The Room Two

Introduction

Tablets like the iPad have become mobile entertainment devices and a breeding ground for digital gaming of all shapes and sizes. From two-minute distractions to lengthy campaigns that apply virtual controls to the touch-screen interface, tablet gaming is now approachable for nearly every gamer out there. Still, finding new and creative ways to entertain the mobile gaming masses can be a difficult market to manage. Fireproof Games embraced the touch-based interface with 2012's 'The Room' and, with 'The Room Two', has now expanded the experience through greater immersion and varied puzzle solving.

The Game Itself: Our Reviewer's Take

'The Room' was a surprise favorite of mine. It was a delightful, thematic experience that was entertaining, but short lived. The single puzzle box provided mechanics I was not expecting, and a depth that left me wanting a great deal more. Thankfully, after a ground swell of high praise and a little more than a year after its release, the developers at Fireproof Games have delivered 'The Room 2'; a follow-up that is altogether grander in scope, storytelling, and imagination.

'The Room Two' provides a control scheme that should be second nature to anyone owning a smart phone or tablet. Taps, swipes, and pinches allow you to manage the gameplay and directly interact with the environment. The simplistic controls have allowed the developers to focus on the more important aspects of game immersion and puzzle box creativity.

Taking obvious cues from the vivid imagination of H.P. Lovecraft, players control a character hired to solve the mystery, inadvertently stumbled upon or delivered by design; the truth of the matter never fully unfolds. Consequently, the result is far more mysterious and engaging.

Like slipping through both time and space, each room that opens before you presents its own unique and original set of puzzles, while continually displaying environments that manage to keep things fresh and interesting. As the game progresses, you find yourself jumping between objects within the same room, all of which provide individual puzzles resolutions intricately tied to one another. Unlocking a chest reveals a hidden cog missing from a clock that, when wound, reveals archaic writings that can only be viewed when using your other-worldly lens . . . . and so on, and so on . . .

On occasion, however rare, finding a missing piece or solving a particular puzzle may get the better of you. In this case, 'The Room Two' often provides a subtle hint as to the task at hand. Viewing these clues is entirely up to the player, and they generally come in sets of three – from a nudge in the right direction to firm handholding. Where I may have taken advantage of these hints while playing 'The Room', the difficulty of 'The Room Two' has been adjusted to accommodate for a wider audience. As a result, although still highly entertaining, I found the individual puzzle difficulty to be much easier, and a step back from the first entry in the series.