Project: ESCAPE (Prototype)
A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux
Project: ESCAPE (prototype name) is a puzzle/adventure game, blending together puzzle gameplay with a rich narrative via more typical visual novel elements in the vein of games such as 999 or Virtue's Last Reward.
The prototype focuses on two colourful characters--Kevin and Alice, both of whom wake up with cloudy heads and a pair of handcuffs binding them together within a strange prison cell. Will they be able to solve the strange puzzles that lie in wait for them and escape this foreboding room? And just what awaits them on the other side of that metal door? Somehow...they have the feeling that their strange adventures have only just begun.
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Hi there! Thanks for checking this prototype out! This is a small puzzle game I've been working on slowly in my spare time over the last year for fun--and after a lot of setbacks, I'm finally ready to present it to the world!
I will preface this by saying that if you're coming to this project from previous games of mine, please be aware that there is no adult content within this game. It was created with the intention of being something a little more lighthearted and accessible. An experimental project, if you will! Please don't panic or despair though, because I still intend to work on, and make adult games. I just wanted a change of pace for this particular project, and don't want to feel I'm forever bound to only making adult stuff.
This largely serves as a way for me to broaden my skills with Ren'Py too as I attempt to script all manner of fancy systems!
So, with that out of the way--outside of the brief synopsis above, what does this contain? Well, allow me to break out my handy bullet points! Project: ESCAPE contains the following:
- A short romp through a puzzle filled cell that should last roughly 5 - 10 minutes, depending on how much you poke around for the bonus dialogue and how challenging the puzzles might prove to be for you.
- Fully voiced dialogue for both Alice and Kevin (yes, the male main character is voiced this time around!) with roughly 300 lines of dialogue in-between the narration.
- 3 puzzles to be solved, with progressively more helpful hints from the characters if you need them.
- A simple inventory system that will keep track of items you have (though for simplicity's sake they'll be used automatically at the right time)
- Point-and-click style gameplay in-between the dialogue. Click to examine areas of interest, and view the cell from several key angles! We've come a long way from simple menu based navigation!
I understand this game won't be for everyone--but I certainly hope you give it a try if anything listed above piques your interest! Let me know what you think if you get the chance down the line. Either way, I'm incredibly proud of what I've accomplished here, and am happy to finally present it to the world after a number of unfortunate setbacks in development.
And while I've tried to iron out every bug possible--this was a VERY complex thing to put together, with lots of moving parts. So if by chance something breaks, please let me know and I'll put out a new version as fast as I can while profusely apologising for the inconvenience.
Credits:
Music - Audistory Music
3d Background Renders - GoyaMunoz
2d Sprites + CG Art - Lite
Item Icons - KurosakiKeroro
Background Edits - Aimless Art
VA - Mimi Hung (Alice), Griffin Puatu (Kevin)
Writing, Scripting, Just Barely Functional Minigames - FrostWorks
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Comments
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Loved it! Can't wait for the full game!
This is a nice little game with some pretty good concepts but I think it'd be more accurate to call it "interactive fiction with some puzzle elements". I'm not a big fan of the talky-talky genres but will watch for this to be completed so I can try it in full.
can I upload your game on YouTube I give you full credit on your game
Hiya,
Feel free to do so!
I played it already I will wait when you complete this game it really good when have voice actor that make me understand character easier poor Kevin all the time must stop Alice from do anything weird.
It is the first puzzle game like that i really played but i enjoyd it. u think this could really be a much bigger game which i could enjoy really well.
hope it will be finished.
thank you very much for your kind words, I'm glad you enjoyed it so much! I'd definitely like to do more with it in the future if I have the time and resources!
Hello, may I stream this game on YouTube and suggest it to my fellow VTuber friends?
Hiya there! By all means—please do! I’d love to see it after if it’s archived anywhere!
THANK YOUUU!!! I will share it once I have finished playing it!!!
I think this was really good. Voice acting was great. The contrast of the character's personalities I think works really well within the situation as one's panicking and the other seems completely calm and emotionless. The puzzles were pretty tricky but not super difficult as long as you didn't overthink them like I did. I'm also curious as to what the other items will be used for in the future. I really liked it and can't wait to see more.
Thank you very much for your kind words~ I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it--and hopefully sometime in the future I can expand on the concept! As I really do have a lot of fun making these sorts of games and planning the puzzles, and have tons of other ideas I want to explore!
It reminds me of those escape rooms you do. Alice reminds me of Yami from Motto To Love Ru who is a kuudere. Although if i may ask, are you putting more focus on Ch 2 of your other game, since it seems there hasn't been a update in two years.
Ahh, thank you for playing through, it means a lot to me! I hope you enjoyed your time with it!
And yeah, as of right now my main focus is getting Chapter Two of Quest Failed out before I do anything else--though I've been planning a bunch of fun stuff for Project ESCAPE in the meantime and will be excited to show more of that in the future!
This was fun! I enjoyed the puzzles, though the dialogue felt a bit much and I got stuck on the last puzzle for a while - but it was really well done. Enjoyed Kevin's voice acting and the graphics.
Ah, thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it! There's definitely a fine balance to be struck between the visual novel and game aspects of it, I agree. I think my bias as a pure visual novel writer sometimes shines through a bit much when the dialogue comes on thick, haha, but it's something I'll be trying to balance more in future iterations!
Hey there Frostworks i was planning on making a game soon regarding zombies and it would be nice if we could talk to each other on discord! My tag is LEGEND#6431.I just wanted to know what the code for the selecting items is(like when you hover over an item the eye pops up and you click it)Thanks!
Heya there! Unfortunately, I'm quite busy with things and don't think I'd have the free time to go over all the finer details of how to set those systems up--but if you're using Ren'Py, I would recommend looking up imagemaps and image buttons and such! (And you may wish to go through the included Ren'Py tutorials that come with the engine to familiarize yourself with how these link together.)
https://www.renpy.org/doc/html/screens.html?highlight=imagemap#imagemap-statemen...
https://www.renpy.org/doc/html/screens.html#imagebutton
Admittedly the way I put together this prototype is less than ideal and doesn't make for the best practices, as I did a lot of work-arounds as a result of my less than stellar programming/scripting knowledge, so probably shouldn't be used as a reference for other projects, haha.
I just played it all the way through! It took an hour most of which was taken by doing the last puzzle because I misunderstood what had to be done but it was still so good! I really hope the finished game will come out as soon as possible! Thank you for making such a good game!
Thank you very much for taking the time to play through--I really appreciate it!
I hope in the future to be able to expand on the ideas laid out in the prototype and craft something people can really enjoy!
Really great puzzle game, but kinda wish Alice's Voice actor eased up on the asmr lol
Haha, I can just imagine the video.
[ASMR] Cute emotionless girl bugs you endlessly while you try to figure out how these darn puzzles work
A new genre has been born!
I agree honestly lol
Good job, fantastic game. I had much fun playing it! I really liked the voice acting, they did a great job at conveying the emotions, well at least the one Kevin had. ;)
Before getting out of the room, I really wanted to cuff these two back to the pipes again, but sadly that did not work, though it would have been quite a funny ending.
I look forward to updates and more game content!
Ahhh, thank you so much for your kind words! I'm really glad to hear you enjoyed--and I agree, the VAs did a truly amazing job with things!
I hope in the future to be able to share more of the story if the opportunity presents itself!
Very nice game, Dude! I hope you will expand this game in the future!
Thank you very much~
Providing I have free time in the future I'd love to pursue it further, as I've already planned out a lot in regards to areas and such!
I'm not usually a huge fan of puzzle games but this is easily my favorite. I think the two characters have a very interesting dynamic about them and I can't say I didn't feel a bit disappointed the game was so short. I definitely want to see more of them in the future, preferably in an expansion or follow up game! Even though we do not see much of it, I do love the little world you've constructed and I hope to see more of it, it's got my imagination racing and I hope yours is too!
Heya! Thank you so much for giving the game a go, that means a lot to me~
I'm really happy to hear you enjoyed what the game had to offer, along with the character dynamics. It was definitely a lot of fun writing for Kevin and Alice alongside crafting the puzzles--and it made a nice change of pace from my usual stuff!
I definitely have some ambitious ideas of where to potentially take things from this initial prototype, expanding it on all fronts--but it'll all come down to whether or not I have the time to do it all. But all of this positive feedback so far is really encouraging and makes me want to do the best I can for a future game!
Really enjoyed this game while it lasted. i love those games like 999, VLR and ZTD and this gave me more of that if only just a little.
Heya, thank you so much for taking the time to play it! I'm really happy to hear it scratched the same itch as those other games, as I was definitely very much influenced by them and wanted nothing more than to provide the same sort of experience with my own flair!
Ahh this is so good! Such an interesting game and was really fun to play. I love escape room scenarios and this definitely delivered. I love the characters too, the voice actors did a great job! I hope you have the opportunity to develop this game more, I would love to see what is awaiting Alice and Kevin on the other side of the cell door :) Well done! So glad I played this
Thank you so much! I very much appreciate your kind words. It was a lot of fun to put together in the end as a small side-project of mine--and I'm grateful that so many people are giving it a shot!
I definitely agree on the voice-acting front--I'm really proud of the cast, and how both the VAs brought the characters to life. Without them, Project: Escape certainly wouldn't be what it is!
While I have a lot on my plate right now--I really would like to make more of this if I can, and am already in talks with the artists about potentially drafting some more concepts up. So please look forward to HOPEFULLY more down the line!
Ah thank you for the response and good luck, I hope you get to continue with said project. Would be great to see more :) But that being said, also relax and take time for yourself!
This Visual Novel is Amazingly Fun to Play! The Character Art Style is Cute especially Alice, I feel like she's a Kuudere type of Dere (correct me if I'm wrong). The Background is really spooky including those Creepy Figurines, their actually pretty Cool by the way Hahaha... The Puzzles although there's only 3 of them they really are very FUN! My brain hurts a little bit in the Last part of the puzzle but all in all that was Fun! But the real Charm of this game is the Voice Actors, I feel like they really committed in doing their characters. They did it Perfectly and I Love it! Good Job! Overall 10/10 Love it! This has potential to have a Fully Game. So the question is are you going to Fully develop this Game? Because if you guys do that it will be Awesome!
I Hope You won't mind if I share My Gameplay on My YouTube Channel, I want to share it with My Friends and to Others.
Thank You For The Game!
Keep Up The Good Work! :3
Heya, thank you so much for your kind words! I'm really glad you enjoyed the prototype! Alice is most certainly a kuudere--as I have a real soft spot for them, haha. And try to sneak one into every game I make! And yupyup, I'm really proud of how everything came out--from the backgrounds, to the sprites, and of course the wonderful voice acting. I agree that the VAs really went all out in portraying the characters and I hope to expand upon their roles one day in the future--and possibly introduce more characters, too, if I ever get the chance!
And of course, the video is no problem at all~
Wishing you the very best for each and every one of your future endeavors! :3
Thought it was going to be pretty short, but it isn't, oh well it's good, interesting puzzle. Kevin makes me wants to punch him, Alice is good. My suggestions would probably adding some more audio to the game and more unique puzzles. Voice acting lovely btw~~~
Hope it turns out to be a good visual novel game.
Heya, thanks for giving it a go and streaming it--I really appreciate it!
I'll be honest, I thought it WAS a short game when I was making it, hence the 5-10 minute estimate on my end, haha. I was quite surprised to see your video was an hour long! I guess there's more meat to it than I thought, huh? : P
Thank you for your kind words, too! If I were to make a full game of it, sound effects and more varied puzzles would certainly be a large priority. I already have quite a lot of fun ideas I've been jotting down just in case I get the chance to pursue things further.
Yappp!
Hello, I would like to do localization of this game in Russian, but I can't understand what encryption code is used? I searched the Internet and asked everyone who might know, but I didn't get an answer to my question.
Heya there! Apologies--I'm not too well versed on the more technical side of things so might not be too helpful there, but it's built on Ren'Py and I know there's methods of extracting from the archive that people have used.
I'm fine with fan translations too on that note--but would be hesitant on giving out the source files directly.
I really liked the game although it took me a long time to finish it mainly because of the safe, I was constantly trying to follow the steps from the bottom of the page instead from the top. Alice's reaction when they saw that the doors were boarded up from the inside was interesting, it seemed like she doubted him but I didn't notice that later on. Good luck and I am looking forward to the rest of the game.
Thank you so much for giving it a shot! I'm glad to hear you enjoyed your time with it~ And yeah, haha, the challenge with giving puzzle hints is trying to find a balance between giving just enough information without being too obvious. I hope from all of the feedback obtain here that I can craft even better puzzles in the future!
This was cute! Alice and Kevin’s chemistry was pretty entertaining. Namely just Kevin’s increasing exasperation lol
I wonder who put them both there in the first place. (Or was it Alice all along? DUN DUN DUNN) I can see you definitely put a lot of care into this! Good luck with a full version, if you decide to make one~ Lol we can watch Kevin’s further dismay. I doubt they escaped it all that easily.
Ahhh, I'm super happy you enjoyed it! Kevin is quite different from the usual male MCs I write, so I had a lot of fun pushing his buttons so to speak, haha. Since usually my MCs are a lot more timid. Breaking new ground here!
I certainly hope I have the chance to expand on the mystery one day--since I'm sure people won't expect the direction it takes at all~ (Maybe)
I hope there'll be a bigger project built upon this prototype. Played through it and I of course wanted to see more, I liked the exploration, the puzzles weren't too tough and there was a pretty smooth difficulty curve.
Kevin seemed a little too fiery, too fast going from normal to intense, while Alice was strange throughout so I'm suspecting there's something she's hiding. The dialogue that builds towards offering a solution to a puzzle was good too, it didn't seem forced or anything.
Let's see what's beyond the door! :)
Ah, thank you so much for playing--I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it! I was a little worried the safe puzzle might be a bit esoteric with the buttons emulating the dial loosely and require more specific knowledge of how safes worked, but did my best for the characters to explain things if it proved too challenging. I feel the best puzzle games are the ones that can be completed without having to search up guides online : P This is my first time making a puzzle game like this too, so there was a lot of experimenting.
And I'd definitely like to be able to expand on it down the line providing I have the chance! Since I have lots of fun ideas for where to take it.