Rooms: The Main Building First Impressions
We were easily sucked into the world of Rooms, an intriguing sliding puzzle game with a twist.
At Hudson's press event in San Francisco, the publisher revealed a diverse lineup of games across various genres, including survival horror, sports, real-time strategy, and puzzle. The game that stood out the most was an interesting Nintendo DS puzzle game called Rooms: The Main Building. Available on the Wii and DS, Rooms is a peculiar sliding puzzle game in which your goal is to help a well-dressed, top-hat-wearing individual get to the exit. The premise is simple enough, but as the rooms get larger and more objects get in the way, it can be quite tricky to find your way out.
Originally a flash game, Rooms is about a man who receives a mysterious gift that transports him into this world of sliding rooms, and he needs to find a way to get out. It's not just about rearranging tiles until the picture is back in place; each tile has objects like ladders and telephones and even hazards that you'll have to take into consideration when trying to reach the door. Being good at sliding puzzles will help, but it takes a bit of planning to see where you can move your character. You're free to walk around the tiles, provided that there are no barriers. For example, if a ladder is in the room, you can slide it around until you find a tile that has an opening so you can climb up. Telephones let you teleport from one room to another, and there are instances when you can swap tiles entirely, so instead of just jumping to that room, that part of the puzzle will move with you.
Some of the stages that we saw were in a two-by-three grid, so you have six tiles to work with. Eventually the puzzles will get harder and you may have to manage up to 16 tiles in order to get to the exit. The touch screen is where all the action happens, and you use the stylus to slide the rooms around. On the top screen, there is a replica of the puzzle, and you can tap the "show BG" button, which will give you a hint by arranging the tiles to complete the picture.
Rooms is simple enough to pick up and play, but it can also get quite complex. What is striking about the game is the 1930s decor and theme, which looks great on the DS and stands out because of the art style. The DS version will have a level editor in which you can create your own rooms and share with friends locally and over Wi-Fi. This feature is not included on the Wii, but the Wii version will have split-screen head-to-head challenges for offline competitive play where two players race to see who can exit the room first. Gameplay is exactly the same in both versions, and there will be more than 100 rooms to explore.
We're looking forward to spending more time with this intriguing puzzler, so stay tuned for more updates as we get closer to the release date. Rooms: The Main Building is scheduled to be released next spring.
Rooms: The Main Building Quick Links
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