I'm a years-long Escapists veteran, having beaten all prisons multiple times in a pirated copy and now having beat them in a legitimate copy on Steam, also speedrunning the game in my earlier years and completing the entirety of The Escapists 2. It took me about 59 hours to complete all of the achievements, some of which are locked behind purchasable DLC (which I don't particularly like, but it is what it is). This being a prequel to the second entry, I would argue anyone should play this game first to understand some crucial mechanics before playing the second game, but ultimately you aren't losing a lot if you don't. Assuming you do though, this game doesn't have a lot of replay value; it was designed so players progress through prisons, so you will not have a lot of hours in any given prison unless those hours are spent grinding and developing an escape arsenal.

I LOVE this game. I first saw it played at a house party when I was really young, maybe 9 or 10. I was fascinated with it from the start, the premise being simple enough for anyone to understand with mechanics that aren't overly complex to pose ridiculously challenging prisons. My only gripe is that many crucial hints to escape prisons (especially a few DLC maps) are locked behind money, which are obtained through quests and jobs. This wouldn't necessarily be a bad mechanic (as the second game does the same thing) if there were markers and helpful guides to lead you to your task, as the second game does. As a result, you waste a LOT of time trying to find items and raising your intellect to craft them into your escape tools. It's for this big reason that I believe the second entry is objectively better, aside from the higher res textures, the more consistently-comedic jabs and references, and far easier movement.

When you play this game, you're gonna come across some ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. Just be prepared. Follow online tips. Don't be afraid to look up tutorials, walkthroughs, or even recipes if you don't have a full recipe book. This game made me violently angry against police officers.

Solid 8/10

I got this game a long time ago because I really liked the game play but now I just want a refund since the game won't even work anymore since it keeps crashing all the time and now they just stopped updating the game now the game is just dead at this point and I really don't want it but to bad there is no refund after a long time now I just find it a waste of money if you plan to get the game just don't its not worth it anymore now I regret buying the game

its cool