Friday Flash Fun: Tesshi-e escape games

October 14, 2011 3:05 AM

Friday Flash Fun: Japanese designer Tesshi-e makes beautiful, evocative, maddening escape games. Most recent among them is Escape Hotel 4. You may like to check into rooms 3, 2 or 1. Or perhaps you'd prefer to escape from the tatami room, the small bar, the hexagon room, the dome room or the restroom. Examine every item carefully, because nothing is quite as it seems. Expect a lot of lateral thinking and a sprinkling of maths. And before you leave, be sure to take one last look for the Happy Coin: Happy coin will bring happiness to you!! English-language reviews and walkthroughs are here.
posted by embrangled (9 comments total)

sure, but i miss toshimitsu takagi :(

he didn't even run out of colors it's like he just disappeared, what happened
posted by This, of course, alludes to you at 3:08 AM on October 14, 2011

How do I enter the rooms?
Oh, there you go.
posted by quoquo at 5:22 AM on October 14, 2011

Nice! Tesshi-e is one of the best, though their work is getting rather formulaic. How many times can you manipulate a picture frame until it opens, anyway?
posted by koucha at 6:35 AM on October 14, 2011

Ah, I am so addicted to escape games. Tesshi-e's are really amazing visually, but the Muzak-y soundtracks start to get to me after a while.
posted by missix at 11:03 AM on October 14, 2011

I really am addicted to escape games as well as Dismantling* things.

Whomever posted about these types of games here on MeFi - I love you and hate you at the same time. /addicted
posted by littlesq at 12:26 PM on October 14, 2011

Quick hint: In windows, control panel, regional and language settings, language tab, make sure you have the Install Asian Languages checkbox ticked, or some of the translation text won't work.

Whenever a new tesshi-e game comes out , my partner and I race each other to finish on netbooks in bed, and one netbook didn't have that setting so a font didn't appear which meant a roman numeral wasn't displayed which meant a puzzle made no sense which meant her opportunity to beat me for the first time was compromised which resulted in a near death experience for me.

But tesshi-e games are all of a standard. There's nothing in there which is arbitrary, there's logic behind everything, which makes them ideal for such competitions. Tesshi-e is the Infocom of escape the room games.

And don't forget to save before clicking on the final door, so you can look for the happy coin.
posted by Sparx at 2:43 PM on October 14, 2011

> their work is getting rather formulaic

I love escape games, and it's kind of nice to encounter familiar puzzles occasionally - gives me a fighting chance without resorting to a walkthrough.

For some real brain-benders, try a few from Neutral, another Japanese escape game developer. If you enjoy slamming your head on your desk until gray matter escapes from your ears, Cageling is the game for you.
posted by Quietgal at 3:37 PM on October 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

Is there a way to get English? I don't read Japanese...
posted by stoneegg21 at 6:56 PM on October 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

To save your game, select languages and adjust volume, please press the 「FUNCTION」 button.

Click on BGM to turn off the annoying Background Music.
posted by Harpocrates at 9:43 PM on October 14, 2011