Another Big Sequel Launches in Zelda and GTA 6’s November That You Can’t Miss

As excited as Coin Crew was about the idea of that format, it wasn’t entirely sure if players would be down for an escape room game that also features a lot of open-ended exploration. But then Blue Prince came along, last year’s breakout puzzle hit in which players navigate an ever-shifting manor.

“We were pretty early in development when Blue Prince came out,” Surovsky added. “Something that it did validate was we had this big hanging question of, we wanna build this whole big campus. Can we count on players gaining a level of familiarity with this environment that has puzzles integrated into it where things aren’t going to go over their head? And then Blue Prince comes out, which is like, pay attention to every room, memorize all the rooms, learn this environment super well. Blue Prince has now primed players to be prepared to enter a campus where every corner has puzzle information in it and be totally locked in and ready to go.”

Image: Coin Crew Games/iam8bit Presents

While the team was too far into development to be properly influenced by Blue Prince by the time it came out, its mainstream success was encouraging. It was proof that there was a big audience for puzzle games out there, even if the genre had become a bit of a niche in video games. The team drew inspiration from other peers, like Animal Well, a critically-acclaimed Metroidvania filled with deep puzzle layers, identifying a rising interest in the genre that stood to lift all boats.

“Puzzle games are having just such an amazing run,” Salyh said. “A lot of the games that are similar to what we’re doing are doing really well. It’s awesome because puzzle gaming is not a zero-sum game. The more puzzle games there are, I think the more people start playing puzzle games and recommending other puzzle games.”

While an increased interest in puzzle games was a welcome trend for a studio committed to that genre, more fortuitous was that Escape Academy 2 was landing right in the center of a multiplayer renaissance. Games like Peak (which the developers at Coin Crew play frequently) kicked off the so-called “friendslop” era, proving that modern players have an appetite for co-op experiences. Coin Crew banked on that idea long before the trend actually began with Escape Academy, so Surovsky has thought a lot about what draws players to games like Big Walk.

“Co-op really gives this great opportunity to play with your friends, to see your friends in a new light,” Surovsky said. “This pro-social gaming is really being embraced right now. I feel like trend-wise, we saw it kind of starting with horror, with things like Lethal Company. And now it’s moving into puzzles with things like Big Walk. Something that puzzles really lends itself well to in the co-op space is it allows you to show your friends how cool and smart you are. It allows for fun moments of, ‘I got it. Do you got it?’”

Escape Academy 2 plays into that feeling. For the sequel, the team focused on creating a diversity of puzzles that would give players an opportunity to use a skillset that their co-op partner might not possess. Surovsky recalled a moment during development where it playtested a chemistry-themed puzzle. It turned out that playtest session happened to have two chemists in it, who were excited to have a chance to flex their very specific muscles. Those are the kinds of experiences that Coin Crew wants to create in its sequel. And those moments are less about letting players show off, and more about giving friends a fun way to interact and communicate, something Big Walk does so expertly.

“We’re not really just making a game; we’re really making a hangout for people,” Salyh said. “Because when you go to Dave & Buster’s, you’re going to play games, but what you’re really doing is hanging out with your friends. So whenever we’re designing a game, we always think: What are we facilitating here? Are we trying to make them extra competitive? Are we trying to make them laugh and shove each other? We really spent a lot of time thinking about the body language of our players. When I see these co-op games that are really flourishing now, I feel like that design philosophy is a similar thing people are thinking about.”

Image: Coin Crew Games/iam8bit Presents

Escape Academy 2 isn’t a friendslop game by any stretch, of course. It’s a finely crafted collection of escape rooms linked together by a narrative thread. It’s much bigger than its bite-sized predecessor, addressing a common piece of feedback Coin Crew heard from players. Still, Surovsky sees where Escape Academy 2 philosophically fits into that trend.

“What we’re holding to a higher level now in games is shifting,” Surovsky said. “It was graphical fidelity, and now graphics are incredible. You can get games with just jaw-droppingly beautiful graphics. Now we’re seeing this sort of friendslop co-op thing arise. The graphics are much simpler, but it’s facilitating this gameplay that’s a lot more reliant on friends and social dynamics. I think people are starting to go, we’ve had this beautiful feast of graphics. My eyes have been filled. Now let me fill my heart.”

Of course, players who do care about big-budget spectacle will have their hands full come Nov. 19. GTA 6 is likely to be an all-encompassing cultural phenomenon that leans heavily on jaw-dropping visuals and open-world scale. Coin Crew isn’t trying to compete with that. It knows its lane and feels that Escape Academy 2 serves a very different audience that has repeatedly shown up for smaller-scale co-op experiences. There’s plenty of room in November for different flavors of games, even if most publishers are running scared. If anything, Coin Crew sees a launch in GTA 6’s orbit as an opportunity more than a hindrance.

“It’s kind of the Blue Prince conversation through a different lens,” Surovsky said. “It’s exciting to be releasing at a time where people are going to be building up their appetite for open-world exploration. Great! Come explore our world! Here’s your warmup!”

Escape Academy 2: Back 2 School launches this November for Windows PC and Xbox Series X.