Tomatea is a developer that respects the time of year with their escape games. In mid-winter they released The Holidays are Over. Around Halloween time came Choco Challenge. So it should be no surprise that as winter turns to spring, Spring Morning graces our computer screens. Navigate by mouse, keep an eye out for the glowing cursor, and hopefully eventually leave the room and greet the beautiful spring weather outdoors. Unless you're allergic to pollen. But with all the flowers decorating the room, you've got an incentive to get out either way.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. That is a maxim that Tomatea practically lives by. Their characteristic style has undergone seemingly no changes, and that's for the best. As with any Tomatea game, there are photorealistic graphics, logical puzzles including many old standbys such as the wobbly picture, an "I have no clue how to solve this!" message that pops up until you "know" a puzzle's solution, clues that stare you right in the face but are easy to shrug off, a changing cursor that stops changing once you've had your fun with that location, decorations and miscellany that accentuate the central theme, and a rather familiar string soundtrack. There IS one puzzle that you can fiddle with right away before you have a clue how it works, which is unusual for a Tomatea game, but that doesn't come close to ruining the whole experience. There are few better ways to welcome the spring season than to play Spring Morning. Go ahead; the play button's right there. I won't get in your way.
Walkthrough Guide
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Spring Morning Walkthrough
You'll start in the Window View, facing two chairs and a table in front of a window. Zoom in on the table; that looks like a base for something. You can't do anything with it just yet.
Zoom out and turn right to the Clock View. Zoom in on the clock; it's got a panel that's screwed shut.
Zoom out and check the horses below the clock. The leftmost horse has its right hoof raised, the next one raises its left hoof, then left, right, right, left. Code for something?
Next, the cabinets on the left. The lower one is locked with a three-letter code you allegedly know, but don't. The upper one is locked with a four-color code that you also allegedly know, but don't.
The box to the right is locked with one of those sixteen-square puzzle picture locks... but there's one square missing. Take the watering can figurine from on top, though.
Now turn right to the Painting View. Just below the painting is some sort of game board. You can put the watering can figurine on the upper left corner and move it around, but then what? There must be a code we don't have.
Check the drawers towards the right. The lower one requires a four-digit code we don't have. The upper one requires a two-button code we DO have!
Remember the horses? Right-left-left-right-right-left. Then click the center button. You'll get a blue horse and a note.
Examine the note and unfold it. Hm, sixteen flowers and a path? I think we've already seen the thing this goes to, but let's explore the rest of the room first.
Check out the lamp on top of the drawers. Push the button and they light up. Also note the number of rods each lamp is hanging from. 1 blue, 2 red, 3 yellow, 4 green.
Zoom out and turn right to the Door View. The door, of course, is locked. Note the three strange panels to the right of the door.
The left panel is SOMETHING, but we don't have the clue for it yet. The middle one is a wobbly picture; again, no clue yet. The right one involves red, yellow, blue, and green flowers... no, it's not a sudoku-esque puzzle. I tried that.
Below each panel are two arrows and some strange lines. If you put each pair of lines together as shown by the arrows, they look like a letter; the three of them spell H-A-T. Hmm...
Return to the Clock View; we now have the codes to both those cabinets on the lower left. The upper one is the set of colors from the lamp (blue-red-yellow-green), and the lower one is the set of letters from the panels (HAT). You'll get a red horse, another note, a ball with a spring in it, and a red-and-yellow dome thing.
Examine the note. Numbers, seemingly useless. Maybe it's a transparency? But what do we put it on?
Check the game board in the Painting View again. Move the watering can around the board along the path the first note shows (click an empty spot to move the can there), then pick up the wooden disk from inside.
Close the game board... hey, the pattern changed. What is that, a flower? Transfer that pattern of triangles to the left panel in the Door View to get a metal rod.
Now look at the game board again; I've got a hunch. Put the transparency with the numbers on it (if you can't get it, try it on the little circle at the bottom edge of the board). Each number will cover a triangle. That looks like it should be a clue for a wobbly picture puzzle...
Jiggle the corners of the flower picture on the Door View's middle panel in the same order: lower right, lower left, lower right, lower left, upper left, upper right. You'll get a screwdriver.
Use the screwdriver to remove the screw on the clock... oops. Pick up that screw from behind the horses; it may come in handy.
Now that the panel's loose, move it and displace the battery. Some segments will disappear from the letters. And what does "180" mean? Well, turn the letters 180 degrees and they'll look like numbers: 5074. (Remember, turning them upside-down changes their order!)
That goes to the lower drawer in the Painting View. There's a white horse and a picture panel inside.
Obviously, put the picture panel with the others on the box between the Clock and Painting Views. Solve the puzzle and you'll get a green horse. And what's that written on the back? Pairs of flowers?
Those look like the flowers on the right panel in the Door View. There are two of each... the goal is to connect each pair of same-color flowers with small flowers of the same color. Hint: yellow takes the long way around red and blue.
Once that's solved, your horse collection will be complete with a yellow horse... and a crank handle. Where could we use these?
Return to the Window View's table. Put the small wooden disk on the base, then add the screw, then fix it with the screwdriver. Then add the pole, then the red-and-yellow thing, then the ball. Lastly, add the horses, then put the crank handle in place and turn it.
A key! After all that trouble, it had better open the door. And it does! Fresh air!
Posted by: SonicLover | April 8, 2014 12:20 PM