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Escape Goat on XBOX 360 – An Indie Game Review

Escape Goat game - mouse ally
Escape Goat on XBOX 360 – An Indie Game Review
5

Platforms: XBOX 360 Live Indie Marketplace

Game Name: Escape Goat

Developer: Magical Time Bean

Developer Summary:

Imprisoned for the crime of witchcraft, you must use your skill and intellect to overcome the Prison of Agnus. Fear not, Brave Goat, for you have a friend on this journey…

What We Think:

Escape Goat, in its puny title glory, comes to us from Magical Time Bean, the makers of Soul Caster (which has just been released for the PC.) If you burn through it, this is a puzzle platformer about 30-60 minutes long, and it quite a delight in the process.

The pretense of the plot is simply that you’re escaping from some prison, before you become content in your captivity and become a sheep (I guess?). You also have a rat for an ally whom you can toss on the ground and then will run along a surface triggering pressure plates as he goes. Because he’ll also be running on the walls and ceilings, this can, and often does, create some automatically cycling machinery which will cause the stage to lurch to and from different states.

Escape Goat screenshot 2

You Goata Have Heart

In some stages there exists a magic hat power up. Collecting this only lets you keep it for that level, and allows you to swap places with the rat anytime you wish. It works great mainly as a way to enter places you can’t reach after he’s traversed a wall, or entered an area though a small crack or opening.

Escape Goat game - mouse ally

Your main challenge will be the level itself, with its twisting floors, crushing walls, and platforms that pull away and threaten to drop rocks on your head. Occasionally, there will also be actual enemies as well. They will strut along their platform and fire at you if enter their line of sight. The most clever use for them that I encountered was getting them to light bomb barrels for you that might blow apart a wall for you to get through, or make them detonate themselves and their buddies so you can safely pass.

In any platformer, controls are incredibly important, and that was nothing to worry about here; jumping physics were easy to keep control of, and I never missed a platform I didn’t intend to miss. In addition, you are given a double-jump ability and a short dash skill that you can use to break wood boxes and provide a bit more control of your horizontal movement.

Please Sir, Can I hAz Some Moar

It left me wanting more, but an hour’s worth of game for an inexpensive indie title is more then enough game to be worth the price of admission, even without much replay value. But seeing that I WAS left wanting more, is a sign that it’s a great game. Magical Time Bean has shown its (his) skill in reviving the TD style game (with Soul Caster and its sequel), and now the classic 8-Bit style puzzle platformer. I can only wait to see what other great ideas they have.

Flawless title:
[xrr rating=”5/5″]