Escape room
You wake up locked in a room and have to get out: you click on everything to examine it, find hidden items and clues, and combine them to open drawers, locks and, finally, the door. There are no enemies and no rush; the challenge is paying close attention.
Also known as: escape the room, room escape, escape game
This is a basic entry: it has the definition and the classification. Full entries add history, games and a demo.
History
- 2001OriginMOTAS (The Mystery of Time and Space)
The term was born in 2001 with MOTAS (The Mystery of Time and Space), a Flash browser game, although earlier text adventures were already about escaping a single place.
Escape room video game (Wikipedia) - 2004Crimson Room
Toshimitsu Takagi's free Flash game Crimson Room becomes an internet phenomenon and popularises the genre, which in Asia even gets called 'Takagism'.
Crimson Room (Wikipedia)
Reference games
2001
MOTAS (The Mystery of Time and Space)
A Flash graphic adventure with 20 levels, some a single room and others a large network of rooms. The term 'escape the room' comes from it.
2004
Crimson Room
You wake up in a red room and explore it from fixed camera angles, clicking on objects to examine, collect and combine them until you escape. It was free in Flash and popularised the genre.