Five is a puzzle-style flash game I'd found hosted on Armor Games. The game's objective is for the player to unlock all the rooms and reach the end goal within five minutes.
Summary of analysis
Whole game = new player experience, mildly frustrating gameplay experience,
Tutorial/New player experience
The game assumes the player to know the basic movement keys, always a risky choice, but thankfully explains (albeit briefly) the map rearrangement mechanics. By the time a player's mastered layout and rearrangement, chances are they've completed the game, meaning that the entire game is effectively a new player experience.
Gameplay experience
There's a mildly aggravating element of trial and error involved in the game due to how picky it is about lining up certain rooms, rather than simplifying the entry/exit points there are a number of rooms that look like they will connect but, for some never explained reason, result in false-positive dead ends. I'd found that the easiest solution to this is to just put an arbitrary hallway between the two (it usually worked).
Interface & Controls
Both mouse and keyboard are required, keyboard for movement and entering/exiting map layout, mouse to change room layouts.
Navigating the rooms is largely interface-free, except for the music toggle and the timer, the map layout section is pure interface.
Graphics
Silhouetted characters and room architecture populate this game with moving backgrounds helping to create a sense of a 'living' environment. Given the game's themes, the graphics are one of the best decisions the creator made in designing the game. The focus is kept on the gameplay and the graphics help emphasize the mood.
Music & Sound
Five's background music is the other great design decisions, featuring what seems to be an originally-composed song that evokes the puzzle element of gameplay, I'd say it helps to motivate the player into figuring out what is going on in the game's story.
Commentary
Short, relatively simple, interesting concept, the game is a decent play. I'd say that aside from the layout quirkiness, the biggest detraction is trying to include a narrative story, but I've no intention to fault the game for its inclusion. As with anything included in commentary sections, these are matters of comparison and consideration rather than critique or evaluation of a game's elements.
