The Room 2 – Interactive Digital Narratives

Techno-Nostalgia in The Room 2

Professor Sample commented on my previous post wondering whether The Room 2 was perhaps a comment on technology in our society since it utilizes a typewriter within the game. While the whole game is rather antiquated, featuring old, musty rooms with locked boxes, it is interesting that the developers chose to place the game in the past though the exact time changes as one proceeds through the game. Seemingly, The Room 2 could have used modern rooms, placing clues and keys within computers or even just modernizing the look of the rooms. Yet, the developers instead chose the complete opposite, making the rooms dark and filled with old photographs.

Simultaneously, however, technology, such as the typewriter or the laser system, was needed to beat the levels. This technology is also antiquated, but The Room 2 often feels like a mad scientist’s creation, fully equipped with levers, pulleys, and elaborate locks. The technology used to design the game is clearly high-end for a mobile puzzle game; the graphics are intricate and artistic and the overall feel of the game is incredibly convincing. But it also seems that the developers have a fascination with early modes of technology. They are more interested in how an old complicated locked box opens than the modern equivalent.

This contradiction, modern game developers focusing on old technology, makes the game fascinating. They apply our modern technological skills to make the brilliance of old technology come alive again. It is, as Professor Sample put it, techno-nostalgia. I think this techno-nostalgia makes the game much more appealing. It adds another layer to an already complex puzzle game, perhaps making the player think about technological advancements, but also the similarities between the game mechanics and the technology within the game. For instance, when a box opens with multiple inputs needed i.e. a key, a button, and a photo placed in the right position, the code written for that box to open had multiple inputs to create said box and make it function the way it does. The old technology is tied in with the new in a fascinating manner in the game, creating a nostalgia for old technology, but showing how modern technology can enhance our appreciation of that old technology.

Making Texts in The Room 2

As mentioned in the prior post, I want to investigate A.S. as a character within the game. In the 4th level of the game, entitled Seance, there are the usual riddle letters left by A.S. Throughout the previous 3 levels, the player learns that A.S. is involved with these various rooms in some way. He … Continue reading “Making Texts in The Room 2”

As mentioned in the prior post, I want to investigate A.S. as a character within the game. In the 4th level of the game, entitled Seance, there are the usual riddle letters left by A.S. Throughout the previous 3 levels, the player learns that A.S. is involved with these various rooms in some way. He knows informations about the rooms that help the player solve the puzzle and move on to the next level. But it is still unclear his exact relationship to these rooms.

In Seance, however, the player discovers what has happened to A.S. Seance, an apt title, ends with A.S.’s corpse in a chair at a table of tarot cards. In this level, the player must use a typewriter to type out words, which illicit an automated response from the typewriter. Though these clues are not signed, it is fair to assume that A.S. has set them up prior to his death, which the player is still unaware of. This call and response makes the player a text maker too. While the words, INFINITY, VOYAGE, and HOPE, are given to the player, he or she still has to manually input them into the typewriter, making the player an author as well.

This call and response shows the importance of A.S. within the game. If the words that came back on the typewriter were merely automated, the allure that A.S. embodies would be lost. During Seance, we are instead communicating with the dead A.S.’s message, a much more captivating puzzle to be solving.

Additionally, though we are given the words, we become a part of his story. We ignite what he has left us through the typewriter; we become a part of his story. Simultaneously, A.S. has managed to live on through the words he has left. Though probably not intended by the developers, they have touched upon the theme of what it means to die in the digital age. Of course, A.S. is not a real person, but just as his words live on within the game and give him some sort of afterlife, social media enables humans to “live on” in some sense. The Room 2 creating such grand meaning through a puzzle game shows the immense power that some video games, which seem “casual”at first, can create.

Immersion in a Casual Game: The Room Two

For the most part, casual games distract players from everyday life. They provide a break for someone: a little fun on a bathroom or coffee break. However, The Room Two is the first casual game that I have played which requires intense focus and attention rather than mindless swiping on a 4 inch screen. After finishing … Continue reading “Immersion in a Casual Game: The Room Two”

For the most part, casual games distract players from everyday life. They provide a break for someone: a little fun on a bathroom or coffee break. However, The Room Two is the first casual game that I have played which requires intense focus and attention rather than mindless swiping on a 4 inch screen.

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After finishing playing The Last of Us, I assumed that my casual game would require a different type of analysis when thinking about how the game functioned. While The Room 2 is a puzzle game that does not need a large screen or a captivating narrative, it does employ many functions that more immersive console games tend to employ. For instance, there is eerie music throughout gameplay, adding an element of suspense, as well as a character known as A.S..

Without this music, the game would function as a stereotypical puzzle game. The music, however, adds a narrative element that puzzle games do not normally have. Where is the music coming from? Is it part of the mise-en scene, as in is it actually playing in the various rooms, or is it something the developer added to increase the overall attractiveness of the game?

The Room also has text built into the game. These letters both provide clues and add narrative to the game. T chapter-1-intro-letter he author, only known as A.S., speaks to the player through these letters,
but there are also unsigned texts, which offer instructions to the player on how to
move through the levels. These texts implicate A.S. as the in-game auteur. A.S. leaves riddles to help and confuse the player, granting him narrative power. These riddle texts work in conjunction with the clues you can use, which come from the developers of the game, rather than A.S., the in-game auteur.

As I continue to play this game, I want to further explore A.S’s role in the game. Is he essential to the game play, adding components that enhance the game’s intrigue? Or is he merely fluff, who distracts from the puzzles the developers have created? Does a character within a puzzle game benefit or inhibit game play?