A Deadly Dive into Retro Puzzles
Games within games should always be seen as something of a special treat.
I love how in Wolfenstein: The New Order you can play the original 90’s Wolfenstein, and how Nathan Drake sits down with his wife in Uncharted 4 to smash out a couple of levels of Crash Bandicoot.
Games within games work as a clever device, even if there is always the danger that you might get more involved in the mini-game rather than that of the main one.
Is this Game Trying to Kill Me? is all about games within games. It’s an old retro affair mixed with an escape room vibe. Let’s see if it lives up to its threat.
Cabin Conundrums
The game starts with you waking up in a strange cabin, viewing things through the first person. Next to you is a skeleton in a bed. So not the best of starts. In the cabin, you see an open fire, strange symbols on the wall, a chest, and in the middle of the room, an old PC.
As you go to the computer to engage with it a window opens and a strange vampire wizard-like creature warns you that you will die if you don’t escape the room.
So, you then proceed to play a 2D retro adventure game on the computer; one that relates to the 3D world in the cabin, with puzzles relating to each other in the two worlds. The story and narrative that you find more of as you play the game are pretty good but the main focus is the puzzle-solving and escape room mechanics.
Real World Consequences
The room in the real world has no exits, just objects. When you play the 2D adventure game on the computer you have to guide a little man through a series of rooms while unlocking traps and doors to get through. But the answers to certain puzzles lie in the cabin itself.
For example, without spoiling too much, the first puzzle involves you looking on the cabin wall for some shapes and patterns. In the game, these same shapes are on shields in the room and you have to get them in the right order to unlock the door. All clear?
If you have something that happens in the game world it could happen to you in the real world. At one point I landed on some spikes and then some similar came out of the computer and killed me. That was just one of my deaths, and you’ll want to prepare yourself for a load of dying in Is this Game Trying to Kill Me?, followed by the usual restarting.
Boss Battles and Brain Busters
There are boss battles too; engaging and entertaining with a small bit of frustration added in for good measure.
Is this Game Trying to Kill Me? is very well put together and intriguing to play through, complete with some great ideas and a mixing of the two worlds. I liked the blending of puzzle solving, both in 2D and 3D, but things do get very tricky at times, leaving you to scratch your head as you hunt clues.
The visuals are fine and the design of the puzzles and the mixing between the 2D game and the cabin is pretty impressive. However, at times the world may make you feel a little dizzy; I don’t know if that’s done on purpose or not, but it’s not a nice feeling.
A Thought-Provoking Escape into Retro Madness
Strange feelings of dizziness aside, Is this Game Trying to Kill Me? is a fun and thoughtful game that will tax your brain for a couple of hours. The narrative and setup are fine but it’s not going to rival anything in terms of storytelling. This is all about solving puzzles, working your way through two interconnecting worlds.
Should you enjoy escape rooms and the like, then Is this Game Trying to Kill Me? is probably worth a look.
Important Links
Is this Game Trying to Kill Me? is a Sadistic Puzzle Title on Xbox, PlayStation and Switch – https://www.thexboxhub.com/is-this-game-trying-to-kill-me-is-a-sadistic-puzzle-title-on-xbox-playstation-and-switch/
Buy from the Xbox Store, optimised for Series X|S – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/Is-this-Game-Trying-to-Kill-Me-Xbox-Series-XS/9NW520SZTXWG
Or grab the Xbox One edition – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/Is-this-Game-Trying-to-Kill-Me/9P5CB8B5L3BT
