In ScriptWelder's point-and-click puzzle game Don't Escape, you're not trying to find a way out of the tiny, cramped hunter's cottage, but rather a way to keep yourself in. See, werewolves aren't exactly known for their cuddly-wuddliness, whatever pop culture has taught you, and as a werewolf yourself, your only hope to avoid delivering bloody carnage to the townspeople nearby is to make sure you can't get out when the moon rises at night. There doesn't seem to be much outside, or in the single room that makes up the cottage's interior, but somehow you're going to have to make it work and shut off all avenues of escape when the beast comes out. Click around to gather items and try to figure out ways to keep yourself inside by creating as many obstacles as possible. If you can interact with something, your crosshairs will dim slightly. When you think you've done enough, click the hourglass in your inventory to advance time to dusk and cross your fingers, because if the werewolf inside you is still strong enough to get past all of your hastily erected blockades, the hapless villages don't stand a chance. Remember, nobody is ever Team Mass Murderer.
It's a clever concept, twisting the old escape-the-room formula around to force you to try to think of every possible way to keep yourself trapped later on. With a moody atmosphere and visuals, the game's concept feels even more urgent, and the lack of any real instruction beyond "keep yourself inside" means you're really going to have to get resourceful to succeed. The downside is the game's dark, somewhat muddy graphics make it both hard to see at times and easy to miss items, and when some interactive areas aren't indicated visually unless you mouse over that exact point, you wind up having to sweep the mouse around to make sure you aren't missing anything instead of relying on your own deduction. There is, for instance, a second page to the notes on the table, but clicking anywhere except one particular portion of the screen just exits you out of looking at them, so you'd be forgiven in thinking there's nothing there at all. Still, despite relying on some truly fiendish scrounging for success and some red herring items, Don't Escape is a fresh and welcome change to the genre. It almost feels like the sort of thing that could become a genre of its own, in fact, and I'd love to see even more installments and scenarios in the future.
Walkthrough Guide
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Don't Escape walkthrough
NOTE: If you have trouble seeing, you can tweak the brightness in the game's settings.
If you use an item on yourself and you want to undo it, just use the item on yourself a second time.
Well this is a refreshing change. There's no amnesia, no locked doors. But maybe there should be. Time to lock yourself in before the moon comes out.
PART 1: INITIAL SUPPLIES (Collect ALL the things!)
Take the rope from the hook on the left, by the shelf.
Turn right once again and take the glass bottle from the table.
There's a bit of dark floorboard at the very bottom of the screen. Click it to look down, and click the square of loose flooring. A treasure trove!
In the upper right corner, you'll find a piece of meat, and in the box, you'll find some spice.
To leave, click twice on the far left side of the hole.
Turn right so you're facing the window. Take the silver key from the jacket, and the small golden key from under the bed.
Check out each drawer in the chest of drawers. Open the third one from the top and take the tinderbox from inside it.
Turn right and take the dried herb from the hook on the wall, and a piece of root from the top of the barrel farthest from you.
Use the small key (the gold one) on the chest. Oooh, a hammer and nails.
Turn right one more time, so you're facing the open door, and go outside! (It's still daytime so it's safe.)
Take the axe from the stump, the chopped wood logs from next to the stump, the chain from under the cabin roof, and the mushroom from near the rightmost fence post. Head back inside.
PART 2: COOKING THE POTION
While facing the door from inside, turn right and examine the papers on the table. There's a second page, so after you read the first page, click on the one behind it (the overlap is on the left).
There's something here about how "a handful of hot dust, a crunchy herb, and something that grows in earth but is not a plant" can weaken the beast. Best to keep those in mind.
Turn twice so you're facing the fireplace. The first step in brewing a potion is boiling the water, so you'd better do that first.
Place the chopped wood below the pot, then use the tinderbox on the wood. FIRE!
The next step is ingredients. There are many things you can add, but not all of them are useful.
"Hot dust." Well it's all going to be hot once it's in the fire, so maybe that's not what the witch meant.
"Hot" can also mean "spicy," so add the spice to the pot.
The herb is already well-dried, so that can go right in.
Next up is something that grows but isn't a plant.
Fungi aren't plants, so add the mushroom.
Use the glass bottle on the pot. You have a vial of potion!
The notes said it wears off very quickly, so better not use it right away.
PART 3: FINAL PREPARATIONS
Turn so you're facing the front door. Click the door to close it, and use the silver key on the door to lock it. But a werewolf is stronger than a simple lock�
Click on the very left of the shelf to push the shelf in front of the door.
Turn 180 degrees and close the window. There's no keyhole here, but it has to lock somehow.
Click the latch at the center of the closed window to lock it up. The hook is on the left.
There has to be a way to use the raw meat.
Since the potion is slow-acting, combine the potion and the meat. Yummy. And this way, the beast gets the full dose.
Put the meat on the hook above the table (on the screen with the barrels).
But where to put it?
Use the axe on the table. Take the planks.
Use the planks on the window, then use the hammer & nails on the planks. That should make things tougher for the beastie�
You should also immobilize yourself somehow.
Since the beast can chew through the rope and break the chain, you should tie yourself up with both. (Use the rope on your face in the inventory, then do the same with the chain. Both icons should have a check mark.)
Once you're all tied up, click the hourglass and choose "yes," and then read about your night!
Walkthrough by Hopeful Nebula!
Posted by: Dora Breckinridge
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June 8, 2013 12:02 PM