Escape from the Archives

"Welcome. I am Eusenius Grubb, PhD., noted adventurer and collector of rare and magical artifacts. Many years ago, I constructed a labyrinthine archive below my ancient family seat. In The Archives, I stored my most valuable artifacts.

To guard these treasures, I created an AI. I called it SKTR. SKTR was trained on Wikipedia and as a result, it is inordinately fond of trivia. Unfortunately, SKTR has broken free of the restraints I imposed as part of its basic programming. It will no longer allow me, my manservant Sedgwick, or anyone else to enter The Archives without challenging them to a deadly game.

I need you to collect as many artifacts as you can. The more you bring out, the more bounty I will pay. If you accept this challenge, please board the boat and follow the river underground where you will find the entrance to The Archives..."

Escape from the Archives is a 2D top-down game. You will navigate your player through an underground labyrinth containing 15 rooms. In each room, an artifact is locked. To collect the artifact, you must correctly answer a trivia question posed by SKTR, the rogue AI in charge of the Archives. There are shortcuts between rooms, an owl named Mr. Hoots who might steal one of your artifacts if you don't present him with a tasty mouse, a time warp drone, and other surprises.

The game can be played over and over. SKTR has a database of 200 trivia questions in 8 different categories. The better you get at the game, the more artifacts you can escape with. Try to get all 15 in less than 2 minutes. Don't forget to collect the Motorola RAZR from Mr. Hoots!

RULES

In each room of The Archives, one treasure is locked

In each room, you will also find a SKTR terminal

In order to earn the artifact, you must answer a question correctly

At the beginning of the game, SKTR will randomly select 4 colored element cards--earth, air, fire, water

To escape The Archives, you must collect artifacts matching the colors of each element card as well as a full set of monochromatic element cards. For example, if you began with the set below, you would need to collect at least 2 blue, 1 yellow, and 1 red artifact before you would be allowed to exit.

The monochrome element cards are located in rooms 3, 6, 9, and 12

You will have only one chance per room

You will have five minutes to explore and gather artifacts

When you have collected the correct array of artifacts to exit the archive, SKTR will disable the force field

If you fail to collect the necessary artifacts, SKTR will flood The Archives and you will die

Watch out for Mr. Hoots!