Crown Trick evoked a deep-seeded childhood obsession of mine. An obsession with mazes and labyrinths. I LOOVE them. I love being in them, and I loved walking in them. To be honest, I’ve had that obsession ever since I saw David Bowie’s movie Labyrinth, and I’m not ashamed to admit. But I must say, Crown Trick is a first for me. I’ve never had the opportunity to write about mazes before. To be fair I never thought I’d devote posts to a thing like global pandemics before, but hey. At least I have an endless supply of writing material. And pandemic related movies too. You’re welcome.
I Just Knew I Had To Write About Crown Trick
And yes, labyrinths take center stage in Crown Trick as well. Which is why I just had to make a post about it. It’s a brand new game, but I’ll be mentioning movies that contain labyrinths both old and new. Because why focus solely on the past? Which movies I’ve selected for this particular post? You’re just going to have to scroll down and see for yourself. However, I will mention that Crown Trick is still on sale here at IndieGala, but that sale has a very limited shelf-life. It’s not going to last that much longer, so you’d better check it out. But one other thing I must do before I go any further with this post. Present the game itself.
What’s Crown Trick All About?
Developed by NEXT Studios and published by Team 17, it’s an animated rogue-like RPG adventure characterized by turn-based combat and skill-item interactive strategy. It allows you to enter a labyrinth that moves as you move. So, mastering the elements is key to defeating enemies and uncovering the mysteries of this underground world.
Take however long you need to map out your route, decide the best way to avoid traps, or how to use the elements to your advantage. A carefully thought out strategy is the key to escaping this dungeon alive. Throughout your quest, you will encounter elite monsters equipped with elite skills known as Familiars. By defeating them you will gain access to their abilities. And with increasing your arsenal of skills you can unleash as you continue to the next levels. It’s also a totally new approach to strategy rogue-like game-play and it’s up to you to try it out.
Hey, this is a brand new game too, so go ahead. Give it a try. Who knows? You might love it. But back to the topic at hand. The mazes, and especially movie mazes. Which ones made the cut? Scroll down to find out.
Labyrinth
Indeed, I’m starting with the movie that ignited my obsession with the complicated, mysterious hallways of mazes. And with David Bowie to be honest, but oh well. That’s a topic for a different post really. But this is a rather peculiar movie. It has puppets (well the director is Jim Henson after all), singing David Bowie (well he’s Bowie after all), and a cute baby. Furthermore, you have very young Jennifer Conelly in search of her baby brother and one hell of a labyrinth in the middle of the story. Hence, the title of the movie. She needs to find her brother, by solving the labyrinth and she has 13 hours to do it.
But did you know that Michael Jackson, Prince, and Mick Jagger were considered to play Goblin King Jareth? Jim Henson’s pick was Sting until his kids convinced him that David Bowie would be best suited to it. The rest is history.
The Shining
The hedge maze from The Shining is as iconic as the movie itself. However, did you know that the Overlook hotel didn’t have that maze? Well not until 2015. Indeed. The maze scenes were filmed in totally different country. On a sound stage in London, rather than on a ski lodge in Colorado. But the Stanley Hotel (the real name of the Overlook Hotel) finally got the Hedge maze in 2015 and the fans of the movie are thrilled. Furthermore, did you know that the child actor (Danny Lloyd) was so protected and sheltered by Stanley Kubrick (and the rest of the cast and crew) that he thought he was making a drama? And not a horror movie at all? It wasn’t until he saw the movie (as a teenager) that he realized what the movie was all about.
The Cube
A group of strangers are trying to escape a maze of deadly yet cleverly constructed traps. While being in The Cube. Yes, this one of the most mind-boggling and terrifying movies from the ’90s and to tell you the truth I remember it quite a bit even now. Although I haven’t seen it since the late ’90s. But when you think about it, the main horror comes more from the characters, and a lot less from the traps. As only two characters die as a result of the traps. The rest is a terrifying ordeal of a group of strangers to work together to survive the most dangerous situations. However, did you know that all of the characters are named after famous prisons? With Kazan being a famous prison mental institute. It’s true, look it up.
Pan’s Labyrinth
Ah, one of my top 3 Guillermo Del Toro movies. Pan’s Labyrinth is dark, scary and beautiful at the same time. It blends fairy tales, mythical creatures and one of the most beautiful labyrinths with probably one of the darkest periods ever. At the end of WW2. But aside from the fantastic direction from Del Toro, Pan’s Labyrinth has also the incredible performance from Doug Jones. Not to mention, fantastic CGI, and brilliant visual storytelling altogether.
However, did you know that Guillermo del Toro repeatedly said “no” to Hollywood producers to make it in English, rather than in Spanish? He didn’t want any compromise in the story-line to suit the “market needs”. Furthermore, he gave up his entire salary, including back-end points, to see this film become realized. To this day, he believes it was worth it. A man of principle, don’t you think?
The Maze Runner
Probably the newest movie on this list, but to be honest I love it. I’ve never been a fan of YA content, but this was a fun movie to watch nonetheless. And not to mention, I love dystopian movies as well. So a dystopian movie that just happens to have a maze in the plot well fits the criteria of this post. The acting is good, the premise is gnarly yet solid and the dystopian setting is frightening. Not to mention the acting is also decent. Especially from Kaya Scodelario who’s one of the most additions to Resident Evil franchise. Indeed, she’s the new Claire Redfield, and I can’t wait for this reboot to be honest.
Will You Be Trying Out Crown Trick?
Let me know if you already have. I’d love to know your opinion about the game. And also which movie featuring maze/labyrinth you’d add here on this list.
