It’s incredible how certain franchises are suddenly a sensation. The original Poppy Playtime was ‘another’ horror game, but something about cuddly toys looking as scary as possible immediately became endearing and popular. Very popular. Here we are five years on from the original game, and the series has five full titles, a movie on the way, endless merchandise, and now Escape From Playtime.
The lore continues as you and up to three friends run amok in an abandoned toy factory. Escape From Playtime is a trendy game, in the nicest way possible, mostly replicating a successful formula in the indie game scene these past few years, but that doesn’t stop it from being any less fun, nor another hit with Poppy Playtime fans.
Team Up As Toys
Insider Gaming was invited to a special hands-on preview for Escape From Playtime, and I teamed up with one of the devs and two other journalists. We were a formidable team that made the game look like child’s play. That is a complete lie, of course, as we racked up several deaths between us, but we did work well as a team.
The enforced proximity chat ramped up the tension. Get too far away from your teammates, and the feeling of isolation and vulnerability soon kicks in. If you’re familiar with REPO, Lethal Company, or any resource-gathering horror game of this nature, you know the drill. As ‘Smiling Critters,’ you have a quota to meet. Head into the factory, hunt down valuables to put into the trolley, submit them, and bring your required total down.
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Again, it’s not a new gameplay loop by any means, but I enjoyed the nuances in Escape From Playtime. Items you find also double as consumables: Glow Sticks aren’t very valuable and might be better served used to light your way, rather than be a meager contribution to your quota. Many items are like this, and as you advance through the game’s procedurally generated levels, these decisions become even more crucial and consuming.
Critters can climb pretty much every surface or wall. I got to grips with the mechanics quite quickly, and you have to, as valuable loot is hidden out of the way, and this is also a quick-fire escape from the game’s various enemies and patrolling threats. Bugs will attack you and get stuck to you, and you need an item to swat them off. Whereas one particularly ominous and (at times) statue-esque threat will hunt you like Predator. Keep your eyes on her—literally.
Push For More
Compared to other co-op horror games, I feel there’s a nice amount of variety in Escape From Playtime. It lacks the humor of other games, but doubles down on the horror and longevity. Achieving your quota means it increases on each new run. Fail, and you are hit with a penalty.
Achieve too many penalties, and it’s game over…sort of. I won’t spoil what happens when your journey inevitably comes to an end, but I’ll say it’s almost as entertaining as the core game, and could be its own spin-off!
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When you’re not scavenging, Escape From Playtime might throw new obstacles in your way. Puzzles will rear their head, where you need to find electrical sources to open doors or seek out switches in deadly, gas-filled rooms. It breaks up the traditional gameplay nicely, and so do the game’s various level modifiers.
My team and I kept achieving our quota, and subsequent forays into the factory introduced us to new twists. Specific puzzle levels and item value increases and decreases were just a couple we experienced before our session ended.
Did I enjoy myself with Escape From Playtime? Absolutely. It’s not the revolutionary push forward the genre probably needs at this point, but it mixes a lot of what works into its pot, whilst sprinkling in some features that make Escape From Playtime the perfect playground for franchise fans, but is also accessible enough for anyone looking for a new four-player, fear-inducing fix.
Could this be the start of something new for the overarching Poppy Playtime franchise? Let us know on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
For more relevant news, read ‘Where To Find All Three Of Lily Lovebraids’ Friends In Poppy Playtime Chapter 5,’ and don’t forget to sign up for our weekly newsletter.
Andy is Insider Gaming's Senior Evergreen Editor and has been in the games journalism sphere in one way or another for over 7 years. His video game taste is as…
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