Escape from Blender
Art Gallery
Museums and Art Galleries are some of the best places in the world. Stuffed to the gills with the fruits of artistic creation, they are places of wonder and whimsy. The greatest expressions of civilization can be found there, with Monet rubbing cheeks with Picasso, Renaissance art sharing space with Ancient Egypt, and monkey head statues that make you dizzy...
Welcome to Escape from Blender Art Gallery, a simple room escape game that manages to convey the entire depth and breadth of the surrealistic movement in one small package. Created by Bianco Bianco, authors of the Dr. Ichi series and Magical Sphere Escape, Escape from Blender Art Gallery almost completely jettisons any kind of internal logic and just presents the player with strange, surreal puzzles to solve.
So the story begins after the aforementioned monkey makes you dizzy enough to miss the closing of the gallery. Oh no, you're locked in! Confined to a single room in the gallery (or else it's a very small gallery) you must find objects and solve puzzles to make your way out. Why did the monkey make you dizzy? Why didn't security notice you lying there? Why is this gallery decorated so strangely? All questions that have no answers.
At first you'll notice that the gallery itself is quite a departure from Bianco Bianco's usual clean, minimal designs. From the patterned and textured carpeting (that itself belongs in a 70s rec room) to each wall having a different color and pattern, the room seems designed to disorient and confuse. Navigation is extremely simple, accomplished by directional bars at the edge of the screen. Although there are sound effects when you pick up or manipulate objects, there is nothing but eerie silence to accompany your quest to get the heck out. Is this real? Is this a bad dream? You decide.
Inventory control is straightforward. Objects go into an inventory at the right of the screen, double click on an object to examine it close up. Most objects are single-use, making the game even simpler. There's no save button or mute button, but they're not really needed.
Analysis: There's usually not a lot of logic involved in room escape games, unless, perhaps, you are the main character in one of the "Saw" movies. It's nice to see a game that basically ignores story, background, motivation, etc. You got dizzy, you're locked in, you need to get out. The puzzles you need to solve also jettison most of the logic of room escape. Eye lasers? Really? Fun, challenging, simple, Escape from Blender Art Gallery is the perfect antidote to the mid-week blahs.
Although most experienced gamers could blow through this in 10 minutes or less, slow down, take your time. Enjoy the headache-inducing clash of carpeting and wall patterns, contemplate the meaning of the displays, or just gaze at the monkey head and wonder, is that post modern or post-post-modern? Dali or Dada? Stay in the game too long and you will half expect dripping clocks to appear across a landscape. Perfect for casual gameplay, Escape from Blender Art Gallery is a fun break from whatever you are doing. Just remember afterwords, it was only a dream.
Walkthrough Guide
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Walktrough
Codes given were the same both times I played.
Collecting items
First, find the chair.
Look at it.
Behind it is a pen.
Second, look at the monkey statue.
Zoom in, then look around the right side.
There is a pen top on the ground.
Continue looking around to the back and take the blue card.
Color Box
Look at the pen, then click on its top.
You should see the top is empty.
Click on the colorful item in your inventory and put it on the pen.
The pen works now.
Look at the barricade in front of the elevator.
Click on the top of the right post.
Click on the side and a color code extends.
Remember the colors.
Go to the chair and click on the color box.
Use the pen to set the colors to the code given earlier.
green, blue, magnenta, red.
For the colorblind, click the squares the following number of times with the pen:
7, 2,4,6
Open the drawer on the box.
Take the key.
Number puzzle
Go to the blue panel next to the elevator.
Use your key to open it.
There is a numpad. You need the code.
Go to the Blue-O kid painting and swipe the card in the reader.
The painting moves revealing a monkey plate in a hidden chamber.
Take the monkey plate.
Go to the monkey statue.
Look at its left side.
Put the monkey plate in the indentation.
Lights are shining out of the monkeys eyes
Look at the number painting.
The eyes are highlighting two numbers.
the colors indicate the order.
The order is the same as the order in the title of the painting.
red-blue
Put the two numbers together to get a four digit code
3123
Now you need to input that code into the keypad.
But the numbers change each time you hit a key.
The number in parentheses tells you which key press you are on.
Look at the picture on the other side of the elevator.
It shows you the number locations for each key press.
Figure out which buttons you need to push to input your code.
top right, then bottom right 3 times
Input your code and hit enter.
Click on the elevator twice and you have escaped.
Posted by: Mystify | September 16, 2009 1:12 AM
Escape from Blender Art Gallery Walkthrough
That must have been some monkey!
Click on the sign to the right of the door. Yay, numbers. Back up.
Click on the tape barrier on the right of the door for a close up. Click on the top of the barrier to pull the tape out. Yay, colors. Back up.
Click on the blue thing to the left of the door. Yay, need a key. Back up.
Turn left.
Ah, the infamous monkey. Click on the monkey for a close up.
Click to the right of the monkey podium.
Examine the floor closely. There is a little dark object there (knob). Pick it up and click to the rear of the podium.
Behind the podium you will find a swipe key. Take it. Back up.
Click on the podium again, and this time click on the left of the podium.
Hmmm, looks like something goes there. Back up.
Turn left.
Click on the picture for a close up.
Blue O-kid? Seriously?
Oh yeah, I think that was written on the key card I just picked up.
Click on the sign below the picture for an even closer close up.
Use the swipe card on the swipe card reader.
Hey, the picture moved! Take the object revealed.
Gee, there are monkeys everywhere!
Click on the chair in the corner for a close up.
Click on the box on the chair. Okay, buttons that I can't do anything with.
Back up, then close up on the chair again.
Look closely, there's an object on the floor behind the chair (right behind the rear left leg). Pick it up. Is that a pen? A pencil?
Click on the back of the object to turn it around. Look, a hole!
Place the little knob-thing you found by the monkey statue at the end of the color pen/pencil.
Now click on the box on the chair again for a close up.
Hey look! If you use the color pen on the buttons they change color!
Remember the barrier tape?
You need to change the buttons to the colors on the barrier tape, green, blue, pink, red. Then click on the little handle in front and it will open.
When the box opens take the key.
Back up and turn right to the monkey statue.
Click on the podium for a close up then click on the left side.
Gee, the monkey plate will fit perfectly in the recess.
Place the monkey plate in the recess and back up.
Cool, laser monkey eyes!
Turn right twice.
Click on the picture for a close up.
Gee, prime numbers, and two of them are highlighted! I wonder if that's important...
Back up and turn left.
Click on the blue thing to the left of the door for a close up.
You should now have a key, so use it.
Ah, a keypad! Now if I just knew the code...
The code probably has something to do with the prime number picture.
I'm sure the colors that "prime number" were written in are important too.
Obviously the code will consist of the two sets of numbers in a particular order.
I should probably pay attention to the color of the monkey eye laser beams as well.
"Prime" is in red, "number" is in blue.
The numbers should be in the order of red, blue. Not the color of the numbers, but the color of the light highlighting them.
The code is 3123.
Well, I've figured out the code, now I just need to punch in the numbers.
Hey, this keypad doesn't have numbers on the buttons!
Everytime I punch a button a different number comes up!
Maybe this has something to do with the picture on the right of the door.
If you look at the picture, it appears to be a cluster of keypad numbers.
Maybe the large green numbers have something to do with it.
Perhaps they indicate an order?
Each time you use the keypad the configuration of the numbers on the buttons changes.
Perhaps I should start with "0" and work my way to "3".
The large green numbers indicate the configuration of the keypad based on the number of times you use it. So "0" is when you haven't used the keypad.
On the "0" configuration 3 is the upper right button. On the "1" configuration 1 is the lower right button. On the "2" configuration 2 is the lower right button. On the "3" configuration 3 is the lower right button.
Push the upper right button, then the lower right button three times. 3123 should come up on the display. Press "enter".
Back up.
Click on the doors. Out!
Posted by: grinnyp | September 16, 2009 1:23 AM