The Lab - Escape Room
Genres: Puzzle, Escape Room, Sci-Fi, Point & Click, Adventure
Play modes: singleplayer
Release Date: 13-10-2023
Developer: Flat Cat Games
Our verdict
6.5/10
- Difficulty: Hard
- Players: 1
- Playtime: 3–4 h
The Lab - Escape Room is a first-person, point-and-click escape game set in an abandoned futuristic research complex. You wake up with no memory of how you arrived, then move through themed rooms full of sci-fi equipment, solving dozens of puzzles and finding hints of strange creatures. It suits solo players who want a chain of rooms rather than a single box.
Steam reviews are positive overall, with 25 of 29 recommending it. The two written reviews in our sample are both thumbs-down, though. One praises imaginative spaces and some clever ideas, but finds many puzzles needlessly obscure, with no gradual learning and a hint system too cryptic to help. The other calls the puzzles fine and says the story barely exists.
Expect roughly three to four hours. Given the small review base and the specific complaints, this is better bought on sale. It is a fit for experienced escape-room fans who enjoy cracking obscure puzzles without help; newcomers and story seekers may find it frustrating.
Pros
- Large sci-fi complex with several distinct themed rooms
- Some puzzle ideas are clever and inventive
Cons
- Several puzzles feel needlessly obscure, with no build-up
- Hint system is too cryptic to get you unstuck
- Story is thin despite the mystery setup
About
Walk through a futuristic complex while solving puzzles and discover how you got there. What are this misterious creatures? Why everything looks abandoned? Could you escape from The Lab?
The Lab is an escape room when you have to make your way through intelligence and lateral thinking. You will solve a huge amount of puzzles while you discover an interesting story and move around a facility full of sci-fi equipment. Search for clues, find objects and secrets and keep a cool head, because only then you will be able to get out alive from The Lab.
