The Escapists

I was very excited for this game, and thought it would be a great thing to play semi casually. I was quite disappointed with it in many ways, because there are a few issues that make it very frustrating. I checked lets plays in order to verify it wasn't just me on all these Clicking on something sometimes doesn't activate it - IE clicking on laundry machines doesn't always put your item in it. You have to be right next to everything in order to interact - Frustrating when trying not to gain anger of the guards by standing on something, also frustrating for laundry jobs etc. Guards seem too trigger happy Game isn't consistent in what gets you told off. Not very good at telling you what is and isn't likely to get you caught, I had some guards overalls in my inventory which despite having a heat of 0 got me instantly attacked by every guard in the prison. Game shows a lot of promise, but I wouldn't expect these things fixed as there is already DLC.

Surprisingly fun little puzzler with a great theme. The lack of a "full" tutorial hurts the game (there is an in-game tutorial, but it is frustratingly brief), but with the help of an online wiki or two, you'll be escaping in no time!

Can't remap keys. For a keyboard-centric game.

This game is frustrating. And yet this is the very reason for me giving it 4 out of five stars. The idea is simple: You are in jail and need to break out. However, things are not too easy. There is a rigid regime, which requires you to be at certain places or do certain things at certain times. If you do not, you will be thrown back in your efforts to break out. There are those guards who do random checks on your cell and will find and confiscate your tools, weapons, etc., the crafting of which you put a lot of effort in. Plus, of course, you must not be seen at some exploration or break-out attempts. You need to figure out how the prison works as time goes by. The game is full of throwbacks. By design. The save-game technique makes it even more frustrating. Once you go to bed, every evening, the one and only save-game slot will be overwritten with the current state. However, here frustration is what makes this game really interesting. The high cost of failed escape attempts leads to suspense whether the on-going attempt will succeed. You have a lot to lose. The graphics are simple, at times the game is far too crafting-centered for my taste, and there are great numbers of further things which could have been implemented as well. Instigating a riot, for instance, or one's behaviour having some longer-lasting influence on guards and fellow inmates. And so much more. Or that GTA-style rating of alertness of the guards which they introduced in The successor, namely, The Escapists 2 (which I reckon a bit worse than this first part, though). All in all, it is a surprisingly captivating game. A good buy. And a good, albeit frustrating, play.