Escape Tales: The Awakening is a narrative puzzle game that is newly adapted to the digital form, being originally known as an escape-room card game. Whilst I am not aware of the original card game, this new game format seems to work well, but I did find the puzzles quite difficult. This type of game is perfect for the spooky season with its dark undertones, but I do think this game mostly suits puzzle aficionados as opposed to horror lovers.

Pros

• Digitalised format of a popular card game
  
• Creepy ambience and descriptions
  
• Different endings and playstyles
  
• Handy hint system if you get stuck.

♥♥♥♥

• Puzzle difficulty (may be a pro for some!)

You play as Sam, a mourning husband after his wife has recently passed. To make matters worse, your only daughter has also fallen ill and is in a coma. Sam decides to do what all horror protagonists do, and to try and evoke the supernatural to get his daughter back. He obtains the book of rituals and begins performing an awakening ritual to try and wake his loved one. I am sure this will go down smoothly!

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3355645071

Along the way through different rooms, titbits of information is provided about Sam and the details of his wife’s passing. The entire narrative is coated in spookiness with each sentence having an eerie aura about it. The rooms themselves are creepy and off-putting which helped me visualise the descriptions of Sam’s surroundings.

The story is nothing special, but it did scratch my Halloween-novel itch that I had. Perhaps I am not the right audience for this type of game as I wanted more of the narrative and choose-your-own-path gameplay, rather than the myriad of puzzles one after the other, but it is best to keep in mind that it is based off an escape room game.


Gameplay is very simple, you read text from the side of the screen and select the option at the bottom (sometimes a choice) to proceed. You will then find yourself in a small room where you can click on various sections along the rooms border to further explore the area. Each area is colour coded such as green for things to do/unexplored, blue for puzzle and grey for the area is complete/exhausted. You also have a limited amount of stamina slots which are used to explore different areas. If you run out, you can always meditate to recover some more but if you do it too often, it can negatively affect your ending. Therefore it is best to pick where you want to explore quite carefully.

Most times, you will need to explore various parts of the room to pick up all the necessary clues to complete the puzzle. There is an ingame little notebook and pen/highlighter which you can use to type any relevant notes or clues. You can also draw which is handy in some puzzles where you may need to trace a line or draw out a specific sequence. The puzzles will end with a digit code which can be deduced from the unique puzzles. They started off okay but got quite complicated quickly. You must read environmental clues to deduce what to do, but if you are stuck, there is a handy hint option to help guide you, or even give you the full solution if you keep clicking on it.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3356147309

Having the inbuilt notebook reminded me of some more old-school games and I really enjoyed that. Being able to resize the different puzzle clues and format them on my screen like I would in a tabletop game on a bench was something new and fun.

Once you have completed the necessary puzzles and find the portal to exit, you have the option of remaining in the room to continue exploring, or you can leave. Note that you cannot return to any of the past rooms so it is best to make the most of your time in each.

This game was played using a mouse only, and with the following PC specs.:
AMD Ryzen R5 7600x 5.4 GHz
32GB DDR5 5200 CL36 RAM
Radeon RX 6800 XT
2560x1440 resolution
NVMe 3.0 SSD
Windows 10

Replayability value: Yes, for different endings and routes.


Escape Tales: The Awakening is a unique little horror-themed puzzle game that is sure to keep puzzle enthusiasts busy for a few hours. I recommend this for puzzle lovers who don’t mind a bit of a spooky theme, especially those who are aware of the original board game.

If you would like to see more reviews written by me, please follow my curator page and help support my work Cookie Reviews.

Escape Tales: The Awakening is a narrative puzzle game that is newly adapted to the digital form, being originally known as an escape-room card game. Whilst I am not aware of the original card game, this new game format seems to work well, but I did find the puzzles quite difficult. This type of game is perfect for the spooky season with its dark undertones, but I do think this game mostly suits puzzle aficionados as opposed to horror lovers. [b] [u]Pros[/u] [/b] [list] [*] Digitalised format of a popular card game [*] Creepy ambience and descriptions [*] Different endings and playstyles [*] Handy hint system if you get stuck. [/list] [b] [u]Cons[/u] [/b] [list] [*] Puzzle difficulty (may be a pro for some!) [/list] [h1]Story[/h1] You play as Sam, a mourning husband after his wife has recently passed. To make matters worse, your only daughter has also fallen ill and is in a coma. Sam decides to do what all horror protagonists do, and to try and evoke the supernatural to get his daughter back. He obtains the book of rituals and begins performing an awakening ritual to try and wake his loved one. I am sure this will go down smoothly! https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3355645071 Along the way through different rooms, titbits of information is provided about Sam and the details of his wife’s passing. The entire narrative is coated in spookiness with each sentence having an eerie aura about it. The rooms themselves are creepy and off-putting which helped me visualise the descriptions of Sam’s surroundings. The story is nothing special, but it did scratch my Halloween-novel itch that I had. Perhaps I am not the right audience for this type of game as I wanted more of the narrative and choose-your-own-path gameplay, rather than the myriad of puzzles one after the other, but it is best to keep in mind that it is based off an escape room game. [h1]Gameplay[/h1] Gameplay is very simple, you read text from the side of the screen and select the option at the bottom (sometimes a choice) to proceed. You will then find yourself in a small room where you can click on various sections along the rooms border to further explore the area. Each area is colour coded such as green for things to do/unexplored, blue for puzzle and grey for the area is complete/exhausted. You also have a limited amount of stamina slots which are used to explore different areas. If you run out, you can always meditate to recover some more but if you do it too often, it can negatively affect your ending. Therefore it is best to pick where you want to explore quite carefully. Most times, you will need to explore various parts of the room to pick up all the necessary clues to complete the puzzle. There is an ingame little notebook and pen/highlighter which you can use to type any relevant notes or clues. You can also draw which is handy in some puzzles where you may need to trace a line or draw out a specific sequence. The puzzles will end with a digit code which can be deduced from the unique puzzles. They started off okay but got quite complicated quickly. You must read environmental clues to deduce what to do, but if you are stuck, there is a handy hint option to help guide you, or even give you the full solution if you keep clicking on it. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3356147309 Having the inbuilt notebook reminded me of some more old-school games and I really enjoyed that. Being able to resize the different puzzle clues and format them on my screen like I would in a tabletop game on a bench was something new and fun. Once you have completed the necessary puzzles and find the portal to exit, you have the option of remaining in the room to continue exploring, or you can leave. Note that you cannot return to any of the past rooms so it is best to make the most of your time in each. [h1]Technical & Stats [/h1] [quote][b]This game was played using a mouse only, and with the following PC specs.:[/b] AMD Ryzen R5 7600x 5.4 GHz 32GB DDR5 5200 CL36 RAM Radeon RX 6800 XT 2560x1440 resolution NVMe 3.0 SSD Windows 10[/quote] [b]Replayability value:[/b] Yes, for different endings and routes. [h1]Conclusion[/h1] Escape Tales: The Awakening is a unique little horror-themed puzzle game that is sure to keep puzzle enthusiasts busy for a few hours. I recommend this for puzzle lovers who don’t mind a bit of a spooky theme, especially those who are aware of the original board game. [quote] If you would like to see more reviews written by me, please follow my curator page and help support my work [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/34936724/] Cookie Reviews[/url]. [/quote]