You know you’re off to a good start with your indie game when the developer touts about how 98% of players can’t beat the game. Well, after playing, I’m convinced that the 98% who couldn’t beat it actually just died of boredom. I’m lucky I’m in a wheelchair because I’m pretty sure boredom can put you in one by itself.
Most of the game actually plays out like a clicker where you click on random objects and hope they do something meaningful. However, annoyingly, the desert level literally allows you to walk endlessly in the desert forever. The puzzle design feels more like stop animation than a fluid game. There is no just right, as it either holds your hand too much or leaves you scratching your head in confusion.
In a large portion of the games I play, I feel immersed in the game world. In this game, the world around me felt stiff and lifeless. There was no sound and the animation felt stiffer than my chicken muscles. There also is no connecting thread to link the 30 or so rooms together. I appreciate when developers try to bring together things that, on their own, aren’t viable games in an anthology-style game. However, there should be a connecting thread like Stories Untold or Forgiveness, or, at the barest minimum, an epilogue explaining what happened. The developers chose to use the Flash engine too which makes this game obsolete after April of next year when Adobe retires Flash. So, if you’d like to buy it, do so now before you lose support for it.
I suppose I should say something good about the game, but in all reality, I couldn’t find a single drop of enjoyment in this whole experience. Every level was one closer to finishing it and being able to move on with life. Frankly, I’m pretty sure the quality of this game is what blew the keys on my keyboard out.
Escape the Challenge was developed by Voidkiller Studios.
Point of Sale: Itch.io
Price: $30
A Itch.io link was provided by the developer.
djf1107 has not awarded Escape The Challenge the Indie Gamer Team seal of approval.
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