The Room (video game)
Encyclopedia
The Room Tribute or The Room is an unofficial video game released on September 9, 2010, based on the film of the same name
. It was programmed by Tom Fulp
and the game's artwork was provided by staff member Jeff "JohnnyUtah" Bandelin, with music by animator Chris O'Neill. The game was designed in the style of 16-bit graphics, much like a similar game based on the film Tremors
for Newgrounds own 2010 April Fools joke.
/ adventure game
with a point-and-click
interface. The player assumes the role of Johnny, a banker in San Francisco, as he goes about his daily life-- showering, going to work, and pleasing his fiance Lisa. The game is divided up into several levels, each of which takes the form of a new day. Each level begins with Johnny being required to bathe and ends with him going to bed; in between, Johnny is tasked with various missions, which usually involve him engaging in mundane activities such as meeting friends for coffee, buying new clothes, and playing catch. When not on a mission, the player is given free roam over a small area of San Francisco, which includes a park, several stores, and the homes of Johnny's friends Mark and Denny. There are several side quests that the player can engage in when not on missions, such as finding and reading Denny's daily diary entries; successfully completing a side quest involving finding ten unique spoons unlocks an extended ending to the game.
The game also contains a Prologue, beginning with Lisa and Denny at Johnny's grave (a statue of Tommy Wiseau) and then seguing into a level that occurs a day before the main action of the movie begins, in which Johnny learns that an earthquake has sealed San Francisco off from the rest of the state (an apparent reference to the Grand Theft Auto
video game series, in which each entry begins by limiting the player to a small section of the city by virtue of some natural or man made disaster).
The final level of the game permits players to "tie up" loose plot threads left hanging at the end of the movie, such as the fate of Chris-R and Johnny's contentious relationship with his superiors at the bank. The game also includes an epilogue revealing that Johnny was, in fact, an alien being inhabiting a human body; after Johnny's "suicide," he returns to his mothership, a giant mechanical spoon orbiting the Earth, and laments how he and his fellow extraterrestrials may never understand human life. Johnny and two of his fellow aliens then assume forms resembling a naked Tommy Wiseau and begin dancing, ending the game.
Should the player collect each of the hidden spoons throughout the game, rather than simply dance during the climax, the aliens fire a ray gun at Earth that reshapes the planet into a giant spoon.
called the flash game "as addictive as scotchka!". The game has also had positive reviews from press such as TIME
, Wired
, Destructoid
, The Escapist, Bitmob, Infinite Lives, Westword
, Game Culture, and Geeks of Doom. There is talk of a console addaption on production.
The Room (film)
The Room is a 2003 independent drama film starring Tommy Wiseau, who also wrote, directed, and produced the feature. In addition to Wiseau, the principal cast includes Juliette Danielle, Greg Sestero, Philip Haldiman, Kyle Vogt, Carolyn Minnott, and Robyn Paris...
. It was programmed by Tom Fulp
Tom Fulp
Thomas Michael "Tom" Fulp is the co-owner of video game company The Behemoth, and the creator and administrator of Newgrounds, a popular website for sharing Flash files...
and the game's artwork was provided by staff member Jeff "JohnnyUtah" Bandelin, with music by animator Chris O'Neill. The game was designed in the style of 16-bit graphics, much like a similar game based on the film Tremors
Tremors (film)
Tremors is a 1990 American science fiction horror comedy film directed by Ron Underwood, based on a screenplay by Brent Maddock and S. S. Wilson, and starring Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, Finn Carter, Michael Gross and Reba McEntire...
for Newgrounds own 2010 April Fools joke.
Gameplay
The Room is a role-playingRole-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
/ adventure game
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
with a point-and-click
Point-and-click
Point-and-click is the action of a computer user moving a cursor to a certain location on a screen and then pressing a mouse button, usually the left button , or other pointing device...
interface. The player assumes the role of Johnny, a banker in San Francisco, as he goes about his daily life-- showering, going to work, and pleasing his fiance Lisa. The game is divided up into several levels, each of which takes the form of a new day. Each level begins with Johnny being required to bathe and ends with him going to bed; in between, Johnny is tasked with various missions, which usually involve him engaging in mundane activities such as meeting friends for coffee, buying new clothes, and playing catch. When not on a mission, the player is given free roam over a small area of San Francisco, which includes a park, several stores, and the homes of Johnny's friends Mark and Denny. There are several side quests that the player can engage in when not on missions, such as finding and reading Denny's daily diary entries; successfully completing a side quest involving finding ten unique spoons unlocks an extended ending to the game.
Plot
For the most part, the game follows the plot of the movie: Amiable banker Johnny helps out his friends with their day-to-day problems while preparing for his wedding to his long-time fiancee, Lisa. When he discovers that Lisa is cheating on him, Johnny decides to expose her infidelity. The game primarily diverges from the film in that it shows the events nominally from Johnny's point of view as opposed to Lisa's; the player gets to control Johnny as he engages in activities that were only referred to in the film, such as his taking on a mystery client at his bank and his turning over drug dealer Chris-R to the police. The game also contains several in-jokes that attempt to fill in plot-holes in the film; a scene in the game's final level attempts to explain the inexplicable disappearance of main character Peter from the movie's final act.The game also contains a Prologue, beginning with Lisa and Denny at Johnny's grave (a statue of Tommy Wiseau) and then seguing into a level that occurs a day before the main action of the movie begins, in which Johnny learns that an earthquake has sealed San Francisco off from the rest of the state (an apparent reference to the Grand Theft Auto
Grand Theft Auto (series)
Grand Theft Auto is a multi-award-winning British video game series created in the United Kingdom by Dave Jones, then later by brothers Dan Houser and Sam Houser, and game designer Zachary Clarke. It is primarily developed by Edinburgh based Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games...
video game series, in which each entry begins by limiting the player to a small section of the city by virtue of some natural or man made disaster).
The final level of the game permits players to "tie up" loose plot threads left hanging at the end of the movie, such as the fate of Chris-R and Johnny's contentious relationship with his superiors at the bank. The game also includes an epilogue revealing that Johnny was, in fact, an alien being inhabiting a human body; after Johnny's "suicide," he returns to his mothership, a giant mechanical spoon orbiting the Earth, and laments how he and his fellow extraterrestrials may never understand human life. Johnny and two of his fellow aliens then assume forms resembling a naked Tommy Wiseau and begin dancing, ending the game.
Should the player collect each of the hidden spoons throughout the game, rather than simply dance during the climax, the aliens fire a ray gun at Earth that reshapes the planet into a giant spoon.
Reception
Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
called the flash game "as addictive as scotchka!". The game has also had positive reviews from press such as TIME
Time
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
, Wired
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
, Destructoid
Destructoid
Destructoid is an independent video game-focused blog based in San Francisco, California that was founded in March 2006. It has since grown into one of the most widely read video game sites on the Internet, reaching more than 3 million unique visitors per month...
, The Escapist, Bitmob, Infinite Lives, Westword
Westword
Westword is a free alternative weekly newspaper based in Denver, Colorado.Westword was established independently in 1977. In 1983 it was bought by New Times Media. In 2005, New Times acquired Village Voice Media, and changed its name to Village Voice Media...
, Game Culture, and Geeks of Doom. There is talk of a console addaption on production.