Here at the Weekday Escape headquarters, I make it my mission to be all inclusive. My motto being (this week, at least) "There's a flavor for everyone." Who am I to judge if you want to put anchovies on your oatmeal or guacamole in your ice cream? I'm no Ted Allen. I can only offer a sampling trio of escapes that are worth a taste then leave it up to the brilliance of the JIG community to make it a cuisine. All straining metaphors aside, this week's games hold little in common with each other but, when put together, seem to balance out the palate.
Escape from the Room with the Diamond Picture - You only have to play a few times to see that Yomino Kagura knows how to take a changing cursor, a few kitschy boxes, a number of well-seasoned puzzles, and a rather plain room and cook them up into a satisfying escape game. Nothing too fancy or over the top—in fact, it gets a bit difficult to distinguish one from the other. When looking at the recipe, all the ingredients are logical, intuitive and cleanly-designed; it just needs a bit more spicing up. Those who can read Japanese lettering will have the added treat of helpful messaging and a narrative to round out the escaping experience.
Escape from the Japanese Style Room - Neat Escape has a long repertoire of shortish escape games to boast (34 to be exact) and Japanese Style Room, with just a sparse two puzzles and a few hot spot searches, is one of the most recent. Still, already there is a sequel; so it'd be nice to see them put together into a more substantial undertaking. The potential is there, which would better show after a bit of polishing, ridding the room of an unfortunate pixelus huntitis infestation and giving the somewhat dull aesthetics a face lift. Perhaps someone like TomaTea, who has interior design flair, would agree to a Trading Spaces arrangement? While it's understandable if the flaws make a discerning escape enthusiast wrinkle her nose, once you get past them, this manages to be satisfying all the same—especially if you happen to be craving shellfish.
Find the Escape-Men 87: Pollinosis - You'd think that, if you have rooms filled with little green men, the least of your home owner concerns would be the pollen count outside. Still, what's less appetizing than a runny nose? Despite the opening narrative, when No1 Game uses allergy season to set the scene, it's anything but depressing. As you already know by the title, to succeed in this escape caper, find all ten escape-men in the room, either by cracking codes, uncovering their hiding spots, or solving their ailments. While there's hardly any surprises for those familiar with the Escape-Men menu of games, both the humorous story that holds it together and the addictive fun of filling your greenies count make this a delicious final course to your WE lunch break.
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Walkthrough Guide
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Escape Men 87: Pollinosis
Door View
Things to Note
There's an escape man to the right of the bookshelf, but we can't reach him yet
Things to Collect
Open the left shelf of the bookshelf to get escape man with a tickled nose
Tickle his nose by clicking to get Escape Man 1 AND Escape Man 2
Open the fridge and click the cups out of the way to get Escape Man 3
Sleeping Bag View
Escape man in the top of the cupboard needs a tissue
Escape man in the sleeping bag doesn't want to come out
Desk View
There's an escape man hard at work
There's a phone charger at the top left of the desk
Bed View
Things to Note
There's an escape man that doesn't want to get up
Things to Collect
Look! Tissues!
Underneath the tissues, there's a blue drawer knob
In the windowsill, there's a phone
Desk View
Let's charge the phone, and come back later
Sleeping Bag View
We'll give our buddy in the top cupboard a tissue to collect Escape Man 4
Check the leftover tissue to get Escape Man 5
Use the drawer knob on the bottom cupboard to get a vacuum
Click the nozzle of the vacuum to remove the large attachment
Use vacuum on the sleeping bag to annoy escape man and collect Escape Man 6
Door View
Use vacuum in that pesky space besides the bookshelf to suck up the escape man
then open the vacuum to collect Escape Man 7
Bed View
Let's wake him up- click on him til he complains to collect Escape Man 8
Desk View
Use the now charged phone to call any of the class hotlines, and here that class is cancelled!
Tell our intrepid student to collect Escape Man 9
Check the cushion on the chair to find medicine
Click the green pill to collect Escape Man 10
Ending
Click on Escape Man as he figures out how to escape Pollinosis forever
Posted by: VoxPopuli42
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February 26, 2014 3:09 AM
Since I can't play either of the other ones, here's a walkthrough for Diamond Picture room.
Exploring
Couch view
There's a screwdriver under the couch.
On the seat of the couch, there's a red diamond with a number inside.
On the picture above the couch, there are three diamonds: red, blue, and green.
The blue and white checkerboard box has slots for three shapes: circle, square, and triangle.
Strange machine + table view
There's a horizontal door on the wall, which needs a key.
The strange machine looks like a left-right puzzle.
The white box on the table needs a three-digit code. It also looks an awful lot like the picture above the couch.
TV view
The left cabinet has a blue square shape.
The middle cabinet needs a three-digit code, and the numbers are red, green, and blue.
The right cabinet is wired shut; we need a cutting implement of some sort.
Above the small table, there's a picture with numbers scattered across it.
The small table itself needs a key.
Wardrobe view
There's a pretty prominent green diamond number clue in the wardrobe.
The top drawer is screwed shut (screw is on the top left). Remove the screw, then back out and open the drawer to get a stencil with three colorful squares on it.
There's a red triangle shape in the bottom drawer.
There's something on top of the wardrobe, but we can't reach it.
Puzzle solving
Red-green-blue
Put the stencil on top of the scattered-numbers picture (TV view) to get a three digit-code. The first box is red, the second box is green, the third box is blue.
Go to the middle cabinet under the TV and enter the code you just found. Get a small white key.
Left-right
Use the key you just found to open the horizontal door (strange machine + table view).
The arrow is pointing to the left-right button thingy just below, so go ahead and press the buttons in the sequence given. Get the wire cutters.
Use the cutters to open the right-hand cabinet under the TV. Get the stick.
Diamonds
Use the stick to get the box from the top of the wardrobe.
View the box with "about item" and open it with the screwdriver. Get the remote.
Use the remote to turn on the TV; note the blue diamond number clue.
Go to the white box that resembles the picture above the couch. Put in the three-digit number the diamond clues have given us. Get another small white key.
Shapes
Use the new key to open the table to the right of the TV. Get the yellow circle shape.
Put the shapes into the blue checkerboard box next to the couch. Get the third small white key.
Use the key to open the only remaining lock, namely the one on the exit door.
Posted by: Reka
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February 27, 2014 9:41 PM
Walkthrough for Escape from the Japanese Style Room
The box on the table:
The box on the table needs a 3-digit code, and is labelled with the letters "p", "e", and "v". The solution for this puzzle can be found by reading the hanging scroll.
Count the number of occurrences of the letters "p", "e", and "v" on the hanging scroll, including the small text near the bottom.
The code to enter is 262. Take the stick.
The two-button box near the hanging scroll:
The clue for this puzzle is under the two cushions to the left and right of the table
Note that the numbers under the cushions include each of the digits from 1 to 7 exactly once.
The buttons on the box need to be pressed in the order indicated by the placement of the digits. For example, the digit "1" appears under the right-hand cushion, meaning that the right-hand button should be pressed first.
The sequence to open the box is RRLLRLR. Take the hex driver.
Using the stick and hex driver:
The bottom of the hanging scroll is fixed with a hex bolt. Use the driver to remove it.
Swing the scroll to one side, revealing a small niche that was hidden behind it.
Inside the niche is a small mechanism with a hole. Use the stick on the mechanism to create a small lever, then click on the lever, causing a floor panel to lift and reveal a secret compartment.
Opening the locked box in the secret compartment:
You need to find and press two hidden buttons to unlock the box.
Button I:
Button I is hidden beneath the cushions in the bottom of the left-hand side of the closet.
Button II:
Button II is hidden below the shelf in the right-hand side of the closet. Click just below the shelf near the middle to find it.
Open the now unlocked box, and press the button inside to unlock the exit door. Click on the door to finish the game
Posted by: Nezuji
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March 16, 2014 7:54 AM