March 19th, 2008 by PCG

Game Review: Escape the Museum

Museums tend to be rather quiet, studious locales apart from the occasional grade schooler visits (and, not counting the events of Night at the Museum with Ben Stiller). But, not today. All h-e-double hockey sticks has broken loose at the National Museum of History following a 7.6 magnitude earthquake that rocked the city. In fact, it's a frantic room-by-room search and rescue in Escape the Museum.

What started as a warm, beautiful day for Susan Anderson and her daughter Caitlin ends in disastrous suspense when the museum where Susan works is shaken to its core. While able to secure Caitlin safely within the museum, Susan herself is knocked unconscious by falling debris and wakes to a catastrophic shambles. Afterwards it's a frenzied hunt to recover important artifacts while escaping from a maze of debris-barred routes on her way to reunite with Caitlin and flee the devastation together.

In a blend of adventure-style conundrums and hidden-object gameplay, a la Azada and the Dream Chronicles puzzlers, your task in Escape the Museum is to help Susan navigate the crumbling structure by solving a series of 25 object-based puzzles and locating a collection of varied artifacts strewn across some 60 seek-and-find levels. However, it's more than just a string of posers. The game's puzzles and object hunts are knit together via an engaging story, presented in cartoon-style graphics with audio voice-overs, that follows Susan, location-by-location, through the museum. Conversations are handled using a walkie-talkie, cell phone and by e-mail through Susan's handy PDA, which also provides a map of the building.

Object-based puzzles are predominantly of the find-and-combine-items-to-escape-the-room variety. For instance, at one location you need to search a darkened area. This requires a flashlight, which, of course, needs batteries. Other objects nearby include a knife and walkie-talkie. The solution? Open the walkie-talkie with the knife and put its batteries into the light...

Escape the Museum is an utterly fascinating adventure/hidden object game for Windows/Mac that reaches into room escape territory for inspiration. You play as Susan Anderson, a museum curator showing her daughter a dinosaur exhibit when a fierce earthquake rocks the building. Falling debris knocks Susan unconscious, and when she wakes she discovers she's trapped in the room and Caitlin is missing! Find the objects you'll need to reach the exit, then recover precious museum artifacts as you work your way through the rubble searching for your daughter.

Escape the Museum is a lot like Azada or the Dream Chronicles series in that it mixes adventure-style puzzles with light hidden object gameplay. Levels alternate between game modes to keep the experience from growing too dull, and the story is told through a series of cut scenes complete with voice acting. Susan is in contact with several co-workers who provide hints via cell phone, telling her which items she'll need to clear a path to the exit. These usually consist of simple assembly puzzles that require you to locate items or item components and use them in the appropriate area to continue. For example, finding a flashlight and then having to locate batteries and a bulb to make it work, all of which are second nature to room escape fans and adventure enthusiasts alike...

Escape the Museum - Object-Hunting Diversion

I don't know about you, but when I first saw the title I thought about Night at the Museum movie.

But as I dived into the game, I understood that it's a different story. Escape the Museum, developed and published by Gogii Games, is not as friendly and funny as the one with Ben Stiller...

Escape the Museum: Museums are usually not thought of a dangerous place, but the National Museum of History unexpectedly become a disaster area, and its chief scientist Susan caitlin her daughter, who gets stuck in there and separated in a powerful earthquake.

Your first challenge is vestibular Museum, a magnificent rooms and a huge Tyrannosaurus rex fossil at the core. Dinosaurs in the huge and heavy in the head before the doors close, you have to find a way to escape. At the same time in the whole building shake and subsidence, give you a sense of crisis-ridden world.

With similar adventure game, azada or Dream Chronicles, at Escape the Museum, you can click on an object to add it to your list, and then use it at the different place. More interested, move your mouse at the scene, you will find that the mouse will turn into different shapes, but you can also narrow the gap between the screen, you need to carefully inspect the items...