#Inotepad funny series#

Thankfully, you can play the entire game with one other pal in local or online co-op, so I enlisted a mate and we teamed up in a jiffy. I reached this impasse in singleplayer, which was perfectly fun up until my brain was left totally stumped. Yep, that's definitely the case.Įveryone's mind works a bit differently, so it goes without saying that you might reach a stage where no number of hints can help you make sense of something. Surely you'd rather have people good at not getting caught? Maybe I'm looking too deep into this. Also, what sort of universe requires loads of people to be good at escaping. It doesn't cost you anything either, which goes to show that the game recognises you're here for a fun time, not a frustrating one. But if you find a puzzle a bit too tricky, then there's a handy hint button that pauses the action and delivers up to three clues that progressively steer you closer and closer to the answer. The game strikes a wonderful balance of difficulty and urgency, with puzzles that tax the mind but aren't too overpowering, coupled with a timer that's just the right amount of generous. Then it's not long before the cogs start clicking into place and you are the one who feels clever. Things tie cleverly into other things, subtly encouraging you to look or listen or assemble bits in a way you hadn't thought of before. Microwaves hide secrets and statues might look at you funny. Graffiti on walls nod to those symbols written on the piece of paper in your back pocket.

They really are ace.Īnd the puzzles are just the right level of devious, popping objects like keys and levers in carefully placed spots. There's even a puzzle rescue mission where you decipher messages, relay them to someone on the ground, and help them infiltrate a compound. There's a puzzle-race, where you battle against that one (1) other student in a sprint to the finish. At first, they're quickfire rooms but ramp up in complexity as the story weaves some thrills and spills into the mix: There's a puzzle tower that's continuously filling with water, so you've got to scramble to reach the top before you drown. This is where the game switches from a visual novel to a first-person perspective, letting you explore and puzzle up close and personal.

#Inotepad funny series#

Still, the game more than makes up for its shortcomings with a series of brilliant escape rooms.

So, the tumbleweed rolling through the locker rooms does make sense. Maybe everyone who's enrolled is either stuck in an escape room or they've already escaped the academy. Don't get me wrong! It's a fun story with plenty of charm, but temper your expectations – this isn't Norco or Phoenix Wright. And as much as the teachers and the academy's legendary faculty members have their surface level quirks, there's no opportunity to peel these back and get to know them on a deeper level. For a prestigious school, its halls are oddly empty. Except that it's drama that only seems to affect you and one (1) other student, which knocks the repercussions of a mysterious threat down a peg. Trinians or Grange Hill, the academy's walls house drama. It's a cool place, presented in a charming comic book art style and yet there isn't a lot of history to back it up.Īnd just like St. It's not loads more info, unfortunately, which does make you hunger for more backstory on why such a curious academy even exists. Often, you can hover your mouse over objects and inspect them for tidbits of extra info. Portraits of stylish teachers slide into view, with chats through text bubbles. Exploration and story are told in a visual novel style, where you delve into dorms, classrooms, and libraries by clicking icons on a world map.

To graduate, you must piece together the coveted Seal Of Escape by beating ten escape rooms that escalate in difficulty. The game's story sees you play a budding student of the Escape Academy, a school that trains up the very best escapists in the land. They might seem unhinged – they are, a bit – but they're signs of an experience that was really quite fun, and incredibly, made me feel quite clever. The rest? 1) WRO 2) NYYVR and other babblings of a newborn trying to make sense of the world. Wonky boxes filled with letters, like a shed that's just about held itself together after a storm. A block of crosses, squares, and circles like a snippet of an old GTA cheats page. Having graduated from Escape Academy, I'm left with a notepad of strange scrawls scattered over two pages. The entire thing can be played with a bud too, making this a brilliant co-op jaunt. Despite its empty halls and predictable plot, it's a charming escape room sim that's filled with clever puzzles that reward and rarely frustrate.