The demo for Escape the Charon came out November 8th, so we took the chance to check out just what Escape the Games has in store for us. It’s a fairly short demo, covering only the first four areas that get you onto the Charon. To help with accessibility, Escape the Games has included three difficulty options and translated all text into 29 languages. They’ve also taken the motion sickness some players get with first-person gameplay into account by incorporating node-to-node movement. Hopefully, that means everyone will be able to enjoy Escape the Charon with little to no trouble.

The demo opens with a cinematic that feels like a “Last Time On-” sequence. You see Planet Earth, James receiving his sister’s call for help, and promising to come for her before the ship blasts off into space. You come into view of the Charon but run into some sort of force field that destabilizes the ship. Your goal is to get the ship righted, docked, and board the Charon so you can find out what happened to Andrea.

Puzzle Away

There’s no tutorial in Escape the Charon‘s demo when you get into the gameplay, though this would be a perfect place for one. You are set in the starship’s crew quarters with your mouse and a few icons you can click on your screen. The first time I played through the demo, there weren’t any indicators for what you needed to click on except a change to the mouse indicator when you hovered over something, but I believe there was an update mid-day to add intractable indicators. That certainly added a bit of much-needed direction!

The puzzles aren’t too terribly complicated, and despite how complex the bridge looks there’s not too much to interact with, so there’s not a lot of opportunities to get lost. The items you pick up can be examined for clues or codes or used on the environment. I didn’t find much different between the three levels of difficulty, other than the high setting adding a timer to some puzzles and the low setting removing a layer of complexity from the last one in the demo. Be careful where you click, though, as there are a couple of puzzles where the wrong move means death and an instant game over. The devs aren’t shy about punishing players for miscalculation, even on easy mode.

Atmosphere is Everything

The graphics remind me of a sci-fi Nancy Drew sort of setting. The actual gameplay sections are really smooth and well developed, and immersive as a spaceship. I especially liked the computer screen you can access through your neural link, and the detail put into it. There are some personal touches and customization options that make it feel like a real personal computer you’re interacting with.

As for the cinematics, the animations are a little clunky and could use some finessing, but they’re not bad. It just feels like playing an older game from the early 2000’s. Graphically, the only thing that seems out of place are the character models. Just based on the art style they feel acquired rather than self-made assets.

There’s no real soundtrack, but Escape the Charon‘s soundscape is really good. The audio cues when you interact with certain things are right on the money. Not to mention, the section where you’re traveling from ship to station really brings home the claustrophobia. I do wish we had more voice over, though, from either James or your robot companion. It would serve to further immerse players in Escape the Charon‘s story, as well as give direction and motivation. And if it was the robot who was voiced, it would give us a reason for having him along.

A Mystery Afoot

Overall, I’m seeing some very good potential with this game. While a couple of aspects could use a bit of polish, the core of it is strong. Plus, I do love a good mystery. There’s a good deal of contradiction in what Andrea is telling James. That ghostly visage of her toward the end of the demo is especially ominous. Escape the Charon‘s got me hooked, wanting to know more, and that’s exactly what you want from a demo like this.

Check out demo for Escape the Charon on Steam. Release date is set for Q2 2025.