Escape the room
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Escape the room is a genre of online adventure game,[1] usually created for Adobe Flash and utilizing a point and click style of play. The object of the game is to find a way to escape from a mysterious room. The room usually consists of a locked door, several objects to manipulate as well as hidden clues or secret compartments.[2] The player must use the objects to interact with other items in the room to reveal a way to escape.[3] The term "escape the room" and popularity of the genre is often attributed to MOTAS (2001), though this style of gameplay has been present in adventure games which predate it, such as the 1994 DOS computer game, Noctropolis.[1]
[edit] Origin
The game which popularized the term "escape the room" is said to be MOTAS (2001), though there are many older examples of the point-and-click variation, such as the 1994 DOS computer game, Noctropolis. The genre was further popularized by the Japanese "Crimson Room" game (2004) by Toshimitsu Takagi, which has spread throughout the internet and can be seen on many gaming websites. Another popular example is the Submachine Series which continues to add new installments to a captivating storyline. Strictly speaking, MOTAS is not strictly an "escape-the-room" game, as it includes many levels, some of which include more than one location.
The basic idea of collecting and manipulating objects is a core element of text adventure games (interactive fiction). Colossal Cave Adventure (1976-77) featured a grate that requires a key to unlock and a rusty door that must be oiled, and Zork (1977-79) featured a trap door under a rug and a puzzle involving slipping paper under a door to retrieve a key (a puzzle which reappears in MOTAS). While these classic text games were not limited to one location, John Wilson's Behind Closed Doors is an early example of a commercial game in the genre, and Laura Knauth's Trapped in a One Room Dilly shows the genre was well-established in the text-adventure hobbyist community in 1998. While a single-location game may not be set inside a room, and while the player's goal may not necessarily be escape, in 2002 the interactive fiction community first hosted a One Room Game Competition (attracting six entries, all in Italian), and in 2006 Riff Conner wrote Another Goddamn Escape the Locked Room Game, indicating that the genre is well known in the contemporary interactive fiction hobbyist community. Often, a game that features many different locations will begin with a prologue of sorts, in which the player must escape a cell or simply leave the player's apartment in order to get the main plot started.
[edit] Structure
Most escape the room games are in a first-person perspective, with the player clicking on objects to interact with them. Many games of the genre start with a small cutscene (which usually consists only of text) to establish how the player got there. The usual story is the player waking up and finding themselves in a mysterious room from which they must escape using household, but sometimes also unusual items left in the room.
During gameplay the player clicks on objects to either interact with it or add it to his inventory. If the object cannot be collected, the player is usually informed of what it is (as if the player was instead inspecting it). After collecting various items and using them with various objects, (or other items in the inventory) the player may eventually find a way to get out of the room. Some games require that the player solves several rooms until finding the end. Escape the room games often require significant amounts of pixel hunting.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Ransom-Wiley, James (2007-01-15). New MOTAS levels to point and click thru. Joystiq. Retrieved on 2007-12-14.
- ^ Bibby, Jay (2006-06-09). OUT file#01. Jay Is Games. Retrieved on 2007-12-14.
- ^ 4Games: Game Review: The Mystery of Time and Space. Channel 4. Retrieved on 2007-12-14.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
