Escape from Crimson Manor Ep.1

Why all these sub-par reviews? In so very many games the navigation — besides being a labyrinth, having one going back-and-forth so much, that without a cheat sheet one gets dizzy — it’s impossible to remember just where one saw what…. even taking screenshots. This game has the most realistic navigation of getting around ever. It’s like you’re really there, and just walking. One can remember. And it’s simple. There are but two rooms. You turn left or right, walk down the hall, and enter, looking around rooms as if you’re right there! A pure delight. Congrats to the developers. The clue book is handy, too, meaning less screenshots, and one can view and interact at the same time. But some clues didn’t get copied, because I’d needed first to actually touch them? And sometimes a single tap might have been preferable, vs. having to do two. All-in-all, a really fun and interesting time. And thank you for playing for free! So, must review! However, for $3 I won’t purchase the sequel — assuming there’ll be more, too — because $6 or $7, overall, out-of-pocket prices, total, are reserved for purchasing interactive board games I can repeatedly play with friends, or for truly, incredibly superb games, like Myst, where ones gets lost for days on end… Again, the most enjoyable navigation I’ve ever had. While I would pay $.99 for the next puzzle, just for fun, I’m so sorry, as fun as I had, I won’t be continuing onto episode 2. Thanks so very much! Linda PS. The ending scene was my least favorite…

I really really wanted to love this, because I’ve very much enjoyed MediaCity’s other adventure games. Unfortunately I can’t handle the smooth-scrolling graphics with the contrary swipe action. It makes me nauseous after a few minutes’ play. Just now I tried playing the game again after a break of several months, hoping that the effect wasn’t as bad as I’d remembered. Alas, after a few seconds I knew I couldn’t continue. Two stars, to catch the attention of the developers. Please, I beg you, give us an option to set the swipe action to normal. That should have been the default in the first place. I have no problem with the smooth scrolling in the Room series, for example. I’ll give a positive update once I can actually play the game. I imagine that you’ve worked very hard to make a beautiful game. I don’t understand why you haven’t quickly responded to all the requests to give an option reverse the swipe action, because why you would want to prevent a substantial number of your fans from playing the game? Here’s the thing: if you don’t suffer from motion sickness, then you’ll have no idea at all what we are complaining about. The only way you’ll know is if you listen to what we are telling you about our playing experience.

Having played most all escape games, I love finding new ones that are well done. This game is a great mix: decent level of difficulty, layered puzzles, decent gameplay. If I had to suggest a few things… An option to reverse the drag direction: on most devices, you pull towards an object, not push to them. And option to pinch back out instead of the back button. And an option not to automatically catalog clues - this takes the fun out of figuring things out. But nice work, I enjoyed it.