The Room
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Critic Reviews for The Room
The quality of The Room and the atmosphere it conjures is undeniable, and it's certainly worth checking out if you haven't played before. It's a pleasure to see some well-implemented pointer controls added to a classic touchscreen title, and the fact that this seminal release is now available on a dedicated gaming device is cause for celebration. Be aware that it's a slight offering by home console standards, though – it's crying out to be part of a compilation release with its three sequels. Perhaps one for the Wishlist, then, but it's a winner while it lasts.
The Room's puzzles are engaging and accessible, able to make you feel like you're using your brain without leaving you frustrated. This alone is enough for it to be held up as a success, but the game becomes something more interesting and affecting in how it uses these puzzles as the basis for subtle horror – not in its cliched story about an over-ambitious researcher, but the progression into its boxes-within-boxes, each impossibly larger than the last. It is disorientating, even nightmarish.
The Room is a fun and well designed puzzle game that suits the Nintendo Switch perfectly, thanks to its original puzzles, good control system and overall environment. Where the game misses out is on its long-term replay value, as well as on its rather exaggerated price for a game of its size but fans of puzzle games will definitely get something out of this experience.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Fireproof Games' The Room remains an engaging, clever puzzle game. It's a delight to uncover the secrets hidden within the mechanical boxes, but the Switch version just isn't a good value proposition.
Despite its short life (three hours only), The Room is probably one of the best puzzle games of recent years
Review in French | Read full review
The Room offers up a unique take on puzzle solving, with its intricate, ornate boxes and intriguing mystery. The touch controls and the game's beautiful, tiny details make the experience enjoyable on the Nintendo Switch, even if it's not too different from its mobile version.
That being said however, The Room is an expertly crafted puzzle box game that does a whole lot of things right and I doubt anyone would have regrets picking this one up.
