Demo sneaks out for Escape the Charon

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

First-person point-and-click sci-fi mystery coming next year to PC on Steam and Epic

The name Escape from Charon might conjure up images of fleeing the ferryman carrying deceased souls across an underworld river, but it's got a much different meaning in the upcoming sci-fi adventure from five-person, one-dog family development team Escape The Games. 

When an alien monolith covered in unfamiliar hieroglyphs is unearthed in a "desert on a dying planet at the edge of the galaxy," the finding sends ripples of excitement through the archeological team, who wonder if it might be "the work of the ancients." The artifact is taken to Andrea West and her team of specialists on the titular space station to study and "uncover the mystery of its origin," but soon after an urgent request for help from Andrea to her brother James, all communication with the Charon suddenly ends. Concerned for his sister's well-being but with no idea of what he's getting himself into, James immediately turns his Earth-bound ship around and heads to the station to investigate what when wrong. 

Rather than being a full 3D experience, Escape from Charon is a first-person node-based adventure with a smart cursor and the ability to click and drag the mouse to rotate the view 360 degrees around you. Exploration and puzzle solving are crucial to progress, but there are a variety of tools at your disposal to assist you. A neural device allows for instant access not only to the inventory items you collect in your travels, but also to a calculator, a personal notepad for recording your own thoughts, a photo gallery, and even a music player to select your own accompaniment from a variety of styles. A hint system icon will detail the broad steps needed to advance, though not necessarily how to solve particular puzzles. Three different difficulty levels are provided, as well as the option to automatically highlight hotspots by default, though even if this is switched off, you can still manually highlight them at any time. Whichever you choose, the game isn't intended to be a lengthy one but rather something that can be completed in one or two sittings, similar to the time you might spend watching a movie. 

The full version of Escape the Charon isn't due out on Steam and Epic until sometime in the second quarter of 2025, but a playable Steam demo is available to download now, introducing the first thirty minutes of gameplay and four distinct areas to explore, consisting of the "Phobos Starship Crew Quarters, Phobos Starship Bridge, Phobos-Charon Bridge, and Charon Outer Level 3A." 

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