Escape the Playground

Escape the Playground is a co-op horror game for 1 to 4 players, and you can play it alone too. You start at recess on a sunny playground. After about a minute the sky drops out, walls come up, and you're in a maze with monsters in it. You find the keys, open the gate and run for the exit before it closes, and then it's recess again.

Every monster follows different rules, and every one has a counter. The tall one hears you run, so you break line of sight. The pale one only moves when nobody is looking at it, so you keep your eyes on it and back away. There are more than a dozen of them, and they get added to the nights as you play.

Getting caught puts you in a cage. You can break out yourself with a timing check, or a friend can reach the cage and open it. If you stay taken you turn into a poltergeist, and you can still flicker lamps and shove rides.

Proximity voice means everyone near you can hear you, including the monsters. One of them listens to your voice chat, so a shout can save a friend or bring something over to you. The gate closes 30 seconds after the first player gets through, so you have to decide who you wait for.

Night School is a second map with its own five nights. It's a huge indoor playground inside a dark school, and toxic waste rises through it all night. You shut down four stations to wind the waste back and power the freight elevator, and some of them need two players.

Night School has its own monsters. Mother Longlegs lives in the rafters, and her legs reach down before her body shows. Sludgers rise out of the waste, and when the lunch bell rings Mrs. Lupa wants everyone standing in line.

Lunchbox items lie around the maze, and each one can go wrong. A water balloon pins a monster in place and splashes you too, and a kazoo makes everything nearby come over to look. You also carry a disposable camera, and the photos end up in your yearbook at the end of the night.

Co-op for 1 to 4 players with proximity voice chat, or play alone Two maps: the playground with ten nights and Night School with five Every night has its own look, like snow, Halloween or crayon Four difficulties from Easy to Impossible More than 100 baseball cards, hats and 24 achievements to collect Full gamepad support, in 12 languages