Video Game Review: The Escapists
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The Escapists is a quirky little strategy roll playing-game that puts you in the shoes of a prison inmate. Played from a top-down perspective, you have one simple goal in this game: escape from prison. Each prison offers plenty of escape methods such as starting riots, crawling through vents and air ducts, burrowing underground, and a daring roof escape, among others. Though escape is certainly possible, it can be extremely challenging; you must be able to acquire the necessary supplies and avoid suspicion to obtain your freedom.
Your prison life is all about routine. Each prison has its own unique daily schedule that includes meals, roll calls, work hours, exercise period, shower block, free period and lights out. How you spend these shifts is ultimately up to you, however you want to follow these daily routines if you wish to avoid suspicion; if you are spotted by guards outside your current shift area, your heat will increase. Some scheduled periods cannot be skipped, such as roll call; if you are not present for at least part of roll call, the prison will go into lock down (you really don't want that).
Once you understand the prison's schedule, you can begin working on your escape. Different items will be necessary for escape; tools, foods, weapons and a variety of other items can be crafted, bought or stolen from other inmates. Crafting requires a crafting note, essentially a recipe for whatever item you wish to make (these can be bought or stolen and last from game to game, so you only need to find each note once). Stealing items from other players is easy; simply enter their cell and search their desk...just be sure not to be spotted by the inmate you are robbing or the guards! Lastly, you can buy items from other inmates using currency (money can be earned by completing favors for inmates or by going to work. There are ten different jobs you can have such as tailor, delivery worker, gardener, janitor, etc). Once you have the items you want, you can store them in your own desk. But beware! Guards will search your cell on occasion; if they find contraband, it will be confiscated and you will be sent to solitary!
There are a few stats you need to be aware of when playing. Your heat is essentially your suspicion from the guards. If they spot you somewhere you shouldn't be, stealing, or otherwise doing something against the rules, your heat will increase. Your heat will decrease over time if you follow routine, but if it gets too high, the guards will hunt you down and send you to the infirmary (if you go outside with high heat you will be shot on sight!). Health is fairly self explanatory; if your health reaches zero (usually in some sort of fight) you will wake up in the infirmary (any contraband items you are carrying will be gone). Intelligence, speed and strength are attributes that you may or may not need to increase depending on your method of escape. Intelligence can be increased by reading or studying, and allows you to craft more complex items. Speed and strength are again self-explanatory, and can be increased by working out and exercising. If your method of escape focuses heavily on crafting, it's best to focus on intelligence; if you plan on a lot of fighting, go for strength and speed!
I absolutely love playing The Escapists because I can really flex my creative muscles. Because there are several different methods of escape and over 150 items to help you achieve victory, every play through is unique yet equally challenging. Replayability is extremely high with this game; while The Escapists only comes with a few prison levels of varying difficulty, the game is available on the steam workshop where you can easily download hundreds of community built maps. There is even a prison editor where you can build your own evil design and test yourself and the community against it.
Some players note one big flaw in the game: it is REALLY freakin' repetitive. But guess what? It's a game about prison, I would think it being extremely repetitive would make it MORE realistic. Yes, the schedule each round does not change from day to day, but you have to learn that schedule and begin working it to your advantage. This is a slow-burn game; you are not busting out on day one or two, you may be stuck for a little while as you plan your ultimate escape. It is up to you to add the creative flair and not succumb to the monotonous routine (so suck it up, you may have to wash inmate uniforms for a few weeks while you plot!). Is it a repetitive game? Absolutely, but if you have a little patience, I believe it to be extremely rewarding!
What makes the game so hard? It is a punishing, learn-from-your-mistakes kind of game. There isn't much in the way of instructions, and you are largely left to figure things out on your own. You will make costly mistakes, but if you learn from them, you will overcome the challenges. Some players have condemned the game from its harsh punishments; if you make even the simplest mistakes, you will lose all your hard earned items, effectively erasing your progress up until that point! To that I again say, "THIS IS A PRISON SIMULATION!" The game will not go easy on you! This is a high risk, high reward strategy game; just like a real prison escape, you will have to take incredible risks. If you fail, you could stand to lose everything, but if you succeed, freedom awaits!
The Escapists may require a little more patience than some are used to in a game, but it is a hilariously light-hearted look into prison life that offers a certain authenticity. If you are looking for a good game that challenges your mind (and patience!) through harsh obstacles, The Escapists is the game for you!
I could never even finish one round of it lol. Checked out Rimworld yet?
I got this game when it went on sale several months back. I played it like 3 times, then stopped. I should give it another go. It was fun. But yeah, it requires patience.