How 2 Escape from Break First and Just For Games is an interesting co-op experience in which you’ll need to collaborate to find the solution to each puzzle. Check our How 2 Escape review!

 

How 2 Escape from Break First and Just For Games is an interesting co-op experience in which you’ll need to collaborate to find the solution to each puzzle. One player will be taking on How 2 Escape on the Nintendo Switch console, while the other uses the iPhone or Android version of the companion app or the companion app available on Steam so that you two can work together. As the name suggests, the objective is to escape. What are you going to be escaping from? A train!

Emy makes a call to Johann, saying that she’s trapped in a speeding train that is about to crash! Each of the train’s cars will present a different set of puzzles to solve. While you’ll certainly need to take your time to look at things from every possible perspective so that you can find the solution, time is of the essence! Every car will be timed, and if you run out of time, then you’re done for. Because of this, both players will need to be in constant communication to use all available information to find the solution to each predicament. Oh, did I mention Emy is Johann’s sister?

While your first instinct would be for both players to sit in the same room, that would defeat the purpose of this ingenious release. The plan is that if two people play the game in the same location, each player should at least be located in a different room so that one doesn’t look at the screen of the other. This is so that both players can communicate about what they see on their respective screens since all information is crucial for completing this or that puzzle, and having both players looking at both screens would break the experience.

 

Wearing headphones is also recommended, as is for each player to have a pen and some paper nearby so that they each can take notes along the way. Doing this will make it easier to cooperate with one another as you each try to give it your all as you search for the right solution for each of the train’s cars. Time is of the essence, so the better you can absorb everything that is going on, the better your odds of clearing each puzzle. Once the mobile player copies the symbol shown on the Nintendo Switch version’s screen, you’ll be ready to go.

When playing on the Nintendo Switch console, you’ll walk around with the left analog stick as you move the camera with the right one to look around as needed. Pressing in on the left analog stick will allow you to run, which will be important during some segments of the game. The A button will be used for interacting, which you’ll do right away once you gain control of Emy. Why? Because she’s in a dark room and must interact with the light switch so that she can get to the puzzle solving!

The one playing on mobile will, well, be using the mobile app to mimic the phone obtained at the start of the game in the mysterious, unmarked envelope. You can check the Messages app, the Storage app, and the Codex app. Later, you will be able to swipe on the screen to move between the different cars and their respective puzzles as you progress further into the game. The player who is controlling Emy will need to communicate with you to input the different codes into the Codex app, as well as the text that needs to be sent by using the Messages app.

 

Without spoiling things too much, I’ll discuss the first room and its puzzles so that you can get an idea of what to expect during your time with How 2 Escape. Emy will be in a room with a piano, a locker with a lock with some weird symbols, five spots where stuff can be placed, and a door that requires a key to be opened. As expected, the final goal of this series of puzzles will be to help Emy get her hands on the aforementioned key so that she can move closer and closer to the final wagon to activate the emergency brakes.

Once the mobile player enters the code into the Codex provided by the console player, an image will be shown. It’s in this image that the mobile player must find the stuff that’s missing from Emy’s room so that a code can be received. You learn this by checking the Storage app, which has a short description for the 7 differences mini-game, which means that there are 7 items missing from Emy’s room that show on the image in Johann’s phone.

This new code is composed of 3 symbols and must be relayed to the console player to be used for the lock that is keeping them from accessing the locker. Once the locker is open, there will be five boxes that need to be placed on the five spots to the left of the locker. To find the solution for this, you need to check the word inside of the locker and then have the mobile player check the Deliveries manual in the Storage app. Doing this will show you what the icon on each box represents and where each box needs to be placed.

 

After placing all five boxes on the corresponding spots, Emy will be rewarded with a coin. She will then need to use this coin on the slot behind her to receive a new word that Johann will have to input in the Messages app to get the set of instructions. The coin that Emy receives is used for the in-game Hints system. Once Emy deposits the coin, she’ll need to tell Johann that he can use a hint. This is mandatory for the first room, and you can decide if you’ll use hints or not for the rest of the rooms on the train.

Johann will receive a text with the code to open the briefcase, which contains the key needed for Emy to exit the room… and it’s then that Emy and Johann’s journey will truly begin. Once you’re in the lounge, a few prompts will pop in Johann’s phone so that he can download new apps for the phone’s home screen. These include a Voice Recorder app, a Photo Gallery app, and the Lounge app, which downloads once you input the code provided on Emy’s screen by sliding your finger around the screen.

How 2 Escape from Break First and Just For Games is an interesting co-op experience in which you’ll need to collaborate to find the solution to each puzzle to save Emy, who finds herself on a train that is on its way toward crashing! Emy will be on the Nintendo Switch console, while her brother, Johann, will receive a cellphone in an unmarked envelope and will have to download a series of apps to help her survive. Once you reach the lounge car, the mysterious voice mentions that from now on, each car will be timed and that each car has been rigged with some surprises to hinder your progress if you’re too slow. Will Emy and Johann be able to cooperate to find all solutions before it’s too late? How 2 Escape is launching tomorrow on Nintendo Switch with a $14.99 price tag.

Disclaimer
This How 2 Escape review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by Just For Games.