Play The Room. Seriously, Go Download It Right Now [Review]

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The Room

I’m going to get right to it here: The Room, an escape game by developer Fireproof Studios, is the best mobile title I’ve ever played. You can read the rest of the review if you want, but it’s basically going to be versions of that.

The Room by Fireproof Studios
Category: iOS Games
Works With: iPhone, iPad
Price: Free

I know “best ever” is a bold statement, though, so let me back it up: The Room, which is available for both iPad and iPhone–the latter as The Room Pocket, I assume because it fits in your pocket and not because it’s about a pocket in which someone stores rooms–has beautiful graphics, clever puzzles, and simple, responsive touch controls that actually work.

Stepping back, this is an escape game, a subset of the point-and-click adventure genre which is about about finding oneself locked in a room and having to search around and solve puzzles in order to, you know, escape. You can play a bunch of them for free here, but they’re basically like Saw but not typically as violent (and with about 100 percent less Cary Elwes).

If you’re familiar with the escape genre, you know that they’re not typically the most plot-intensive of games; they all start with a cold open, and most of their heroes have amnesia … because it’s you. You’re the hero, and you don’t have any more of an idea of what’s going on than the character you inhabit.

It has beautiful graphics, clever puzzles, and simple and responsive touch controls that actually work.

Similarly, The Room dances around with some jazz about alchemy before descending into some slight cosmic-horror territory, but the real stars are the puzzles. Each of the game’s chapters tasks players with unlocking the secrets of a puzzle box using observation, intellect, and a special pair of goggles that reveal clues that aren’t otherwise visible. And if those things don’t do it, you can always use the friendly hint system or just random guesses.

You manipulate puzzles by tapping, dragging, and occasionally even tilting your phone or tablet. And everything just works right away. The only puzzle I had significant trouble working was one late in the game involving a piano, but everything else felt intuitive, natural, and as responsive as it needed to be.

The Room
Some of the later boxes get a bit elaborate.

I could go on, but the short version is that if you like clever puzzles and have an iOS device thirsting for entertainment, you should at least try the free introductory chapter of The Room. You’ll know from that whether or not you’ll want to pitch in a buck for four more chapters and the recently added epilogue.

Spoiler alert: You probably will.



The Room
Game Name: : The Room
The Good: Pretty much the whole thing.
The Bad: That piano puzzle kinda sucks, but whatever.
The Verdict: It’s a clever, beautifully rendered and animated puzzle game with spot-on controls and a hint of Lovecraftian horror. I am a big fan.
Buy from:App Store

[rating=game5]

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