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I was excited to see another cube escape but this on was terrible. Please do make more but that sliding puzzle and books puzzle were just annoying as hell. 2/5
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fly too slow descending towards the shell? use the green leaf thingies, they push it side to side faster, for lesser push click on the shrimp to pull it fish pushes right. alas I am not fast enough for the final lever but a great game none the less
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There is a lag on this game that I don't remember from the others. I'm having trouble finishing Chapter 4 because I can't get thru my inventory...it won't scroll. I usually rank these games as favorites but just can't do it for this one.
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No idea how to move the books off that shelf. I know there is something under there. Gave up after a good 30 minutes. Definitely killed the game for me.
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Good game. I liked the timed-part of the game, 'cause you have to do it a bit more times to understand what to do. One of my favorite developers!
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Literally cannot finish the last level (specifically the clearing out of the wood in front of the elevator) because of lag...
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While I continue to love the thematic elements, this one had a couple of parts where it felt like everything was just wrong. The fly puzzle was slow and unintuitive, many of the chapel puzzles felt forced and unnaturally mundane in the surrealist world of Cube Escape, and the timed puzzle at the end is unforgiving even when you know exactly what to do.
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I skimmed a walkthrough to figure out what to do for the cabin level and one of the first things it said was "Don't panic.". Thanks walkthrough, that REALLY put my mind at ease...
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SO ... MUCH ... LAG ...
Seriously -- What is it about this serious that just overwhelms my processor? They seem like such basic games that it shouldn't need so much computing power.
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Wonderful again! I did dislike the pixel hunt on the wall breaking, though. I had to use to walkthrough to find where I could find the thing for the cat, to know how to use the typewriter and to see where the cogs had to go in the timed puzzle. I got the timed puzzle in my first try after that, on a laptop with touchpad (Ubuntu 14.04, Chromium 44), with a few misfits with the cogs and at least three 360's with the pipes. So if you have a lag problem, try another browser or something, it is doable! 5/5 PS: fun fact! Vandermeer is not Dutch, but an Americanized Dutch name! In the Netherlands it would be "Van der Meer" or in full "Ruben van der Meer".
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One last thing - I'm surprised that people are complaining so much about the slider puzzle. Have some patience, folks. This episode places more emphasis on logical puzzles han point-and-click ones (which sort of makes sense character-wise, since the "detective" personality is supposed to be figuring things out rather than just exploring and experiencing). Some of those puzzles are going to be difficult. A 3x3 slider is not unreasonable.
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(And apart from the technical issues, that chapter went a bit too far... while I understand the atmospheric effect of time pressure, there was no reason to make the timer so strict; most people just ended up memorising the moves and then trying over and over again to click through fast enough, while knowing precisely what they had to do... that's more annoying than anything. But I wouldn't rate down just for that.)
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Now the bad: I've had to deduct one star from this episode because of the incompatibility with certain browsers (horrible horrible lag). While this problem was present in the previous episodes as well, at least they didn't have a tightly timed chapter. Chapter 4 makes the game literally impossible to complete for people with certain OS/browser combinations (I'm on a Macbook atm and on this system it lags for Safari and Firefox). On their fifth game I would expect the developers to have fixed the issue already, or at the very least to be aware of it so they don't include time-based puzzles. 4/5 until those selective lag issues are fixed.
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Let me take a shot at it: I gather there's a feeling of disgust at something either the dreamer did or happened to the dreamer (symbolised by bugs and other disgusting things throughout). The detective is a fictional identity of the dreamer (Vandermeer is a fake name, since apparently it means "from the lake" in Dutch) symbolising their desire to "outsmart" the dream world and wake up. It is no coincidence that the freakiest chapter happens to the detective; the dream is warning him that the real world is unbearable because something horrible happened. Van Gogh (another Dutch character - the dreamer is probably Dutch themselves) symbolises the dreamer's self-destructive tendencies, since Van Gogh mutilated himself and eventually committed suicide in real life; this either means that the dreamer attempted suicide or that they feel guilty for a murder they committed. The box is probably an element from real life that contains something directly related to the incident.
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First the good: I love the series. I love the atmosphere. I love the way symbolism is used, even when I can't figure out what it means. I'm very interested to find out where this is going. My theory is that this is all a dream about an (attempted) murder or suicide and we have to use the clues to deduce what really happened. I'm reminded of the way David Lynch's Mulholland Drive presented a dream meant to process a real-life traumatic event. As far as I can tell, this is top-notch art.
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Finally... the part when things come together from the earlier games... and then a cliffhanger at the end.... can't wait for next part.
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I really like this series. Usually I get frustrated with the point/click games, as they can be completely nonsensical about their solutions to problems. This series manages to be challenging, have a weird/creepy atmosphere, but still have puzzles that make sense.
Not a fan of the superquick timer on the last level; slowing it down, or basing it on clicks instead of absolute time, or not starting it until a certain point might make it more reasonable.
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As someone that doesn't particularly care for these types of games it's quite annoying that basically every third game given achievements is a new "escape" game. I understand that others like these types of games but I'd like to snag some achieves from some other genre a little more often. Nothing against this game (or series) in particular.
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I've had major, major lag issues with all the cube escape games so far, this one included. I've been able to complete all the games thus far, but I am finding Chapter 4 of this game impossible with the timer and immense lag.
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This may just be the best game I've ever played... It made me think a lot, and it's really eerie, creepy, suspenseful, and deep, and it left me wanting more! 5/5 & favorited!
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personally I think that this game is great, the timed puzzle at the end is good. It builds tension and atmosphere, the sliding puzzle isn't that hard and I was pissed at the wall clicking one but there is a little hint where to click
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This one seemed to be quite a bit easier than some of the previous ones, without me getting stuck at all (although took a few attempts on the final chapter). Still really enjoyed it, though.
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As much as I love this series, I felt dissapointed quite a bit by this one. I loved the first 3 chapters, (minus the slider puzzle, but that's just personal opinion so I won't rate on that) but the 4th chapter ruined it for me. The atmosphere was great but in the other Cube Escapes, you get the sense of being chased with impending doom WITHOUT being forced to click everything in a frenzy. I felt like I didn't really get to *experience* the last chapter, it started off with the feeling of horror and being hunted, but quickly turned to frustration. I was panicking so much at getting it right that I didn't stay at the end for as long as I'd have liked to see what happens. By all means have a chase section, but please don't let a whole chapter rely on that. In the very least take the controls away when you're safe so that the player can see the ending properly. Again, love the series, loved most of this one, so please don't take this too negatively.
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@wfaulk (sorry, I'm usually not a commenter, if I do this wrong I'll try to figure it out... I'm just here so I won't get fined...)
I've been stuck on the sliding puzzle for so long I want to cry. Thank you for commenting how to figure it out.
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Unfortunately, I had to rate this one three stars. Mainly because of the slider puzzle. Who WANTS to do those? This cube escape kind of strayed from its predecessors. Each one in the past had its own uniqueness. This is basically just reruns of the previous games. Cigars, fish, safes, and the windows and curtains. Flies seem to be a common theme as well. Nonetheless, the puzzles were still fun to solve and there are couple new additions from the previous ones. Who would have thought shaving could create life?
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I literally cannot carry out the Chapter 4 puzzle solution on my laptop. This sucks. I am going to have to find a faster computer with a good mouse. A good game otherwise.