100 Doors Game – Escape from School is a free-to-play puzzle game that was originally released on the App Store. This game has had ports placed onto digital platforms such as Steam. As you can guess from the title, the premise of this game is to escape from school.
Although this game appears suitable for children, it really isn’t as child-friendly as it seems. The game’s escape room puzzles become increasingly complex and harsh. Players must thoroughly search each room and use both literal and lateral thinking. Many puzzles require knowledge of school subjects, such as foreign languages and chemistry. The game gets harder as you progress. You can find solutions online, but using them removes any challenge from playing the game.
The game offers multiple puzzles and game styles to escape the rooms. The first style of puzzles is simple logic/building puzzles, such as building a guitar. The second style of puzzles involves lateral thinking, such as figuring out how to open a door. I particularly liked a puzzle that involved figuring out the code to open a door. In the puzzle, the room gives you hints using letters of the English alphabet and numbers you then have to figure out the word and the correct code.
Lastly, some puzzles involve knowledge of school subjects. Take one puzzle as an example, which requires you to open a safe in a history classroom. The safe is opened by entering the revolutions in chronological order. Even though there is a hint on the board, it doesn’t help if you don’t know what the order is. This makes the puzzle a trial-and-error puzzle unless you search for the answer online.
At times, I found that some puzzles make no sense. One illogical puzzle is one of the library levels. If you use a hint on this level, the game will instruct you to “Click and shake the mouse 3 times to shake the tree.” This makes no sense for 2 reasons. Firstly, there is no tree in the library levels. Secondly, how is it possible to shake a tree that doesn’t exist to make the library start raining books from the sky? I’m guessing the developers made puzzles awkward to sell hints. I think having puzzles that make no sense in the game detracts from what the game is about.
Yet the developers don’t want people looking up the solution online. This is also mentioned in the Steam description. “Note for YouTubers: Gameplay and walkthrough videos make this game less challenging for our players. Please, refrain from sharing such recordings publicly.” I think requesting YouTubers in the description not to show gameplay is unusual. Especially considering that having footage of a YouTuber reviewing the game is free advertisement.
Outside of puzzles, there are also times when mini-games are used in-game. Many of the games are simple, such as paint-by-numbers, but others are tougher, such as noughts and crosses. I liked the inclusion of mini-games as an alternative to a puzzle in some rooms.
This is a game that is a port of an app store game. Technically, on paper, this may not seem to be a problem. However, this game is a near-exact port of the app store version. Consequently, there are plenty of issues with the game, particularly how the port is developed for computers.
My main issue(s) with the game involve a lack of consideration in the game design. This is evident in some of the puzzles as they require you to shake your mouse. One example is a puzzle where you have to shake your mouse to mimic shaking a phone. This game doesn’t utilise the functions of a computer keyboard. I discovered this game lacks keyboard support after finding the number to a door that I was unable to type in. The port of the game should have more consideration for the computer. Whilst controlling the game with a mouse is workable in-game. Ideally, the game should have utilised the keyboard and mouse.
Additionally, the game’s banners and flyers have not been updated. The developers have only put a quick image on it, with a poorly placed image pasted over the original banner. Sometimes they will have a few different products on the banner that rotate. But the banner will be blank for a minute before changing the product advertisement (as seen above). I’m guessing that the app store version had a rotation of adverts for various products that they had put over the banner.
I also find the story to be very strange. The main premise of the story is that you are in a school and trying to escape from various rooms. The general premise for the game isn’t my issue with the story. My issue is that it is a bit odd for the game to have you locked in the same classroom multiple times. I thought it was strange, as the goal was to escape school only to re-enter it.
Also, in some rooms, the doors have windows. Occasionally, you will see another person who is walking in the corridors. I found it frustrating that there isn’t a way for you to get the person to help you. Not being able to try to get their attention for help is a missed opportunity for a game mechanic.
Inevitably, I recommend avoiding the 100 Doors Game – Escape from School. The only exception to playing this game is on a rainy day if you have no other puzzle games to play. I feel that the port of this game and some of the phone-based puzzles make it difficult to advocate for anyone playing on it.
Resources For This Game
If you still want to play this game yourself, you can find it here.
Steam Community Page For 100 Doors Game – Escape from School
If you still want to play this game yourself, you can find it here.
Steam Community Page For 100 Doors Game – Escape from School
