Welcome to our review of The Room, a mystique puzzler – out now on the Nintendo Switch!
The Room:
The Room has a special place in my gaming heart. I first discovered the game when I hit an announcement by Fireproof Games (the studio behind it) by chance . They promised a game of mystery, wrapped inside a beautifully shaped world of intriguing problems. Fast forward to 2018 and Fireproof Games released a total of four ‘The Room’ games, with lots of awards and multiplatform releases. They teamed up with Team 17 (the studio behind Worms) to bring the game to the Switch, and boy, did they deliver.
Gameplay Style:
The Room offers you two kinds of gaming. With a Joy Con in hand (in either Docked or Tabletop mode) or Handheld-Touchscreen mode. I personally preferred the touchscreen variant, since the game is designed for ‘mobile’ platforms (in the positive connotation). I played the first two games on Steam as well, but it felt out of place to make my way through the game with a mouse (or Joy Con). Of course, it felt nice to move stuff while using my Joy Con, but nothing beats the twisting and turning of a puzzle with my bare hands (just like the old days).
The game starts with a short tutorial, giving you some insight into how the controls work and a small showcase of what the jest of the game is about. Everything is done by classy handwritten notes, which all talk about the Null-element. I can’t really give much more information about the story, since I would spoil too much for a review – but trust me, you won’t be satisfied when you finish this game. Every time you solve a chapter (which contains a series of puzzles), you will get more handwritten information. Each note is designed as a research note, comparable with something you would find in a notebook of an inventor, which gives it a nice touch.
The game is basically a small room-after-room puzzle, in which each room serves as a chapter in the story. The thing that makes The Room different from different puzzle games, is the fact it uses the puzzle you just solved, as the base for another puzzle. I really liked this the first time I played the game, and I still dig it. The story goes deeper than this little review does it justice, but you really need to discover the secrets of The Room for yourself.
Graphical Upgrade:
If we talk graphics, the game really took flight after the mobile release. The game looks stunning in both docked and handheld mode and really gives an alchemy feel, due to the constant sense of mystery and strange gibberish you find everywhere. If someone told me I was on a quest for equivalent exchange, I would have believed it in a heartbeat. But, the camera had some glitchy features, since it would sometimes spin on its own, which made solving some puzzles really hard (especially where you had to turn certain pieces of machinery).
Conclusion:
The only other negative remark I have is the length of the game. Sure, it’s the first in line, but it’s short (if you know how to finish most of the puzzles, it will get only shorter). So we can only hope Fireproof Games will bring the rest of the series to the Nintendo Switch as well. If you are into puzzle games with a mysterious and dark storyline (which I won’t spoil), you should really try out the Room.
