Room Escape Artist

Temporal Tangle Online is included in our recommendation guide for 2-Player Online Escape Games. For more of the best online escape games in this style, check out the recommendation guide.

Temporal Tangle Online is a recreation of a real-life escape room as a digital point-and-click adventure game created by Next Level Escape in Sydney, Australia.

Format

Style of Play: real-life escape room converted to digital play as a point-and-click adventure game

Required Equipment: computer with internet connection

The game can be computer-intensive, so I recommend running their free demo before purchasing the game.

Recommended Team Size: 1-3

Play Time: 1-2 hours, depending how leisurely you choose to play

Price: $35 AUD (about $24 USD)

Booking: purchase and play at your leisure

Description

It looks like you’re in a real escape room, but interaction is browser-based point-and-click, and works like any other computer-based escape rooms that you might have played before. The interactions are streamlined and don’t require fiddly positioning.

It is a single-player game, but lends itself to co-playing. Several friends could each play on their own systems at the same time and share information or discuss the game via whatever voice or video chat they prefer.

Hivemind Review Scale

Brett Kuehner’s Reaction

• + A terrific translation of a physical room to a videogame format, with a good sense of humor
• + Sharp graphics and streamlined navigation and object manipulation
• + The game does not have a timer, encouraging exploration (which is rewarded with Easter eggs)
• + A light but enjoyable narrative unfolds as you proceed through the game, and it is integral to the experience
• + Understanding the narrative is key to making a decision that affects the outcome
• + Excellent voice acting
• + Ambient background soundtrack I liked so much I kept it running even after the game
• + Fine-grained progressive hinting system
• +/- While the game ran well for our team, other friends reported technical issues, so I recommend you read the FAQ and play on the best hardware you have available.

Tammy McLeod’s Reaction

This is a darling little escape room that was turned into a point-and-click adventure game. I was pleasantly surprised by how much the narrative appealed to me. My wrist was a little sore at the end from the amount of clicking I needed to do, but overall, the game was engaging, with an enjoyable soundtrack and a sassy sense of humor.

Theresa W’s Reaction

Temporal Tangle Online was by far the best implementation of a point-and-click escape game I’ve seen yet, and I can’t imagine many games in this format beating this experience. The interface worked flawlessly for my setup, but I can imagine older or lower-spec computers struggling with the 3D renderings. Every single object had dialogue that added to the humor and story with some Easter eggs scattered throughout. The story was compelling and intense, yet portrayed incredibly well for an online experience. So many puzzles had tangible and fun interactions that really added to the feeling of being in a real room. If you only have time for one game, and think your computer can run it — this is the game I’d recommend over and over again.

Disclosure: Temporal Tangle Online provided the Hivemind reviewers with a complimentary play.