MOTAS

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This article is about the game. For the expansion of the initialism, see Wiktionary.

The Mystery Of Time And Space (commonly known as MOTAS) is a popular online graphic adventure game created by Jan Albartus (LOGAN). The game was produced using Macromedia Flash (It was produced before Adobe bought-out Macromedia and renamed the product Adobe Flash.) and was an early influential example of the escape the room genre.^[1]

In MOTAS, the adventurer has to solve puzzles and riddles to unlock the doors to the mystery of time and space.

Contents 1 Features 2 History 3 Gameplay 4 Levels 5 Level release dates 6 References 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Features

• Online graphic adventure game
• Point-and-click game
• 20 levels
• Moderated game chat rooms
• Multiple languages available

[edit] History

MOTAS was created in November 2001. At that time MOTAS was hosted on a free web server and the game featured only one room (level). In February 2002, a counter was added. As of May 2008, MOTAS has 20 levels plus the guestbook/end level. At several points, the game became so popular that bandwidth became a problem, and so the game was moved to another web host.

[edit] Gameplay

The player clicks on objects in the rooms to find items. For example, in the first room, the player is given a key under the pillow. The key is then used to open the cupboard, not the door. The cupboard yields a screwdriver, which can be used to unscrew the painting. The player must often find creative uses for the items found.

[edit] Levels

The levels of MOTAS begin in a relatively formulaic fashion; as is the convention in Escape the Room games, the player awakens in a locked bedroom with no memory, and the following levels follow similar patterns of relatively trivial puzzles, although they show examples of high technology and a sci-fi influence. However, later additions provide information or suggestions on the game's setting, through books named after the game and security reports that suggest the player is an escaped clone, thus causing an evolution in the plot usually unseen in the genre. The gameplay itself steadily evolves at the same time, the levels gradually taking place over multiple rooms at once and eventually venturing into an outside world beyond locked buildings. The introduction in more recent levels of a Manipulator of Time and Space (MOTAS) device furthers the game's metafictional elements, although an early plot suggestion was dismissed; the eighth level of the game depicted a figure in a pink space suit following the player, but this figure was revealed in the seventeenth level to merely be the player themself having travelled from the future.

• Level 1 takes place in a locked bedroom where you wake up without any memory.

• Level 2 takes place in two connected rooms with a computer and keycode to open the next door.

• Level 3 takes place in two connected rooms with a mechanism under a bridge and a rat that looks like a head that follows a line. This level also contains a poster with a link to a website that has hints in case it's too difficult for you.

• Level 4 takes place in three connected rooms with a fireplace, a laser-cutting machine and a thermostat. The narration for this room points out that there are no windows in these rooms- a point that is explained later.

• Level 5 takes place in two connected rooms, one of which contains a movable cabinet and box which can obscure a door, a wall panel or both, but not neither. The other room contains a panel featuring a series of odd-one-out puzzles.

• Level 6 takes place in four connected rooms on two floors. The basement is accessible through a puzzle. This level contains a defiance of the laws of physics with two painting of spheres that swap picture frames.

• Level 7, the largest level in the game, is made up of 13 connected rooms. The player must find three wheels to activate the teleportation machine at the end. In this level, it is implied that the player is an escaped clone.

• Level 8 is a Christmas-themed series of rooms with the highlight being a room-sized chess board. In the end of this level, the player is followed by a figure in a space suit, the first example of some kind of plot. (In level 17, it is discovered that the figure in the space suit is yourself, having travelled back in time to locate a UFO component.)

• Level 9 is situated in a space station (as a crack in the main hallway opens directly to outer space). The puzzles include a computer and a series of doors.

• Level 10 features a radial slide puzzle.

• Level 11 involves a game of pool. The bookshelves contain notes referring to a cloning experiment.

• Level 12 takes place in "Area 51," (on the lower floor and "Area 12" on the upper floor) a series of rooms with two floors. The lower floor contains a long hallway filled with lasers which the player must deactivate.

• Level 13 finally takes the player to the outdoors, where there is a well and a door. To be able to unlock the door, the player must solve a puzzle involving colors and the cardinal directions. This level also contains a (wishing) well.

• Level 14 takes place mainly outdoors, and requires the player to return power to a neighbourhood.

• Level 15 involves finding a method of transportation out of the ruined street.

• Level 16 takes place inside again, and involves an enormous computer.

• Level 17 features UFO repair, a Manipulator of Time and Space (MOTAS) device, and time travel.

• Level 18 requires that the MOTAS device be recharged, allowing the player to once again return to a past room and discover its secrets.

• Level 19 involves tree-planting and further movement through time.

• Level 20 features USB stick, magnet, and a circular rotating puzzle and a fan.

The guestbook level is where one who finishes all levels produced at the time may sign the guestbook after solving a final puzzle. The guestbook level is always the level after the "true" last level.

[edit] Level release dates

• Level 1 was released in November, 2001
• Level 2 was released on February 18, 2002
• Level 3 was released on June 7, 2002
• Level 4 was released on July 6, 2002
• Level 5 was released on August 15, 2002
• Level 6 was released on September 5, 2002
• Level 7 was released on October 5, 2002
• Level 8 was released on July 23, 2003
• Level 9 was released on July 23, 2003
• Level 10 was released on July 23, 2003
• Level 11 was released on July 23, 2003
• Level 12 was released on November 7, 2003
• Level 13 was released in November, 2004
• Level 14 was released on December 17, 2006
• Level 15 was released on December 17, 2006
• Level 16 was released on December 17, 2006
• Level 17 was released on December 18, 2006
• Level 18 was released on January 10, 2007
• Level 19 was released on January 13, 2007
• Level 20 was released on May 27, 2008
• The guestbook level was released in December, 2001

[edit] References

Mystery of Time and Space is considered to be a highly significant "Escape the Room" adventure that helped propel the genre to significance as a subset of online games. It has been referenced in other adventure games, such as the similarly alien-themed Cybee's Adventure, in which a "MOTAS Deluxe box" appears as an item ^[2]. The credits of the seminal "Escape the Room" adventure Crimson Room name MOTAS as an inspiration. ^[3] Channel 4 has commented on the game, describing it as "a treat" with "intricate problems", although it also criticized the game for the obscurity and difficulty of its puzzles.^[4] Nytimes.com mentioned MOTAS in its article "GAME THEORY; A Little Getaway: Small, Simple, Fast and Fun" ^[5]. MOTAS is also mentioned in an article on TheStar.com "For lots of gamers, escapism means starting out in a trap - 'Room escape' games, with their endless variations, are booming".^[1] PCWorld.com wrote: 'If you liked the Crimson and Viridian rooms, you'll get a kick out of "Mystery of Time and Space," a 12-level game of the same ilk as the "rooms."' ^[6][7]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Game site
• Help site