Escape Academy 2: Back 2 School Review: Great Puzzles, Clumsy Campus

What it is

Escape Academy 2: Back 2 School is Coin Crew Games' sequel to the 2022 escape-room hit, published by iam8bit Presents. It launched on 5 November 2026 for PC (Steam and Epic Games Store), PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, it is on Game Pass from day one, and it costs $19.99. The big change is structural: the rooms no longer hang off a menu. The whole school is now an open campus that you walk across between puzzles.

One thing up front, because you deserve to know how a score is made: this verdict leans on the first wave of reviews and player impressions, not on a complete playthrough of my own.

How it plays

The main quests are proper set-piece escape rooms, some of them stretching across several spaces. Solving them earns puzzle pieces, and those unlock further sections of the campus. Side quests pay out Escape Bucks, which buy helpers such as ziplines. Rooms run on a timer and your grade depends mostly on how fast you are. Hints are there when you get stuck, and an optional No-Timer Mode removes the clock entirely. All of it works solo or in two-player co-op, online or in split-screen.

The highs

- The puzzles. This is the part nearly everyone agrees on: varied, built on observation rather than trivia, with a healthy mix of easy and hard. The OpenCritic top critic average sat at 84 as I wrote this. - Couch co-op for twenty dollars. Split-screen is rare in 2026, and this is exactly the genre that needs it. Two heads, one sofa, one argument about which symbol goes where. - No-Timer Mode. A small option that decides whether a relaxed partner plays with you or walks away. - Volume. AltChar puts a run at about 20 hours, which is a lot of game for the price. The soundtrack is by Doseone.

The lows

- A campus without a map. You navigate by signposts. The ziplines that act as fast travel were described as cumbersome by Insider Gaming, and because areas are gated behind puzzle pieces, the open world is less open than it sounds. - Console performance at launch. PS5 reviewers reported frame rate drops outdoors, freezes lasting several seconds and outright crashes. Insider Gaming landed on 6/10 largely for that reason, and its reviewer was told fixes were being worked on. I have not seen confirmation that they have landed, so check before you buy on console. - Puzzle fatigue. The game rarely lets you breathe between brainteasers. Play it in sessions of a room or two, not in one marathon.

Who it's for

Couples and friends who liked the first game, and anyone who wants a co-op evening that is not a shooter. If you are unsure, the free Steam demo covers the entire first chapter, and Game Pass subscribers risk nothing. Solo players get the same rooms but lose the best part, which is the talking.

Verdict

The open campus is an idea that adds walking more than it adds wonder, and the console launch needed more time. But the rooms themselves are excellent, the price is fair, and split-screen co-op with a no-timer option is the kind of generosity I want to reward. On PC, buy it. On console, try Game Pass or wait for patch news.

Score: 8/10

Image: Hudson Bloom / CC BY-SA 4.0, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Escape_Room_-_%22The_Expedition%22_(Escape_Quest_Bethesda).jpg