The Rooms for DS

Look, I'll be honest.

I've been kinda busy. Here's the deal. I've been doing more theatre than video games. And I'm sorry.

Also,

*SPOILER ALERT*

I'm loving all the site traffic I've been getting. Google has a program that tracks it, and well, there are people reading this thing. Lots of em. So I figured I should start posting again.

HERE WE GO.

The Rooms for Nintendo DS.

The game also exists for the Wii, I've played both, and frankly... the game works better on the DS. I'll explain why.

The Rooms is simply a tile game, only you can travel from tile to tile. The basic concept is pretty simple: slide different tiles into different positions to allow travel from one point to another. Sometimes you'll need to collect a key to open a door, sometimes you need to travel by way of a Matrix-esque phone system. However the game tends to slowly up the complications at a nice pace.

So why is it better for the DS you ask?

...i will assume you asked.

Well, since you asked. The controls basically require you to slide tiles, and sometimes click on a specific area (keys, doors) on the screen. This is perfect for the DS, made for the DS, jives with the DS so nicely that you'll enjoy the tile game aspects of it even before getting into the puzzle aspects.

The Wii version is a good attempt.... but, its.... lacking. Since all controls are done by the remote it tends to be less accurate than a stylus.

Moving on. The music is super solid, very Professor Layton/ Room 214-ish. (See: mysterious and simple)

The sound effects... well, I don't remember any standing out but that can be good or bad. So there. The controls are as tight and simple as they need to be. The storyline is as vague as you can imagine, (A talking book requires you to solve puzzles in a hotel), but it's a very small part of the game. It's all about puzzles.

So why haven't you heard about this game? Why haven't there been ticket-tape parades celebrating the existence of this game? Surprisingly enough, it's made by a smaller company, and surprisingly enough, this company isn't well known either so the game pretty much gets thrown to the dogs. Which is sad, but common.

Soapbox:

I find myself more and more enjoying the games by smaller companies (Metro 2033, Rooms, Nostalgia, hell... even Alan Wake ((sorry Remedy))).

Mostly it's their passion for gaming, and the way they go about making the game. Smaller budgets means they have to be more creative about things, while making an addictive game.

Overall I say give it a try. The new Professor Layton is out too (review coming as soon as I stop hating how stupid it makes me feel), but if you want a more tangible puzzle game, and you enjoy your DS but have gotten tired of the lack of good titles recently, PICK THIS GAME UP.

You might like it. If you don't, well chances are you found it used, so take it back.