The Room Two

The Room Two is an escape room game about intricate puzzle mechanisms set inside sinister rooms. You must figure out how to operate every contraption in order to reveal the exit to the next room. This sequel veers a bit more into horror, while remaining true to the high-definition ethos of the series.

The game picks up where The Room left off, although the story is still minimal and no prior knowledge is needed. You are trapped in a series of shadowy puzzle-filled rooms, pursuing a scientist who leaves you notes detailing his investigations into the Null—a mysterious and possibly malevolent entity. The clockpunk setting jumps between a variety of locations, including a ship at sea and a Mesoamerican ruin.

Each chapter of the game corresponds to one room, which contains various elaborate puzzle boxes, toys, weapons, and other devices. You must interact with them in a number of ways in order to eventually unlock the exit. It’s not always clear what the purpose of these devices is, or what parts of them are interactable; you’ll need to exercise your observation skills and some logical thinking to figure out what to do. There’s also an in-game hint system to help you spot anything you might have missed.

As in The Room, the camera is mostly fixed, and there is no free movement involved. You look around simply by double-clicking (or double-tapping) on elements you want to zoom in on, or by dragging the view to a different angle. Also returning is the magical eyepiece, which reveals hidden inscriptions and enables you to interact with objects previously out of sight.

The atmosphere of this sequel is much creepier and sometimes verges into horror, including occasional jump scares and strobing effects. However, the main focus is still on the same things that made the original Room a hit: detailed environments, meticulously-designed machinery, and lots of satisfying—if sometimes frightening—animations to reward your virtual tinkering.

This description was written by Gwen C. Katz.