Day a little too logical? Not enough dancing horsemen to see you through the night? Haven't had enough dramatic superhero screwdriver cutscenes? Then allow Detarou's latest escape game Tumaru to swoop to your baffled rescue. Once again, you find yourself trapped in a place filled with the strange and the surreal in addition to a whole bunch of unusual puzzles. As usual, the cursor will change to let you know when you can interact, navigation bars will appear at the sides of the screen if you can change perspective, and you can save the game any time you like in the two provided slots with the click of a button.
Tumaru really seems to be trying to set new standards in strangeness, to say nothing player perception. For the most part, the puzzles you'll encounter make a queer sort of sense and generally rely on you paying really close attention to your environment, since clues can often be staring you right in the face. Solving these challenges is definitely rewarding both for that smug enjoyment of a particularly obscure job well done, but also because the strange scenarios you see unfold are more than worth a little head scratching. On the downside, there are a few item uses that feel almost annoyingly abstract compared with the logical puzzles, and none of the endings, of which there are five, offer a whole lot of satisfaction. (Yes, I am demanding validation from a ten minute escape game featuring an emotionally stricken inept superhero!) But if you've got the time to spare and are looking for another bit of escaping delight wrapped up in Deatrou's signature style, Tumaru is a welcome treat indeed. Just try not to think too hard about anything you see inside because, well, those are the sorts of things that keep a soul up at night.
Walkthrough Guide
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WALKTHROUGH
Back up from Smushed Man twice, then zoom in on the painting. Note the numeric shapes of the colors, and the N on the sun. Back up, and turn left twice.
Click the bottom of the left cabinet, then open the left door to get Driverman.
OPTIONAL SILLINESS
Use Driverman on the panel below the Toothaphone. This has no bearing on the outcome of the game...it's just funny.
END OPTIONAL SILLINESS
Click the cabinet below Horse Dancer. Use the painting clue to open it:
8623
Take blacklight.
Turn right, enter the left door to Launch Control.
Grab the rock, continue through next door.
WARNING: PANDA INTERACTION DICTATES THE RECEIVED ENDING. SEE ENDING SECTION BELOW FOR DETAILS.
Zoom in on scribble on wall, use blacklight. Note dot positions and how scribble now looks like upside-down Toothaphone. Back out to main room, cabinet walls.
Open right cabinet, right door, to find Slime Head. Use rock on him to get Launch Key.
Back up and zoom in on the Toothaphone. Unlock it using the wall clue from earlier:
Right Center Right Right Left Center Center
Take the paper. It's a clue, but there's something obscuring it.
Return to Launch Control. Click the window if you like to see the Giant Worm. Then click the console to find a locked button. Use the Launch Key to open it, then press it to launch the Giant Worm...right into the dirt. Look back up at the window, note the number and shape.
Go back to the main room, face the doors and stairs, then click the stairs to go up.
Click the box under the table to get the Box Key.
Black up, turn right, then use Driverman under the shelf to turn him into Human Stepladder to reach the top of the shelf. Take screwdriver, then return downstairs.
Go back to cabinet below the Toothaphone, unscrew with screwdriver. Flip switch, back up to open. Take box.
Use Box key to unlock, take Eraser.
Use Eraser on Toothaphone Paper to get clue for Bobbleheads upstairs. Note the hat indicating it's upside down. Go back upstairs.
Position the Bobbleheads according to the paper clue:
Hands up, Right hand out, both hands out, Left hand out.
Watch Johnny Rocket get smashed into the wall, then check his jacket for a clue.
Turn right, then zoom in on console. Use combination of clues from painting and Johnny Rocket's jacket to unlock:
Jacket indicates compass directions. Sun symbol indicates which is North.
Right, Left, Down, Upper-Left, Down, Right.
Take Exit Key, note symbols on wall.
Go back downstairs, face doors and stairs, go to right door. Open with Exit Key to enter Exit Hallway.
Zoom in on controller console on the left. Use clues from Launch Room and upstairs console to open:
Each button has a color matching the locked drawer's buttons, which all had numbers matching the clue in the Launch Room. Combine these to figure out which order to hit the buttons in. Or, if you've forgotten what was what and want a simpler means of figuring out what buttons to hit...
...Just punch in the Konami Code! ...No, seriously, that's the exit combination.
If you haven't bothered with the Panda yet, you can leave now for the Normal Ending, or go back and get a different one.
ENDINGS
NORMAL ENDING:
Do not pull any of the ropes by the panda.
BAD ENDING:
Pull rope #2 or #4, and fall for the Panda's favorite trick. Schmuck.
BETTER ENDING:
Pull rope #3.
GOOD ENDING:
Pull rope #1.
ULTIMATE ENDING:
Pull rope #1, THEN rope #3!
Posted by: An Onyx Mouse | February 29, 2012 5:41 PM