Just revealed a few days ago at the Day of the Devs Summer Game Fest, Escape Academy 2: Back 2 School is coming soon from Coin Crew Games and iam8bit. The new trailer shows off the big open university campus you'll be able to explore in between your "classes" consisting of a myriad of individual escape-room style puzzle scenarios.
Being marketed as the "first open world escape room game" (although it sounds like a bit of an oxymoron to me), Academy 2 will let you roam the school and decide where you try your Houdini talents next, progressing through an ongoing plot between puzzle sessions. The game's story boasts a "dark mystery" surrounding the founding of the school and many familiar faces from the first entry.
Along with the custom-map-filled Escape Simulator, the first Escape Academy is one of the big standouts in this popular modern genre of first-person variety puzzle games where you explore 3D environments, piece together clues and grapple with cryptic contraptions to break out of enclosed, often heavily thematic environments.
The Academy series prides itself on using puzzles designed by real world escape room experts, and I find one of the best aspects of the games is the ability to play them as either solo or co-op experiences, with local couch co-op being a very fun option reminiscent of solving an analogue escape room with friends.
There's no release date in sight yet, but Escape Academy 2 has a Steam page up so you can wishlist while you wait. The first game in the series is also currently on sale for 60% off for another couple of days if you want to see what all the hype is about. Grab a friend and take a class in making-it-out-alive from the comfort of home.
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