Escape Goat 2 Coming to PS4

I’m glad I didn’t go with my original opening paragraph for this post. It just enumerated the reasons Escape Goat 2 sets itself apart from other puzzle platformers out there. I’ve shown the game to so many people that the shtick is burned in my mind. And ultimately, it’s impossible to describe, because the fun of Escape Goat is intangible.

Danielle Riendeau from Polygon put it in the most flattering terms: “Escape Goat 2 made me feel brilliant.”

Could an indie really ask for a better pull quote?

I will mention (with only the slightest bit of ego) that this is the first ever “Double Fine Presents” game. Though the myth of how “Tim Schafer’s Escape Goat 2” came to be published by Double Fine on PC last March has reached the ends of the internet, I can take this opportunity to tell you the Real Story.

In early 2014, the goat’s final development days were spent just down the hall from Double Fine Productions, who were thinking about getting into the publishing business (just don’t call them a publisher). Team Goatimus (myself, artist Randy O’Connor, and code mage Katelyn Gadd) had every intention of self-publishing — indie style — up until we learned that TimOfLegend himself liked the game and wanted to help us out with publicity. Um, why yes we would very much be interested where do we sign?

This is where I was going to write about Escape Goat 2’s unique physics engine, because it took freaking forever to program, and I’m quite proud of it. But Greg Rice urged me not to bore you with it. (See, we’re both benefitting from the alliance I forged with Double Fine!)

The theme of Escape Goat 2 is transformation. As you manipulate hidden machinery, walls move around and blocks settle into new places. Things look different when you’re done with the room (especially if you employ your mighty horns to their best use). And you have a remarkable companion to help you on your journey…

What would a goat be without his trusty, immortal mouse familiar? Exactly. That’s why you work as a team. Send him up over walls and through tiny passages; use him to operate remote switches and even distract enemies. (If you’re not already flinging cash at your screen, let me point out that the mouse wears such garments as the Magic Hat and Cape of Vengeance.)

You might be wondering why Goat wants to escape in the first place. He’s on a rescue mission to save his beloved sheep friends! A strange force is keeping them asleep, and our hero must venture into the eight branches of the Stronghold of Toragos to wake them.

Escape Goat 2 is an unforgettable journey. Play for one minute, and you’ll probably play for two hours. (I have the statistics to back this up.) Though originally a PC game, it was designed from the start to be a couch-and-controller experience and I’m thrilled to be bringing it to PS4.