Chat about The Tartarus Key with us in the RPS Game Club today

Hey gang! We'll be starting in just a few minutes so get those last minute cups of tea brewed...

Alrighty, much like some kind of race, we're off. I'll start by asking: did you actually like The Tartarus Key? I think it has the potential to be divisive...

I've not finished the game yet! But, I think it's a good time. Even if I'm totally reliant on getting my friend Ed (yes, we have the same name) to do all the puzzling for me.

The Ed/Ed dualism of your play through is one of my favourite things. If anyone reading this hasn't seen Ed's little post about it, you can find it here.

I, obviously enough, really liked it. Some of the puzzles were really hard but I liked that the game challenged me, with minimal hand holding, and that I got (nearly) everything right. It's very intentionally throwback-y as a game, which I really enjoy as well. And there are multiple endings! The first time I played through I got quite a rubbish one because I didn't save one of the other characters...

Have you managed to save everyone so far, Edders?

I also like that some of its puzzles are proper, proper tricky. The no hand-holding thing does mean that when you (Ed) has a eureka moment, it feels earned!

So, we got our first taste of loss when one guy asked us to deliver him a "hot" something and we didn't clock the requisite warmer. Devastating.

I like how it adds some extra stakes to puzzling, aside from just, not completing the puzzle. Have you managed to save everyone?

Yes! I think the hardest to save is Kai, who you might not have found yet, but they're in a lab downstairs... I think the one you're talking about is simultaneously my least as most favourite puzzle in the game! It's an odd one because yer man William, a posh ass (technical term) is wearing a Saw-style killer necklace, and how on earth would that be able to tell his drink wasn't hot enough? It's a great multi-stage puzzle room, and one part of it involves a giant grid and numbers for a pin-pad. I stared at that for, no joke, an actual hour, text multiple people pictures of it from my phone, and had to turn the game off and think about my life for an afternoon.

But then I turned it back on and solved it! Felt like what I assume lifting the World Cup feels like.

Have you had a favourite or least favourite moment in the game so far?

I'd say my least favourite moment would be a puzzle involving a big, rotating, device which is connected to a bunch of constellations. I, legitimately, don't think I've ever been more lost in my life. Not that it's unfair, it's just reliant on a lot of flitting between cryptic notes, and my brain just couldn't handle it at all.

Haha I actually quite liked that one as well, but I think I just liked imagining a bunch of old dudes in big whigs sitting around in a planetarium. There are a couple that require you to sort of note things down - there's a puzzle in the library to do with serial killers that I didn't enjoy so much for that reason.

It's quite a meta game in a few ways as well. No spoilers, don't worry. But what do you think of the whole PS1 vibe of it?

I'm really into the PS1 vibe, as it offers a kind of grainy texture to everything? I'm no horror aficionado, but it feels quite horror-y? Definitely gives the textboxes and puzzles more flavour, than say, a more modern style.

Yeah! I think a lot of it is sort of inspired by games like Resi or Metal Gear in that way. I think it works really well. It's horror but like, not scary. It's gesturing at the themes of horror and I think it really works.

I_have_no_nose_but_I_must_sneeze says: Saving Kai was especially challenging for me because I must have ran into a bug where card symbols such as the spade and the club were either reversed or not properly displayed in some other way. I would follow what I was certain were the correct instructions and Kai would still die a zappy death. I had to use a walkthrough for that one.

Yes! I think for me it's because there are so many layers to the puzzle saving Kai, and there's a lot of pressure not to screw up at any point. But I really like that layer of the mansion in general. I think thats where the onion starts to peel back more and you're like, "Wait, what? What is real? What is life? Who am I? What's my name?"

That's a cracking point, actually. I like that it's not scary! I don't mind the occasional scary game, but both having to think really hard and not piss my pants would've been too much.

Ed Thorn says: both having to think really hard and not piss my pants would've been too much.

I think that's why toddlers get so upset sometimes.

I_have_no_nose_but_I_must_sneeze says: The puzzle to save William was my favourite too. Here's your life-saving libation, William. Try not to choke on it.

Right? I wasn't mad about the idea of him dying either, he was well written as a douche. Did you have a puzzle you found especially challenging?

Edit: apart from saving Kai haha

I_have_no_nose_but_I_must_sneeze says: It's spooky in a cozy way. More Scooby Doo than Saw. At least until the end. I thought that both the bad and the True endings were downers, though the True ending is more satisfying as a conclusion.

I have no idea what ending Ed and I are barreling towards, but it's good to hear it'll likely emotionally devastate us.

I_have_no_nose_but_I_must_sneeze says: Besides saving Kai, the puzzle in the closet with the animal posters took me a while to figure out. I needed a hint for that one. The cable connection one near the end also hurt my head.

Oh my God THE ANIMAL CLOSET! I was in there for ages too. And I was watching It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia while playing the game on Steam Deck, so now I can't think of Rob McElhenney without thinking of a polar bear poster.

I_have_no_nose_but_I_must_sneeze says: Besides saving Kai, the puzzle in the closet with the animal posters took me a while to figure out. I needed a hint for that one. The cable connection one near the end also hurt my head.

The animal closet STUMPED Ed and I for ages. The space being so small meant we just had to stare at those posters no matter what. Felt like the game rubbing it in.

I like that we have a shared animal closet grievance. I think what saved me there was just constantly muttering "everything I need is in the room with me" every time I went to leave. I do think the design, though it's spare, is tight, and that helps you there. You know you never have to go to a different space to solve the puzzle.

I_have_no_nose_but_I_must_sneeze says: I don't want to completely spoil the endings for you, Ed. I'll just say that what is considered to be the bad one is possibly too abrupt, so you might want to have a replay if you get that one.

I absolutely concur with this, I think. There are more endings than you'd think.

I think we're going to wrap up in the next couple of minutes, so anything pressing you'd like to ask, or anything you want to add before we break out of this weirdo mansion for good, Edders?

If I wanted to chase multiple endings, do the puzzles change at all? I mean, I don't expect them to! And I don't remember/know any of their solutions anyway. Also, final concluding thought: game is good, and a very good co-op game!

I_have_no_nose_but_I_must_sneeze says: I loved that the puzzles are mainly contained in their rooms too. I found it comforting that as hard as they were, I had everything I needed there with me so the limitation was my ability to piece things together and not some crucial piece of info that I missed in the janitor's office or something.

Yes exactly! I think it made everything easier to tackle, you know? I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'm always ready to force puzzle games on people...

Ed Thorn says: If I wanted to chase multiple endings, do the puzzles change at all? I mean, I don't expect them to!

As far as I remember they do not. That would be impressive though. One day a puzzle game will do that, maybe. But I will say that the 'bad' ending does cut the game off at the knees a little, too - there are a lot more puzzles after that for the Good/True endings.

Alrighty, thanks for joining me and Edders for a bit of a ramble about puzzles and horror. I still reckon The Tartarus Key is a super fun time, and I'd recommend it to most anyone! Stay tuned for what July's RPS Game Club game is going to be... I don't actually know, so I'll be as surprised as anyone.