The Room Has a Game, And it’s Tearing Me Apart

I am willing to go on record right now and bet that, empirically speaking, Tommy Wiseau has enriched more lives than James Franco. In a just world, we would be seeing a parody biopic of Franco’s mediocre acting career, with Mr. Wiseau in the lead role. Alas, we got stuck with the most backwards of all possible timelines, and now we just get to see Franco acting smug for two hours. Everybody has betrayed me.

Thankfully, where film has let us down, good old fashioned video games have once again stepped up. The Room Tribute takes the form of an 8-bit adventure created by Tom Fulp of Newgrounds. It was made in 2010, so this isn’t a particularly hot take, but I’m excavating here. Leave your stupid comments in your pocket.

Disaster Pixel Artist

Upon loading up The Room Tribute, you’re greeted by a loving rendition of the film’s iconic soundtrack. After playing through a short encounter outside the bank between Johnny, Mark, and Johnny’s future wife’s mother-in-law, Claudette, you’re tasked with your first quest – buying a red dress for Lisa. As far as existentially significant renditions of the archetypal heroes journey go, it’s hard to think of something more immediately gripping. It kicks the shit out of Final Fantasy XV, anyway.

Playing as Johnny in all his lumpy-faced glory, you’ll explore the city of San Francisco, undertaking various quests involving the cast of The Room. In contrast to the excuse for Hollywood elitism that is The Disaster Artist, there’s something genuinely heartfelt about this adaption. Each scene is lovingly recreated with a vibrant, pixelated aesthetic, plus you get all your favourite The Room lines that you’ve already quoted to death by this point, reinvigorated through the magic of RPG text boxes. You can play The Room Tribute here, unless, of course, you’re too chicken.