Unlike his first title, Spud's Quest, Davis signed a publishing deal with Team17 to better market the game.

Davis raised £7,131 for the game through Kickstarter in November 2013, this allowed him to commit full-time to game development for the first time in his career. The Escapists is the second game by Chris Davis' one man studio. There are many types of weapons such as a guard's baton or plastic fork. The prisoner will generally need various weapons to win a fight with inmates or guards. Each prison has layers of security ranging from electric fences to chip resistant high walls. There are a number of escape methods including inciting riots, via vents, tunnels, roofs, among others. Inmates must be careful to hide all contraband as guards will periodically search the inmates' desks, and if caught with contraband, it is removed from their inventory and the player is sent into solitary confinement and any damage such as chipped walls, broken vents and tunnels are repaired and the weapon is removed.

An inmate can skip a meal, showers and exercise without much penalty, however, all roll calls are mandatory and lockdowns will occur if the player character does not attend. Each prison has their own daily routines, such as meals, work, exercise and showers. Inmate favours can range from getting them a roll of duct tape to distracting the guards at roll call.Įngaging in exercise and using the library allows players to levels up their characters statics such as strength, speed, and intelligence which improves their abilities and their chance of escape. Players can do favours for fellow inmates, once the favour is completed the player is rewarded $25.

Players can acquire various items to aid in their escape by buying or stealing them from other inmates, or by crafting them by combining two or three items, such as toothpaste and talcum powder which crafts putty that a key can be imprinted then moulded with. Once the names are selected the game starts from day 1 waking up in the player character's cell. In the beginning, the player selects their name and can choose the names of prisoners and guards if desired. There are additional prisons released as downloadable content (DLC) which can be played in any order regardless of the player's progress. Each time a prison is escaped the next prison is unlocked. In The Escapists, the player, who assumes the role of a prisoner, must escape from six primary prisons ranging from very easy to very hard.

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