This is not about that movie.
The Room seems to be the best thing I picked up on the Steam summer sale, and you can still get it for $1.24. It is a not-terribly-long puzzle game, starting with a puzzle box and unfolding from there. Most of the puzzles are enjoyable, although sometimes a little too far into “A leads to B leads to C, push the button” or “what are they thinking?” but where things fall on that continuum will probably be idiosyncratic based on what you find intuitive. When in doubt, try looking through the lens.
Even when it is not at its best as a game, in that you are basically pushing buttons to watch a fancy mechanical box whirl, it is a cool fancy mechanical box. It also leads to some enjoyably phantasmagorical imagery as the story of the game develops.
As a bonus, the sequel launches on Steam July 5, so if you like this one, there will be another one this week (and 2 and 3 are already available on mobile).
: Zubon
I’ve played the trilogy on iOS. The sequels are still fun, but they move away from the adventure being a single self-contained puzzlebox. Despite the name of the game being The Room, the puzzlebox was the most distinctive aspect of the original, and I sort of missed it.
I loved the atmosphere and the sense of mystery of “The Room” but I wsh the puzzles were a bit more logical. It feels like a throwback to the dreadful days of “click every item in your inventory on every pixel on the screen to see what works”. For the first room I felt it was OK but it got a lot worse in Room 2 and I never got around to room 3.