Among the myriad of escape-the-room scenarios—besides the general "Hey, I'm in a locked room, let me out of here!" many reasons urge us to seek escape—being half-submerged in a room full of water and sea creatures has to be one of the most creative and compelling. Imagine the discomfort of prune skin and claustrophobia that would start to sink in! Yet it'd be worth it to experience Sunken Room Escape, the dreamlike aquatic abode from the imagination of MyGames888 and the beautifully-rendered setting for our midweek sojourn.
All the usual rules for playing escape games are also in place here: point-and-click everywhere you can, trying to make sense of the enigmas in your surroundings. What is in that shell and how do you get to it? Is that sawfish safe or is he behind bars for a reason? Those questions and more can only be answered by savvy detective skills and clever thinking. Gather up as many clues and items as possible, figure out how to put them toward puzzle solutions, pressing forward with a bit of experimentation, until you gain the exit code and can be free from this watery trap. Watch out for some misdirection as well as clues that seem impossibly hidden until spotted, in which case they seem so obvious you might do a face-palm.
As evidenced by this selection and 3 Small Keys, MyGames888 has a talent for aesthetically pleasing yet minimalist, surreal environments and inventive puzzles. Yet, in this case, there are a few quirks in navigation: a couple instances where you can't help but think the presentation should be better. First, there's the need of a reset button (rather than having to zoom back out and in) and, second, the help of a changing cursor to prevent overlooking important active areas is always a welcome tool. These quibbles, as well as the stagnant on-screen arrows, dull the polish of an otherwise overall lovely experience. Still, it's impossible to be disappointed when enjoying this unique game set in a world that's not only fun to slosh about in, the cool "Congratulations!" screen is sure to leave you smiling.
Walkthrough Guide
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Sunken Room Walkthrough
Exploration of Room One
You start out facing a door. Zoom in on the panel next to it:
Three figures seem to be missing: Seahorse, crab and squid.
Behind those shapes, each has a star-shaped slot.
Back up from the door panel and zoom in on the clown fish in the right corner:
Click the clown fish to make them swim away.
Then, click on the hard-to-see panel in the wall to open it...
and flick the switch down. You'll see that a panel opens up somewhere else in the room to review a number pad.
Back up and turn right. Now you see the number pad above and some bars below...
Looks like a 4-digit code is needed for the number pad.
Behind the bars: a sawfish.
Turn right to see a plant and a turtle:
Zoom in and click on the turtle and he swims to the other side of the room. He has something on his back but you can't catch him.
With the turtle out of the way, you can see a seahorse hiding in the plant. Hey, that's a shape we need...but apparently the plant blocks your access to it.
Back up and turn right to face a wall with three aquariums and two freely floating fish. You can zoom in on each fish...
so look at each to get a better view of their details.
Click on the puffy fish to move him out of the way...
...and give the lobster a look, too!
You can also zoom in on each of the aquariums...Look first at the aquarium on the left:
click the top edge to open it,
then dig in the sand until you find a CLAM with a tightly-closed shell.
Then examine the middle aquarium...
What's in here? You won't see it until you see it, then you'll think it's so obvious!
Last, take a look at the aquarium on the right:
There's a squid, one of the shapes we need.
The fish symbols above the tank can be rotated.
Now you're ready to start solving some puzzles.
Squid Tank and Crab
Based on what you've seen while exploring, you can open the squid tank:
Rotate each of the three shapes until each is facing the correct way.
SOLUTION:
First fish = click once to make it face toward the right.
Middle fish = do nothing, it should face toward the left.
Lobster = click three times to make it face downwards.
When you have each shape in the proper direction, the tank will open:/li>
Get the SQUID.
Then, put the CLAM inside the water.
Back up and take a tour around the room. When you return to the tank, the clam will be open.
Take the CRAB.
4-Digit Code, Seahorse and Starfish
After examining each aquarium tank and getting their contents, turn around to the wall with the number pad.
Zoom in on the number pad:
Based on what you've seen around the room, you know the 4-digit code needed here.
SOLUTION:
1 3 2 5
The numbers can be seen in the spaces between the plants of the middle tank.
When you input the correct numbers and click the [enter] key, you'll hear a loud "Clunk!" sound.
Back up to find the bars have opened:
Get the SAWFISH.
Turn right and examine the base of the plant in the corner:
Use the SAWFISH to cut down the plant.
Now you can take the SEAHORSE.
Examine the seahorse and you'll notice you can turn its fin. But, at the moment, you don't know what to make of that.
Back up, turn around twice and zoom in on the door panel:
Put the SEAHORSE, CRAB and SQUID in their slots on this panel.
When they're in place, the door will open allowing all the water to rush out of the room.
Go downstairs.
Exploring Downstairs
When you first walk downstairs, you face another aquarium tank. Zoom in on it to take a closer look:
Click the top edge of the tank to open it up:
But now what? Something can probably here; you'll have to figure out later what it might be.
Back up and turn right to see the clown fish again and a strange picture on the wall. Zoom in on the picture:
There are four buttons on this picture frame, one in each corner.
There's no way to make sense of the symbols inside the picture yet, though.
Back up and turn right again to see the stairs leading back up. There is a switch on the left:
Click the switch for lights out.
Turn around the room, making a note of the things that glow here.
Turn back around and put the lights back on (if you'd like) for ease of sight.
To the right of the door, something is hanging from a wooden bar...zoom in on it:
Use the SAWFISH to cut the wooden bar.
Now you can take the BETA FISH.
Turn right again. Now you see the fish that were upstairs as well as a large, but empty, fish bowl. Get closer to the fish bowl:
Put the BETA FISH in the bowl.
If you turned the lights back on, then the fish doesn't do anything. But, remember how it glowed earlier?
Turn around, turn off the lights, then zoom in on the beta bowl again. Make a note of what you see.
Now you're ready to solve more puzzles.
The Picture Corners
Turn back to the strange picture and zoom in on it.
Click each corner in the correct sequence to lodge this picture off the wall:
Use the clue from the beta fish to know which corners to click and when.
SOLUTION:
You have to watch the beta swim around in the dark before the solution will work. Follow the movements of the glowing beta to and from different corners of its tank...
TL - TR - BL - BR - TR - TL - BR
TL= top left; BR= bottom right; etc.
The Downstairs Safe (another 4-digit code)
After you get the picture to fall off the wall, you can see another number pad behind it:
In order to get the 4-digit code for this number pad, you'll need to turn off (or leave off) the lights.
SOLUTION:
With the lights off, click on the clown fish to make them swim in front of the fallen picture. Then look at the picture; roman numerals glowing on the fish indicate the code...
2 1 3 1
Once you figure out the solution, you'll need to turn the lights on before you can enter it in the number pad.
When you enter the correct 4-digit number, click the [enter] key and the safe door will open:
Get the STARFISH.
Turn around and go back upstairs.
The Mysteries of the Downstairs Tank
Back upstairs, it's time to do a little trial and error experimentation...Examine the panel by the door:
You have a STARFISH and can use it to replace any of the three creatures in the door panel, but which one?
For various reasons, you don't want the seahorse (it has the turny thing) or the crab (it was already in a tank, remember? Nothing remarkable.)
You do want the SQUID though (actually, inference tells you this is a deep sea creature and would probably do very well in a room that can be darkened.)
Take the SQUID from its place in the panel.
Then, put the STARFISH where the squid was so the door will open again.
Go back downstairs and put the SQUID in the empty tank.
Turn around, turn off the lights, then turn back and see how the squid glows:
Make a note of the arrows in the back of the squid's tank, they should look familiar to you.
Return upstairs.
The Turtle's Box and Escaping
Now that you have learned what you need from the downstairs tank, go back to the panel by the door:
Take the SEAHORSE
take the STARFISH
and take the CRAB.
Examine the back of the seahorse:
Click the arrows on each side to turn the seahorse's fin and see what happens.
SOLUTION:
The answer is inside the downstairs tank. You need to put the squid in the water then turn off the lights.
LEFT-RIGHT-RIGHT-LEFT-RIGHT-LEFT
When you've clicked each side of the fin in the correct sequence, the top of the seahorse comes off to reveal...
A KEY.
Turn around and examine the box on the turtle's back:
Use the CRAB to clip the cord which binds the box.
Then, put the STARFISH on the top of the box.
Back up and see a new door has been revealed:
Use the seahorse KEY to unlock the door and exit.
Congratulations! You are so full of escaping awesomeness that you've cloned yourself and are beamed up to the skies!
Posted by: elle
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January 16, 2013 1:13 AM