During my demo of Escape Academy 2 at Summer Game Fest last weekend, I wasn’t quite prepared for what was in store. Although I had viewed the trailer during the Day of the Devs showcase, I was unfamiliar with the game and hadn’t played the first one. But then, suddenly, the ceiling seemed precariously close to collapsing on me, and I had just fifteen minutes to untangle a web of puzzles to escape my classroom or risk being squashed – yes, it was still a school setting. If that doesn’t give you a clue, I managed to get out of the classroom with under four minutes to spare, and I found myself already captivated by the game concept well before then.
Escape Academy 2 is some of the best first-person puzzle gameplay in a long time
Escape Academy 2: Back 2 School” was created by designers who specialize in real-life escape rooms. As the world went into lockdown in 2020, this team, who were initially working on physical escape rooms, shifted their focus to digital creation. The original Escape Academy was launched in 2022 and has garnered rave reviews from enthusiasts. The sequel aims to elevate the gaming experience even further.
In this peculiar school, appearances can be deceiving. The orientation process is reminiscent of an Indiana Jones adventure. To acquire textbooks, you’ll need cash and a knack for cracking the codes on their storage cases. Every detail seems significant, so it’s intriguing to explore further. In just a few minutes, Escape Academy 2 can make me feel like a genius and a fool, but I cherish both experiences. The first challenge after escaping the orientation room was locating my locker, which seemed more like a conundrum than it actually turned out to be. Portraits of students adorn the walls, each linked to a specific locker number. I must have spent five minutes wandering the corridors searching for hints about my identity, unaware that if I entered the bathroom, I could find the answer by looking into the mirror.
When you finally get to play this game, I strongly suggest keeping a pen and notepad handy. It won’t turn into a maze like Blue Prince, but it’s useful for jotting down words, letters, or codes without interrupting your gameplay by referring back to in-game elements. During the Summer Game Fest demo, they even provided me with a pen and paper, which I later pinned up on my corkboard among all the other disorganized notes taken during Summer Game Fest.
Initially, I thought I’d only get a thirty-minute session with “Escape Academy 2”, but since there were no subsequent engagements after mine, I managed to play for an hour. By the game’s end, my forehead was likely red due not just from my moments of frustration when I overlooked a solution, but also from laughing hard at the outrageously witty puns uttered by the NPCs.
Absolutely, I found myself chuckling, yet I couldn’t quite decipher if the humor was genuine or a response to the cringeworthy puns. Regardless, I sense that the writing team would appreciate this feedback. Unlike several games I tried at Summer Game Fest, I seemed to interact with nearly every NPC I encountered. Perhaps I have a peculiar taste, but there was an innate curiosity within me to read every line of dialogue. Admittedly, some NPCs did offer hints or initiate side quests/puzzles, but that wasn’t the primary reason for my interactions.
From what I’ve gathered, Escape Academy 2 is said to include split-screen cooperative play, much like its predecessor. Solving puzzles on my own could sometimes be tricky, but having a friend along will certainly provide a handy scapegoat when we struggle with a puzzle that takes longer than expected!
In the world of Escape Academy 2, solutions are often cleverly devised, although they might not appear as complex as you anticipate. This game’s humor is off-the-wall, keeping you constantly on your toes and doubting yourself. Yet, nothing compares to the exhilaration of cracking a good puzzle. Escape Academy 2 has successfully encapsulated this thrill throughout its vast 3D campus. For now, we can only speculate about this upcoming sequel. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for an announcement of a demo or release date in the near future, so that I can rejoin the academy and accumulate enough credits to finally graduate.
I’m grateful to Coin Crew Games and iam8bit for allowing me to test the demo of Escape Academy 2 at Summer Game Fest. I only hope my thorough notes are hanging up somewhere in their office, if not still pinned on a bulletin board. Remember to add Escape Academy 2 to your wishlist on Steam and the Epic Games Store as a show of appreciation for these skilled indie developers.
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2025-06-13 04:33