The Artful Escape

The Artful Escape is an original action adventure game. This is the debut production of the Australian band Beethoven and Dinosaur.

Plot

The game tells the story of a young musician named Francis Vendetti. At the beginning of the action he is preparing for his first performance in front of the audience. The problem is that his uncle was a true legend of folk music, and everyone hopes Francis will follow in his footsteps - although few believe he will match him. Expectations for the artist's nephew's debut are huge. The boy himself, however, dreams of playing rock....

The game tells the story of Francis' attempts to find a unique artistic identity, both in terms of the music he plays and his stage personality. This is exponentially helped by the fact that he is almost abducted aboard a space ship acting as a mobile music festival. As support for the charismatic Lightman, Francis goes on an interdimensional trip, during which he will visit psychedelic lands inspired by classic music videos, especially those of David Bowie's legacy.

Game mechanics

In terms of mechanics, The Artful Escape features both a platform and adventure game elements. From the latter genre a system of conversation were taken. At the same time, we can only move in two dimensions, and every now and then players face a variety of arcade challenges, involving jumping over platforms - but it all has a joyful, relaxed feel. We are not punished for failures, and if we slip up, we are simply moved a notch earlier. Beating the next board is all about doing it in the best possible style.

Added to all this are elements of a musical game. From time to time we come to a "duel with the boss", which here takes the form of a music jam. To make the right impression on the opponent, we have to press the button sequences displayed on the screen in a certain order.

Technical aspects

The project is based on the Unreal Engine 4 engine and offers unusual graphics inspired by music videos from the 70s and 80s. Equally interesting is the music layer with many catchy songs - which is due to the fact that the main designer of the game was Johnny Galvatron, who previously was the leader of The Galvatrons rock band. Lena Headey and Mark Strong, among others, voiced the characters.

Last updated on 19 January 2022