Escape Simulator 2 – Pine Studio’s Biggest Game Yet

• DEVELOPER: Pine Studio
• PUBLISHER: Pine Studio
• PLATFORMS: PC
• GENRE: Puzzle / Escape Room
• RELEASE DATE: October 27, 2025 
• STARTING PRICE: 16,99€
• REVIEWED VERSION: PC

Escape Simulator is really interesting because I can’t seem figure out something about it. How can this game be so fun and yet so difficult at the same time? It’s fun to yell at your friend when they mess up, but then you both look silly for not solving the puzzle fast enough. While the first Escape Simulator was a hit because of the content the community made, Escape Simulator 2 makes that experience even better. Pine Studio definitely did an amazing job with Escape Simulator 2; it’s their biggest game yet.

For those who haven’t tried the game or aren’t sure about it, you should know that it’s much more fun to play with others. Playing alone works, but it’s honestly just not the same experience. Also, not everyone will enjoy solving puzzles that range from easy to very hard for a full hour, and it can definitely get a bit boring the longer you play. But if you’re still hesitant to try the game, it’s pretty cheap, and I really recommend grabbing a friend to play with.

Bigger, Better, More Beautiful

At launch, the game will have 12 brand new rooms spread across three themed worlds. These rooms are much bigger than the ones in the first Escape Simulator. They are organized into three packs: Dracula’s Castle, Starship EOS, and The Cursed Treasure. Honestly, when my friend and I first started playing, we thought three maps wouldn’t be much content and that we’d finish them quickly, but we were wrong!

It takes about 45 minutes to an hour to solve each level. Since each map has four levels, it will take you a good amount of time to figure everything out. Based on my time with them, I felt that Dracula’s Castle is the most balanced, Starship EOS is the most messiest, and the pirate-themed The Cursed Treasure is the most beautiful.

Another thing I have to mention is how unique the puzzles are. They definitely take ideas from the first game, but they’ve made everything ten times better. The difficulty is about the same as the first one, however now there’s just much more to do, which is actually great. You still have books to read and pictures to look at, but now you also have tokens to collect.

Think of them as a side quest while you complete the main escape room. You collect these tokens and put them in the starting lobby to show off that you finished the whole game. Escape Simulator 2 also adds new “Darkest Puzzles” for an extra challenge you can try after you finish a map, but I’ll let you discover those for yourself without spoiling anything.

Numerous Bugs

I personally liked the puzzles in Escape Simulator 2 more than the first game. Since they are new every time, it’s amazing how the team kept everything so fresh and never boring. But even with so many good things, there are some problems that I hope will be fixed. Before I get to that, I have to say that the graphics are truly beautiful. Every part of each map was made with a lot of care. Everything has more detail and better look, so you’ll enjoy just looking at the map before you even start solving it.

Now, what really stood out was how many bugs the game has. My friend and I ran into a bunch of them, and some even stopped us from playing. For example, we couldn’t finish some levels. On the first level of the Starship EOS map, there’s a machine you use to pull and push things from space. It was completely broken and didn’t work at all, so we just had to give up on that level.

Next, there were times when we got stuck in places and couldn’t move. On the Dracula’s Castle map, near the fireplace, my friend was trapped and we had to restart the whole level. Luckily, the restart option resets everything, or you can quit the game and join again, which usually fixed most problems for us. Those were just some of the bugs.

Other times, the screen would go slightly black when we tried to look at each other’s clues (yes, you can now look closely at what clue your friend is holding and how they are solving a puzzle). Sadly, this feature wasn’t always perfect and sometimes made it harder to solve things together. In the end, the spaceship map was the most messy and had the most bugs. We had to restart on that map almost every time we played it.

Worth it if you loved the first game

But generally, looking at everything, the game was really fun. It was a blast solving the new puzzles and exploring the new maps. I know that even if I play everything again, I’ll still have trouble remembering how I solved some things. There is also a hint feature included, so if you get stuck, you’ll always be able to move forward. Also, the big feature everyone is talking about is the new editor. I haven’t had a chance to use it yet, and I probably won’t since I’m not good at making levels.

If you loved the first game, you’re going to love this one even more. As mentioned, everything is better, even the graphics. You can now play with up to 8 people, which lets you cause a lot of chaos, throwing things around and moving them however you want. You can truly play the game your way. Escape Simulator 2 is going to be big, but I just hope the bugs and syncing problems get fixed. We even had times where items got stuck under other objects. Luckily, the developers have already said they are working on fixing most of these issues, so I think you will definitely end up enjoying this one.

Review copy provided by the publisher