[Review] Hotel Danger

Every now and then, a game comes along that presents you with a dilemma. On one hand, it's hard to fault it for what it is, yet at the same time it's hard to praise it for what it is. Hotel Danger is such a game, as you may have already guessed.

It’s a puzzle game available for the Xbox 360 through the XNA platform, an independent production by North West. The game’s description is as simple as they get, “Let’s play a little game” its creators say, and that is really all there is to it.

The game takes place in the eponymous hotel, which takes the form of a 3x7 grid, each block of the grid representing a room. In these rooms there are several civilians and an increasing number of killers. The player has to choose two blocks to open, if there are two civilians beneath them, they are set free and once you set ten of them free you progress to the next level.

If, however, there is a killer beneath one block and a civilian beneath the other, the civilian is killed. When ten of them are dead, it’s game over. To make matters trickier, the killers move around randomly so a block that was safe earlier won’t remain that way for long.

The thing is, there is no way to know what will be beneath any given block that you choose to open. In other puzzle games similar to this one, you often get to see the whole board for a few moments, so your decisions are made based on your memory. Here, it all comes down to dumb luck.

Hotel Danger is initially fun in all its simplicity, but it all gets a bit mindless before long. Even worse, there doesn’t seem to be any significant change between the different levels, aside from the number of killers in the level that increases in every level. In other words, there is no real sense of progression in the game.

Another thing that needs to be mentioned about Hotel Danger is its price. Probably due to its simplicity, the game is offered at the price of 80 Microsoft points, which roughly translates to 1 U.S dollar, or half a Euro. I’ve never seen a game being offered at such a low price before.

Still, even at such a low price, is it a game that’s worth playing? On with the intention-meter!

Things Hotel Danger does right:

- The artwork, though mostly comprised of still images, is quite nice, if somewhat inconsistent. It will most likely remind you of certain board games that you used to play as a child.

- It’s hard to argue with the price. I’ve bought chewing gums that cost me more than this game.

Things about Hotel Danger that aren't that hot:

- There’s really not much of a game here. “A little game”, as North West puts it, is correct. You choose two block here and there, rinse and repeat, with a little cringing here and there if you happen upon a killer. The fact that it’s all luck based means there’s not much reason to replay this game after the first couple of times.

- Half a Euro is a really low price, but it is hardly worth it for a game that you’ll never play more than once. Most people will probably get more mileage out of their money by buying an item for their Xbox Avatar, for example.

The final verdict is:
Paving the Road to Hell

TL;DR Version:

It’s hard to argue against the intentions of Hotel Danger, from the get-go you are presented with what is a simple game that aspires to be fun, and its price is quite honest given what its offering to the player. It’s hard to ask for less than a dollar, after all!

Still, this is one of those occasions where something is not really worth the low price of admission, as you’re not really likely to play Hotel Danger more than once or twice. This feels like the kind of game that would be better off as a free game, rather than a commercial one.