The Great Escape
Ocean Software · 2018 · Action, Adventure, Strategy, Simulation
PC
Mostly Positive75% · 12 📉 Recent reviews down 45%54Metacritic
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Screenshots
About The Great Escape
The Year: 1942
The Place: Heldentod P.O.W. Camp
The Mission: Escape.
Captured, but not defeated, you are being held in the notorious Heldentod camp. This small, converted castle in the middle of nowhere will be your home for the rest of the war—unless you can escape to rejoin the Allied Armies. Planning, patience, skill, and courage will be necessary as you gather your resources, make your plans, and finally, make your great escape.
Features:
•Dynamic Scrolling 3D Isometric Graphics
•Multiple escape paths with multiple solutions
•Guards, the Commandant, and fellow prisoners to hinder and help your plans
•Action, danger, excitement, logic and cunning combined in a unforgettable experience
The Great Escape is an isometric action-adventure game. Controlling a prisoner of war in a German camp, your goal is to break out undetected. There are numerous ways to freedom – back doors, cracked fences, even underground tunnels. However, you have to plan your escape while obeying the strict rules of the camp.
Rule number one: follow the daily program. You have to attend two roll calls a day, one meal, one exercise, and stay in bed at night. Failure to appear at any of these events will result in the alarm being rung. When you do not touch the controls, your protagonist will move automatically, going to all important events. You have to detect and use gaps in the time-table to explore the camp.
Rule number two: guard rooms are off limits. If a soldier catches you in a room that is forbidden, you will be placed in solitary confinement. Of course, you have to enter restricted parts of the camp to find items crucial for your escape. The morale flag will turn from green to red to indicate that you are in an area where you shouldn’t be.
Rule number three: no prisoner may carry forbidden objects. When you are caught in a suspicious situation, you will be stripped of all items that you found so far. To avoid that, you have to deposit objects in a safe place. You need to find keys to open locked doors, uniforms for camouflage, flashlights to see in dark tunnels, and many more.
Rule number four: guard commands are to be obeyed at all times. The German soldiers patrol on fixed routes and have a line of sight. You have to learn the guard’s routes and sneak past their backs to avoid detection when breaking out. If you are caught, your morale will decrease. If your morale reaches zero, your will to escape is broken.
The Place: Heldentod P.O.W. Camp
The Mission: Escape.
Captured, but not defeated, you are being held in the notorious Heldentod camp. This small, converted castle in the middle of nowhere will be your home for the rest of the war—unless you can escape to rejoin the Allied Armies. Planning, patience, skill, and courage will be necessary as you gather your resources, make your plans, and finally, make your great escape.
Features:
•Dynamic Scrolling 3D Isometric Graphics
•Multiple escape paths with multiple solutions
•Guards, the Commandant, and fellow prisoners to hinder and help your plans
•Action, danger, excitement, logic and cunning combined in a unforgettable experience
The Great Escape is an isometric action-adventure game. Controlling a prisoner of war in a German camp, your goal is to break out undetected. There are numerous ways to freedom – back doors, cracked fences, even underground tunnels. However, you have to plan your escape while obeying the strict rules of the camp.
Rule number one: follow the daily program. You have to attend two roll calls a day, one meal, one exercise, and stay in bed at night. Failure to appear at any of these events will result in the alarm being rung. When you do not touch the controls, your protagonist will move automatically, going to all important events. You have to detect and use gaps in the time-table to explore the camp.
Rule number two: guard rooms are off limits. If a soldier catches you in a room that is forbidden, you will be placed in solitary confinement. Of course, you have to enter restricted parts of the camp to find items crucial for your escape. The morale flag will turn from green to red to indicate that you are in an area where you shouldn’t be.
Rule number three: no prisoner may carry forbidden objects. When you are caught in a suspicious situation, you will be stripped of all items that you found so far. To avoid that, you have to deposit objects in a safe place. You need to find keys to open locked doors, uniforms for camouflage, flashlights to see in dark tunnels, and many more.
Rule number four: guard commands are to be obeyed at all times. The German soldiers patrol on fixed routes and have a line of sight. You have to learn the guard’s routes and sneak past their backs to avoid detection when breaking out. If you are caught, your morale will decrease. If your morale reaches zero, your will to escape is broken.
What Steam players say
Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.
This game is way too old for my liking.10 found this helpful
I can see how during Spectrum times it would be decent enough but nowadays unless it's for nostalgia I don't see the reason to play this.5 found this helpful
Damn this brings back memeories. Love seeing old games like this come onto steam. Itjust as you remember it.1 found this helpful
The Great Escape, developed by Ocean Software and published by Ziggurat, is a fascinating example of how ambitious game design could be even during the early days of home computer gaming. Based on the famous World War II setting of Allied prisoners attempting to break free from a heavily guarded German prison camp, the game delivers a surprisingly deep blend of strategy, exploration, stealth, and survival. Rather than focusing on combat or action-heavy sequences, it challenges players to think carefully, observe routines, and gradually construct an escape plan while living under constant surveillance. What makes the game particularly memorable is the way it transforms everyday prison life into a central gameplay mechanic. Players are not free to roam wherever they want from the beginning. Instead, they must participate in scheduled activities such as roll calls, meals, exercise periods, and inspections. These routines are not simply decorative features; they create the structure around which every escape attempt must be organized. Missing an activity or behaving suspiciously can attract the attention of guards, making it essential to balance obedience with secret preparations. Thi…
https://youtu.be/7KGwt5FP2yU After forty years any game will have issues, in this case it's nearly impenetrable and lacks a manual or conveyance to provide any relief to interested players.
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