The Escapists is free on the Epic Store this week. We clarify what the new free game is about and who it might appeal to.
Weeks come, Epic gifts follow: Again this week there’s a game for free. This time you break out of prison in The Escapists and use plenty of creative tricks to do so. A lot of playful freedom and a cute retro style are the trademarks of the action strategy game.
The promotion runs from 23 to 30 September 2021, and if you add The Escapists to your Epic library during this period, it will be yours permanently. As usual, we present the free game in more detail here and clarify who could have fun with it.
This is what The Escapists is all about
In The Escapists you’re in jail again, annoyingly. But luckily you’re an accomplished escapee, so you can easily chalk it up to an adventure holiday. Your task is to escape. That sounds easy at first, but it’s actually difficult to do, because you have to follow the daily routine in the prison. Along the way, however, you discover more and more ways to escape.
How you finally escape is up to you. Get to the roof and jump over the fence? You can do that if you get hold of the right key. Dig a hole in your own cell and blame the noise on your sinuses? Well, at least the first part of that sentence can come true in the game.
What sounds so simple, however, requires a lot of knowledge, careful planning and good timing. Thus, The Escapists rewards exploration, discovery and independent working out of escape possibilities, but also punishes the smallest mistake.
The whole thing is presented in a pixelated retro style reminiscent of the old days of 8-bit games. Roughly pixelated figures, two-dimensional environments and sounds inspired by MIDI sounds may appeal especially to children of the 80s and 90s.
See moving images of The Escapists in the gameplay trailer:
Who is the game worth playing for?
8-bit veterans and amateur game historians might like The Escapists for the nostalgia factor alone. But even beyond the facade, there are well thought out and well interlocking game mechanics in it that might appeal to friends of fiddling.
Go directly to The Escapists on the Epic Games Store
On Steam, the 2015 strategy game inspires 90 percent of the players, which leads to a “very positive” average rating. The press, on the other hand, only gives the game a mixed rating on Metacritic: out of 24 ratings, the average score is 71 out of 100 points.
