Puzzle Room: Score-settling

The game name might have lost something in translation from the Portuguese; I didn’t notice much score-settling going on. Instead, the story is that you’re helping a young guy escape from the hideout of a notorious motorcycle gang before they return.

Score-Settling was an old school game with fairly simple decor, and plenty of numerical padlocks to open, along with other more physical mechanisms. That doesn’t have to be a bad thing in a game, but it makes it even more important that the puzzles are good; and broadly, these were. One in particular stuck in my mind as being more complex with more steps than is typical, while still being very logical and satisfying when solved.

It didn’t use an inventory system, and I thought it was all the better for not having one. Inventories can be invaluable for providing close up views of items and for keeping track of what’s still in play, but also have a tendency to draw players away from the livestream where the action is happening, shifting the feel a little bit away from live action and towards a computer game. In this case there were few items that needed to be inspected closely and a fairly linear sequence, so the single window worked well.

Our host played his role in character but was first and foremost an avatar; that is to say, he prioritised following instructions over giving an acting performance. For most teams I think that’s the right way round.

I found it a solid and enjoyable game. It’s unlikely to blow your socks off but should be a reliably fun hour of puzzle solving.