Escape Academy Reviews
Escape Academy is a wholesome, family-friendly adventure film come to life. The bright colors and blocky shapes lend to the idea of Saturday morning cartoon fun. The puzzles are clever, often requiring the player to pause for a moment and take it in before spotting the solution. Some segments can be difficult for players, but Escape Academy offers a useful Help button to keep things moving. The game has an intriguing – if campy – narrative and cast of characters who make the experience a joy to play. The timer for each room is generous but applies the right amount of pressure to keep you moving. Escape Academy easily earns an A on the final.
Escape Academy offers a truly unique experience that provides the player with a sense of discovery that’s difficult to compare to any other game. I have a new itch to scratch, and now no other game can satisfy that. I’ll have to go book an escape room.
Coin Crew Games delivered something special with Escape Academy. A true-to-its-roots escape room experience (and in our opinion, one of the most successful attempts to recreate this digitally). A compelling world. Puzzles that are just difficult enough that you are constantly surprising yourself with your own brain's ability. It's all quality. While their focus has primarily been on the arcade space, we hope this establishes Coin Crew's foothold in the at-home gaming world. As long as their next few games don't feature pipe puzzles. Please.
Escape Academy may be a fairly brief experience for some, then, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that the puzzles here are thought-provoking and masterfully crafted. They test your ability to spot patterns and problem solve without ever being too obtuse. Throw in a surprisingly engaging story and co-op, and you have one of the most enjoyable experiences of the year so far. It might even make you want to do some real-life escape rooms – imagine that.
For those missing the good old fashioned escape rooms of the pre-covid era, Escape Academy delivers a top notch set of puzzles in an interesting setting, which unfortunately isn't explored any deeper.
Puzzle games have to manage a delicate balancing act: If solutions are too simple, players lose interest; too difficult, and they feel cheated, like the answer was never decipherable to begin with. “Escape Academy” was opaque at times, but the answer always felt like it was within my grasp, if I just tried out this one idea, or thought about the puzzle from this other angle. Giving players that sense of empowerment is hard, and games don’t always get it right. But “Escape Academy” walks that tightrope with finesse, joining the pantheon of frantic-but-fun co-op greats.
Despite its empty halls and predictable plot, it's a charming escape room sim that's filled with clever puzzles that reward and rarely frustrate. The entire thing can be played with a bud too, making this a brilliant co-op jaunt.