Escape to Obion is a five-part series of short point-and-click games by Matt Slaybaugh of SkepticTank.net. The games are strongly reminiscent of old-style adventure games such as Myst, complete with the mysterious atmosphere, fiendish puzzles, and an absolutely gripping sense of exploration.
Dr. Saturday is hatching an evil plot to hijack the mind of every sentient machine in the world. The government is too weak and unorganized to stop him, so the responsibility falls to a few small groups of concerned citizens. You have just learned the location of the entrance to one of Dr. Saturday's labs: in the charming neighborhood of a dormant volcano named Mount Terror. That second helping of apple pie will have to wait, it's time to get to work.
Each area is presented in a series of still-scenes with clickable hotspots and movement arrows that highlight when the cursor passes over. You'll gather clues in the form of cryptic hints scrawled in various parts of the game and use them to solve other puzzles. Keep a piece of paper handy to jot down the odd note for later use. Also keep an eye out for subtle changes in the scenery, as they could be clues to your next move.
The scenery is rendered in grainy detail that adds a surprising amount of depth to the world. What the screen doesn't show the mind creates itself, and Escape to Obion offers just enough detail to let your mind run rampant with ideas. Sound effects are also minimalistic, pulling your attention right where the author wants it: inside the game's world.
The first chapter, Fire and Ice, starts you off with shorter puzzles to get you warmed up. Later installments: The Hidden Map, The Alchemist's Notebook, Closer To Zero, and The Chemisphere continue the story and introduce more intricate problems to solve. You'll have to find out what happens yourself, as spoiling the plot would deprive you of a fantastic gaming experience.
Analysis: The Escape to Obion games exude a remarkably complete atmosphere in short, bite-sized installments. Each chapter is wholly satisfying on its own, but I found myself so enamored with them that I couldn't stop until I played them all. I've always been a big fan of adventure games and Escape to Obion really had me hooked.
The puzzles, storyline, and sense of exploration are all very well-balanced. The areas aren't so large you can get lost in them, but there's enough there to let you feel free to roam. Having the game divided into chapters lets you play at your leisure, accomplishing the difficult task of taking an epic adventure and turning it into several smaller casual games. Everything about Escape to Obion is done remarkably well, and it shows in every puzzle, every scene, and every chapter you'll be clamoring to play.
Play Chapter 2: The Hidden Map
Play Chapter 3: The Alchemist's Notebook
Walkthrough Guide
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I found episode 2 very satisfying to solve. This isn't a walkthrough, per se, but it will tell you what the point of each puzzle is, at which point things should be easy to figure out by trial and error.
The Hidden Map Walkthrough
Overview
There are: an initial puzzle, five central puzzles, a final puzzle, and a code. Each of the central puzzles is marked by a colored light bulb.
Getting In
Before you do anything, you need to move the pipe that's resting on the car in the first screen. That will unlock the tunnel to the bulk of the puzzles.
Lighting the Lights
Straight down the tunnel and across the central rope bridge is the initial puzzle. It's in a room with several light bulbs, behind the small brown panel. Connect each bulb to its matching switch by a) rotating the disks 120° by clicking on them, and b) rotating each column of disks 60° using the switches to the right. Once you've connected a bulb, press the button to light it up and activate the matching puzzle.
Red (don't fret)
The next puzzle is just to the right, beneath the big red bulb. There's a 9x5 grid that looks like a guitar fretboard. Clicking on any column (except for one) places a dot in one column and removes a dot from another-for instance, the first column adds a dot to column 2 and removes one from column 4 (if one is present). Only one of the columns adds a dot without removing one. Your goal here is to make all the dots visible at once, so obviously you need to click that column last. Once you've succeeded, you'll be rewarded with a planetary symbol. Also note that each letter in LODESTONE is color-coded by the dots' locations.
Yellow (go to temple)
Up the stairs to the left is a bridge to the yellow and purple puzzles. Yellow is down through the hole in the floor and off through the woods somewhere. You want to unscramble a nice picture of a Greek temple by shuffling tiles on and off the board; clicking a tile moves it into the lower half of the box on the right, and replaces it with whatever is in the top half. Once you've made the pretty picture, you'll be rewarded with another planetary symbol. Also, note that the final picture links pairs of symbols in the same column (Earth and Neptune, for instance).
Purple (wave a white flag)
Back in the same "pod" is an open doorway to the purple puzzle. This is very easy; just type in the obvious nine-letter word to reveal a pair of flags. Each planet represents a number, and the panel on the right gives you their product; press the button on the left to cycle through pairs of flags. In this way, you can deduce numerical values for eight planets. Also note the planetary symbol on the ceiling.
Blue (at sea)
Back on the overview screen with the three rope ladders, click on the boat, then on a spot right of center to find the puzzle. You want to use the two cranks on the right to raise and lower the columns until the gaps line up with the bar on the left. When the leftmost column is aligned, use the crank on the left to lock it in place with the bar. Repeat until all five are locked, and you win another planetary symbol.
Green (buttons & screen)
Finally, the rightmost pod (with the green light) offers your last color puzzle. Turn it on by flicking the switch at the top, then pressing the button at the bottom right. Press the remaining knobs and buttons in the right order to light up nine green squares on the grid. Note the pattern, and the planetary symbol.
Back in the Tunnels (basket weaving)
Off to the left of the entrance tunnel is a room with two boxes on the wall. Inside the right hand box is your final puzzle. Strips of wood with holes have been woven together; slide them to cover and uncover letters to spell LODESTONE. The final pattern will match the pattern in the green puzzle, and the letters will match the colors in the red puzzle. Press the button to unlock the code box.
The Code Box
Just to the left of the last puzzle is the safe containing the map. You need to relate three things: 1) the numbers you learned from the flags to the symbols on the lock, 2) the color of each puzzle's light bulb to the symbol you get for solving it, 3) each of those colored symbols to the symbols on the lock, using the Greek temple puzzle. Once you've input everything, open the door and find the map!
Now, on to episode 3...
Posted by: jere7my tho?rpe | April 24, 2006 4:27 PM
Episode 3 was even more satisfying than 2! Something about these rubs me just the right way.
The Alchemist's Notebook Hint-through
Getting In (map)
Presumably, you can unscramble the picture on your own. :)
What Am I Doing?
Just inside the building, you'll find a note that says the number 7 is replaced by the asteroid Iris, the letter E, lead, Saturn, and "the left leg". Next to the wooden dummy is a note connecting tin, Jupiter, Astrea (another asteroid), Sagittarius, the number 5, the color blue, and the letter C. Solving this game is simply a matter of completing that table, linking element to number to planet to asteroid to color to Zodiac sign to letter. Not all elements will have entries in all columns.
What About the Left Leg?
Remember that dummy I just mentioned? There's also a helpful book on the shelf.
The Planets and the Elements
Clicking on the far right red spot reveals a hand of unusual cards. Each one is marked with an element and its symbol; some are marked with the planet that element is connected to (tin to Jupiter, for instance). Link the planets (and the sun and moon) to their elements. (Ignore the classical elements, earth-air-fire-water, for the moment.)
The Numbers
Each element card has a number associated with it, and the number on the far right is the sum of those four elements. By clicking through hand after hand of cards, you can deduce values for all 18 elements. You're given two to start with, in notes; beyond that, look for triples, so you can get a few equations like "3 iron + copper = 15". Your intuition may be helpful with guessing here, but don't follow it slavishly.
The Classical Elements (earth, air, fire, water)
Each card also has a "suit" of one of the four classical elements. Each element appears on cards of only one or two suits: gold appears only on fire cards, for instance, but lead appears on earth and air cards. Note these down.
The Asteroids
Each element that is linked to a planet is also linked to an asteroid. The connections can be made by comparing the asteroid symbols on the dummy to the planetary symbols on da Vinci's Vitruvian Man in the Earth book on the bookshelf. (You can also just look at the orrery, which puts the asteroids in their numerical order.)
The Signs of the Zodiac
...are a total red herring. The only one you can determine is the one described in the note (Jupiter to Sagittarius). Ignore them, and ignore the black zodiacal symbols in secondary orbits in the orrery.
The Colors
The colors are redundant information, but they do turn up in the buttons of the orrery and the spines of the books, so you might as well note them down by observing which buttons control which asteroids in the orrery.
The Orrery
The most important thing to realize here is you can drag the freakin' rotor arm (marked with a gray bisected circle) to any position you want. It took me a loooong time to figure that out. :P
The position you want is shown on the map you unscrambled, as are the two planets (which you must translate to asteroids, using your table) you want to leave visible on the orrery, by pressing the colored buttons to remove all the others. Set the orrery whirling, and the two planets should align (closely enough) with the rotor arm. Again, ignore the black zodiacal signs and the secondary orbit button. Also ignore the symbol you receive for solving this puzzle-it just means "2". The key here is that the yellow book has been opened, enabling you to solve....
The Letters
Look inside the four elemental books on the shelf: yellow/sun, white/moon, gray/Mercury, and red/Mars. Note, first of all, that everything in those books is an anagram of the same 13 letters.
Now note that the spine of each book is connected to a number: 1,2,4, and 3.
Finally, note that the symbols in the books are the first 13 elements in your table, and each one more or less aligns with an anagram (except in book 4).
For books 1, 2, and 3, link each symbol in book N to its letter by looking at the first letter of the Nth word of the anagram. In the red/Mars/3 book, for instance, Saturn is aligned with the anagram "Lou: Varnish, etc." The first letter of the 3rd word is "E", and we already know Saturn = E from the notes.
Book 4 is similar, but you're looking at the 4th letter of the appropriate word.
The Window
Now, you need to unlock the black book with the bisected circle on the spine. Go back outside and look at the window. Remember those "suits" on the cards? Each combination of classical elements on the window is linked uniquely to only one modern element. Potassium (and only potassium) appeared on both fire and air cards, so the symbol to the right of the bottom row (fire and air) should be potassium. Input all six and press the button to unlock the black book. (Again, ignore the symbol that appears.)
The Black Book
This is pretty straightforward. The first 13 elements are linked to both a number and a letter; substitute numbers for letters to get the door code.
Finishing Up
Type in the passphrase (lower case only) and open the door to retrieve your briefcase. Victory!
Posted by: jere7my tho?rpe | April 25, 2006 4:44 PM
The Chemisphere Walkthrough
Level One: Code Lynchburg
First Things First:
Before you start any of the puzzles, go straight ahead. You will find a journal page with a message and the numbers 1-7 along the side in diff. colors. Make sure you write down the numbers and what colors correspond to each number as you will need this later.
Block Puzzle:
1.Off to your left there are two puzzles. The first one (far left) is a block puzzle. Your goal is to move around the gray stone blocks to clear a path for the wood block to go through. When you've done it correctly you will be given a sign.
Water Puzzle:
2.The second puzzle (on the right in the same area) is a water puzzle. Your goal is to get the far left beaker to only contain 4 things of water. To accomplish this you first click the button under the beaker you wish to take water from (its bulb will light up), and then you click the button under the beaker you wish to put water in. The water amounts will then adjust. When you've done it correctly you'll get another sign.
If you can't figure it out it is:
Left to Middle, Middle to Right, Left to Middle, Middle to Right, Right to Left, Middle to Right, Left to Middle.
Clock/Gauge Puzzle:
3.Next is the clock puzzle (in the upper left hand corner). You'll see what appears to be a locked door. Click to the right of that. You see two gauges that look like clocks. If you noticed, after you finished both of the previous puzzles a weird looking picture appeared above the cabinets. That picture shows you what position to put the hands of the gauges/clocks in. Your goal is to move the hands until they match the picture. After you have the hands in their correct position, push the button. You'll hear a chime signaling that you've done it right. You now have access to some books and level two.
In case you can't figure it out:
The left gauge goes on "4" and the right gauge goes on "10". If those numbers don't work, try three and nine or three and ten...you want the one on the left to be pointing up and to the left and the one on the right to be pointing down and to the right.
The Absent Father:
4.Across from the gauge puzzle in the upper right hand corner, there is what appears to be a safe. It's labeled "The Absent Father." If you read the book after you completed your last puzzle the answer should be pretty obvious to you. Just Type in the answer and it will open revealing another sign.
In case you can't figure it out:
The book refers to a father that was never seen again. His name was "Alvin Meade." Make sure you type in the name just like it is in the book. The safe is case-sensitive.
*The Door that you opened with the books in it and "the absent father" are technically in the second level. The access code for the second level is:
Ministry.
That will get you straight to the second level bypassing the first should you need to exit the game.
Color Symbol Puzzle:
5.When you first enter the game, off to your right is another puzzle containing symbols with diff. colors. Should you complete this puzzle without doing the gauge puzzle and the absent father puzzle, it will take you straight to the third level. However, since I did the level two puzzles as well, I'm not sure if you have to beat the level two puzzles or not to ultimately unlock all the puzzles and win the game.
All you have to do here is pick the three symbols that you have seen thus far in the game. Just click each one and the doors will open to level three signalling that you did it right.
In case you can't solve it:
I hit the symbol in the top right hand corner followed by the symbol in the bottom right hand corner, and lastly the symbol in the second column over from the left and the third symbol down in that column.
Level Three:
Code:
McNally
Maze Puzzle 1:
1.A little off to your right you will find your first puzzle. It's a maze. The objective is to get the ball to the red "X". The catch is you can't turn left. You have to find another way to get the ball there. Use the four buttons to control what direction you move the ball. The top button will restart the puzzle. When you have completed the puzzle correctly, you will get a colored symbol that has a score written on it. Make note of that score. (126)
In case you can't:
I can't describe how to do it exactly, but when I did it, I moved my ball in a series of small boxes...always boxing in one of the straight edges as I moved my ball over or down. Try to avoid the L-shaped pieces unless you can move around them in a box. You will get stuck and have to start over.
Maze 2:
2.To the far left is the other maze puzzle. The objective in this one is the same as before. You must get your ball to the red "x". The button in the top right hand corner restarts the puzzle. The words are your directions. They are the same as the buttons in the previous puzzle. (If you hit the word on the top your ball will go up,etc.) The catch is that if you hit a direction, your ball will go as far as it possibly can in that direction rather than just moving one space. You must use the stone barriers to ultimately get your ball where it needs to be. When you have done this puzzle correctly, you will get another colored symbol with a wattage on it. Note that down. (126 watts)
Hallway:
3.To the right of the second maze puzzle is a hallway. To your far left is a note. Make sure you read that.
Voltmeter:
4.Remember the wattage note you got? You're going to use that here. Your goal is to reach 126 watts. In order to do that you must change the resistance and tolerance in the upper-right hand corner as well as the voltage. When you have done this correctly the bulb will light up.
If you can't solve it:
Make sure you highlight the 12V using the button directly above the gauge. In the upper-right hand corner you want a resistance of 100 and a tolerance of +/- 20%. When you have done this correctly, the color stripes from the top down should be: brown, black, brown, white. When you have all of your settings correct, push the big button on the right and the bulb should light up.
Bouncing Balls:
The next puzzle down the hall on your left is the bouncing balls puzzle. Remember that score you wrote down? Your objective here is to use the button at the top of the screen to release pinballs and use the six circles in the center to hit the ball around until you get the correct score: 126. But remember that note? If you can't get the score, get the ball to hit each of the circles until they are the teal color and you'll beat the puzzle as well. When you have done it correctly the light bulb will light up. Make a note of which symbols make which tones. You will need to know the order of the symbols from lowest pitch to highest pitch later.
Level Four:
Code:
Acetio
Final Puzzle:
1.After you finish all the puzzles for level three, one final puzzle is unlocked for you to solve, winning the game. It is the only puzzle on level four. It consists of two rows. Your objective for the top row is to match each tone with the corresponding symbol. You then make a note of which tone is in which place. Finally, on the second row, your objective is to choose the color symbol that corresponds to which tone is in the top row. When you have finished this puzzle, you've beaten the game.
The Solution:
When you play the bouncing ball game you notice that certain pitches match up with certain symbols. I would suggest you go back to the bouncing ball game and figure out which symbol is lowest all the way to highest. I would then write them down in order from lowest to highest. I would then assign a number to each symbol/tone. Make one the lowest and six the highest pitch. After you match up the six symbols to their tones, make a note of which tone is in which slot. For instance, let's say that the farthest slot over to the left on the top row was the fifth symbol once you had it matched to its tone. Write that slot down as a number 5. When you are done matching the symbols to the tones, you should have the following: 563142. All that means is that the fifth symbol on the circle matched the first tone, the sixth symbol matched the second tone, etc. After you have those numbers, match them to their colors. If you notice, there is no color orange, so in the 1-7 key you got from level one, you won't need number one. Look at your number/color key. Excluding "One" since there is no option for the color orange in the second row, you should have the following from top to bottom:
2-blue
3-pink
4-green
5-teal
6-yellow
7-red
The final step is easy. For each number across the first row, count down that many places in the key and that is the color of the symbol you need to use there. For instance. The first number was 5 because the fifth sign matched that tone. Starting from the top, counting down five places gives you the color yellow. You now know that the symbol in the second row under that pitch symbol needs to be the color yellow. It does not matter what order you received the signs in when you did the puzzles, this puzzle is based on color...not order. Continue on until you have a color for each of the six spots. Make sure you do not include the number one when you count down your key or it will mess everything up. When you are done the colors going across from left to right should be: yellow, red, green, blue, teal, and pink. When you have the symbol numbers and the corresponding colors, enter all the info. in the two rows and the screen telling you that you have beaten the game should pop up. Be careful as you enter the symbols that match the tone because some of them will change when you hit another circle to input that symbol. Make sure all six symbols are showing with their corresponding tones before you move on to the colors. You're FINALLY done. :)
Posted by: betxy112 | June 17, 2006 12:35 PM
Fire and Ice Walkthrough
Getting started
1.
first, examine the window in the middle, and figure out what it says.
2.
Next, find the 19th picket(from the message on the window)from the left(or 7th from the right if you're lazy. That unlocks the door.
The Water puzzle
1.
for this puzzle,click on the window/big, black thing in the upper left. You have to get the water exactly to the line by using the two wheels(if you want to know the answer, go to the next spoiler)
click the big wheel on its right side 4 times and the small wheel on its right side 3 times(so click on the right side of the wheels, so the arrow points down
The Clock Puzzle
1.
the point is to get the clocks lined up so that it makes a straight path from white line to white line
2.
look at it like a grid
1 2 3 4 5
1
2
3
clock 1,1-turn 2 times
clock 1,2-turn 1 time
clock 2,3-turn 4 times
clock 3,4-turn 4 times
clock 3,5-turn 2 times
also click the mini clock that is in the lower right, in between clocks (2,3),(2,4),(3,3),and(3,4)
Astronomy for dummies
1.
click on the lamp on the left side of the picture frame on the fireplace. You will see the names of planets and symbols, a reoccuring theme in these games. The write all of it down on a piece of paper. Also, pay attention to which symbols are by each planet
Books (astronomy for dummies, part 2)
1.
click on the arrow at the far left of the screen.
2.
look at the symbols on the books(look familiar?). Go in order (sun, mercury, venus...)and click on the book that coresponds with the symbol next to the planet on your list.when you're finished, read across the books and you'll get your first word.(a tip, write down your list again with the letter you got for each symbol next to the symbol on your list)
3.
so you have your first word, trenchcoat. Now click the clear button at the top of the screen. Next, click the books in this order: Earth, Mars, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Sun, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, and you have your next word (you better write this one down by the symbols on your list, too)
A Number Sign and More astronomy
1.
as you've probably noticed, two things have happened in the main room: the fire has gone out, and there is a number sign by the right lamp. Click the number sign.
2.
youll notice that three symbols are highlighted in different colors. Now use your list with the keywords also on it, to figure out the password. For instance, the first highlighted symbol is earth. So, the two letters under earth for the keywords are r and s. So do that with the other two letters and you have...
corset
The password
1.
Click on the fireplace.Now all you have to do is enter the word you go from the previous section, and you're done!!!!
Posted by: Becca | November 25, 2007 6:39 PM