Cube Escape: Theatre

**Cube Escape: Theatre** is the eighth game in the Cube Escape series, released in April of 2016. The player controls Dale Vandermeer as he continues his journey on the elevator, and visits the Rusty Lake Theatre. He must complete the puzzles presented through six plays.

## Characters

* Bob
* Dale Vandermeer
* Harvey
* Laura Vanderboom
* Mr. Owl
* The Barman
* The Lady of the Lake

## Walkthrough

Rusty Lake, 1972

The Lake is changing my memories.
My past is not what it seems to be.
I will let the cubes guide me.
### Elevator

* Click to open the door.
* Several cubes fall down. One black cube will slow down; click it.

### 1971 - The Theatre

Bar
* Go left twice.
* Talk to the barman:
Give that man a drink.
* Talk to Bob:
Leave me alone, I just want a drink.
* Defocus and focus on the drinks shelf.

* Focus on the Screwdriver Cocktail recipe: 2x vodka, 2x orange juice.
* Make the Screwdriver Cocktail, mix it, and pour it in the cocktail glass.
* Take the Screwdriver Cocktail.
* Focus on Bob and give him the cocktail.
* Click him until a screwdriver comes out of his mouth.
* Take the cocktail glass back.
* Talk to Bob:
What do you want, detective?
* Focus on the picture in his pocket. There is a picture of Laura and a letter on the back:

*Dear Bob,*
*As you know, I have not been feeling well for a while now.*
*I will be staying at this lake I told you about. I am sorry this didn't work out.*
*Perhaps we will meet in another life.*
*x*
* Talk to the barman:
The show starts when the light is on.
* Defocus and go right.

Piano
* Focus on the top of the left-hand cabinet.
	+ Complete the slider puzzle by moving the two-piece right-arrow blocks to the assigned grids.
* Get the plug and the plunger.
* Defocus.
* Focus on the piano.
* Play the piano: "*D-E-A-D-F-A-C-E*".
* Click on the empty slot in the piano.
* Click on the hand. It will play the piano; follow it on the higher piano keys.
* Click the hand again. It will give you a key; take it.

* Defocus and go right once.

Restroom
* Use the key to open the restroom.
* Focus on the sink cabinet. Open it and take the heart.
* Use the plunger to unclog the toilet.
* Keep clicking until you get the fetus out; take it.
* Pick up the second cocktail glass.
* Defocus.
* Focus on the mirror.
* Click it, then rearrange your reflection into the correct position.
* Dale Vandermeer: "*What is happening to me?"*
* Click the three mirror shards at the bottom. Memorize the code.
* Defocus.
* Focus on the broken lamp plug.
* Place the plug down to the lamp cord.
* Fix it using the screwdriver.
* Plug the lamp in.
* Defocus and go left once.

Piano
* Focus on the bottom safe and enter the code:
	+ Square, butterfly, circle with dot, target.
* Take the shell.
* Defocus and go right twice.

Stage
* Focus on the stage. Open the curtain.
* Focus on Mr. Owl. Talk to him:
Welcome to the theatre of your mind.
My name is Mr. Owl.
This evening I present to you six plays, about the past, the present and the future.
It's showtime!
* Click again: the curtains will close. Click to open them again.

### The Lady of the Lake

Stage
* The Lady starts singing. Click her until her throat is slit.
* Focus and talk to her:
Balance the substance of my past lives.
* Put the items on the scales so they all balance equally:
	+ Shell, fetus, heart, hat.
* Click her, causing a beam of light to shoot from her mouth.
* A flower will grow from her mouth: take it.
* Defocus for the next show.

### The Signs

Stage
* Arrange the symbols to create the next code:
	+ Crosshairs, target, cube, triangle down.
* Defocus and go left twice.
* Focus on the bottom safe and insert the new code.
* Focus on the Harvey Wallbanger recipe: 2x orange juice, 1x Galliano, 1x vodka.
* Defocus and go left twice.

Bar
* Talk to the barman:
This man looks like he could use another drink.
* Focus on the drinks.
* Make a Harvey Wallbanger, mix it, and pour it in the cocktail glass.
* Take the Harvey Wallbanger.
* Focus on Bob and give him the cocktail.
* Click him until he bangs his head enough to bleed.
* Use the other cocktail glass to contain his blood.
* Take back the empty cocktail glass.
* Talk to him:
I don't remember what happened.
* Focus on the drinks.
* Make the Bloody Mary: 1x vodka, 1x Tabasco, and 2x blood, then pour it into the cocktail glass.
* Take the Bloody Mary.
* Focus on Bob and give him the drink.
* Click on him until he takes a gun from his coat and shoots himself in the head.

* Talk to him:
It's all my fault.
* Go into his mind and search for all four white cubes.
* Defocus and go left.

### The Fish and the Parrot

Stage
* Click to open the curtain.
* Focus on the vase. Put the flower in the soil.
* Defocus.
* Rotate the third pipe to be up-right, and the fifth pipe to left-down.
* Pour the water by clicking the red switch.
* Focus on the flower.
* Click and take the seeds.
* Defocus.
* Position the second pipe horizontally, the fourth pipe left-down, and the sixth pipe vertically.
* Put the seeds in the left-hand funnel.
* Focus on Harvey. Click on him to get an egg.
* Defocus.
* Position the first pipe right-down, the fourth pipe left-up, and the second pipe horizontally.
* Put the egg in the left-hand funnel.
* Focus on the pan and get the worm.
* Defocus.

* Position the first pipe to up-right, the second pipe vertically, the fourth pipe up-right, the fifth pipe up-right, and the sixth pipe horizontally.
* Put the worm in the right-hand funnel.
* Click on the fish until it flies away.

### An Intermezzo by Mr. Crow

Stage
* Click on the lamps according to Mr. Crow's fingers.
	+ One finger is the left lamp, two fingers is the middle lamp, and three fingers is the right lamp.
* Click on the lamps according to how many knocks Mr. Crow makes with the cane.
	+ One knock is the left lamp, two knocks is the middle lamp, and three knocks is the right lamp.
* Click on the lamps that the crow mask's eye is looking at.

### Remember the Seasons

Stage
* Arrange the setting to match the picture in Bob's pocket:
	+ Moon in the upper right corner, the tree at the left with one flower on the right side of the woman, and the window is above her hands.
* Click on Laura, and five frames will fall down.
* Put the white cubes in four of the frames.
* Arrange all the frames correctly.
* Examine each frame and click in them for a symbol and number.
* Take a look at the four frames for the code. Rub them to reveal a symbol and number.

 hand | click | ? | 2

* Defocus and go right.

Bar
* Focus on Bob. Go into his mind.
* Take the right passage.
* Go to the locked door and insert the code: 7285.
* Exit focus and click on the door to open it.
* Go in and take the black cube.
* Continue forward out of his mind.
* Defocus and go left.

Stage
* Insert the black cube to the last frame and slide the frame to her face.
* Focus on her face.
* Click on Laura's face, killing her.
* Exit focus.

### The Mill

* Talk to Mr Owl:
Are you ready for the final play?
His memories belong to the lake now.
Extracting them caused a corrupted soul, one of the six stages of the wheel.
* Click him again to display a new stage prop.
* Focus on the mill and note the Devanagari text and their colors.
	+ red: प्रेत (preta)
	+ blue: तिर्यग्योनि (tiryagyoni)
	+ pink: असुर (asura)
	+ white: मानुष (mānuṣa)
	+ orange: नरक (naraka)
* Defocus and go left.

Restroom
* Go to the restroom.
* Focus on Bob.
* Click him to turn him into Corrupted Soul.
* Defocus to find the restroom is now locked.
* Go left.

Piano
* Notice the Devanagari text in the pictures of the wall.
* Go left twice.

Stage
* Focus in on the mill.
* Arrange the Devanagari writings according to the pictures and the wheel.
	+ Clockwise: देव - असुर - प्रेत - नरक - तिर्यग्योनि - मानुष.
	+ Yellow, pink, red, orange, blue, white.
* Defocus.
* Click the mill.
* Talk to Mr. Owl:
Your mind is reaching a higher state of consciousness.
You are learning about your past and your future...
...what you may become.
Continue your journey.
* Defocus and click.
* Click the elevator twice.
* Close the elevator door and click again.

## Bugs

* [Fixed in Cube Escape Collection] The end card incorrectly says "Cube Escape: Birthday".
* After finishing the mill puzzle during the final play but before making it go away, if you speak to Mr. Owl, all of the mill's blade sprites revert to their default state which depicts नरक (Hell). After backing out, they return to normal.

## Soundtrack

* The music used for the Theatre when no plays are running is "Main Theatre Theme".
* The music used during the play "The Lady of the Lake" is "Pheasant Song".
* The music used during the play "The Fish and The Parrot" is "Fish and Parrot".
* The music used during the play "An Intermezzo by Mr. Crow" is "Crow Intermezzo".
* The music used during the play "Remember the Seasons" is "Gymnopédie No. 3".

All the music except "Gymnopédie No. 3" can be found on the Cube Escape: Theatre soundtrack on bandcamp.com. "Gymnopédie No. 3" is not included, as it is not composed by Victor Butzelaar. The same music is used in Cube Escape: Seasons during Summer, and is used here as a callback to that scene.

## Trivia

* Following the release of the Steam version, the Cube Escape Collection has 72 unlockable achievements.
* The Devanagari writing on the Mill, the wheel, and the frames is a reference to Saṃsāra in Buddhism, the repetitive cycle of birth and death (rebirth/reincarnation), the translation as follows:
	+ देव (Deva) - God - (?/Dale Vandermeer)
	+ असुर (Asura) - Demon - (Mr. Crow)
	+ मानुष (Manusya) - Humans - (Laura Vanderboom)
	+ तिर्यग्योनि (Tiryagyoni) - Animals - (The Fish)
	+ प्रेत (Preta) - Hungry Ghosts - (The Corrupted Soul)
	+ नरक (Naraka) - Hell - (The Forest)
* When the Corrupted Soul appears in the bathroom, the code `a1 b7 c1` briefly appears on the cabinet. This code can be input to the TV in Dale's Office in Cube Escape: Case 23 to see Bob's mugshot.
* After giving Bob a Gin Tonic before the end of the fifth play, he will write on the middle coaster left on the bar counter to play "*B-A-D-E-G-G*" on the piano. Playing this results will enroll the player in the Rusty Lake Gin Tonic Contest.
* The font of the cocktail recipes is Strong Glasgow, and the font on Laura's letter is Pastel Crayon.
* The conversation font is DJB Coffee Shoppe Espresso.
* "Women, can't live with them, can't live without them" is said by a waiter in *The Shining*.

## Gallery

Title Card for Theatre.Dale's Introduction in Cube Escape: Theatre.Introduction for Theatre.End Card for Theatre.