To be honest, when I saw the game "Escape from the Laboratory", my first reaction was not to play it, but I was stunned for a few seconds. Isn't this the feeling of the kind of parkour games I played with gusto on the Nokia N95 back then? At that time, the screen was small and the memory was small, but each game was made with special care, allowing people to challenge it again and again until their fingers were hot.
I'm not going to brag about it, but the graphics of today's mobile games are better, but the pure feeling of "torture and happiness" is missing. As soon as I started playing this game, I knew that it brought back the old-school parkour energy.
What attracted me most was its level design. The floating jellyfish in the aquarium and the traps that suck people in the ghost hall. Each scene has a unique mechanism, not just a simple jump. You have to use your brain at the same time while running at extremely high speeds, testing your reflexes and sense of rhythm. It can be operated with one finger, but if you really want to play it well, you can't run away using both your hands and brain. This is particularly similar to some of the classics I played on Symbian back then, such as "Doodle Jump" and "Rocket Flyer". They look simple, but real high-skills are achieved through practice.
There are also those little monsters, the tortoise shell, the rabbit, and the TV snail. Their names make you think they are funny, and their designs are just right. There are more than 40 kinds, which is quite a sense of accomplishment to collect. You know, in those days, being able to stuff so many different characters into a small game was already considered a big deal.
The developer is Beijing Youdaoyi. I have an impression of them. They have produced many casual games with good reputation. This time the charging mode is 0, which means it is free to play. The in-app purchases are probably mainly some props or skins, which will not affect the core experience.
If you are like me and are an old player who has played in the Symbian era and want to find the simple and exciting feeling back then, this game is worth trying. The pace is fast and the game is short, so it is suitable for playing two games at a time. If you have never played this type of game before, it's a good time to experience the charm of “old school parkour”.
Finally, let me digress. Nowadays, the mobile game industry is in a state of flux, with large-scale productions and open worlds appearing all the time. On the contrary, there are fewer and fewer such small and exquisite works. I hope there will be more games with this kind of sincerity. After all, what we old players miss most is not the graphics, but the pure fun of the game. 😌