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Not An Escape Room presents...
"BREAKOUT"
✧ Played In Jun 2020 • Team of 1 Player • Success! ✧
► VENUE & GAME FACT SHEET ◄
🏢 COMPANY: Not An Escape Room
💻 WEBSITE: Company
🗾 COUNTRY: United Kingdom
🕹️ GAME: Breakout
💻 WEBSITE: Game Info | To Purchase This Game
⏲️ TIME LIMIT: 45 Minutes 💬 DIFFICULTY: Intermediate (Official) | Easy (Mattster)
👨👩👧👦 CAPACITY: 1-8 Players
🔐 GAME TYPE: Private
💰 PRICING: £10 (GBP)
► FORMAT & SPECIFICATIONS ◄
🖱️ DISTRIBUTION ROUTE: Online, By Purchase, Start Play Anytime
🎧 PRODUCT TYPE: Online Puzzle, Google Form Based
► PREMISE & OBJECTIVES ◄
Official Premise (from Not An Escape Room): You’re in prison. Probably because you tried to rob a bank or something.. You heard from other inmates being transferred in that you’re entering the cell of a previous inmate, one who mysteriously disappeared one day without a trace. Did he escape? Probably. Can you? Let’s find out...
MORE GOOGLE FORM BASED FUN
"Breakout" is a follow up entry to "The Original Bundle" by Not An Escape Room. This website uses Google form web tool as the base for all its puzzle and escape games. You'll navigate the story with multiple choice radio buttons, drop down menus, and password input fields.
THE USUAL STAGE
We find ourselves in a prison in the company's fourth entry, one of the staples of the escape room world. A previous inmate has successfully escaped the very jail cell you're currently residing, and they have left behind clues to help you do the same. Will you also succeed?
And cue the clock!
WHAT'S DIFFERENT THIS TIME
Within the first five minutes of clicking around my virtual jail cell, I noticed that this new game was much more image heavy than all the previous offerings. And every single image seemed to have carried significant clues, and not one red herring spotted.
To help you smoothly overcome all obstacles, I highly suggest right clicking on every image, and open the file in a new browser tab, so you can refer back to them swiftly with ease.
The game overall was also more structured and linear, in a way that made sense:
You first aim to free yourself from handcuffs, then the cell metal gate, and finally out the facility to sweet freedom. Because of this natural progression route, the story had many opportunities for more puzzle check points, and this game finally delivered the proper number of challenges I expect to see. (Previous efforts were lighter on actual puzzles contents.)
I happily congratulated the maker for a job well done, and expressed my sincere desire for him to continue upholding this new standard as the bar to reach or beat in future projects.
UNDENIABLE VIBE OF ESCAPE ROOM
Whereas "Enigma" strayed a bit far from what you typically envision from an escape game, "Breakout" pulled a 180 and followed some of the most classic formulas.
Similar to a physical gen 1 room, this game zoomed in on decoding secret messages and working out lock combos. The clues were scattered apart just the right amount to offer a good level of challenge, though with good note taking, one could easily group relevant clues together and solve the puzzles efficiently. I took roughly 30 minutes to finish the entire game.
Though the riddles this time were not as "edgy" (or abstract) as the ones found in "Enigma", I did find myself both enjoying and preferring Breakout's classic choices due to my ability to finish them without serious frustration or struggle. Is it possible that I found them more appealing partially due to my clinging dearly onto my comfort zone? Maybe. Who knows?
I can confirm, however, that these riddles were undoubtedly better written, logically speaking, and required no outside knowledge to complete. And that's always better in my book.
Hence, out of all the options in the web store, this would be my pick.
