Deal | Steam: 90% positive prison sandbox hits new all-time low under $2.50

In The Escapists, players take on the role of an inmate who initially has to make it through everyday prison life without attracting too much attention. Roll calls, meals, work, exercise and showers dictate the daily routine – but while everything appears to be running normally on the surface, an escape plan is already taking shape. This involves studying guard patrols, identifying security weaknesses and secretly obtaining the necessary tools.

There are no predetermined solutions. Instead, players experiment, improvise and constantly revise their plans. Cells can be searched, items can be bought or traded and favors can be completed for other inmates. The collected materials can eventually be crafted into tools for opening ventilation shafts, digging tunnels, cutting through fences or breaking through walls. However, anyone caught carrying contraband risks seeing their carefully prepared escape plan fall apart during the next cell search.

On Steam, The Escapists normally costs just under $24,99. Until October 1, however, the prison escape sim is available in a bundle with The Escapists: The Walking Dead for 90% off, bringing the price down to $2.49. According to SteamDB, the previous lowest price was $3.59. The current deal therefore marks a new all-time low while also throwing in the spin-off.

German gaming magazin Eurogamer awarded the game 4 out of 5 points in its review and particularly praised The Escapists for its high degree of player freedom, rewarding trial-and-error gameplay and the immense satisfaction of seeing a carefully prepared escape plan actually work. On the other hand, the publication criticized the rather slow start, poorly explained gameplay mechanics and occasionally unpredictable guard behavior. Metacritic lists a Metascore of 74 and a user score of 7.0.

The Escapists is also very well received on Steam, with 90% of more than 16,000 player reviews being positive. Things look somewhat different for The Escapists: The Walking Dead, however. Only 64% of players recommend the zombie spin-off.

Ultimately, that should be fairly easy to overlook, considering the entire bundle is cheaper than the previous all-time low for the main game alone. The Escapists is rated as “Playable” on the Steam Deck, while the spin-off is Steam Deck Verified.

Disclaimer: Notebookcheck is not responsible for price changes carried out by retailers. The discounted price or deal mentioned in this item was available at the time of writing and may be subject to time restrictions and/or limited unit availability.