When comparing Don't Knock Twice vs The Escapists 2, the Slant community recommends The Escapists 2 for most people. In the question“What are the best indie games for the Nintendo Switch?” The Escapists 2 is ranked 19th while Don't Knock Twice is ranked 27th. The most important reason people chose The Escapists 2 is:
There is no right or wrong way to do anything, and it's entirely a risk vs reward scenario for anything you want to try. You are only limited by your creativity in escaping, as each prison has almost endless possibilities and encourages the player to make the best use of their inventory and be creative in handling every situation. Bed sheets can be used to cover cell windows from the prying eyes of guards, desks can be moved to reach out of reach vents, crafted tools can be used for various purposes such as breaking through walls or doors, and shovels can be used to dig holes. You can try to sneak around guards, or opt to hide in vents until they're out of sight. If you're feeling especially brave, you can even attempt to fight the guards and take their keys allowing easier access around the prison.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Creepy experience thanks to the setting
Exploring the mansion itself is a tense and creepy experience. Everything is unfamiliar, and there's a generous amount of disturbing moments like a bathtub filled with a sticky black substance or watching a shadowy figure get sucked out of a window. Rooms and hallways are incredibly dark, with a lot of ominous corners and shadowy spaces. Occasional scratches and tapping noises can be heard in far off rooms, making it seem like you are not entirely alone. Pictures fall off the walls and windows suddenly explode into showers of glass. There are plenty of carefully placed jump scares that create tension in all the right moments. There is no doubt you are playing a horror game, and the setting enables a very disturbing experience overall.
Pro Constant sense of tension due to creative use of a phone
As you wander around the mansion as Jess, you will occasionally get a text message from your daughter Chloe. It's quite a decent jump scare when you're exploring a dark, silent room, only to have the silence broken by your phone buzzing and vibrating with a loud text. The little burst of fear and subsequent jump you get each time the phone rings in the darkness is a great way to add an extra layer of tension to the game. The messages themselves are rather cryptic and creepy with Chloe often telling us she wishes we were dead. You're never quite sure when or where the phone is going to go off, making it unpredictable and tense for the duration of the game.
Pro Encourages experimentation and creativity
There is no right or wrong way to do anything, and it's entirely a risk vs reward scenario for anything you want to try. You are only limited by your creativity in escaping, as each prison has almost endless possibilities and encourages the player to make the best use of their inventory and be creative in handling every situation.
Bed sheets can be used to cover cell windows from the prying eyes of guards, desks can be moved to reach out of reach vents, crafted tools can be used for various purposes such as breaking through walls or doors, and shovels can be used to dig holes. You can try to sneak around guards, or opt to hide in vents until they're out of sight. If you're feeling especially brave, you can even attempt to fight the guards and take their keys allowing easier access around the prison.
Pro Good balance of game systems make for a rewarding simulation
Taking action in the game uses up your stamina, so you'll still have to make time for things like eating and sleeping if you want to have energy for things like digging through walls, fighting other inmates, or cutting through vents and gates.
Items such as shovels and cutters have limited durability, so they can't be used endlessly. Raw materials can be found around the prison to craft items, or you can buy items from fences using money earned by running fetch quests for other inmates. No matter how you acquire them, crafting materials and finished goods are limited so you'll have to use your items wisely.
Time is an important factor that has to be managed too, with certain activities having to be done at certain times. This limits the amount of time you have to roam the prison, since you have to show up for meal times and roll calls. Free time can be used to craft, roam the prison to determine the guard patterns, or finally put your ultimate escape plan into action.
Juggling each and every one of the various aspects of the game results in a very deep and rewarding simulation experience.
Pro Solid progression of difficulty
The difficulty increases as you progress, with each prison becoming just a little more intricate and more challenging to escape from than the previous. The prisons themselves get more complex with more obstacles to overcome such as tougher guards which results in more ways things can go wrong. The progress feels good and natural, as you're always building on what you learned in previous prisons to escape from the newest one.
Pro Great pixel art style for retro fans
If you enjoy a more retro style, then this game is pure eye candy. Simple but charming, the pixel art is colorful, with the sprites having a nice variety in animations when they're shoveling, searching, running around, fighting, or partaking in any kind of activity that would require movement. The tile sets for the game world are nicely detailed, colored and shaded. You won't get tired of looking at the same tiles over and over due to the sheer amount and variety of the art assets created for the game.
Pro Lots of replayability
No two games will play out alike. Each prison is an open sandbox, so it's definitely not a linear experience with a defined escape blueprint. Prisons can be replayed over and over to beat your previous time, measured in how many in-game days it took you to escape, which leaves plenty of room for trying new things on each successive playthrough.
Pro Co-Op multiplayer mode adds a new depth to gameplay
Working together creates a whole new experience with loads of possibilities. In co-op mode, you play with up to 3 teammates either online or locally as you work towards escaping the prison together. This adds a whole new dynamic to gameplay as working together creates experiences that just aren't possible when playing solo. Someone could distract the guards, while another searches rooms for crafting materials. One player could run around collecting items, while another scopes out the guard's patrol patterns. Some can complete quests to collect money while others are working on digging tunnels.
Pro A couple of alternative prisons add a change of scenery
Tired of bricks, cold floors, and cement cells? For those who want a change of scenery, there is a prison set in the wild west, and even a futuristic space prison. This adds a little bit of variety to the look of the game while keeping the same gameplay mechanics. It's a nice touch and gives your eyes a break from staring at the same tilesets over and over.
Cons
Con Extremely linear gameplay
The game mainly consists of going from room to room, dealing with the frights and puzzles within, and then moving onto the next room. Puzzles are basic, with the solution usually being found within the same general area. The whole game feels like it's on rails, with rooms often sealing off once you've moved to the next one. While the setting and atmosphere is highly creepy, the gameplay itself is almost like a walking simulator with added jump scares.
Con Managing the axe is tedious
In your hand, you carry an important axe that is used to chop through locked doors and other barriers. In order to use or interact with items, sometimes you have to put down your axe. There is no inventory system, so if you put your axe down to do something else, you will have to remember to pick it up again. If you forgot you where you left it, you are left scrambling around to look for it. This is a very poorly designed system that can result in loads of frustration, tedious and unnecessary button presses, and tons of wasted time.
It's also important to note that since it's very possible to forget where you left your axe, and some rooms seal off after you've explored them, it's entirely possible to hit a dead end runthrough and be forced to restart.
Con Very short
The whole game can be completed in an hour, which is a far cry from the developers' claim of a "full length experience".
Con Generic story probably won't hold your interest
It's just another copy and paste paranormal story that doesn't really add anything new or exciting. You play as a mother named Jess, as she is attempting to reconnect with her estranged daughter Chloe. However, Chloe is on the run from some strange paranormal forces who are trying to harm her. In order to help her, you must search a mansion for pieces of a relic that can summon an evil witch. It's about as nonsensical as it sounds. Don't Knock Twice is based on the movie of the same name which was not well received.
Con Getting caught by guards can be overly punishing
It's frustrating when you spend several hours grinding quests for other inmates, collecting items, crafting, and carefully planning your escape, only to get caught by guards and lose all your items or killed. This effectively means you have to start over, wasting hours of your own time and days of in-game time.
Con Can feel grindy at times
Running around doing fetch quests for other inmates, or searching for crafting materials for hours on end can get stale after a while.
Con Tutorial doesn't cover much
The tutorial will only walk you through the barest of basics, resulting in the player having to learn the game's various mechanics on their own.