I like puzzles as they allow you to think. Each piece needs to be in the correct location to move, to complete the picture of a scene. There are many different types of puzzles from mechanics to sliding the pieces around. I always thought about puzzles in Virtual Reality. Would the work? Would they keep the interest of the player? Could a story be told surrounding puzzles? These are some of the questions I actually have had. So have my questions finally been answered with Rooms: The Unsolvable Puzzle a game released by PrismPlus Co., Ltd. in Japan and HandMade Game in Korea? I can say yes…yes it has.
So what is Room: The Unsolvable Puzzle about? You play as Anne. And as you enter the mansion you learn that there is more to the mansion than meets the eye. A voice starts to speak, but yet no person is there. Suddenly you learn that the voices are coming from the lantern you have been holding. You start to learn about the Legendary Toy Maker, the mansion and how some of the rooms move, but only in certain directions. As you start out at the very beginning, you will appreciate the simplicity of the first few levels and later on start to miss this. So embrace the simple life now…embrace it.
Your main goal, of course, is to get to the exit in as few moves as possible. Doing so will grant you three gold pieces. To your left, you will see a sign with numbers. This represents how many moves it should take to get to the end. But don’t worry if it takes you more moves as the game does not end nor does the level automatically restart, its more for these golden pieces and challenge that is given to you. So many will appreciate this while others will greatly accept the challenge.
Another thing I appreciate is not being left to just figure it out. Rooms: The Unsolvable Puzzle does allow you to get some help. By pressing on the touchpad of the Dualshock 4 controller, you will see an outline of how the rooms should be placed. Now this will not show you the order nor direction of what room and where they should go, but just an outline if you will. But I will give you one hint, pay attention when you move a room and how it may light up or even how the type of rooms may go together based on what type of room it may be. Would part of a kitchen room go with part of a bedroom? It may…or it may not.
I really love how the story is told in-between the scenes. You start to get an understanding of the Toy Maker and why things had to happen or at least in some eyes why they thought it had to happen.
As you move on, more objects get added to the mix. A telephone will allow you to go to another room with the other telephone, the wardrobe will allow the room to switch, magnets can push and pull rooms away, bombs will go off causing either you to restart if you are too close or blow up some walls. Using the objects does not count against your total moves so use that towards your puzzle room strategy.
Be aware of the puppets. as you progress you will see a puppet outside one of the rooms. Once you enter, the pieces of the puppet are scattered along. Once they are close enough to one another, they form the puppet of restart (that’s what I am calling it). The puppet will copy your moves and if it touches you, you have to restart the level over. I forgot to mention mirrors. These rooms like the rooms with the puppet will copy the room that you move. This can get frustrating but in a fun way.
I really love it when a Developer allows you to be brought to the level like you are sitting on the ground and being able to play with everything. And the immersion that it adds here is a real treat. It felt like when you were a kid and being able to play with those sets and action figures and creating your own story. When you add the music to what sounds like playing from those old music boxes your Grandmother or Great Grandmother had as a child, brings a real soothing and warm tone to the ears. Now if only the soundtrack would be released.
There was only one thing I experienced. Sometimes when I would play and try to recenter the screen by pressing options, it would not go to the center. Now, this is in no wan a breaking point and should stop you from experiencing Room: The Unsolvable Puzzle, but I just wanted you to be aware as this can easily be fixed with an update. But if this the only thing I experienced that was just a little bit off, that really says a lot.
Rooms: The Unsolvable Puzzle has a lot to offer. You get 144 stages of which 96 help tell the story over four mansions. You also get bonus 48 basement stages that are aimed at the more advanced puzzle solver. Oh, those golden pieces I told you about, they help unlock some of the statues on the main grounds. Plus, if you want to play with or without PlayStation VR, the option is here for you.
Rooms: The Unsolvable Puzzle is out now on PlayStation VR and is also available on the Oculus Store, Steam, and Viveport. A review copy was provided.
To learn more about PrismPlus Co., LTD please visit their site and subscribe to their YouTube channel. To learn more about HandMade Games, please visit their site, like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.
In case you missed the trailer, please enjoy. Until next time I have more puzzles to try and solve.
Mr. PSVR, July 4, 2018, theplaystationbrahs.com