Escape Is The Last Thing On My Mind

The escape is a game created by epicnathan

So, I was browsing through the “newest games” section, looking for something to play, when I found an interesting looking game. I clicked it, and…. Nah, it was rubbish, so I went back to the newest games tab, and found this little gem. I feel all clever now, because no one else seems to have found epicnathan and his game The Escape. Anyway, after playing it for 15 minutes, with no success, might I add, I decided I’d review this game and get it the publicity it deserves.

Pre-thoughts -

This seemed a fairly decent game, at first glance. The title was rather non-descript, but the thumbnail showed me what looked like a puzzle at the start. Before I clicked “Play”, I could tell that this would be a puzzle-y game, but I was worried about length, that’s what usually lets people down.

Gameplay -

The game begins immediately with a puzzle, which sets the bar for the rest of the game. It may be a simple puzzle, but it’s a puzzle, and it really brings my hopes up. After this comes puzzle after puzzle after puzzle. This game is errm…very puzzle-orientated. Throughout the game there are things you can do that aren’t immediately needed, but are important later on. For example, the- NO, I won’t tell you, find it for yourself. Anyway, continuing in the game and review. There were a lot of fun parts, and the game was addictive and time-consuming. After 10 minutes I felt like I had only played the game for a minute, which means I was so absorbed in the game that I lost track of time. That’s a pretty good thing, if you ask me. It was fast paced, as such, but not an action game, because you can’t have an action game with no enemies, now, can you?

Difficulty

Now, I know I’m not the best judge of difficulty, seeing as I’m not the best gamer (see, I can admit it :P), so you probably want to ignore my ramblings and try the game for yourself, reach your own conclusion, but I liked the difficulty level. It wasn’t so difficult that you failed immediately, got bored, and gave up straight away, but it was hard enough that you didn’t beat it on your first go, get bored of it, and never play it again. Or is it just me who gets bored of games they have beaten easily or have no chance of beating? Either way, I liked the difficulty balance. I liked it a lot. Can someone slap me before I repeat my sentence, again?

Item Placement

I thought the item placement was fairly good, with some items only available for the people who had done the aforementioned “things you can do that aren’t immediately needed, but are important later on”, which added a nice twist. Health was aplenty, but it was needed, so therefore justified. OMG I used a big word. I love how I say that there, but didn’t bat an eyelid when I used “aforementioned”. Bite me.

Stuff-that-makes-you-die Placement

This part was ~supposed~ to be the “Enemy Placement”, but, due to a severe lack of enemies (I feel like a weather-woman, don’t ask why), I couldn’t really call it that. Duh. The stuff-that-makes-you-die placement was pretty good, and added to the puzzles. There was well-placed lava and hot-blocks. The “things you can do that aren’t immediately needed, but are important later on” thingy also played a part in regards to the lava. It made it easier to cross, and made you feel like some kind of superhero that can float over lava. Actually, that could be just me who felt that… The- I’m not even bothering to say that long title again… The placement was in crucial areas, and was basically unavoidable.

Scores -

W00t! Yup, this is my favourite part of the review. Mostly because it’s easy and I’m lazy. Without any further procrastination, here they are:

Design

The blocks were plain, there was no backing or background, and, altogether, the design was kinda boring. It didn’t look too bad, though, just meh-ish.

Puzzles

Puzzles were looming over the entire game. They were everywhere, and it makes you have to think before doing anything. The puzzles are good, but not really unique, so I can’t give it a 5/5

Addictiveness

The game is just, well playable, and it makes you want to play it again and again, until you’re hooked.

Difficulty

The difficulty is perfect, and adds to the addictiveness. It mean that I really enjoyed playing it, and got far enough to get the gist, but still managed to get that sense of euphoria every time I managed a new bit.

Creativity

Even though the puzzles had, for the most part been used before, I still found the game to be creative and buzzing with ideas and potential. I have no idea what I just said…

Overall

Not a bad score, but room for improvement. I enjoyed The Escape, and hope that epicnathan continues to make great games.

I have only one last thing to say, if people can still make games like this, then escape is the last thing on my mind.