Escape Goat takes a timeless staple of game design and puts its own spin on it - the iconic platformer, wherein you’ve got to cobble from one predesignated point to the other whilst evading death traps and enemies galore. The twist this time around is you’re a young purple buck trapped in a gloomy castle -- 10 worlds loom before you, each holding a key to freedom. Question is, can you collect them all to escape?

Let’s get right into the gameplay as that’s all that matters when it comes to platformers. Unlike certain sidescrollers ala SMB and DKC, Escape Goat’s levels generally stay within the confines of 1-2 screens, your goal being to unlock the lone door within. Sometimes it’s already open, however, more often than not, you’re going to have to find the adjacent key(s) to break its bolt, with said keys dutifully hidden behind dynamic and static hazards alike.

Platformers, in this day and age, tend to bank on a singular element to best distinguish them from the crowd, and while Escape Goat does have one (more on that soon), what’s interesting is how much it, instead, primarily relies on good old-fashioned puzzle platforming. All you’ve got is a double jump and dash, yet the amount of creativity the devs wrung out of this method is genuinely astounding. You’ll be setting off traps, tricking enemies, and manipulating objects amidst a myriad of other endeavors throughout your 3 plus hour runtime, and I never once found myself getting bored by any of the creations on display. Yes, a lot of the building blocks are familiar, but familiarity is never a net negative when you’ve got a macro product this inherently enjoyable.

As I stated earlier, though, there is a unique element here in the form of a rat Bucky can call forth in nearly-every stage, and while his main purpose is to set off out-of-reach switches, there are times where you’ll need him as either a proxy diversion or teleport rod depending on the available power-up. Overall, the end result is enjoyable, my only qualm being a world called Engine of Insanity -- the reason I wasn’t a fan of it was because I felt its chambers, all too often, relied on preset triggers: that is, you know those platformer levels where your sole task is to do something before an invisible timer permalocks you out? Yeah, that’s what Engine of Insanity largely consists of, and I was grateful it wasn’t representative of the product as a whole.

Graphically, Escape Goat looks off-putting at first: the jagged outlines and block-based structures hinting at low-quality freeware. Yet let this be a lesson to never castigate something off immature preconceptions as this is a dam good-looking game made by a talented developer. Escape Goat’s story may be pretty basic (as most platformers’ are), however, the art design goes a long way towards imbuing it with an ominous atmosphere. You don’t know why you’re here other than to be the prisoner of someone called the Master, and the dark tones adorning his dungeon make it clear he’s probably not the most pleasant person.

I’ve seen the word gothic thrown around, but, to me, eldritch serves as a better descriptor despite the absence of gore(+) -- corrupted wizards scour the planes, buzzsaws bounce willy-nilly, reappropriated skulls operate as valves, terrain and backgrounds appear cragly and ill-kept; heck, even the violet hues/yellow eyes of your protagonist play into this atmospheric melancholy. True, it does lean a little too heavily into NES-style pixel art, but given the breeziness of most levels, you won’t ever be fixated on those aesthetics for a prolonged period anyway.

Unfortunately, SFX is more of a letdown: there are no footsteps for standard running, sawblades are muted, throwing your mouse makes a cheesy cartoon boing, and the dash literally sounds like a giant wet sponge scraping along the floor. That said, the leap is very pleasant, item pings a delight, and the grinding of machine cubes ever-so industrial.

Where the game truly shines, though, is in the music by Ian Stalker and Chainsaw as this is one of the most, if not the, catchiest OSTs I have ever heard in a platformer. I want to say it pumps those classical macabre piano tunes we’ve come to associate with dark castles into an arcade-y format, but no, relistening to it, it’s honestly just standard synth percussion arrangements mixed into an upbeat score, and I cannot understate just how good it is. You’re going to be dying a lot, and having enjoyable chords bopping in the background goes a long way towards holding-off the tinges of anger.

On that note, is this game hard? Well, Escape Goat kind of falls halfway between a Celeste and Donkey Kong Country-style challenge: it’s more difficult than your standard indie release; however, most of those aforementioned deaths derive primarily from having to manually restart a stage rather than any fatality of your own creation. That said, like most games of the genre, Escape Goat does provide four additional challenge planes for you to try your hand at post-completion, and given that I’m not a masochist, I didn’t spend too much time on them (though the opportunity is commendable).

Overall, if you’re a fan of similar titles, Escape Goat will be worth your money: it stands as a pristine example of the sheer talentry we get, and will continue to get, out of the indie community.

NOTES
+Technically when enemies die they burst into a flurry of red bubbles.

-Your neighboring ovines detail various truths about the setting, including the sorcerers being corrupted prisoners and the presence of a mysterious force that’s prevented others from escaping, making me wonder if there was originally more planned for the story that ultimately got axed (or if the developers just liked having mythology). The font for these speech bubbles was also well-chosen, successfully embodying medieval-esque (or stereotypically-medieval-esque) calligraphy.