As a child of the 80s and 90s, CD-ROMs were part of my life growing up. I’m sure everyone had a free demo of Encarta from the front of a magazine! CD-ROM takes us back to the 90s with the goal of cracking the code to open 10 CD-ROMs. Each CD-ROM is locked with a serial number that you’ll need to piece together using the mixed media that is scattered across all the CD-ROMs you’ve already unlocked up to that point.
Firstly, I must applaud the developer on just how superb this game looks and sounds. The retro fake operating system is perfect, and you can hear the CD-ROM making CPU sounds and disc drive whirrs as you play. The fake OS screen also comes with a microchip and a code section. Each CD-ROM comes with a microchip that gives hints as to how to order your 8-digit serial number. The code section takes on elements like Braille patterns that you might have to translate. The codes are found in-game, so you don’t need any real-world knowledge to win.
The way puzzles are structured is playful and tactile. You’ll swap CD-ROMs, install programmes like Elevator, a first puzzle exploration game, onto your PC, and you’ll use these programmes to decode things. Sometimes it’s pictures that need to be manipulated in a discount demo version of Paint. You might need to place sound snippets into an audio wave file visualiser to see sound differently. There are text files, photos, an Atlas, and my personal puzzle Kryptonite, a slider puzzle. On their own, they are quite simple, but the fun comes from working out what mix and match of new clues will lead you to use certain tools. Sometimes it means that a few tools are underutilised, and because literally everything is used somewhere in the game, you’ll start to notice what’s been left behind and mentally remember that for future puzzles. I will say that having a pen and paper on hand is a must.
Whilst I thoroughly enjoyed CD-ROM, my only minor critique is that the difficulty curve is more like a rollercoaster than a steady incline. Some clues and notes are quite literal and take you directly to the tool to answer something. Others layer multiple tools and skills together, and these are the more satisfying and trickier ones to solve. The game is always fun, regardless of the puzzle difficulty…except for the slider puzzle. That’s a personal bugbear, though, I cannot stand them! I won’t hold it against the game.
CD-ROM is a wonderful mixed media detective game built around the art of Steganography. Decoding media to unlock new items is deeply satisfying, and CD-ROM makes you feel brainy with its variety and quickfire, no filler delivery. This is a true hidden gem in gaming. Don’t sleep on it, puzzle fans.
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