Cube Escape: Case 23

Cube Escape: Case 23 is the fifth game in Rusty Lake’s Cube Escape series, and the longest of the free episodes. Detective Dale Vandermeer arrives at case 23, the investigation into the murder of Laura Vanderboom. Stepping into the house he realises at once that this is something more than a murder, and his search for the truth takes him to Rusty Lake.

How the game plays

• Controls: mouse only.
• Menu: the gear icon in the top right corner.
• Inventory: down the right-hand side of the screen.
• Saving: automatic. The save folder location differs by operating system and game version.

Chapter 1 of 4: The crime scene

Autumn 1971.

Go up to the victim. Unfasten the dress and take SHEET OF PAPER I.

Click the hair twice to move it off the face. Open the victim’s mouth and press the beetle until it crawls out, then keep clicking it until it crawls away. Zoom out and click the door; it disappears.

Look right and click the door: the detective notes he must collect all the evidence first. Look right again.

Click the beetle hiding behind the sofa to drive it up onto the ceiling. Lift the right sofa cushion and take SHEET OF PAPER II.

The four labels

Zoom in on the painting of the parrot and tear off the inscription: PSITTACUS on paper. Zoom out and look right.

Zoom in on the cactus on the cupboard and take its label: CACTUS on a label. Zoom out and turn to the painting. Take the plaque: ARLES on a label.

Open the window in the painting and you get a number, Van Gogh’s year of birth, which is the hint for the Collection’s Arles.

• Achievement 7/8.

The matryoshka

Zoom out and go to the cupboard shelf where the matryoshka doll stands. Open it up.

Take the ROSE from the fifth doll and put it in the first. Close it and immediately reopen it: instead of the rose you now have a FISH SKELETON.

Put that in the fourth doll, close and reopen it for a DROP OF BLOOD. Put the drop in the third doll, close and reopen for an EGG. Move the egg into the second doll, close and reopen for a KEY. Take it and zoom out.

The aquarium

Unlock the right-hand lower cabinet door with the key and take the jar of FLIES. Zoom in on the aquarium on the table.

Drop a fly into the aquarium. Work the fish’s fin and tail to steer the fly into its mouth. Repeat with two more flies.

• Achievement 5/8.

Drop in another fly and, working the weed on the left and the shrimp’s legs, steer the fly inside the shell. When the finger that emerges from the shell pushes the fly out and it catches fire, steer the burning fly into the fish’s mouth with the fin and tail.

Take the KEY, zoom out and look at the desk drawers. Unlock the third drawer from the top with that key and take the FOLDER.

Look at the folder’s title page and tear off the sticker: LACUS FLEO on paper. Close the folder, zoom out and look left. Zoom in on the telephone table.

The crossword

Take the CIGAR and click the crossword in the newspaper. Lay out the labels you have collected:

• LACUS FLEO
• PSITTACUS
• CACTUS
• ARLES

Note the highlighted word FATE. Tear off that inscription, FATE on paper, and zoom out. Look right and turn to the bookshelf.

The books

Lift the books in an order where each successive book carries the symbol and the colour of the previous one:

15, 7, 16, 1, 4, 10, 2, 8, 3, 5, 14, 13, 11, 12, 6, 9

Lift the shelf the books stood on and lower the panel.

The beetle

Zoom out from the shelf, turn around and look at the ceiling, driving the beetle to move. Drive it off the cornice, then off the wall, then off the cactus, then away from the safe.

Zoom in on the desk and lift the iron. Click the beetle, and when it runs under the iron, bring the iron down on it. Lift the iron again and take the KEY from the beetle’s remains. Zoom out.

Unlock the left cabinet door with that key and take SHEET OF PAPER IV. Look left.

The board and the burned picture

Zoom in on the board and pin the sheets you have collected to it. Note the objects shown and their numbers.

Open the page with the painting in the folder and use the cigar to burn through: the cube, the right hand, the right eye and the house in the background. That gives you: a circle with a dot, a triangle pointing down, a crosshair, a square.

Put the folder back in your inventory, zoom out from the board and look right.

Zoom in on the panel that opened and set those symbols in the order matching the pictures you assembled on the board. You get a telephone number: 024355. Zoom out and look left.

Zoom in on the telephone and put the FATE sticker beside it. Lift the receiver and dial 024355. When asked for the password, answer FATE, and you learn that “our place is already taken”.

The safe

Look around and find Laura. Click her until she disappears. Look at the ceiling and wait for the butterflies to form the number 1421. Look back down and left.

Zoom in on the safe, enter 1421 and take the EVIDENCE. Open the evidence folder.

• Achievement 1/8.

Click the photographs.

Chapter 2 of 4: The investigation

Summer 1972, my office.

Look right. Open the right cabinet door and take the COFFEE. Zoom in on the television and take a SHEET OF PAPER.

Turn to the television and set the value 171.

• Achievement 8/8.

The hint for that can be seen on the mirror in the toilet in Cube Escape: Theatre.

Zoom out and look right. Zoom in on the table with the projector and take SHEET OF PAPER 2 from behind it. Zoom out and turn to the cabinets, taking the MAP, the RAZOR and the COFFEE FILTER. Zoom out and look right.

Zoom in on the smaller board on the right and attach your collected sheets. Read the text: “An old man walked past the lake. He approached the mill and time stopped. Numbers appeared above the lake.”

Zoom out and turn to the desk pedestal. Open the drawers and take the SCREWDRIVER, the NUMBERS ON PAPER and the MARKER. Zoom out and turn to the coffee machine, taking the EMPTY COFFEE POT. Zoom out and look right.

Zoom in on the basin and fill the coffee pot with WATER. Look up at the mirror, use the razor and shave. Look down into the basin, wash the hair away and take the CROW CHICK. Zoom out and look left.

Go to the coffee machine, pour in the water, put the pot back, insert the coffee filter and add the coffee. Switch the machine on and take the POT OF COFFEE. Zoom out and go to the desk.

Pour COFFEE into the cup, drink it and notice the number 247 at the bottom. Zoom out and turn around.

Zoom in on the television and set channel 247. Click the screen and a dark entity replaces the young man’s head. Zoom out and turn to the window.

Open the blinds of the right casement and click the glass. Take the BLACK CUBE. Zoom out and look right.

Zoom in on the ventilation grille. Unscrew the screws with the screwdriver and remove the grille. Give the cat the crow chick, zoom out and look aside. Return to the ventilation duct and take the EGG. Zoom out and look right.

The projector

Zoom in on the photographs on the board and note the plan of where the objects sit. Zoom out and look left.

Go to the desk and put the map on the projector. Switch the projector on, zoom out and turn around. Lower the screen and zoom in on it. Mark points a, b and c with the marker in the places shown on the plan. Turn around and go to the projector.

Take the map off and put the numbers on paper on instead. Turn back to the screen and you find the numbers 746 marked. Zoom out and look right.

Go to the television and set the value 746. Click Laura, put the egg in her hand and take the WHITE CUBE.

The typewriter

Turn around and read the text on the assembled sheets again, noting the underlined words: man, walked, lake, mill, stopped, numbers.

Turn to the typewriter and type them, clicking the figure that appears on the sheet after typing the word MAN. The number 392 appears.

Type the word CROW on the typewriter.

• Achievement 6/8.

Zoom out, turn around and go to the television. Set channel 392 with the sliders and fit both cubes into the squares.

• Achievement 2/8.

Zoom out; the beam goes upwards. Look at the ceiling and click the fan. The ceiling disappears and a starry sky appears.

Chapter 3 of 4: The chapel

Summer 1972.

Look right and zoom in on the upper part of the cupboard. Open the upper right cabinet and take the INK. Open the lower right cabinet and take TILE PIECE 1.

Note the green line behind the pale rectangles on the door of the lower left cabinet. Zoom out and look at the left half of the cupboard’s lower part. Open the upper left cabinet door and set the sliders to the marks of that green line. Turn to the lower left cabinet in the upper part of the cupboard, open the door and take TILE PIECE 2.

Look at the right half of the cupboard’s lower part. Rotate the discs to form a continuous line, open the door and take TILE PIECE 3.

Look at the lower left cabinet in the lower left part of the cupboard. Rotate the circles to form the picture of a cube, open the door and take the KEY. Use it on the lock of the upper right cabinet in the lower left part of the cupboard. Open the doors and you see a skull, which you cannot take yet. Zoom out and look right.

The triptych

Zoom in on the left panel of the triptych. Rotate the squares to recreate the mosaic picture. Zoom out and turn to the right panel. Solve it as a sliding-tile puzzle to recreate the mosaic. Zoom out and zoom in on the centre panel, taking the BLACK CUBE. Zoom out and look right.

The bust

Look at the plinth the bust stands on. Note the number 148 in its top left corner. Take the BIRD’S EYE from the upper part of the plinth and note which symbols in the column correspond to each other. Turn to the bust.

Rotate the parts of the head to match the right-hand pattern and you get an EYE. Fit the eye into the upper part and rotate the parts to match the middle pattern for a GEMSTONE. Fit that into the upper part and set the parts to the right-hand pattern for a SHELL. Zoom out from the bust and turn around.

Zoom in on the skull, insert the bird’s eye and take the KEY. Use it on the lock of the upper left cabinet in the upper part of the cupboard. Add the ink to the vessel with the embryo and take the HEART.

Place the heart on the drawing on the lower right cabinet in the lower left part of the cupboard and take the SCISSORS.

Turn to the upper right drawer in the right part of the cupboard’s base. Enter the code 148, open the door and take TILE PIECE 4.

Place the collected tiles on the lower cabinet doors to form the picture, open the door and take the CANDLE.

Place the shell on the drawing on the upper left door, open it and take the OIL. Zoom out from the cupboard and look left.

The boatman

Fit the black cube into the niche in the centre and click it; cracks run through the wall. Click the pointers shaped like beams to destroy the upper layer, revealing a painting.

Light the torches at the sides with the candle. Note the arrows at the top and add oil to the torches in that order: left, right, left, left, right, right. Click the boatman and he rows away to the left. Soon he rows back to you.

• Achievement 3/8.

Cut the threads sewing his mouth shut with the scissors and click him until he turns into Mr. Crow.

Chapter 4 of 4: The cabin

Summer 1972.

Work quickly through this chapter, or you will have to do it again.

Take a GEAR from behind the cabinets. Open the cabinets and take two more GEARS. Click the cuts in the wall panelling to reveal caches. Look right.

Take a GEAR from behind the window architrave. Click the cut in the panelling to reveal a cache, zoom in on it and build the pipework. Zoom out and look right.

Take a GEAR from behind the cabinet. Open the doors and take the CROWBAR and another GEAR. Take the MATCHES from the box. Click the cut in the panelling to reveal a cache, zoom in on it and build the chain drive.

Turn around. Lever the boards off the cache on the left with the crowbar. Light the fuel in the cache on the right with the matches and wait for the lift car to arrive.

Enter the car and press the red button to close the door, then press the white button to leave the room.

• Achievement 4/8.

The fifth game in the Collection is complete.