This collection repackages nine small Flash escape games in a single one. While "Flash escape game" makes it sounds like a bunch of casual time-wasters, those are actually pretty decent point & click with multiple puzzles and even NPCs and contraptions to use. The quality of the games and puzzles can vary wildly (from genuine brain ticklers to sliding puzzle crap and moon logic), but they're mostly a very good time.
Another good point is the surrealistic setting, very much inspired by Twin Peaks. A bit too much even, since the story beginning with the death of a woman named Laura feels already too on the nose, but the detective named Dale? Come on.
It also makes a very liberal use of jump scares and grotesque violence, which won't be everyone's cup of tea (I personally thought it was in pretty poor taste).
At least those bird men are cool though.
Let's look at the games individually:
- Seasons: a good start to the series with a neat narrative and mechanical twist near the end.
- The Lake: extremely short and simple. Doesn't do much beyond its weird focus on fishing.
- Arles: a pretty good van Gogh-themed game. It doesn't fit well with the rest of the Rusty Lake story, but I enjoyed it a lot.
- Harvey's Box: a very literal take on the puzzle box theme. Sadly it doesn't do much beyond that, and the quality of the actual puzzles is nothing to write home about. My least favorite entry.
- Case 23: now this is the most ambitious game in the collection. It's longer, has multiple rooms and numerous puzzles, and tries to develop the story with the introduction of the detective protagonist Dale Vandermeer. Quality is sadly a little inconsistent though (I mean, this is the one with a sliding puzzle).
- The Mill: we're getting closer and closer to a "regular" point-and-click game here. You can move around and check inside every room in the titular mill (well, there are only three), and there's even a NPC you need to feed for some reason (I actually got stuck a while because of that). Not bad.
- Birthday: this one is more straightforward but has pretty interesting puzzles and a fun setting. Not fan of the random violence though.
- Theatre: very similar to Birthday with once again nice puzzles, a cool setting and very well-paced. One of my favorite despite the weird gore (but if it was your dream to literally dive inside one man's brain, here you go).
- The Cave: the last game of the collection. Pretty clearly divided in two parts: the first is a classic escape room in a rather drab-looking cave with puzzles of various quality (mostly on the mediocre/forgettable side), the second is spent under water inside a submarine. You need to move the small vessel manually by finding coordinates, using various control panels and solving simple puzzles along the way. I found it a nice change of pace, but I can see other players hating it since it's very repetitive.
Overall a decent collection of games, especially at a low price.
Another good point is the surrealistic setting, very much inspired by Twin Peaks. A bit too much even, since the story beginning with the death of a woman named Laura feels already too on the nose, but the detective named Dale? Come on.
It also makes a very liberal use of jump scares and grotesque violence, which won't be everyone's cup of tea (I personally thought it was in pretty poor taste).
At least those bird men are cool though.
Let's look at the games individually:
- Seasons: a good start to the series with a neat narrative and mechanical twist near the end.
- The Lake: extremely short and simple. Doesn't do much beyond its weird focus on fishing.
- Arles: a pretty good van Gogh-themed game. It doesn't fit well with the rest of the Rusty Lake story, but I enjoyed it a lot.
- Harvey's Box: a very literal take on the puzzle box theme. Sadly it doesn't do much beyond that, and the quality of the actual puzzles is nothing to write home about. My least favorite entry.
- Case 23: now this is the most ambitious game in the collection. It's longer, has multiple rooms and numerous puzzles, and tries to develop the story with the introduction of the detective protagonist Dale Vandermeer. Quality is sadly a little inconsistent though (I mean, this is the one with a sliding puzzle).
- The Mill: we're getting closer and closer to a "regular" point-and-click game here. You can move around and check inside every room in the titular mill (well, there are only three), and there's even a NPC you need to feed for some reason (I actually got stuck a while because of that). Not bad.
- Birthday: this one is more straightforward but has pretty interesting puzzles and a fun setting. Not fan of the random violence though.
- Theatre: very similar to Birthday with once again nice puzzles, a cool setting and very well-paced. One of my favorite despite the weird gore (but if it was your dream to literally dive inside one man's brain, here you go).
- The Cave: the last game of the collection. Pretty clearly divided in two parts: the first is a classic escape room in a rather drab-looking cave with puzzles of various quality (mostly on the mediocre/forgettable side), the second is spent under water inside a submarine. You need to move the small vessel manually by finding coordinates, using various control panels and solving simple puzzles along the way. I found it a nice change of pace, but I can see other players hating it since it's very repetitive.
Overall a decent collection of games, especially at a low price.