It's important for you to be aware of rooms, your surroundings, the demon behind you, and ourselves. Most importantly the demon though.
“Awareness Rooms” was released in June 2016 on Steam by GAME NA KIBUN, a one-man indie development club ran by BomB.
So far, “Awareness Rooms” seems to be BomB’s only game, or at least the only game that hasn’t been translated yet.
Overview
"Awareness Rooms" begins with a straight to the point tutorial on the controls.
After learning the controls, we enter "Awareness Rooms" proper. There's no story, so we're lost on who we are and where we are. All we know is that we must exit the rooms.
In “Awareness Rooms,” the player examines items in the rooms to increase their awareness. The more aware you are, the more you can make out and solve.
Even if you recognize an item early, the protagonist won't. It's like giving a baby an iPad, to them, it's just a glowing square. To us, it's something we use to watch our... Unique hobbies.
By inspecting and using objects, awareness is increased. Sometime items must be re-inspected/re-used to increase awareness if your awareness is 50 per cent or over. Whether you can use the item or not depends on your awareness.
The player has two inventory slots for items to help solve puzzles. Items can be returned to where you found them if you need room.
Puzzles can be summarized as finding key items and figuring out passwords/codes. Some puzzles can only be solved at 50 per cent or 100 per cent awareness, like opening a safe or summoning Satan.
The game gives an indicator/hint to give you the right direction for puzzles. Some hints are easily to realize, while others are difficult.
The mechanics are good, leading to great puzzles that are satisfying to solve. Increasing awareness is also rewarding as the areas look nice when the player is at 100 per cent awareness. Especially the final area with its lights
However, due to the simplicity of the game, I can't call it fun. I feel the game has a lot of room for expansion with mechanics, but only scratched the surface.
Something to note is that there's only one track in the whole game and it only plays on the title screen and in the credits. You don't hear music for most of the game, which helps with the atmosphere, but is also... Boring.
I'd recommend listening to Professor Layton Puzzle music when playing the game, the music's vibe fits the game perfectly. Puzzles, Puzzles, More Puzzles, Bewitching Puzzle, and Puzzles reinvented, Just be warned one puzzle does require listening carefully, but when you see it, you'll know what puzzle I'm talking about.
The game is also noticeably short too, only being under two hours. There isn't any replay value neither. For a $5.49CDN game, that's a bit of a yikes. Thankfully, I got it on sale, but I can't recommend "Awareness Rooms" at full price.
Levels (Puzzle Spoilers)
"Awareness" Rooms has four levels. The game begins with Room 1, a nice introduction level to the game’s mechanics.
Room 2 is also good and even has a literal red herring with the fire extinguisher. However, I do find it strange that an item from Room 1 is needed to complete Room 2. It's the only time the game does this too.
Room 3 is my favourite, with a lot of "aha" moments. The three numbered password and box with the S and L buttons are so satisfying to solve, I felt so smart. I also love the concept, as things you do in the left room affect the right room, as the right room takes place in the future somehow.
I did end up having to use a walkthrough to gain access to the rest of the future room, but that wasn't the game's fault, I just didn't realize I could move the globe in the present room to move the hole in the future room.
I also spent more time than I'd like to admit trying to use the golden cog and golden key, only to realize you use them outside of Room 3 technically. I spent enough time with the golden cog to know it well enough and marry it.
However, using the golden items unlocks Room 0. The player must go back to Room 1 to access it, which might sound tedious, but the rooms are small, so backtracking isn't bad.
Room 0 is another proficient level, but it's also far easier than Room 3. I even solved one of the puzzles by accident, the clock tower specifically. I just thought 6:30 was a neat time to put the clock to. Room 0 is neat, but sort of anticlimactic given the difficulty.
Overall (C)
I think “Awareness Rooms” is interesting. It’s fun, the puzzles are engaging, and presentation is nice, the concept is novel. However, it’s far too short for a $5.49CDN price tag, there’s barely any music, and the story can be summed up in three words.
As something on sale for $1.09CDN, it’s a decent time that’s worth the money, however at the end of the day, it feels like a tech demo for a concept that can be explored more. A concept that I really do want to be explored more.
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