The "U" Word

Making Windows safe for Unix people since 1995

How do you keep a web surfer busy for hours?

Send them here. Don't blame me if their weekend disappears.
Published Friday, February 13, 2004 3:25 PM by jdzions
Filed under:

Comments

 

Jason Mauss said:

how do you get out of that room?
February 13, 2004 4:01 PM
 

jdzions said:

Dunno. I've been trying for an hour or so. That's the whole point. :-)
February 13, 2004 4:12 PM
 

PaulB said:

Aaaaargh. Thanks ;-), now if someone could tell me how to get out, cause this is all too familiar.
February 13, 2004 4:17 PM
 

Jason Mauss said:

Have either of you got to where the box thing shows some moving picture of a guy on the wall? I think I've collected all the pieces you can get...but still can't open the door
February 13, 2004 4:31 PM
 

James Geurts said:

I got out... cracking the safe was a little challenging. Very cool site though.
February 13, 2004 4:35 PM
 

Jason Mauss said:

"cracking the safe?" the little red box or an actual 'safe' of some kind? now I'm frustrated... :(
February 13, 2004 4:43 PM
 

James Geurts said:

You get to the safe after opening the red box. Sorry man, I don't think I can offer any more insight since it is more fun just to get through it on your own.
February 13, 2004 4:47 PM
 

Yannick said:

aaaargh, the first time google disappoints me! How do I find the CD, how to play the cassette, grrrr

Let's get productive man, instead of spending my time on this game. Can we reverse engineer flash movies?
February 13, 2004 4:55 PM
 

Jason Mauss said:

I didn't think you needed to find a CD. I thought you just had to find the power chord to get the cd tray out to get the key.
February 13, 2004 4:57 PM
 

The said:

February 13, 2004 7:58 PM
 

Dumky said:

Reminds me of Escape of Monkey Island.
The thing is that the message at the end isn't very clear telling how to get into the escaped person list...
February 13, 2004 5:20 PM
 

Jason Mauss said:

well, one thing is for certain...there is no strange thing. :)
February 13, 2004 5:26 PM
 

Kent Tegels said:

I sense a Wiki coming on...
February 13, 2004 5:44 PM
 

The said:

February 13, 2004 8:45 PM
 

jdzions said:

If anyone does build a Wiki for this, please let me know where it pops up...
February 13, 2004 5:48 PM
 

TAKAGISMOPHILE said:

What's the point of the URL memo? Help!
February 13, 2004 5:58 PM
 

jdzions said:

It's where to go to see who else escaped from the room. I just sent the guy email to claim victory and to tell him just how many Microsoft developer-hours got vaporized today by his little page. :-)
February 13, 2004 5:59 PM
 

TAKAGISMOPHILE said:

It's just a blank pages at the moment ("TAKAGISM SINCE 1994"). I'm writing this one off as "broken". The frustration is killing me!
February 13, 2004 6:08 PM
 

jdzions said:

Oh. Right. Ignore my earlier comment.

The number that appears on that web page? It should look familiar if you've solved the puzzle. It's an important part of the penultimate stage of getting out of the room. Guessing a 4-digit number could take a long time, otherwise.
February 13, 2004 6:10 PM
 

Justin Rogers said:

I have to say, this kind of game is very similar to something like Shadowgate on the NES or any of the Myst series. While I enjoy these types of games, they generally have a point to the end, which I didn't get from this one. However, the guy is Japanese and so some references are lost.

Other issues with the game are that it's point/click system is messed up and it becomes very hard/lucky to get into some of the views the first time. Definitely not intuitive the first time through.
February 13, 2004 6:18 PM
 

TAKAGISMOPHILE said:

Try this direct link and then hit F11 in Internet Explorer:

http://www.datacraft.co.jp/takagism/crimson_room/crimson_room.swf

Strange things in 1600x1200!
February 13, 2004 6:22 PM
 

TopGun said:

That full sized view helps ALOT!!!
February 13, 2004 6:39 PM
 

Tim Marman said:

Well, I solved it, but it took a hell of a long to be able to get the safe to show up!

But... remember, the cd player is stale.
February 13, 2004 6:49 PM
 

Just a Developer said:

Took me 45 minutes...challenging. Nice.
February 13, 2004 6:58 PM
 

Doug Thews said:

Finally got it. The miniscule size of the hotspots really deteriorated the fun of solving the puzzle toward the end.
February 13, 2004 7:40 PM
 

IlluminatiLand said:

The Crimson Room puzzle has been making its rounds in the blogs today. It starts out as an interesting puzzle, but as you can see there are a lot of people having trouble. If you want a spoiler, you can...
February 13, 2004 11:41 PM
 

Rob Chartier said:


Good find.

Took me under 20 min. Very simple.
February 14, 2004 10:27 AM
 

Tinderblog said:

February 17, 2004 7:30 AM
 

IM said:

[ smug ]
Heh, reading these comments is almost as much fun as solving the puzzle :-)
[/ smug ]
February 17, 2004 10:58 AM
 

FrankArr said:

This little puzzle has been doing the rounds.
February 18, 2004 4:58 PM
 

sweet_sentiments said:

i got all the things that needs to be found but heck i was having a hard time figuring out what the moving image is for.... but somehow i was able to escape (unfortunately, i cheated a little, hehe)
February 23, 2004 3:00 AM
 

sweet_sentiments said:

anybody knows what the "next room" is?
February 23, 2004 3:03 AM
 

Ganon said:

I can't find the last thing to complete the box. I've got a ring and a metal stick. Where can I find the last thing???
February 23, 2004 10:25 AM
 

Artemis said:

Easy. Just keep opening and closing the curtain and eventually - PRESTO - another ring will fall out. ;)
February 23, 2004 3:26 PM
 

Hmmmm said:

I take it that it won;t be possible on my laptop with a max resolution of 1028 X 768? Darn it, I'll have to wait till I get to the office.
February 24, 2004 6:08 AM
 

Marta said:

Excuse me. Could somebody tell me where is the battery?
February 24, 2004 6:58 AM
 

Oliver said:

escaped in less than 10 mins
nice puzzle...
February 24, 2004 8:28 PM
 

wankus said:

Dear "Escaped" persons,

I received escape comment mail from 71,000 persons, by 0:30 Feb. 25th 2004.
Thank you.

TAKAGI

ahahha it tooks me 4 min ahahahha
February 25, 2004 5:32 PM
 

Sami said:

how can i have a full view?
February 25, 2004 9:06 PM
 

Sami said:

can anybody tell me where is the cd?
PLEASEEEEE!!!!
February 25, 2004 9:19 PM
 

Chang Zheng said:

Hehehehe, it took me 2 hours!
February 26, 2004 2:36 AM
 

Sami said:

I took it!! i htink..hum... 10 min!! (today)
February 26, 2004 9:38 AM
 

serge said:

I finished in 20 minutes or so... its more of a how fast can you click everywhere on the flash screen test than a puzzle. the only "puzzling" part is the 4-number safe sequence, and thats not really much of a challenge. good luck to all
February 26, 2004 12:54 PM
 

Thea said:

I CAN'T DO THIS. Whoever said it was more fun to get through on your own can go to you-know where. We're all stuck!
February 26, 2004 5:41 PM
 

Thea said:

I have all the pieces and have seen the dancing man. But what now?
February 26, 2004 5:42 PM
 

trini_ghost said:

jeez..exactly how many times do you have to keep opening the curtain for the second key to fall out? and I still need the battery..
February 26, 2004 6:01 PM
 

Argus said:

*CAUTION, CONTAINS SPOILERS IF YOU WANT TO BEAT IT ON YOUR OWN, DON'T READ!*














*the thin ring is found in the dish on the dresser where the CD player is
*the CD is found in the top left drawer of the dresser
*the piece of paper is found in the top right drawer of the dresser
*there is a cassette underneath the dresser, find it by clicking on the floor around the dresser
*the silver key is in the window when you open the curtain
*a thick ring is found by opening and closing the curtain multiple times. it will fall down to the floor after a few clicks
*the golden key is located underneath the pillow
*a metal stick can be found by clicking around the area where the headboard and mattress meets.
*a batter can be found by clicking on the floor while facing the blank wall. click around the area towards the left. keep clicking, trust me, its there.
*find the power chord by opening the bottom left drawer of the dresser with the gold key
*find the box by opening the bottom right drawer with the silver key
*find the normal key by plugging in the power chord to the CD player, then turn the CD player on. then open the disc tray, that is where the 3rd key is.

these are all your items. you need to now assemble the box. do so by clicking on the little box icon and making the box take up the screen. when you do this you put the two rings in the little round holes, then put the metal stick in the long, narrow slit. when all three items are placed where they go, click the box it will open. then place the battery where it goes and then place the cassette in the box. click the box again and it will play a movie.

watch the movie closely. pay attention to the end. the dancer guy starts pointing at a star that appears on the wall. you need to place your mouse pointer over the star (BUT DO NOT CLICK). when the movie finishes, click the spot that your mouse is located. when you do this the outline of a box will appear. click the box outline and a safe will appear. to open the safe you use the normal key and a combination. (hint on finding the combination...remember that everything you found has a purpose, don't let any detail get past you. or, you could even find the combination on a website...).

follow this and you will get out of the room.
February 26, 2004 6:39 PM
 

simonastro said:

seems every object had a purpose except the cd case !!

February 27, 2004 1:19 PM
 

Alan FU said:

GOOD
March 1, 2004 5:10 AM
 

David said:

not very interesting, dreamwaver user understand hotpoint
March 1, 2004 12:45 PM
 

EvOlution said:

I imagine the "next room" is about making another room...maybe there should have been more rooms to start off with..just the one is a bit simple.

If you want this sort of thing but a bit more long-winded try "Motas" (mystery of time and space)

http://www.albartus.com/motas/
March 4, 2004 12:10 PM
 

Some Llama said:

dood, how insanely lame... open the curtain a few times!??! WTF? click around on the floor by the empty wall... WTF!?!?!? how lame.. I was initially impressed with the game but this is just lame... here try my game, it is a 1600x1200 square box, click the right pixel and you win!! gl!
March 4, 2004 2:46 PM
 

tAuReS said:

totally interesting... looking forward to the next room...
March 5, 2004 8:38 AM
 

Piers said:

Bloody hell!! It took a life time to do that... Lots of fun though. I knew that damn cross had something to do with it!!!
March 5, 2004 9:42 AM
 

nopops said:

dont need to download that unix thing...copy and paste rot 13 code in here and it translates it.
March 6, 2004 4:05 PM
 

Sergiu said:

This is one of the most stupid games I have ever played. How TF is clicking randomly on the screen supposed to be fun? There is absolutely no logic in this game. WTF is the CD case for???? It's incredibly stupid!
March 7, 2004 12:34 AM
 

Chris said:

just cos u cant do it! CD case and Cd have nothing 2 do with it
There is no cd anyway!
Took me about 30 mins
Cant wait for the next room
Any1 no if i can find another good takagism thing around?
March 7, 2004 9:53 AM
 

lickme said:

boy that would have been a lot easier if the spots to click were easier to hit...


"clickclickclickclickclick" FINALLY! I CAN LOOK UNDER THE BED!!

ffs.... and that whole "+" star thing.. same deal! that blew chunks! I want a puzzle that challenges me, no the accuracy of a mouse to click one pixel!
March 10, 2004 10:32 AM
 

rachel said:

took me like 20 min but did cheat on finding the battery...i thought it was fun except for the multiple attempts at clicking everything not to mention the dancing guy was kinda scary. didnt see the point of the cd case...red herring maybe? good luck everybody and have fun.
March 10, 2004 1:48 PM
 

Goatboy said:

FFS - Chill out you bunch of babies.

It was fun and a good showcase for the guy's talent. If you want a challenging game, look elsewhere.
March 11, 2004 5:01 AM
 

Pete said:

Just an awesome game, kept my busy there for a while. Cool :-)
March 11, 2004 6:47 AM
 

CoN said:

hi, i got this little game today and it was awsome to "play" it, real great, i'm honest now, it took me more then 20 min.,however finally i got out of it.I am sorry for some mistakes i have been doing, but you have to take into consideration that i am from germany!
March 11, 2004 7:31 AM
 

Nick said:

Good fun but hot spots are a bastard to hit
March 11, 2004 11:12 AM
 

Becki said:

Gawd that was hard!!
Guys on my website spent ages on that!
March 11, 2004 11:18 AM
 

Bex said:

yea completed crimson room quite easy really but a good game
March 12, 2004 1:19 AM
 

blah said:

gah wat is the numbers for the safe?
March 12, 2004 11:36 AM
 

Caibao said:

Anyone tried a different code and got a different ending?
March 13, 2004 9:43 PM
 

*.* said:

1994
March 14, 2004 3:01 PM
 

*.* said:

If that was hard, try this: http://server-admin.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/motas/mystery/
Best. Thinking. Game. Evar. Period. 13 levels. Auto save. I'll be in MOTES4 as TehBlueBlur helping people...Have fun and redirect me to who ever blogs this!
March 14, 2004 3:10 PM
 

*.* said:

This link has the game with chat room: http://server-admin.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/motas/
March 14, 2004 3:12 PM
 

ThisGuy said:

Wow! I guess I'm stupid..it took me over an hour, and that only with spoilers. NOTE: Much more difficult with a monitor that isn't displaying vivid *blue*. On another monitor I could see the casette (sp?) immediately...not on this one.
March 16, 2004 6:46 PM
 

*.* said:

I only got help on the green wall, stupid thing. Then again, it took me over 5 hours, no chat room, though; I used the no-chat verson.
March 17, 2004 11:47 AM
 

# said:

What sahll i do with the screw drivwer ?
March 19, 2004 8:04 AM
 

Mr.Fake said:

I heard you can find an alternative ending (and they say it's a much better one) using the CD case... Couldn't find yet...
March 22, 2004 11:00 AM
 

20 minutes said:

fu**ing great game! =) but what about an alternative ending with the cd? i heard something about the cd, too....!
March 22, 2004 12:13 PM
 

tuggawaugh said:

probably its just a rumour to waste more time of ppl....
March 23, 2004 5:46 AM
 

gulian said:

good game
March 24, 2004 7:16 AM
 

ravi said:

how do we chat with others in motus. its saying could not lookup www.wicked.us
March 30, 2004 12:51 AM
 

Lokendra said:

Click on the chest of drawers to go to it
Open the top two drawers drawers and extract the CD case and memo
Click on the dish to the right of the CD player and get the ring
Click somewhere outside the dish to return to the view of the cabinet (it will be assumed you know how to do this in the future)
Click under the chest of drawers to look underneath
Get the casette tape
Click the wall to the left to turn
Click the purple carpet in the lower left corner
Get the battery
Click the wall to the left to get to the bed
Click the pillow
Take the key
With the pillow still lifted, click the edge of the short edge of the mattress by the headboard. This may take a couple of tries; when you hit it the view changes and it says "A metal stick was found"
Take the metal stick
Turn left
Open the curtain
Take the key
Keep opening and closing the curtain until something falls out of it
Get the thick ring
Click on the gold key in your "items" panel so that it is selected
Return to the cabinet and click on the bottom left drawer to unlock it
Click again to open the drawer; take the power cable
Select the silver key
Open the other locked drawer
Take the red box
Click on the stereo to go to it.
Select the power cord, then click on the CD player to plug it in
Turn it on, then click the CD drive to eject it
Take the key from the tray
Click on the red box in your inventory
Select the rod in your inventory and click on the rod-shaped slot in the box
Put the two rings into the holes they belong in
Click the lid to open the box
Insert the tape and battery where they obviously belong
Click on the lid to watch a video. Watch the entire video without clicking.
After the video is over, click where the guy pointed. It is important to wait until the projector has shut off. If you mess up, just go back to the red box and play the video again.
Click the box that appears
Read the memo to get the URL of the number to put in the combination lock. (Since the site is really slow, I'll just go ahead and tell you that it's 1994.)
Select the black key from the CD player and click on the keyhole.
Get the screwdriver
Go to the door
Click immediately above the knob to change your angle
Select the screwdriver, click the doorknob
Open the door and leave
April 6, 2004 2:58 AM
 

liz said:

trying to find the hotspots nearly drove me insane! worth keeping ur cool tho cos it is possible to do; done in about 30 minutes with no clues - anyone know about the alternative way to solve it tho?
April 11, 2004 10:30 AM
 

Jon said:

Yo I beat that game in like 5 minutes with no clues. Its fun but REALLY ANNOYING!
May 16, 2004 1:33 PM
 

abc said:

i beat the game in 20 mins
May 22, 2004 8:56 AM
 

Auralis said:

I did it in 10 mins, with help just to know what was up with the freaky dancing guy!
Turns out I was just clicking on the wrong pixel:P
May 31, 2004 2:15 AM
 

vertigo said:

that was awsome it took me like 30 min but yeah clicking in just the wrong place messes you up
June 16, 2004 11:55 PM
 

Imai said:

I got that thing but it kept on telling me i got te numbers wrong why>>>??????????????????/
June 29, 2004 5:55 PM
 

coco said:

It took me a while to get the url to come up. The code for the safe is 6979...for today. Seems it changes each day!!!!
July 2, 2004 7:18 PM
Anonymous comments are disabled

© 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Terms of Use  |  Trademarks  |  Privacy Statement
Microsoft
Page view tracker