Anyone who grew up with video rental stores remembers the horror games friends rented together, passing the controller around one level at a time. Escape From Playtime has that spirit, only online: the new game in the Poppy Playtime universe arrived in Steam Early Access on Wednesday, October 21, for up to eight players.
The factory through the Smiling Critters’ eyes
Made by Mob Entertainment, the series’ creator, the game is a canonical co-op horror extraction spin-off. It takes place after the Hour of Joy and before the events of Poppy Playtime: Chapter 1, a period of the Playtime Co. factory the series had not shown yet.
This time you play as one of the Smiling Critters, the cute-yet-disturbing toy line introduced in Chapter 3. A mysterious Voice sends the group into the factory to collect parts and resources for a sanctuary promised to toys that prove their loyalty. The way is full of rejected Playtime Co. creations stalking the halls.
How it works
Each run takes the team into a procedurally generated area whose layout changes. You can solve puzzles, find tools, use hiding spots and alternate routes, and proximity voice chat forces you to keep your voice down: one whisper at the wrong moment can end the mission. The Critters can also crawl and climb through the factory’s nooks, a much smaller view of the series’ famous places.
Early Access starts with all eight Smiling Critters, four of them unlocked through progression, and the Founders’ Pack, with alternate looks for all of them, is free for the first 30 days. Mob Entertainment plans new areas, enemies, items and features through 2027.
The game costs $9.99, with a limited-time 10% launch discount, and owners of the free Poppy Playtime: Chapter 1 get an extra 10% off.
Where to buy
Source: Mob Entertainment.
SavePoint Team