can makes the dots go way faster and harder? I tried to collect 10,000 worth and it ate all my change for the other drink. :( Too hard on wrestling.

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Is anyone else actually having trouble loading the page, all i am getting is a white screen in both English and Japanese version. Oh and all my software is up to date.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

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how do you drink the blue sodas?!

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I won this game...yes!

You must drink blue sodas and win vs. arm.

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One thing that helped me for the UFO puzzle, is to just rest your camera somewhere and wait for the UFOs to come to you. And it seems you have to have at least one picture with one or more UFOs in the shot. :)

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Anonymous March 18, 2009 10:48 AM

if using Opera

set the zoom level to 200%, everything will be slower

(Edit-To use spoiler tags, please use the angle brackets as opposed to standard brackets. Thanks. Kyle)

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fatninja28 March 18, 2009 10:51 AM

if using Opera

set zoom level to 200%
everything will be slower

Reply
Mandarin June 22, 2009 3:32 PM

The computer likes pictures of red ufo's best and wants them to be dead center.

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nerdypants August 27, 2009 5:51 AM

Well, this was one of the most unenjoyable escape games I've ever played. Any enjoyment I might've got from this game was completely erased by the minigames.

The arm wrestling one, though easy once I got the hang of it, was simply too long. A hint that I was too weak to wrestle the arm would've been welcome as well.

The photograph one, however, was the real test of my patience. First of all, the camera was way too slow. It's almost impossible to keep up with the UFOs. And while some people have mentioned staying put and waiting for the UFOs, that just didn't work for me. I'd have been there for hours if I'd stayed put waiting for the right kind of UFOs to drift into range.

Also, there was too much footwork: turn off the lights, click on the screen, take pictures, turn on the lights, go to the computer, get score, rinse and repeat. I must have taken at least a dozen rounds of photographs before I got the right score.

I usually love GUMP's games. But this one was just terrible.

For anyone having trouble with the UFO game, this is what worked for me:

I just picked one UFO to follow across the screen, and waited until it met up with another one. I tried taking pictures of the red ones all by themselves, but I could only win when I got three pictures of more than one UFO together.

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Kailani7727 August 28, 2009 4:49 PM

Complete Walkthrough


1. Go left to the cupboard and get the camera and the diary. Top drawer.
2. Read the book, Take a note of the large letters at the end.Keep reading until you can't turn the pages anymore
3. Go Left twice. Look under the sofa to get a long hook.
4. Look under the sofa cushions to get a blue disc and a USB cable.
5. Examine the camera and click to open the USB port. Connect the USB cable to it.
6. Go right and use the hook to pull down the screen. Get the little blue key taped to the bottom left corner of the screen. .
7. Go right twice and go to the drinks machine and use the hook to get the cable from off the top. .
8. Go to the projector and plug it in using the cable. .
9. Click the button Open the disc player and insert the blue disc. .
10. Face the screen and turn the lights off. .
11. Select the camera and click on the screen. .
12. You now need to take three good photos. The faster the target = more points. Ex. Cavemen , Santa The more characters in the photo the better.
13. When you've got your three photos, turn the lights back on and go to the computer to your right. .
14. Connect the camera to the right side of the comp. .
.15. Click the 'space bar' And enter the code. The clue for the code is in the blue diary .Use the letters!!!!.
.16. The letters in the book in numbers are the code,Ex. a=1 b=2 etc. so the code is 78542917.
.17. Enter the code and click the 'space bar' again. Your photos will be downloaded and you'll get some points .
18.Your score should be 100 or more. You should check the slots on the right of the number pad for a coin. Get the camera and go to the drinks machine. Or I recommend getting more pics and getting another coin.
.19. Insert the coin and choose a blue drink. I had 2 coins so I drank 2 drink .
.20. Select the drink and click to pop the top. Click it again to drink it. .
.21. Face the little green table and focus in on the little hole on the wall. .
.22. Click the hole with the blue key to reveal the arm wrestling machine. .
.23. What you need to do is hit the spot that decends on the right of the screen at the point they hit the circles. You can use the mouse or the arrow keys, but the mouse was easier for me! Practice makes perfect and the energy drink does make it easier. I won with 2 drinks .
.24. When you eventually win collect the red key from the little drawer. .
.25. Go to the cupboard and unlock the bottom drawer. Collect the key and red disc. .
26. Go to the projector and insert the red disc. .
.27. When you turn off the light you need to take pics of the UFOs. You need to get three good photos again. Wait till the UFOs turn red. As they take up more people they might turn red. They also turn red when they take a Santa. .
28. Download your photos into the machine as before. If you score over 10,000 points you'll get a gold coin. .
29. Use the gold coin in the drinks machine to get a red can of drink. .
.30. Go to the arm wrestling machine again. .
.31. Take the second key and put it on the hole The arm wrestler will now change to a robotic arm. .
.32. You'll need to fight and beat this arm .
.33. When you've won get the gold key and unlock the door! Freedom! .

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Anonymous August 30, 2009 11:22 AM

I can't beat the arm wrestling game because every time I press an arrow key, the screen moves in that direction. Somebody help me with this problem

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@Little Sister:look under the couch,click the silver rod and you got it,simple as 1 2 3

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so when i find the long stick, it disapears!! what is that all about? it wont stay in the wall of thing i've found

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There is nothing I hate more in a room escape game than a blasted mini-game. Ruined Neutral's "Lights" for me, ruined this for me. If I wanted a rage-inducing mini-game I'd be playing that, not this... arrgh. Once I got to the second game and realized I had to do it five times, I just didn't care anymore.

I've loved all of GUMP's other escapes though. The design is really gorgeous and I love the sense of mystery.

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