[UPDATE] The old link is broken. You can play Crimson Room here now (or at least until this link stops working too).
“Ahhhh!” “The horror!” “Minimize in fear!” These screams might well describe your reaction to this game back in 2004 when it first hit the Internet. And boy did it hit us hard. Don’t let its simple and sleek graphics fool you; it is not a smooth and simple game.
From start to finish it’s not that long of a game at all, but unlike Little Wheel it doesn’t lead you to the end, and much unlike last week’s revisiting of Samorost 1 & 2, this game’s goal is not relaxation and enjoyment. In Crimson Room, you are trapped in an eerie and claustrophobic cacophony of frantic clicking, and up until the very end, and even long after completion, this game tortures and torments your mind. It’s kind of like a haunted house — just because you escaped it doesn’t give much solace since it’s still sitting there and waiting for its next victims.
Okay, so maybe I’m going a little overboard, but the Internet wasn’t that great half a decade ago, and we were much younger back then, too. In an age where the dial-up era had finally begun to rest peacefully in its shallow grave, this game came out of nowhere and proved simple games could still pack quite the pointer finger punch. If Shadow of the Colossus was one of the PS2’s last hurrahs, then Crimson Room also deserves some similar praise all these years later.
You can play Crimson Room here at Fasco-CSC. Do they charge you to play it and its successors? Nope! But they do encourage you to donate however much you feel comfortable giving if you enjoy their games. Is that greedy? No, and here’s why. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to play their White Chamber game. I slightly remember playing Viridian Room, but I think I missed their pale escape game in the past.
P.S. If you think you’re a tough guy and Crimson’s Room is child’s play, just wait for next week’s featured game. Any guesses? Until then, do you have any flash game suggestions for future Monday Mind Teasers? Email me and I’ll put it to the test! Enjoy the trip down memory lane.
