The Tartarus Key

The Tartarus Key is an adventure video game developed by Vertical Reach and published by Armor Games Studios in 2023. Some of these puzzles involve other prisoners, and the ending that players receive depends on how many people they save. Describing it as "a must play for puzzle fans", Rock Paper Shotgun said the attention to detail necessary to solve the puzzles makes it "almost an immersive sim" and that some of them "feel revelatory to solve". Although they said puzzle game fans might enjoy it, Eurogamer felt that the game's meta aspects prevented it from becoming scary, making it more like a real-life escape room parlor game.Slant Magazine, who did not like narrative elements, said The Tartarus Key "squeaks by on the strength of its puzzles alone".Push Square praised the retro graphics, writing, and puzzles, though they said some puzzles feel "too obtuse".