Hello Escapists and VR Enthusiasts!

We heard you loud and clearyou wanted visible VR hands, and we've delivered! The VR Hands Update is now live, not only featuring those much-requested VR hands (It's not hand tracking. Other players now see your avatar move hands in multiplayer.) but also packed with over 40 fixes and improvements, all thanks to your feedback.

We've completely remade player models so you can finally see your partner grab objects, solve puzzles, and even high-five (virtually) in celebration.
But that's not all! We've also added a brand new feature for managing your inventory in VR: over-the-shoulder item stashing! Quickly stow away items you're not using for easy access later, all with a natural over-the-shoulder motion.

Here's what the VR Hands Update brings you:

• Visible and Interactive Partner Hands: Witness your co-op teammate's actions in VR for a more collaborative escape experience.
  
• Over-the-Shoulder Item Stashing: Manage your inventory seamlessly with a new, intuitive VR inventory system.
  
• Improved Player Models: We've revamped player models for a more natural and responsive VR experience for both you and your partner.
  
• General Bug Fixes and Optimizations: We've ironed out some wrinkles to ensure a smooth VR escape for everyone.
  
• Check the full changelog at the bottom of this article. It's HUUUGEEE!
  

• Player characters now feature realistic head and hand movements and are fully integrated into multiplayer settings.
  
• Introducing a novel inventory addition method: simply hover and release items over your shoulder to store them.
  
• New movement option "Smooth With Turn" allows seamless movement and turning with a single thumbstick.
  
• For a more immersive experience, we've added the "Off" movement option, which disables thumbstick navigation.
  
• You can now customize the thumbstick deadzone under VR settings (VR -> Other -> Thumbstick Deadzone).
  
• Movement settings are now individually adjustable for each hand.
  
• Celebrate your victories with a dynamic confetti effect that surrounds you upon completing a level.
  
• Witness a visual "poof" effect when players add items to their inventory in multiplayer.
  
• Enhanced Room Editor now offers improved control over VR item sparkles, with settings for "Automatic," "Enabled," and "Disabled."
  
• Tools such as fire extinguishers, wands, and revolvers have been upgraded to project effects in the direction they face.
  
• Hands remain visible and turn transparent when holding items, enhancing realism.
  
• Weve removed obstructions caused by trigger colliders to the raycast hit indicator.
  
• Simplified the toggling between snap and smooth turning in the settings menu.
  
• Added a new tutorial step to guide you through changing settings anytime via the in-game menu.
  
• Smooth transitions between game and in-game menu with newly integrated post-processing effects.
  
• Fixed several bugs including issues with the level loading spinner, teleport marker visibility, and performance hiccups in community levels due to excessive colliders.
  

• Tutorial: Resolved an issue allowing players to access items from a locked chest in VR.
  
• Emergency Awakening: Enabled the collection of flying glass pieces.
  
• Hallway Accident: Addressed a glitch where the cable part could become stuck and uncollectible.
  
• Space Walk: Corrected a problem allowing item retrieval from sealed containers in VR.
  
• Chamber of Dead:
  
• Corrected the scaling issue with the slot, preventing the ball ghost from appearing egg-shaped.
  
• Improved the accessibility of the crowbar in VR to prevent unintended easy grabbing.
  
• Gold Chamber: Enhanced the interaction with the pickaxe to avoid unintentional easy grabbing in VR.
  
• Metaverse: Fixed a VR issue where players would not correctly spawn in metaverse rooms upon loading.
  
• Versus (Beginner and Expert): Eliminated an unwanted VR vignette effect visible in the final room.
  
• Among Us (DLC): Resolved a difficulty with activating the hint box, particularly in VR.
  
• The Engine Room (Steampunk DLC): Clarified the use of the fire extinguisher in VR instructions.
  
• The Helm Room (Steampunk DLC):
  
• Resolved a glitch where VR night goggles effects incorrectly applied to the in-game menu.
  
• Improved the readability of the note gear in VR.
  
• Fixed an issue with placing an opened container in the mailing tube in VR.
  
• Magic Shop (Magic DLC):
  
• Addressed a coloring issue with hints appearing pink.
  
• Fixed the orientation issue with the eye book in VR.
  
• The Saloon (Wild West DLC): Improved the readability of the deadbeat note in VR.
  
• Chronomancy Hall (Magic DLC): Enhanced the usability of turnables and slidables in VR.
  
• Potions Garden (Magic DLC): Fixed a VR-specific bug affecting player movement when carrying ladders.
  

Hey adventurers,
we're back with another round of fixes and improvements! VR Update Hotfix #2 focuses on enhancing both the general and VR gameplay experience.

Whats New:
[h2]General Fixes:[/h2]

• No more freezing when picking up certain items.
  
• VR and flat players can now co-play in all community rooms.
  
• New default step sound for community rooms.
  

• Completed levels now save correctly.
  
• Closing zooms in VR is now a click away.
  
• Level complete UI has a new "Stay" button.
  
• Fixed level complete UI spawning issues.
  
• Community room rating now available in VR.
  
• Trigger function refined for better interaction: Trigger no longer grabs item from other hand (only grip does so), rather it is now used for interactions only.
  
• Improved press indicator for VR grip.
  
• Token and community rooms beta popups are more readable.
  

• 'Emergency Awakening': Fixed disappearing zoomable in multiplayer.
  
• 'The Greenhouse' (Steampunk DLC): Enhanced turnable interaction.
  
• 'The Jail' (Wild West DLC): Fixed the VR bug with the picture on the table.
  
• 'Divination Towers' (Magic DLC): Fixed table turnable snapping issue.(could be set in-between 2 towers)
  

First off, a massive thank you to all who've been diving into our new VR mode and an extra shoutout to the 1171 supporters who've showed love by getting the Supporter Pack. Your support means the world to us!

This week, we've been all ears and got down to squashing those pesky bugs to make your VR experience smoother. And yes, we're already on the case with some exciting updates in the pipeline like bringing your own arms to the multiplayer, an over-the-shoulder inventory, and polishing up the VR version of the amazing community-made rooms. And yes, we're working on a standalone Meta Quest version of the game!

Heres whats new in v32311r:

[h2]General Fixes:[/h2]

• No more double-clicking in-game menu buttons.
  
• Fixed non-referencing items for some zoomables.
  
• Smoother item grabbing.
  
• Enhanced room selection in the menu.
  
• Moved network protocol option to the Advanced tab.
  
• Extra checks before item respawns to keep things smooth.
  

• Fixed camera spawn issues no more floor view when you start.
  
• Credits roll in the right place now.
  
• Zoomables and slots handling in VR got a major tune-up.
  
• Swappable slots and distance placing now work like a charm.
  
• Crouching into out-of-reach spaces? Fixed that.
  
• Level completion now comes with more confetti and no black UI squares.
  
• Flat version motion sickness settings won't mess with VR anymore.
  
• Meta Quest Pro controllers should work better now.
  

• No more air-spawn in custom rooms.
  
• Zoomables in VR now stay put and only move with significant player motion.
  
• Picking up items in VR stops unnecessary animations.
  
• Fixed the VR trashcan duplication in custom rooms.
  

• 'Among Us' room manual is now VR-friendly.
  
• 'Emergency Awakening' has its screw slots sorted for VR.
  
• 'Magic Shop's hungry book and hidden zoomables behave better.
  
• 'Versus Expert' chess puzzle is now VR ready.
  
• 'Gold Chamber' has improved gold slot interaction.
  

Here it is! Escape Simulator just leveled up! Weve seamlessly integrated VR mode into the game, and is now yours, absolutely FREE!

[previewyoutube=fD5cxMeadws;full][/previewyoutube]
Whether youre deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, escaping from haunted mansions, or solving intricate puzzles, you can do it all in a captivating VR environment.

The adrenaline rush? Off the charts. The thrill? Unmatched. Immerse yourself and experience your favorite challenges like never before.

Before you ask - yes, non-VR and VR players CAN play together!

[h2]Supporter DLC: Exclusive Goodies[/h2]



Weve noticed many of you are looking for ways to further support the game and our team. To answer this, weve created the Supporter DLC. This fun little package is a treasure trove for fans, including exclusive digital goodies such as a unique in-game skin, a golden token badge, a digital art book, ES wallpapers, and even the first playable ES prototype version. Its our way of offering you something special in return for your incredible support!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2843390/Escape_Simulator_Supporter_Pack_DLC/

[h2]Price Adjustment[/h2]

With the game evolving and expanding, especially with the addition of VR, we're adjusting the price from $14.99/14.99/12.99 to $19.99/19.99/16.79 and DLCs from $4.99/4.99/3.99 to $5.99/5.99/4.99, effective April 14th. We believe this price change better reflects the current value of the game and allows us to keep supporting it long into the future.

[h2]Final Sale Alert: Grab It Before the Adjustment[/h2]

Before the price adjustment takes effect, dont miss our final sale! From April 2nd to April 13th, seize the opportunity. Whether its for yourself or as a thoughtful gift, nows the time.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1435790/Escape_Simulator/

[h2]More stuff to come![/h2]



Since the initial release, our journey with Escape Simulator has been nothing short of extraordinary. Heres a quick recap of our achievements:

• 12 Additional Rooms: Weve expanded the escape universe, adding twists, turns, and surprises galore.
  
• 3 Developed DLCs: New challenges, fresh mysteries, and brain-teasing conundrums await.
  
• 2 Free DLCs Released: Because we believe in giving back to our community.
  

• At Least One More DLC: Brace yourselves for mind-bending puzzles and heart-pounding escapes.
  
• 2 More Free DLCs: Yes, you read that right. More free content coming your way!
  

• Windows: %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\Pine Studio\Escape Simulator\Player.log
  
• MacOS: ~/Library/Logs/Pine Studio/Escape Simulator/Player.log
  
• Linux: ~/.config/unity3d/Pine Studio/Escape Simulator/Player.log
  

We've got some exciting news and updates about Escape Simulator we want to share with you. First off, we're super grateful for all the support you've given us over the past 2.5 years. It's been an amazing journey, and we're not stopping yet. Its time for the new chapter of Escape Simulator!

[h2]In short (TL;DR): [/h2]

• VR Update is coming out April 2nd and it will be FREE for all ES players!
  
• Supporter DLC also launches April 2nd with cool digital goodies.
  
• More DLCs (both free and paid) are coming out later this year!
  
• Escape Simulators price is going up on April 14th from $14.99 to $19.99.
  
• Youll have a chance to get it cheaper one last time before the increase during our last huge sale (April 2nd till April 14th)
  

Patch for Hotfix #2 (v31785r)

• Fixed issue causing workshop rooms to get deleted
  

Hello everyone!

We're diving back into the search for the cream of the crop in Community Rooms, and this time, it's even more excitingit marks the kickoff of the Community Room Picks in 2024!

Also, a quick heads-up if you somehow missed it: Magic DLC has been released so make sure to check it out!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2419810/Escape_Simulator_Magic_DLC/

No time to waste! Let's find out who stood out the most!

[h2]The Aurora Treasure [/h2]



You're a MIGHTY PIRATE YARRRRRRR! This one goes a bit back in December of 2023, but we had to feature it. The Aurora Treasure is an incredible new map by Asshai who is responsible for an additional two, equally awesome Escape Simulator community maps. However, "The Aurora Treasure" stands out as a unique gem. In a nutshell, you find yourself as the last surviving member of a pirate crew on the quest for the legendary Aurora Treasure in the frozen North. Guided by the enigmatic Dark Compass, your destination is tantalizingly close. With no alternative but to press on or risk freezing in icy waters, the journey unfolds in this gripping escapade.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3110105378


[h2]The Eccentric Studio [/h2]



Brush$troke stands out as one of the most esteemed room builders in Escape Simulator, and this latest creation initially began as an experiment. What started as a casual endeavor to explore new ideas swiftly evolved into an entirely new room that we now have the pleasure of experiencing. Way to go, Brush$troke!

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3131713950

[h2]The Immortal Legacy - Part 1 - The Philosopher's Stone [/h2]



Embark on a mysterious adventure with Emma, daughter of the famed Professor Robert, who vanishes under puzzling (get it, get it?) circumstances. Tasked with uncovering her father's groundbreaking discovery, you navigate a secretive mansion filled with traps and puzzles. The goal? Locate the immortality stone before it lands in the hands of looters. It's a perilous journey where your wit and courage are the keys to unveiling secrets and preserving history.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3139599402

[h2]Lost Lines: A Sketch Odyssey [/h2]



In this interesting community room, join a stick man navigating a sketch world, grappling with grief following the loss of his wife. The author suggests simply taking your time, absorbing the atmosphere, and delving into the narrative through sound and story.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3149800025

[h2]Got Games On Your Phone? [/h2]



Step into a nostalgic journey as you go back in time to play beloved mobile games from your childhood. This map features four fan-favorite games, with an optional bonus awaiting at the end. Despite a few bugs, the experience remains enjoyable and innovative.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3160892509

Extra

So this is the first time we're adding an "Extra" category to Community Picks because in this category we'll put stuff that's not necessarily a community room, but some creators are making content that helps other builders make community rooms even better.

[h2]LUA scripts [/h2]



GG3L is rocking the Escape Simulator scene by taking the Room Editor to the next level with LUA scripts. Ever heard of LUA? It's a cool coding language that spices up games with extra stuff. Escape Simulator didn't have stairs due to its square room design, but GG3L said "no problem" and used LUA to add stairs, elevators, and slopes. It's a great example of how modding can totally transform a game, giving it a fresh twist beyond what was originally planned. Big props to GG3L for their awesome work!

GG3L's work on Steam Workshop

Which leads us to...

[h2]The official Escape Simulator Wiki[/h2]



Great news for all Escape Simulator Builders! We've launched an official ES Wiki to enhance your room editor experience. It's packed with everything you need to know about the game and in-depth guidance for the Room Editor.

Just a heads-up, it's still in Beta, so you might encounter a few incomplete sections here and there.

Find it here https://docs.escapesimulator.com/


If you would like to become a part of our community and reach out to some of the amazing builders featured here, then be sure to join us on our official Discord or come talk to us on our subreddit.

[h2]Pine team[/h2]

Patch for Hotfix #2 (v31705r)

• Fixed the issue preventing the game from running on Linux and Steam Deck.
  

Hey Escapers and Builders!
Good news: our latest batch of magical props is here for ALL BUILDERS no Magic DLC needed! A huge thank you to everyone who has purchased and supported our work.



Get ready to elevate your magical room creations with our massive new prop pack, featuring over 240 items! From wands and books to crystals and hats, it's all you need for your wizarding escapades. Plus, the Magic DLC is still at a 10% launch discount, making it a great time to grab it if you haven't already.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2419810/Escape_Simulator_Magic_DLC/

We've also rolled out hotfix #2 (v31704r) alongside the room editor enhancements, squashing some pesky bugs and smoothing out the experience. Here's the changelog:

• Fixed the bug with HUGE ladders.
  
• Versus mode is now fully operational in the Deviation Tower room.
  
• Fixed decimal point errors in the room editor for precise editing.
  
• Enhanced the save system to ensure more reliable updates.
  
• Resolved several translation errors.
  
• Fixed minor audio glitches.
  
• Eliminated the floating candy.
  

If you've missed it, our Magic DLC and an update for the base game were launched yesterday. You can read more about the DLC here.
Thank you to everyone who has played the DLC and shared your thoughts. Your positive feedback has been overwhelming, and we're grateful for it!

Following your reports, we've released a hotfix (v31630r) to address some issues. Here's the updated changelog:

[h3]Level Fixes:[/h3]

• Fixed a player navigation bug in Chronomancy Hall.
  
• Fixed the mandrake drawer not working after a certain checkpoint in Potions Garden.
  
• Fixed the wrong collider in Potions Garden.
  
• General tweaks for the Magic DLC checkpoint system.

• Improved sorting of custom levels in the community tab in level pickers.
  
• "Save And Exit" now displayed only on host and singleplayer games.
  
• Badge for completed custom rooms is now displayed properly.
  
• Added a Delete button for player-created rooms.
  
• Tokens for the Tutorial are now displayed correctly.
  
• Fixed game freeze when entering controller mode while in the workshop screen.
  
• Fixed some audio issues in Magic DLC.
  
• Fixed a room editor bug where decimal numbers would lose their decimal point, e.g., 0.25 turning into 25.

Hey everyone!
Ready your wands and brew your potions, because the Magic DLC is finally here!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2419810/Escape_Simulator_Magic_DLC/

Embrace your magic potential, and follow in the footsteps of great witches and wizards! First, grab your equipment in the mysterious magic shop... From there go onward to the school of magic where three more classes await your mastery!



[h2]Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)[/h2]

What's included in the Magic DLC?
The Magic DLC has four (magical) rooms, and new wizard/witch outfits! Each of these rooms provides approximately 45 minutes of gameplay.

What is the price of the DLC?
The Magic DLC is priced at $4.99 / 4.99 / 4.29, but you can get it 10% off during the launch sale!

Will there be new achievements introduced with the DLC?
Although we would love to add more achievements, we've decided against it. Our concern is ensuring that players who have already completed the game aren't required to start over due to the addition of new achievements.

Do my friends need to purchase Magic DLC to play it with me in co-op?
Yes, all players participating in multiplayer mode need to have the Magic DLC purchased.

How many friends can I invite to play Magic DLC multiplayer with me?
Multiplayer mode supports a maximum of 10 players, though for the best gameplay experience, it's recommended to play with 2-3 players.

I have a VR headset. Will Magic DLC be available in VR?
Absolutely, the Magic DLC will be fully compatible with VR (coming out later this year).

I don't have Escape Simulator yet. Is there some special deal I can grab right now?
Escape Simulator is currently on its biggest sale yet and you can get it for only $9,89 / 9,89 / 8,57! But the absolutely best deal is
The Collector's Edition which contains base game, 3 DLCs and OST.

I want to use Magic DLC props in my room design, but I can't find them in the Room Editor. What should I do?
Magic DLC props will be added to the Room Editor next week. The props will be available to all players (with or without the DLC).

What should I do if I encounter a bug or experience a crash while playing?
If you encounter a bug or experience a crash while playing, please report the issue via email at community@pinestudio.com or on our Discord server in the #bugs channel. You can help us by sending your .LOG file. <3

[h2]Full Changelog: [/h2]
[h3]New Content[/h3]

• Added brand new Magic DLC!
  
• Two new mystical outfits from the Magic DLC.
  
• Added bald haircut (not sure if it's consider a haircut, but it looks awesome!)
  
• Menu redesign, navigate more clearly in the new main menu.
  
• Options redesign, all of the options are in the same place, making it easier than ever to tweak.
  
• Saves (checkpoints) are now supported on all official levels (including all DLCs).
  
• You can now restart the level from the in-game menu.
  

• More stable networking.
  
• Fixed some hats not fading on other characters.
  
• Pinging can now also be performed in single-player (the only difference is that no chat message is shown).
  
• Fixed UI overlap bugs with the controller while using the trashcan.
  
• Connectable interactions are more clearly visualized.
  
• Optimized the code so the game is more performant.
  
• Level saves are now in JSON, which are now more modifiable.
  

• Fixed menu slider not updating position properly.
  
• You can now input float values with a dot.
  
• Fixed some objects being repeated two times inside the same Theme but under different categories.
  
• Fixed .bin files being deleted when publishing rooms.
  
• Graveyard floor can now be deleted.
  

• Fixed several interactions and translations in the Among Us DLC.
  
• Fixed several interactions and glitches in the Tutorial.
  
• Fixed portal gun where it doesn't play animation when the cores are inserted too quickly in Portal DLC.
  
• Fixed bad colliders in The Library.
  
• Fixed weird ghost token texture in 70's Room.
  
• Fixed unnatural badge animation in The Jail.
  
• Quieter drone in Hallway Accident.
  
• Fixed wrong Italian translations in The Saloon.
  
• Changed the turnable direction on the chess box in The Greenhouse.
  
• Better controller support for TV games in 70's Room.
  
• The robot controller in The Lab is now mounted on the wall.
  
• Fixed planets lost behind cupboard in Lost Spirits.
  
• Fixed floating batteries and wire interactions in Space Walk.
  
• Added more bugs so we can fix something in the future.
  

February is all about spreading the LOVE! Looking for a fun activity this week? Look no further! Join us on Friday, February 16th, 2024, for the third installment of our Escape Simulator Date Night, this time called, Escape Simulator Friday Date Night!

We'll pair you up with another player for a two-player session of Escape Simulator! To participate, simply hop onto our official Discord server, and reserve your spot by reacting to the latest message in the announcements channel.

Registration for the event will remain open until February 16th at 9 AM CET, at which point we'll start pairing up players. All match-ups will be announced on Discord!

Not sure which room to tackle? Here's a small guide:

• Rooms from the latest Community Challenge
  
• Rooms by Build-a-Room contest winners (Build-A-Room #1, Build-A-Room #2, Build-A-Thon 2022, Build-A-Room #3, Build-A-Room #4, Build-A-Room #5)
  
• Best of 2023 recommended by Pine's SuperJura
  
• or virtually
  

Hey everyone!
Iggy here from Pine and I'm bringing some exciting news for y'all!

Escape Simulator VR is taking a next step forward with the unveiling of VR Demo 2.0. This refined version has been shaped by the invaluable feedback we received from you guys! Were sincerely grateful for the suggestions and constructive criticism weve received so far.

[h2]So, what's new in Demo 2.0?[/h2]
Among the notable additions are a newly introduced camera and a sleek wristband, injecting a fresh perspective and style into the virtual escape room adventure. Weve optimized the VR experience for smoother gameplay, and numerous bugs have been squashed to ensure a polished and seamless encounter for players. You can check the full changelog down below.



Our collaboration with you guys doesnt end with Demo 2.0. Were eagerly anticipating further comments and suggestions to fine-tune the game even more, with the goal of releasing a super-polished full version in the near future.

[h2]Support [for more VR devices] incoming![/h2]

In terms of supported VR devices, the demo will be accessible via Steam VR (or the new Steam Link App) on popular devices such as Meta Oculus Quest 2, Meta Oculus Quest 3, Steam Index, HTC Vive, and more.

Moreover, our goal is to extend support to numerous other VR devices following the official release of Escape Simulator VR. We highly value any feedback or suggestions that can enhance the player experience on your preferred headset. Your input is incredibly valuable and greatly appreciated!

[h2]Get ready for some VR magic![/h2]

Mark your calendars because Magic DLC is not only for the flat-screen players! The Escape Simulator Magic DLC will launch on February 22nd and it will be compatible with VR when Escape Simulator VR comes out - very soon!

So make sure to push that Wishlist button!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2419810/Escape_Simulator_Magic_DLC/

[h2]Join us on Discord and Reddit![/h2]

We are eager to hear your thoughts and feedback! Join us on our official Discord server or our subreddit.


[h3]Pine Studio[/h3]


[h3]Full changelog: [/h3]

• Added instant camera that autospawns in your inventory.
  
• Added new tutorial intro part where you can pick locomotion type and stance.
  
• Added VR band on both hands with the settings and inventory buttons for easier controls and imersion. The band has a screen to display the token count.
  
• Hide all VR control panels on the tutorial as controls are now shown directly on the hands.
  
• Fixed various issues with VR tutorial controller visuals, such as thinner lines, improved text positions, and binding mismatches.
  
• Removed bloom in the game menu in VR.
  
• Fixed a bug where sparkles would not spawn in VR.
  
• Updated the HTC Vive tutorial controller message to indicate the upper button is now the secondary button. Removed the background panel from VR tutorial controller texts for a cleaner look.
  
• Logged OpenXR device for easier Meta Quest 3 detection.
  
• Fixed a critical bug where non-VR and VR lobbies would not work.
  
• Refactored VR grabbing to make transferring items from one hand to another faster and cleaner, without weird resetting of scale for items that have hand scale defined.
  
• Disabled trigger actions if the VR picture camera is held to prevent unintended picture taking.
  
• Slightly offset the Meta Quest controller position to better match real-life hand positioning.
  
• The VR picture camera now has a 1-second cooldown to prevent spamming or accidental double clicks.
  
• Disabled VR picture camera rendering when no more pictures are left.
  
• VR pictures are set to always respawn.
  
• Added utility methods for easier manual addition of items to VR inventory and for visualizing drawing bounds.
  
• Improved VR watch button presses to be easier to trigger.
  
• Set proper offsets for HTC Vive and SteamVR Index controllers and improved the throwing mechanism.
  
• Added a shadow to VR inventory bubble icons for "key," "hint," and "container" items.
  
• Fixed a bug where the VR raycast indicator would not be shown in the main menu.
  
• Fixed a bug where VR watches would show in the main menu, causing confusion.
  
• VR performance and memory optimizations across several updates, focusing on reducing allocations and improving efficiency in raycasting, memory usage, and controller updates.
  
• Added the ability to disable VR item sparkles.
  
• Toy2 VR improvements included making drawer handles collidable and puzzle slots triggers in VR.
  
• If entering a wall (out-of-bounds) in VR and the menu is entered, the VR position is reset to the last valid position on the map.
  
• Improved VR locomotion prompts in Toy1 to ensure buttons are all the same size.
  
• VR button interaction improvements, including a new algorithm for calculating finger touch points and adding vibrations to VR button and finger interactions.
  
• Added feedback to all inputs for all VR devices in Toy1, ensuring a consistent experience across tutorials and gameplay.
  

Hello everyone!

Iggy from Pine here! Following our Magic DLC announcement back in December 2023, we now have an official release date!

[h3]Magic DLC is coming on February 22nd, 2024 [/h3]

So gear up with your mystical apparatus, grab your enchanted broomsticks, and place magical hats upon your heads, for it is time to explore the magical unknown!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2419810/Escape_Simulator_Magic_DLC/

So here it is, dear esteemed practitioners of the mystical arts! The official release date has been set! Also, we're thrilled to share some exciting updates with you.

Check out the refreshed trailer, explore a collection of new screenshots, and don't forget to wishlist!

[previewyoutube=dP-Q6HBSb78;full][/previewyoutube]







Additionally, make sure to join your fellow enchanters on Pine's Discord and become an integral part of our magical gathering!

[h2]Pine Team[/h2]

Welcome to our "Meet the Builders" series, where we delve into the creative minds behind some of the most remarkable room designers in Escape Simulator.

In our previous conversations we had a fun chat with Zesty and Cico, and now it's time for (drumroll.....) - Duc! Duc stands out as one of the crme de la crme in the realm of room building for Escape Simulator. His creations, such as The Projectionist, Under the Sea, The Clockwork Games (and more), rank among the finest available on the Steam Workshop.


Under the Sea

[h2]Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got into playing Escape Simulator?[/h2]


My alias is Duc, Im 28 from the UK. During working hours, Im an air traffic controller that dabbles in IT. Other interests include motorsport, photography, and laying down.

The date is 16 Dec 2021 - Some friends and I had just finished Overcooked 2 and were looking for more co-op fun. We had completed some escape rooms in real life so Escape Simulator seemed like an ideal purchase. We binged through the developer's rooms in short order and dove into the community rooms.

The unhealthy obsession continues to this day! I used to play a serious amount of Rocket League in my spare time. As of the time of writing, Ive played 2467 hours of it. Steam tells me I havent played the game since Feb 2022 so escape sim has done pretty well to displace rocket league from my life.


[h2]What inspired you to start designing rooms in the game?[/h2]


Riddles, Books and a Lab

A friend of mine, TheChubbyWalrus created a room for our group of 4 to have a go at. As soon as we finished it, I knew I had to return the favour. That room became Riddles, Books and a Lab. I published it as public, but it never occurred to me that anyone else would play it. The next day it had 20 likes, a couple of weeks later it had 1000. And from that moment on it just got out of hand.

[h2]Can you walk us through your process of creating a room? (you sketch on paper, what tools, how you start)[/h2]


Whatever you think my creative process is, it is far less sophisticated than that!

Rooms 3-8 were created around the same question. What interesting real-world environments can be feasibly created within the escape sim editor? Ill crack open OneNote and brainstorm ideas with my partner. Before the model importer, skyboxes, and advanced lighting were added to the editor, outdoor environments were extremely challenging.

I have an old experimental room where I probably spent 30 hours playing around with various props in the editor trying to get it to work. But it never saw the light of day due to the editors limitations. And these 30 hours arent me trying to develop puzzles or playing with logic.

This is 30 hours of retexturing random props and rescaling them so that I can create whatever monstrosity it is I need for the environment to work. If there is a world record for the longest time spent rescaling a folded stack of clothes to turn it into a distant set of green hills, I am the record holder.

Once Ive got an environment with a nice-looking floor and established a new horizon, then Ill start planning out the total playable area in the editor. Ill grab the nearest envelope and a biro and sketch a very simple plan. That envelope will then sit on my desk for the next for weeks/months whilst I clumsily place props in the editor.

Once the room is 60-70% physically assembled, then I will start thinking about adding puzzles. Generally speaking, the environment inspires the puzzles rather than the other way around.
Now the editor has more tools, there are fewer limitations. The model importer being the big one.

Fortunately, the days of using random props to create things are over! Most of my time is spent in Blender having a crack at modeling things. Imported models are the best way of getting the most performance out of a room, so long as the number of vertices and the texture sizes arent ridiculous.


[h2]You were one of the winners during last years Build-A-Thon, for which you made a tiny room within only 48 hours. How was it to work under such pressure?[/h2]


The Projectionist

Shockingly, the 48 hours was far less stressful than Build-a-room #2 & #3s 2 weeks. And I would put this down to the scope of the room (The Projectionist) being relatively simple from the start.

I knew that if I made the room too complex then any minor setbacks during creation would cause the room development to fall behind and eventually feel incomplete once the timer runs out. I made this mistake in Build-a-room #2 with The Virtual Prison. Learned from the mistake with The Projectionist. Then forgot the lesson again in Build-a-thon #3 with Relativity...

The 48 hours even included a picturesque walk in the lovely British countryside to record the footage for the movie clips in the room. That being said, I must have gotten 6 hours sleep within that 48-hour period.

[h2]What are some of your favorite rooms you've created so far, and what makes them unique?[/h2]


Let me out

Creating a room is a labour of love. It consumes a considerable proportion of your life. In a way, they are all my favourite for their own reasons. Let Me Out is probably my current favourite as Im a fan of horror rooms.

It was the first room (to my knowledge) to use a professional voice actor. Looking back its not the greatest and it doesnt even have many puzzles in it despite being in a game about puzzles! Nevertheless, I have a soft spot for it.

[h2]Aside from winning the Build-A-Thon, you also entered several other room-building contests. How does your room-building process differ when youre creating for a contest as opposed to rooms that you are building in your free time?[/h2]


Pure chaos. Ive entered 3 contests and the 2 build-a-rooms were just madness. Creative direction is constantly changing. Entire ideas evaporating or appearing out of thin air due to necessity. Id put this down to myself always wanting the scope of the rooms to be as large and impressive as possible.

At first, 2 weeks feels like an eternity. Oh yeah, I can get that done in a day. Oh that puzzle will be easy to sort the logic for. Then you realise youve got 2 days left, nothing is ready, and the original concept is a husk of its former self. Great puzzle ideas get ditched because the time to properly execute them no longer exists.

So yes. Chaos But you better believe Ill be doing the exact same thing in the next competition!

In my free time, ideas can come and go naturally. Assets can be created slow-time and if something is a creative dead end, it doesnt matter. Whats the rush? Ideas that turn out to not be fun or dont make sense can be deleted and better ideas have the time to be developed and sculpted.


[h2]Most of your rooms contain a lot of animations, visuals, and environments that exist outside of the puzzle room itself. How do you go about making these environments feel alive?[/h2]


Relativity

All I try to accomplish is the same feat that all other games employ. If theres a window, you should be able to see something nice out of it. If you pour a bucket of water, the bucket should be animated nicely, make a water pouring sound, and have water coming out of it. Its fair to say I spend 80% of the room creation time on these finer details.

They often add nothing to the puzzles. But its these details that make a room more memorable and enchanting to me.

[h2]How do you come up with the themes and puzzles for your rooms?[/h2]


Virtual Prison

The usual scenario is to pick a theme that hasnt been done before. A theme that is possible within the confines of the editor. A theme that has the potential to look pretty or striking or both.

As mentioned previously, the puzzles are centered around the environment. For example, in Under the Sea I was making a colourful animated fish as a background prop and thought ahhhh, I can use that!

[h2]What do you think are the key elements to creating a challenging yet enjoyable escape room?[/h2]

In my crazy dreamworld, I like to believe that its possible to create a room that everyone plays and has a fun time with. This is not what happens. Everyone has different tastes. And thats okay. The next best thing is to make a room that most players will enjoy.

That room has a difficulty that is easy/moderate. It might be challenging, but it most certainly will not be hard. A good room should not require the player to be very smart. But a good room should leave the player feeling smart.

[h2]What are some tips and tricks you can share with players who want to try their hand at designing rooms in Escape Simulator?[/h2]


Virtual Prison

Do you have a best friend? Forget them. Your new best friend is the empty. It is nothing, yet it can do everything. It might not be today, tomorrow, or even next week. But one day you will realise that the empty is the most important thing in your creative life.

Most effects can be retextured for some pretty impressive and often chaotic results. Play around with the effects and let your imagination run wild. I was able to create a bubbles effect by taking the snow effect, flipping it upside down and retexturing the snow particles with a simple bubble png.

[h2]What are some lessons youve learned the hard way as a creator for Escape Simulator?[/h2]

What I like isnt always what the rest of the world likes. And thats okay.

A great example is found within my Build-a-room #2 submission, The Virtual Prison. In that room, there is a mini game which is essentially just basketball. Theres a little scoreboard and an announcer. I loved it.

But this is Escape Simulator, not NBA 2k23. People hopped into that room and got frustrated that they were having to throw basketballs into a moving hoop. And I completely understand. This is a puzzle game after all, and I handed the player something that isnt a puzzle. That room also contained a frogger rip-off. Im now asking the player to do some action/platforming in a puzzle game.

I was hard on myself for months after this room was released due its less than favourable reception. It wasnt until Dr_Poly played through the room on a stream that I decided to play it again myself And I loved it!

It sounds horribly narcissistic, but I had a great time throwing balls with an over exuberant announcer and dodging cars like an 80s frog.

Its important for creators to understand that you should create what makes you happy. If you have fun playing it, theres a good chance that most others are going to enjoy it too!

[h2]Can you share any memorable experiences or funny stories that have happened while you were designing or playing your escape rooms?[/h2]


Under the Sea

I was putting together the layout of Under the Sea in the editor and realised I had backed myself into a corner. I had accidentally placed all the assets in such a way that it wouldnt be possible/make sense for the underwater facility to route where it needed to. I certainly didnt want to undo hours of work.

Then my partner said to me, why dont you just go underground? And I thought, Nah thats mad. Id have to cut out a hole in the mesh of the sea floor and build an entirely new section off to the side to create an indoor space. Crazy. Too much work

Hours go by and I thought, well actually she is right. Going underground whilst underwater sounds quite fun and unexpected. Youre at the bottom of the ocean and you end up going even lower! It started as a simple ladder down into a basement.

Somehow that morphed into creating some sort of London Underground ripoff with a moving train section. I wouldnt have even attempted a moving train section because I wouldnt have considered it possible. Then I remembered towards the end of Zestys Ominous Obelisk; he had a moment where all the players move vertically in an elevator in a very convincing fashion.

So why wouldnt it work horizontally?

In summary, Under the Seas most memorable section only exists due to my poor planning and a bit of lateral thinking from my partner.

[h2]What are some of the nicest reactions or interactions youve had with people who played one of your rooms?[/h2]


Clockwork Games

Its difficult to narrow it down. Im grateful to have received a lot of positive support over the past 20 months (at time of writing) of this escape sim journey I find myself on. The comment section for Under The Sea is a great place to start.

Actually, scratch that. I know what it is. After the Build-a-room #3. Mumbo said this to me on the Pine Studio Discord regarding Relativity.

[h3]"Duc I think you are the number 1 greatest 3d environment artist escape simulator has to offer and this is the number 1 most beautiful room in ES."[/h3]

There was plenty of helpful constructive criticism in there as well but the above comment has always stuck with me.

[h2]What do you feel has been your greatest Escape Simulator accomplishment so far?[/h2]

Pine choosing me for this!

[h2]Are there any features you would like to see added to the room editor in future updates?[/h2]

True 2D sprites. We have transparents which is incredible. (RIP Space sticker.) But a transparent that rotates itself to always face the player would be neat.

Having more animation keyframes. The current workaround for fancy animations is to stack parented empties or whip out LUA. But its a bit cumbersome and certainly a roadblock for newer creators.
More animation curves. Linear and smooth are good, but it is not enough for all purposes. For example: an object falling off a shelf and hitting the floor. I challenge someone to animate that in ES and make it look realistic. I know how I would do it and it would be such a pain to put together.

Blender allows you to hold shift while interacting with an object to adjust it in finer increments. Having that in escape sim would change my life. And would save me needing to change the numeric values each time I want something lined up with something else. Having granular control over minute distances would be excellent.

Stairs. Stairs. Please.


[h2]Are there any other room designers in the game whose work you admire or draw inspiration from?[/h2]

The creators that stand out are the ones that are doing things that nobody had done before them. Pioneers. Visionaries. The list is colossal. I believe there are least 20 creators whose rooms Ive played and gone Wow, what a fantastic idea! Sadly, I didnt write down every time that happened so apologies to those not listed.

Cico: The OG pioneer. Those who have been playing workshop rooms from the very beginning will remember A Pirates Legend. A Cico room which is no longer available today. However, it was the first true example of a very well executed outdoor environment. Before this, I had no idea the editor had the capability! If Cico hadnt made that room, its a fair shout to say I probably wouldnt have created 8 rooms by now. But this is surprising to no one. Im certain every creator looks up to Cico in the same way as I do.

Zesty: He showed the community that escape sim can be far more than just a series of connected rooms. Devilish Diorama was a fantastic idea fantastically executed. A feat unmatched until he brought out a sequel. The game design in these rooms is so intelligent and intuitive. The player is transported into the mesmerising world that Zesty has created. Ive spent the past few months continuously pressing refresh on Zestys workshop page hoping for a 3rd installment. Any. Day. Now.

Robin: In every Build-a-room competition Ive entered, Robin has finished 1 place ahead of me. This is no accident. I remember playing those rooms and being overwhelmed with amazement. Immortal Canvas stands alongside the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and Machu Pichu. Absolute perfection in every regard and I have no idea how it was made. No doubt during my next room, Ill be looking at Immortal Canvas and trying to capture a glimpse of its excellence. Shout-out to Spellbound.

Franch: Because audio is vital to creating a complete game experience. INSIDE, The Bastet Cat, and This Way Up are all auditory treats! No creator has put as much dedication into sound as Franch.
Im hardly scratching the surface here. The community is rich with talent, and I would need a few thousand more words to give the credit where it is due.

[h2]What are your future plans for designing rooms in Escape Simulator? Do you have any big projects in the works? ;)[/h2]

I like to think that Under The Sea was a spiritual successor to Clockwork Inc. This next one is a spiritual successor to Under The Sea. Its still early in development but the scope is very large. Far larger than Under The Sea.

[h2]Do you often collaborate with other creators?[/h2]


The Collab: Museum

Beyond contributing towards the incredible Collab 2 Museum project. My main collaborator is my partner, Haze. Every room Ive created has contained ideas, puzzles, concepts from Haze.

Even voice acting on occasion! Many of the rooms would have been completely different if it wasnt for Hazes influence. TheChubbyWalrus and AngryLasagne joined the team during The Virtual Prison for Build-a-room #2. Without their combined efforts, that room would have been an absolute shambles!

[h2]Thank you, Duc![/h2]

Thank you, Duc for taking the time to respond to our questions!

Interested in chatting with other room builders from our community? Or perhaps you've been contemplating becoming a room builder but aren't sure where to begin?

If that's the case, make sure to hop on over to our official Discord server or join the conversation on our subreddit.

We look forward to seeing you there!

[h2]Pine team[/h2]

Hello everyone! Iggy from Pine here!

It's that time again! We're on the lookout for the top Community Rooms of the last month, and this time around, we're extending our search to cover the winter season. That means we'll be selecting outstanding rooms from both December and November!

This is also the first time I'm doing Community Picks, so I would like to give a big shout-out to our Discord gang who helped me with putting this together. Hope I did well!

Also, just a tiny reminder we've recently unveiled our latest addition to the Escape Simulator series: a Magic DLC! Don't forget to hit that wishlist button and stay in the loop!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2419810/Escape_Simulator_Magic_DLC/

Now, let's get into it!

Our favorite picks this Winter

[h2]A Medieval Adventure [/h2]



A Medieval Adventure - In this visually unique and stunning room you'll find yourself wandering through enchanting woods, encountering a jewelry merchant in need of your help. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, this room created by two authors; Elkondo (responsible for story, dialogue & puzzle mechanics) and Zweetkonijn (who did models, environment & music) will take you on quite a journey filled with fun and engaging puzzles, as well as inventive twists on, well, let's call it "battle planning"?

[h2]The Puzzler's Dungeon [/h2]



The Puzzler's Dungeon - This room is a treat for all you mystery and (light) horror lovers out there. Clears throat and starts talking in that dramatic movie trailers guy voice: "The day was going so well. Birds were chirping. Grandma's pie was smelling so good. But then, all of the sudden, you find yourself in a dungeon. Puzzler's Dungeon". Ok, we went a bit overboard here. It's a fantastic room filled with great and intricate puzzles; created by Easter.

[h2]Puzzles Galore 3: Sign Clutter [/h2]



Puzzles Galore 3: Sign Clutter - Ah, traffic the driving experience that can either be a breeze or the most stress-inducing day of your life. Enter our esteemed room builder, Wollo, who has crafted a room tailored for everyone who loves traffic - SIGNS. So, no worries, no rush hour here. This cleverly designed room invites you to clear out those pesky road signs by solving their puzzles.

[h2]Tax Evasion [/h2]



Tax Evasion - The first-ever room made by GeriHatrick is also one of the very best among our Winter Season picks. What it is about? Well, this isn't a how-to-evade-paying-taxes-simulator even though the room title could suggest that Imagine finding yourself in a tax office that you can't exit from. We are pretty sure this would be a horror scenario for most people, but this room is far from it. It is an incredibly well-designed escape room filled with some very clever and challenging puzzles.

[h2]The Hacker: matrix meltdown [/h2]



The Hacker: matrix meltdown - In case you've watched that Hackers movie from 1995, you'll know the drill. You find yourself on a super-important mission where your job is to investigate the apartment that belongs to a teenager who's a suspect in strange signals which may have led to a security breach of one of the biggest space stations. The room itself is somewhat medium-hard, but at the same time incredibly well put together. Great work, Dr Krank!


[h2]The Puppet Master [/h2]



The Puppet Master - One of the most unique rooms our community has favored during this Winter Season is certainly The Puppet Master. Your task is to finish the work of the old puppet master who has passed away. We won't spoil what exactly you have to finish in this great room by Brengo. But you'll certainly find it most amusing

[h2]Secrets & Alibis [/h2]



Secrets & Alibis - For our final pick, this one is a treat for fans of books and movies based on Agatha Christie's work. In this room, you have to solve the mystery of Madam Green's murder by investigating the Royce Manor. This great room has been masterfully put together by Brush$troke, but the author is also crediting Robin, Chazzy B for making some of the assets, as well as k8sparrot, GG3L, Wollo and Autumnlight91 for playtesting. A prime example of a fantastic community collaboration.

Happy New Year to our incredible community!

We are wrapping up our Winter Season community picks and would like to seize this moment to extend our warmest New Year wishes to our incredible community. We truly appreciate the time and effort you invested in creating these fantastic rooms for Escape Simulator.

If you would like to become a part of our community and reach out to some of the amazing builders featured here, then be sure to join us on our official Discord or come talk to us on our subreddit.

[h2]Pine team[/h2]

Hi all!

Today were announcing the winners of the final Build-A-Room contest of the year! Your goal was to channel all the cozy and comfy vibes into an escape room, worthy of the holiday season.Which, now we think of it, would just be a room you dont want to escape from at all!

Weve had a total of 34 submissions, however, in the end there can only be one winner. Scrap that, twelve winners! So, without further ado, lets go to the winners!

Rookie Builders Category (RBC)
Were starting with the first timers! This category is meant for everyone who submitted a room for the first time in a Build-a-Room contest!

by ChazzyB - won a Meta Quest 3 and the Magic DLC
Transportation by CuberToy/Cub - won a 100$ Steam gift card and the Magic DLC
by Ryan - won a 100$ Steam gift card and the Magic DLC

#4 -. by bigTbone59 - won the Magic DLC
#4 - by Ph0rx - won the Magic DLC

Community Award
Before we go to the Experienced Builders Category, wed like to first let the community speak. The community voted and together theyve chosen their winner. The Community Award winner gets a 100$ Steam gift card + a surprise gift

The Community Award goes to by Clomar and won 100$ Steam gift card and The Magic DLC!

Experienced Builders Category (EBC)
And at last, but not the least, were moving on to the Experienced Builders Category winners. These are the veterans of our community whove built the coziest of the coziest room of them all, and it will probably not be their last. A room no one wants to escape from.

by MelonVerse - won 1000$ in cash + Meta Quest 3 + The Magic DLC
by Bartololomeo - won a 100$ Steam gift card and The Magic DLC
by med1nh0 - won a 100$ Steam gift card and The Magic DLC

#4 - (Good Health) by Brengo - won the Magic DLC
#4 - by Clomar - won the Magic DLC
#4 - by GG3L - won the Magic DLC


Whats Next?
Did you already know we announced the Magic DLC yesterday? Always dreamt of embracing your magic potential, and follow in the footsteps of great witches and wizards? This is your chance! Grab your equipment in the magic shop and then go onward to the school of magic, where three magical classes await your mastery.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2419810/Escape_Simulator_Magic_DLC/

Thats a wrap!
A big shoutout to everyone who participated. You've outdone yourselves with creativity and ingenuity, and we couldn't be prouder.

[h2]Winning Ceremony Recap [/h2]
Missed the live ceremony? Don't worry, catch the replay here:
[previewyoutube=8I8rvDo3wEw;full]https://youtu.be/8I8rvDo3wEw[/previewyoutube]

Have a great holiday season and a happy new year!

Cheers,
[h3]Pine Studio <3[/h3]

Hello everyone!

As our last announcement of the advent calendar were glad to announce a new Magic DLC will release for Escape Simulator in 2024! Always dreamt of embracing your magic potential, and follow in the footsteps of great witches and wizards? This is your chance! Grab your equipment in the magic shop and then go onward to the school of magic, where three magical classes await your mastery.

[previewyoutube=QGwsySKsDxA;full][/previewyoutube]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2419810/Escape_Simulator_Magic_DLC/

Magic DLC
With the upcoming Magic DLC, four new rooms will be available for you to explore. Where each room tells a story in your magical journey to become a great sorcerer! Be sure to pay attention or everything might become abracadabra to you, and that will make escaping a lot more difficult as well.

[h2]Magic Shop [/h2]
Be it a young student of the arcane, or a seasoned sorcerer, everyone knows that all their wizarding needs can be met here at the Magic Shop. The latest in wizarding fashion trends, ancient tomes, finest wands and floating candy - this magic shop has been the first stop on each and every adventure.



[h2]Chronomancy Hall[/h2]
A symphony of ticking echoes in the marble halls. Clocks of all shapes and sizes count every moment that passes, for most people, irreversibly. But for a sorcerer, the past can not only be observed, but brought back. Control the flow of time, and uncover secrets hidden in the timeline. As the age old saying 'time is just an illusion'.



[h2]Greenhouse[/h2]
Tucked away in the castle grounds, the sunlit greenhouse hosts a myriad of plants and mushrooms which are happily growing. Learn the strict art of potion making - pick the right plants and read the instructions carefully, lest you lose your eyebrows or grow a tail! But hey, maybe it will great on you!



[h2]Divination Towers[/h2]
For many, the future is uncertain, but for students of divination, it is only a matter of understanding the signs. High above the land, in two spires above the clouds, you will find many methods for seeing the future. However, you will have to make sense of these glimpses, to find a way to ultimately escape.



Advent Calendar
With this last announcement we conclude the advent calendar. The past month has been loads of fun with the surprise launch of the free Among Us update, build-a-room #5, Escape Simulator VR demo , loads of giveaways and now concluding with the announcement of 'Magic DLC'. We at Pine Studio hope that everyone enjoyed the past month and in extension the past year.



We want to thank everyone in the community that's played or build in the past year and welcome all the new players that have joined. Be sure to join our Discord if you haven't already!

See you next year!

[h3]Pine Studio <3[/h3]

Dear players,
Thank you so much for the positive feedback and reactions for the Among Us DLC! We heard your feedback and already addressed some of the issues in today's hotfix:

• Enabled tokens in the Among Us DLC. Good luck hunting!
  
• Simplified the circuit puzzle
  
• Changed the wording of the Specimen puzzle hint
  
• Fixed turnables in some community rooms
  
• Fixed minor alien hat issue
  
• Fixed some other minor issues
  

Attention Crewmates!

Weve received an emergency call from The Mini Skeld! They seem to be running into some issues with the ship. Could there possibly be an Impostor amongst the crew? Time to board the ship and help the crew escape in this new official Among Us-inspired room, available now for everyone!

[previewyoutube=ryIPx9awOzg;full][/previewyoutube]

You and your Crewmates have to work together, solve puzzles and make your way out. However, now that youre stuck in space, the stakes may be even higher! Or, maybe you and your friends are all just hard-working, puzzle-solving, qualified space adventurers and you have absolutely nothing to worry about.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2644870/Escape_Simulator_Among_Us_DLC/

[h2] Lightning fast escape [/h2]

Taking care of a spaceship is never easy. Especially when you have a lot of things to worry about such as the O2 running out, reactors in meltdown or the worst of all, no internet connection. For the Crewmates that want a real challenge, if youre able to escape from the ship within an hour, youll win a special trophy!



[h2] Non-suspicious Steam Sale [/h2]

To celebrate this Among Us DLC release, both the base game and soundtrack of Escape Simulator are on sale with a 25% discount. If you want more Escape Simulator after playing this free one, you can get the Steampunk & Wild West DLC with 10% off and try our other free branded Portal Escape Room.

[h2] No escape from the festive season [/h2]

December means festivities and holidays! The Among Us DLC is already a lot to celebrate, but were not stopping here! Were counting down to Christmas on Twitter and revealing something every day, so be sure to follow us and keep an eye out.



[h2] Join our dedicated community [/h2]

That's it for today's announcement! You can come talk to us and other community members on our official Discord server or on our subreddit. We hope to see you there!

[h3]<3 Pine Studio[/h3]

[h2]Are you ready to get fully immersed? [/h2]

Wait, has it really been six months since we officially revealed Escape Simulator VR? Well, guess we owe you an update on how the development is progressing, right? Luckily, we bring good news as the development on this VR version of Escape Simulator is going smoothly and hopefully the wait for its full release will be over sooner rather than later!

[h2]VR When? [/h2]

Well, now, but not entirely. So, 'not yet' is the best answer. However, we do have a nice surprise as Escape Simulator VR is part of the Steam VR Fest. Which means you can actually play the demo RIGHT NOW!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2440240/Escape_Simulator_VR

The demo is available till December 11 as part of Steam VR Fest! Since this is our first VR game ever, we are treating the demo more like an open beta. We're curious to hear your feedback, as it will greatly help us in making the final game the best VR experience it can be.

Be sure to download the demo via the store page by clicking the link above and definitely share any feedback you might have about the demo over on our official Discord server!

[h2]Escaping the simulator; for real! [/h2]

As for the VR devices supported, the demo will be playable through Steam VR (or the new Steam Link App) on the most popular devices like Meta Oculus Quest 2, Meta Oculus Quest 3, Steam Index, HTC Vive and more.

Additionally, we aim to support as many VR devices as we can in the future after the official release of Escape Simulator VR. Any feedback and suggestions to improve the player experience on your headset of choice is highly valuable to us and would be greatly appreciated!

You can share any comments and feedback over on our official Discord server or our subreddit.

[h2]Advent Month [/h2]
We're not even 4 days into December and we already announced two surprises! With the opening of the advent calendar (and our first surprise) we announced the build-a-room #5 contest, where rookie builders and experienced builders can compete with each other by building the coziest escape room of them all!

You can read all about the build-a-room #5 contest here:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1435790/view/3814047346173395597?l=english



See you in another reality!

[h3]Pine Studio <3[/h3]

[h2]Introducing the Pine Festive Month![/h2]
The holiday season has arrived, and here at Pine Studio were celebrating with a special Escape Simulator advent calendar!



On the days marked on the calendar well be opening each door to reveal surprises that could range from giveaways to exciting special events. To find out whats behind each door as it opens, follow along on our Discord and social media channels!

As you can see, the door for day 1 is already open, revealing

[h2]Build-A-Room #5 - Will you build the coziest room of them all?[/h2]
It's time to get festive, room builders!

With holidays approaching, it's the perfect time of the year to get nice and comfy. Whether that means you'll be spending your time reading a good book by the fireplace or by getting together with your friends and family, December is the perfect month to kick back and relax a little!

Now, we know the room builders from our community have been eagerly awaiting the next contest, which is why we are pleased to announce the final Build-A-Room of the year! This time round, we want to challenge the builders from our community to channel all of their coziest vibes into a room worthy of the holiday season. Think fireplaces, hot cocoa, warm blankets, wooden cabins, comfy easy chairs and extremely good gameplay of course! Doesn't that just sound wonderful?

Since it's the season of all things cozy, we wanted to shake things up a little for this Build-A-Room and introduce some new prize categories with a special place for new builders to get comfy.

For Build-A-Room #5 there will be: 2 distinct prize categories and a community award:

• Rookie Builders Category
  
• Experienced Builders Category
  
• Community Award

• BC first place winner gets a Meta Quest 3 + a surprise gift
  
• RBC second and third place get a 100$ Steam gift card + a surprise gift
  
• Fourth and fifth place get a surprise gift
  

• First place winner earns 1000$ in cash + Meta Quest 3 + a surprise gift
  
• Second and third place get a 100$ Steam gift card + a surprise gift
  
• Fourth and fifth place get a surprise gift
  

• The Community Award winner gets a 100$ Steam gift card + a surprise gift
  

• Create a cozy escape room that's worthy of the holiday season in the Room Editor.
  
• To submit a room for the competition, post a link to your room in the #challenges channel in the Pine Studio Discord.
  
• You can only submit one room. Multiple submissions will not be counted.
  
• Multiple builders can work together on one room, but there will be only one prize for them.
  
• It has to be an escape room.
  
• The gameplay should ideally be under 30 minutes, but it can be longer.
  
• You can make your room as big as you wish.
  
• You need to record a video walkthrough and post it on YouTube or similar video sharing site.
  
• You are allowed to bug fix your room after submission, but can not resubmit an entirely different
  
• All references to existing IPs (including names, images, models and sounds) must be edited, parodied or otherwise modified to infer a likeness to the original IP without directly copying it.
  
• Use models, textures, sounds and other assets that are either Creative Commons (CC0) with attribution, that are from the ES library, or that you have paid the license for.
  
• Copies of other players' rooms are not eligible.
  
• Keep it fun/clean! No profanity, racism, hate speech, sexually suggestive content, etc.. Rooms that might be considered offensive in any way or form will be disqualified.
  
• The Pine team will choose the winners for the Rookie and Experienced Builder Categories this time! The Community prize will, naturally, be decided by community votes.
  

• Submissions are open until December 18th 8PM CEST / 2PM EST
  
• We'll play and review all the submissions before December 21, which is when we will host a stream to announce the winners. More info about the stream will follow later!
  

• Less is more. Keep the map short. 15 to 30 minutes is ideal. If you arent sure if a puzzle is good or not, redesign it, or even better, cut it from your room. Its better to have 3 amazing puzzles, than 10 mediocre ones.
  
• Test test and test. Join the community in discord. Share your room and test it before submission.
  
• Less is more considering size. Walking simulators arent preferred. This is a puzzle game after all. :)
  
• Try to gear your map towards the average audience.
  
• Dont forget to create a good looking thumbnail and room description.
  
• Ask for help on discord. Most builders are willing to help.
  
• Dont forget about color blindness and hearing impairment when designing your puzzles.
  
• Try to show what happens when you solve a puzzle in the immediate vicinity. If you solve a puzzle, and a door opens in the other room - thats bad design.
  
• In the end its all about fun. Your room can have the most complex puzzles, or the shiniest graphics and amazing sound design, but if its boring it wont work!
  
• These are only guidelines that might help to make your room better. You can choose to ignore them all and go with your own flow.
  

[h2]For your consideration! [/h2]



The end of the year is approaching fast, which also means the Steam Awards 2023 are just around the corner! Even though Escape Simulator has been out on Steam for more than two years now, we have been adding as much interesting content to the game as possible and we aren't planning on slowing down any time soon! Just this year alone, we released 3 room updates for free and of course, the Portal Escape Chamber DLC, which is also available free of charge. Additionally, we are still improving on the in-game room editor by offering even more tools and utilities to the community room builders!

With that in mind, we would like to bring to your consideration that Escape Simulator is still eligible for a nomination in the Labor of Love category! If you want to show us some additional love and support, please consider nominating Escape Simulator for this category. You can cast your vote by checking the box at the top of this announcement. It would truly mean a lot to all of us here at Pine Studio!

[h2]Start escaping today! [/h2]



Don't own Escape Simulator yet, but have you (and your friends) been interested to try it out? Good news, because both the base game and the DLCs are part of the Autumn Sale which just kicked off! You can currently pick up the base game with a 25% discount or you can get the Steampunk and Wild West DLCs with a 10% discount!

[h2]Join our dedicated community![/h2]

That's it for today's announcement! We hope you will consider Escape Simulator for the Labor of Love award and if you'd like to talk to other escapists, be sure to join our community! You can come talk to us and other community members on our official Discord server or on our subreddit. We hope to see you there!

[h3] Pine team[/h3]

[h2]Even more monthly picks? [/h2]



That's right, we've prepared yet another batch of freshly picked community rooms for you to check out! In case you missed out last week's special Spooky Edition of our top community room picks, be sure to check it out right here. If you're not up for anything spooky right now, we've got plenty more room suggestions that might be just what you're looking for. So without any further ado, let's dive right into our monthly picks for October!

[h2]A mysterious talisman![/h2]



Napoleon's Lost Talisman by MajesticWind takes place at a museum featuring an exhibit on the life of Napoleon Bonaparte. We always love a good museum room, but what makes this one special is that it's based on a real-life escape room that was designed by the builder of its digital counterpart. Interestingly, we haven't seen a whole lot of escape rooms that were rebuilt in Escape Simulator so far! Now... who will be the first person to recreate an in-game community room in the real world?

[h2]What a twist! [/h2]



Sometimes, the title of a community room doesn't really require any further explanation from us. Case in point: A Space Room... With A Twist! by bigTbone59. The title pretty much says it all, doesn't it? It's a space room with a twist! What could that twist be? Why, you'll need to find out for yourself, of course!

[h2]An insightful escape room[/h2]



We always love to see it when the room builders from our community manage to create a unique experience and that's exactly what Brush$troke achieved with No Escape. No Escape features a narrative that explores a darker theme by putting players in the shoes of someone who's diagnosed with depression. It manages to tell a very personal and immersive story, which really sets it apart from most other community rooms.

[h2]It's a cat-astrophe! [/h2]



APOCATLYPSE by ilybitch definitely isn't the first cat-themed room to ever get featured on our monthly picks and we hope it won't be the last one either! APOCATLYPSE features excellent humour and some VERY interesting puzzles. Absolutely purrrrrfect for cat lovers and enthusiasts!

[h2] Don't let this sale escape! [/h2]
Surprise! Escape Simulator is currently discounted with 25% off until November 13. Don't let this sale escape you, and get yourself a copy of the game to start your big brain adventure!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1435790/Escape_Simulator/

[h2]See you next month![/h2]

And that's it for all of October's monthly picks! We hope you'll all enjoy these rooms as much as we did. If you would like to talk to some of the amazing builders featured here, then be sure to join us on our official Discord or come talk to us on our subreddit. We hope to see you there!

[h3] Pine team[/h3]

[h2]Spooky rooms galore![/h2]



November has arrived and despite the fact that Halloween has already come to an end, we can't help but feel like some of you might still want to play some very spooky rooms! If that's indeed the case, we hope your ready for this extra edition of our monthly community room picks.

Last month was absolutely filled to the brim with amazing creations by the builders from our community. That's why, for the first time ever, we are splitting our monthly picks into two editions! Today we will be having a look at some especially creepy rooms, whereas the regularly scheduled monthly picks will be posted somewhere over the course of next week! So without further ado, let's dive right into some of the most spine-chilling community rooms of October!

[h2]This is Halloween! [/h2]



Let's kick things off with a setting that will be very familiar to anyone who has ever seen The Nightmare Before Christmas! Halloween Town by cl0mar takes place in the titular town that's inhabited by all sorts of creepy crawlies. But don't be scared, because they're not mean! It's just how they live in this town of Halloween. Don't forget to take in all of the familiar sights and if you want to add an extra challenge to this room, try playing it without singing along the iconic soundtrack!

[h2]Can somebody please turn on the light?[/h2]



If you're scared of the dark, you might want to avoid this next room! Abandoned Floor is the third room in CUZT4RD's Dark Room series and as the title of that series implies, you will hardly find a single speck of light in these bone-chilling rooms. Abandoned Floor features a mysterious setting, so if you're up for a thrill, be sure to check it out!

[h2]Can you break the witch's curse? [/h2]



Next up, we've got Joca's Room Halloween Edition by a.dalpozzolo! In this room, you will need to break a curse that was cast by an evil witch. In order to so, you will need to find six hidden keys that are being protected by magical puzzles. Think you're up to the task?

[h2]Ghosts like coffee too, you know! [/h2]



After going through all of those creepy rooms, you might be inclined to play through something a bit more cozy. Luckily, even ghosts sometimes go on well-deserved breaks too! When they do, you might just find them at the Bewitched Beans Caf! In this cozy, haunted room by brushstroke, you will need to brew up some hot beverages and serve them to your undead customers. So wholesome!

[h2]Time to get your spooky on![/h2]

And that's it for all of our spooky community room picks! We hope you're all looking forward to our regularly scheduled monthly picks which will be announced over the course of next week. In the meantime, we hope you'll enjoy this extra spooky edition! If you would like to talk to some of the amazing builders featured here, then be sure to join us on our official Discord or come talk to us on our subreddit. We hope to see you there!

[h3] Pine team[/h3]

[h2]Two years have truly flown by! [/h2]

Can you believe it's already been two years already since Escape Simulator originally launched on Steam? After two years of consistent updates and many, many amazing contributions from our community builders, we are truly proud to see how far our little escape room game has come! We are also incredibly thankful to each and every one of you for sticking with us and for checking out every update we've added to the game since its initial launch. In this blog, we'll be looking back at the biggest accomplishments we've seen throughout the past twelve months, but first... let's look at a nice summary in the form of a neat infographic!



As you can see, the past twelve months have been incredible for all of us at Pine Studio and we can't express enough how much we appreciate all of your support. Now that we've looked at some hard data, let's dive a little bit deeper into all of the changes and updates that have been made since the one-year anniversary of Escape Simulator!

[h2]Ghosts, cowboys, artists, pirates, game show competitors AND scientists? What's next?! [/h2]

It really has been a busy year, hasn't it? Ever since the one-year anniversary of Escape Simulator, we have added four free rooms, one free DLC and one paid DLC to the game! We kicked things off by releasing the free spooky Graveyard room just before last year's Halloween. In December, we launched the rootin'-tootin' Wild West DLC. In March, we added the free room Leonardo's Workshop, in which you can explore the many secrets of the grandmaster of arts and inventions: Leonardo da Vinci.


Mamma mia! It's a ma-ma-masterpiece!

Next up, we didn't just add a single room, but an entire island. Treasure Island was another free room updated that allows you to live out all of your swashbuckling fantasies! Another surprising location came in the form of the free Versus Room, which has two difficulty modes and takes place on a game show from the 80's. This was part of the Versus Update, which also included Versus Mode, a brand-new way to experience the game with your frenemies!


Who's smarter? You or your friends?

Last but certainly not least, we added the very first free DLC to Escape Simulator just last month. This cake had been in the oven for a while and we still can't believe it's not a lie! We're talking about the Portal Escape Chamber DLC, of course! It has been an incredible honour for us to work on this Portal-inspired room and we have tried to put as much of our love for this legendary game series into the room as possible. We would like to once again thank Valve for approving this amazing project and making this dream of ours come true.


Have you already uncovered all of Aperture's secrets?

In addition to all of the new content for escapists, we are still trying to add as many features and props to the in-game room editor. Some significant features that were added during the past twelve months include functional mirrors, in-game walkthroughs and the option to add flowing water!

Once again, the builders from our community proved their worth and showcased their creativity during the third and fourth editions of the Build-A-Room contest. The stakes were higher than ever with amazing prices like a trip to Paris, multiple Steam Decks, VR sets and even a cash prize of $2,000! Not everything turned out to be a competition however, as our community also proved that team work can lead to great accomplishments. One of our favourite initiatives from last year was the amazing community room The Collab: Museum!



Finally, we were beyond excited to reveal that the much requested VR version of Escape Simulator is officially in development. We can't wait to share more about this upcoming project and we hope you continue to look forward to it. In case you haven't already, be sure to add Escape Simulator VR to your wishlist!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2440240/Escape_Simulator_VR/



[h2]...and there's still more where that came from! [/h2]

The fun won't stop, because we still have a lot more stuff planned for Escape Simulator! By now you might already be familiar with our roadmap for 2023, but just in case you haven't seen it already, let's have another look!



As you can see, we still have some surprises in store for you this year, but what happens after 2023? Well, we are delighted to tell you that plenty of new plans are already in the works for the upcoming year! We hope you'll continue to look forward to even more awesome content and in the meantime, we would like to thank all of you one final time for your continuous support. Please be sure to join us over on Discord and our subreddit to talk to us and the awesome builders from our community.

[h3] Pine team[/h3]

[h2]Who's ready to get spooky? [/h2]



It's October, which means the month of Halloween has officially arrived! Played through the Portal Escape Chamber DLC and looking for some new rooms to check out? Well, the builders from our community have got you covered! Whether you're looking for an eerie room or something a bit more cozy, there's sure to be something for you to play here. So without further ado, let's dive into our monthly picks for September!

[h2]Escape artist or art escapist? [/h2]



First off, we've got Art Reflects Reality by Noodl Eatr! As the title implies, this room is filled with various pieces of art that you will need to contemplate in order to find your way out. Art Reflects Reality is a shorter room with some very interesting puzzles that will definitely require you to rack your brain. A great debut room by Noodl Eatr and we can't wait to see more!

[h2]A mystery is afoot! [/h2]



Who doesn't love a good old spooky mystery? If you're looking for some suspense during the month of Halloween, then we can definitely recommend you to check out Masonic Mystery by kingz ~ A! In Masonic Mystery, you play as the new librarian at the King James Library. After your first day at the job, you realize that the keys to the library have gone missing! This unfortunate turn of events plunges you into a search that will lead to a series of discoveries about the hidden history of the Masonic order. Can you uncover all of the library's secrets?

[h2]Time to relax! [/h2]



Treasure of the Onsen Resort by Gingerbelle is a visually stunning room in which you play as a detective who's on a well-deserved holiday. Ever wanted to visit a beautiful mountain resort with hot springs and excellent views? Well, this is your chance! However, not everything at the resort is as it seems and your relaxing holiday might just get cut short by an impending mystery!

[h2]Competitive grocery shopping! [/h2]



Did you know that going out to get some groceries can actually be fun? Don't believe us? Then be sure to check out Supermarket Scramble by Robin, which literally turns grocery shopping into a fun little game! In this room, you will need to find each item on your grocery list, but there's a twist... all of the items you need are written down as anagrams! Additionally, the items on your list are randomized every time you play, making it a perfect room to play in Versus Mode. Be sure to check this one out with a friend!

[h2]Honorable mentions![/h2]

Finally, we would like to highlight a couple of additional rooms that caught our attention and are also definitely worth checking out! So if you still want more rooms to play, be sure to have a look at these as well!

• Locked In 2 [An Among Us Map] by KingBaconTape
  
• House off the Highway by kirinokaku.ttv
  
• Brews & Cues and SWAT by brushstroke
  

[h2]Meet Cico![/h2]

Welcome back to our "Meet the Builders" series, where we delve into the creative minds behind some of the most remarkable room designers in Escape Simulator. Last time we talked with Zesty and now it's Cico's turn!

Today we are putting the spotlight on Cico, who's known for some of the spookiest rooms ever to be created in our in-game Room Editor. Cico is one of the veteran builders from our community, who made the Little Emily series, The Motel II, Grandma's Kitty and many other excellent rooms! Now without further ado, it's time to meet the builder!

[h2]Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got into playing Escape Simulator?[/h2]
Hi, my virtual name is Cico, my real name is Anton, I'm French and I've been playing Escape Simulator since October 2021. Escape rooms have become a passion of mine since my first one in 2015. I've been working in a French escape game for two years now.

For some time I've been looking for a game that would allow me to create my own rooms and share them with other players. Escape Simulator became an obvious choice when I saw all the possibilities it could offer. And it has to be said that in a video game, there's no need to reset the room and tidy up after the players have gone through ahah.

[h2]What inspired you to start designing rooms in the game?[/h2]
After creating games and scenarios in real life, I needed a place where I could realise my greatest follies in a simple and inexpensive way, to take my ideas and scenarios from paper to virtual in a simple and intuitive way. When I discovered all the possibilities offered by the game and the constant support of the developers, I was immediately won over. I think it's the steam purchase I've hesitated least to make in the last five years.

[h2]You are known to make some very spooky rooms and the name Emily even sends shivers down the spines of many Escape Simulator players. How do you manage to effectively scare people every time? [/h2]
First of all, I'd like to apologise to all the Emily's who must hate me by now.
I think the most important thing is to focus on the story and the atmosphere. The fear doesn't just come when you're walking down a corridor and something pops up in front of you, but also when you have to open a heavy wooden door, it opens slowly and you have no idea what might be waiting behind it, hiding in the shadows and seemingly watching you for a long time. Playing on phobias, giving "the fear of being afraid" are important elements that give the player a feeling of never really being safe.


That name still sends shivers down our spines...

[h2]Out of all the people you managed to scare with your rooms, which one are you most proud of and why? [/h2]
I've been lucky enough to see several steamer or youtube videos on my rooms, and the DisguisedToast and Valkyrae videos are still hilarious moments for me. But I think the people I'm most proud of having scared or impressed are my close friends who test my rooms first and I love seeing their reactions. They know me and they're hard to surprise, so it's always a source of pride for me to impress them.

[h2]Can you walk us through your process of creating a room? (you sketch on paper, what tools, how you start)[/h2]
I usually start by putting my first ideas down on paper. First I think about the theme, the setting and above all the story. Once my ideas are clear, I think about the puzzles that might fit the story and the complexity I want the play to have. It's after these steps that I finally launch the game for some long and exciting hours of construction. I often change everything in the middle of construction, give up and start again from scratch, but I always get the same joy out of writing and designing a room. There's also a whole creation process that takes place on the side, with the images, clues and textures being put in place using photoshop and other software for the sound.


You'll just need to take care of grandma's kitty. What could possibly go wrong?

[h2]Even though you are known for your spooky rooms, you also created a bunch of rooms that were more light-hearted in tone like Grandmas Kitty. In which ways does your process for these rooms differ from your scary rooms?[/h2]
In reality, it's not so different from the horror rooms. The difference is mainly in the design of the atmosphere. Of course, seeing blood running down the walls of a little grandmother who just wants to feed her cat would be strange

I like to put little references to my past and future rooms in each adventure.
For me, rooms that don't have a horror theme are always more complicated to design. It's harder to convey emotions, but I like to put a little moment of suspense in all my rooms. Players who have played Grandma's Kitty may remember a little mouse that startled them.

[h2]What are some of your favorite rooms you've created so far, and what makes them unique?[/h2]
It's hard for me to choose but I'd have to say Grandma's Kitty and The Motel II are my favourites. I loved working on Grandma's Kitty with a colleague and friend to design the story and puzzles, it was rewarding to share ideas and design a fun room. For The Motel II it was a pleasure to rework an old room that had appeared in 2021, to revise the atmosphere, improve the puzzles and add the game's new technology. This room also allowed me to try out a new way of telling a story and to work more on the narration.


The Motel II turns a spooky classic into an even spookier place than before!

[h2]How do you come up with the themes and puzzles for your rooms?[/h2]
I find them in my dreams in the morning, by watching films, reading commentaries or talking to players at work. I'm also lucky enough to have a colleague at work who's full of crazy ideas.

[h2]What do you think are the key elements to creating a challenging yet enjoyable escape room?[/h2]
The most important thing is the story, the puzzles and the atmosphere. You have to be able to bring these three elements together for the whole thing to work. You don't want it to be too complicated, but you want to keep it fun and find ways to surprise players. It's also very important to follow players' opinions when publishing the room. Fix bugs (because there are always bugs that you wouldn't have thought of).

[h2]What are some tips and tricks you can share with players who want to try their hand at designing rooms in Escape Simulator?[/h2]
I'd say the most important thing is to take your time and make sure everything is as elaborate as you imagine it to be. Don't rush to get a piece out quickly, but apply yourself, as mentioned above, to the story, the puzzle and setting the atmosphere.

[h2]What are some lessons youve learned the hard way as a creator for Escape Simulator?[/h2]
I've learned that most players don't like rooms that are too complicated or too long. In my "Alton Manor" room, I wanted to create a multi-story adventure, but I realized that it was too easy to lose players in the space. I wanted a "difficult" room, and I think I've made the puzzles a little harder than I'd intended. It's a room that will appeal to players who like challenges and long rooms, but will confound players who want a fast-paced adventure.

[h2]Can you share any memorable experiences or funny stories that have happened while you were designing or playing your escape rooms?[/h2]
I'll call this story "the sprinkler sprinkled". After a month-long break from designing a horror room, I'd totally forgotten where I'd put half the screamers in the game. Thinking I'd deactivated them, I launched the simulation on the editor and screamed every time a little girl called Emily appeared. I ended up removing the sound and elements from the game for the day, so that I could continue working on the room.

[h2]What are some of the nicest reactions or interactions youve had with people who played one of your rooms?[/h2]
I love watching streams of the game and I'd say that any time I can interact live with players in the room is a fun interaction. I also love to see my friends testing my rooms live on discord, it gives me immense joy and pride to listen to their reactions. Their laughter, their comments or their shrill cries (I'm sure they'll recognize themselves reading this)

[h2]What do you feel has been your greatest Escape Simulator accomplishment so far?[/h2]
I don't know... maybe I'll say this interview and all the comments I can read on steam and discord. It's always a pleasure to know that we've been able to bring emotion to players, that we've made them laugh, that we've scared them, that we've made them think for a long time about an enigma or that we've allowed them to have a good time with friends.

[h2]Are there any features you would like to see added to the room editor in future updates?[/h2]
There are three features that interest me more than anything else. The first, for me, a fan of horrific rooms, would be a controllable flashlight that would make it possible to create truly dark rooms where only the player could light up, and give us, the sadistic room designers, the possibility of turning it off or making it blink in the worst (or best) moments of the adventure. The second, more open, would be the possibility of adding short videos, and the last, which is close to my heart, would be to add a translation tool that, depending on the version the player has chosen in the settings, would display a different, translated texture or sound, as with the clues, for example (as I am currently trying to do in my rooms but in a way that is more accessible to everyone).

[h2]Are there any other room designers in the game whose work you admire or draw inspiration from?[/h2]
I confess that I don't play much in the workshop room, but rather enjoy designing them. In the few rooms I've been able to play alone or with friends, I've enjoyed Robin's Immortal Canvas, Zesty's The Devilish Diorama and namo_krub's Karakuri Castle. This game is full of talent and people with overflowing imagination to create more and more surprising rooms.

[h2]What are your future plans for designing rooms in Escape Simulator? Do you have any big projects in the works? ;)[/h2]
I've got a LOT of projects on the go, room redesigns, rooms already teased on the network (Pirate, Magic...) and I'm gradually making progress on the rooms I'm happy with. But I'm happy to announce that I'm working on an even crazier Grandma's Kitty sequel, and an even more disturbing The Motel room continuity. I'm also working on a "tutorial" room with assets for new players wishing to start creating rooms.

Among all these rooms, I'm planning to release a big project that's particularly close to my heart, a room that's got nothing to do with what I'm used to releasing until now. It will be not only a room, but also an immersive experience that will play on a range of emotions such as fear, joy and sadness, and where narrative will be the main focus. It's still too early to say more about this adventure, but I can't wait to tell you all about it.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to answer these questions in your "Meet the Builders". I look forward to seeing the evolution of this game and all its talented creators. I also thank you for giving us a game and a space for unlimited imagination, and for giving us the opportunity to share that imagination with player.

Thank you for taking the time to tell us all about your process, Cico. We are looking forward to all of the exciting new projects you've got in store for us!

Want to talk to some of the room builders from our community yourself? Or maybe you've been thinking about becoming a room builder yourself, but you don't know where to start? Well, if that's the case, be sure to join our official Discord server or come talk to us on our subreddit. We hope to see you there!

[h2]Pine team [/h2]

Attention all Aperture personnel,

The day has finally come for you to (re-)enter the highly esteemed Aperture Science Laboratories! We expect you all to achieve many great things within these chambers, which are of course packed to the brim with all the resources necessary for you to escape do science stuff. Of course, any and all major scientific breakthroughs will be duly celebrated with some scrumptious lab rat treats cake. Not a lie!
[previewyoutube=sfr0LCS67-U;full][/previewyoutube]
We are thrilled to announce that the wait is finally over, because the Portal Escape Chamber DLC (approved by Valve!) is out now! This means that anyone who already owns a copy of Escape Simulator can now add this free DLC to their library on the official store page. Don't own a copy yet? You're in luck, because Escape Simulator is currently on the biggest sale ever with a 33% discount!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1435790/Escape_Simulator

[h2]Science isn't about WHY, it's about WHY NOT! [/h2]

Picture this: a minor workplace mishap has led to a complete lockdown within the Aperture facility, and you and your fellow scientists find yourselves trapped within the labs. When life gives you lemons you strap on your thinking caps, lace up those metaphorical puzzle-solving shoes, and dive into a maze of mind-bending puzzles. Safety protocols be damned!

Team up with up to nine other scientists to strategize, and put your ingenuity to the test as you navigate through meticulously crafted puzzles and intricately designed test chambers lab rooms. Who knows, maybe youll even be rewarded with a flour-based confection for all your efforts!

With the new Portal DLC out, were looking forward to our next major milestone, Escape Simulator VR! In this VR version, you will be able to play all the rooms from the base game as well as all the community-created rooms. So wishlist it now as it helps us greatly!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2440240/Escape_Simulator_VR

Of course we still have a lot of additional updates and much more exciting news planned for Escape Simulator, so we hope you'll continue to look forward to that! In the meantime, have a quick look at our updated roadmap for 2023. What could possibly be hiding behind those last two images?



[h2]So how are you holding up? [/h2]

Theres a lot more exciting news on the way, so keep those portals primed, and those cubes cuddled, and be sure to keep in touch on our channels for more updates! Love the game and want to talk to other players and room builders? Then please consider joining our official Discord or subreddit! In the meantime, wed like to thank you all again for your unwavering support. We hope you enjoy this update as much as we do, and we cannot wait to hear what you think about it!

[h3]Pine team [/h3]

[h2]Looks like my summer vacation is over... [/h2]



Wait, it's september already? Where DOES the time go? As some of the more dedicated players (and builders of course!) may have noticed, we unfortunately missed out on our August edition of the monthly community room picks due to a well-deserved holiday break. That's why this month, we would like to make it up to you all with an XL-sized Summer Edition of our monthly picks!

But before we get into the very best creations of the past few months, we would once again like to direct your attention to the free Portal Escape Chamber DLC, which is releasing in two days! We are incredibly proud of this brand-new room, which was officially approved by Valve and we can't wait for all of you to play it. If you haven't done so already, it would help us immensely if you could add the free Portal DLC to your Steam wishlist by going to the dedicated store page via the button below!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2000170/Escape_Simulator_Portal_Escape_Chamber

Now, let's get right into things as we reveal some of our very favourite community rooms that were published this Summer. There were a LOT of incredible rooms to pick from, so we hope you're ready!

[h2]Such a peaceful garden... [/h2]



We're kicking off this Summer Edition of the monthly picks with Chronicles of the Forgotten Wisdom - Ch. III by GG3L, which takes place in a beautiful garden filled with secrets! But not all is as it may seem, as this garden is filled with optical illusions and enigmas for you to decipher. Be sure to check this one out!

[h2]Are you up for a challenge? [/h2]



Looking for some deceivingly tricky puzzles that will have you racking your brain? Then you can always rely on room builder Wollo to scratch that itch! This definitely goes for his latest room Neon, which has you solve a series of mind-bending puzzles in what seems to be some sort of hyper-futuristic dataspace. A big departure from Wollo's last room Joe's Garage, which deserves an honorable mention for telling a truly gripping and emotional story. Fun fact: Wollo also helped us out with the puzzles for the hard mode version of the Versus Room!

[h2]This labyrinth is a-maze-ing![/h2]



Still in need for another sequence of intricately designed puzzles? Then be sure to check out The Crystal Labyrinth by Leo as well! In this titular labyrinth, you will need to collect multiple crystals by solving a series of puzzle rooms, with each one being slightly more devious than the last one. Puzzles galore!

[h2]All bets are off! [/h2]



Time for a completely different type of setting now, because Burgle Battle at the Canary by Crusty White Dog takes place at a grand casino! You're not just here to gamble though, because you have entered The Canary with a much bigger prize on your mind: The prestigious Canary Diamond! Chances are, you won't win this prize through fair play alone.

[h2]Have you been studying well? [/h2]



Leave it up to MelonVerse to create a truly magical room with some excellent visuals! During the Potions Class Semester Test you will need to prove that you can brew up tonics and potions like no other wizard could before. What's especially interesting about MelonVerse's latest creation, is that it has randomized puzzles! This means you can technically replay this room in 362880 unique ways. No cheating your way through this semester test!

[h2]A worthy tribute to a classic pirate game! [/h2]



At Pine Studio, we absolutely love ourselves a good old Point & Click Adventure game. So when it comes to this genre, you simply HAVE to pay respect to the Monkey Island series. That was exactly what room builder CuberToy set out to do while creating The Barbery Coast! This room is chock-full of references to this classic series and it perfectly represents the visual style of The Curse of Monkey Island in a 3D environment. We love to see it!

[h2]An enchanting garden! [/h2]



If you've ever played one of Robin's rooms before, you will know that the voice acting and room design are undoubtedly going to be absolutely stellar. The Glass Garden is a visually stunning room taking place in a magical garden, in which you will need to undergo four trials relating to the four elements. It goes without saying that if you enjoy great room design and intricate puzzles, that you should definitely check this one out!

[h2]Ready to enter the Aperture Science Laboratories? [/h2]

And that's it for this very special edition of our monthly picks! We hope these seven excellent rooms are enough to keep you busy until the free Portal Escape Chamber DLC launches next Thursday (September 7th!). As always, we hope you'll enjoy these rooms much as we did! If you would like to talk to some of the amazing builders from our community, then sure to join us on our official Discord or come talk to us on our subreddit. We hope to see you there!

[h3] Pine team[/h3]

Hey there Builders!
The past few weeks have been incredibly exciting for us here at Pine. Your enthusiasm and participation in the Build-A-Room #4: Versus Challenge have been nothing short of amazing. It's been a wild ride full of creativity, jaw-dropping designs, and fierce competition. Now, the moment you've all been waiting for has arrivedthe winners are here!

[h3] First Place:[/h3]

• Get Down, Get Down! by Franch
  

• The Clockwork Games by Duc
  
• Pet The Cat by Bartololomeo
  
• Game Master Wanted! by Eureka Paprika
  

• Hungry Hungry Bovines! by Tim J
  
• Castle of Secrets: The King's Escape by GG3L
  
• TaskFaster by CeruleanK
  
• Stranded by Cl0mar
  
• The Labyrinth Race by BenignCyborg
  
• ROOM RUSH by Scrumpus
  

Dear test subjects,

Your services are required in this new Portal Escape Chamber on September 7th. This chamber is approved by Valve and based on the Aperture Science Enrichment Center from the Portal games! We are of course incredibly thankful to the entire team at Valve for letting us create this new free DLC, which is truly a wish come true for all of us at Pine Studio!

[previewyoutube=qQplViipOW4;full][/previewyoutube]
In this free-to-play DLC for Escape Simulator, you and fellow subjects scientists (up to nine) were part of a minor workplace incident, causing the place to go into a state of complete lockdown. Now that youre trapped in this laboratory, its up to you all to stay calm and escape.



Solve puzzles, repair the Personality Core, reunite with some familiar cube-shaped friends, and break the Aperture Laboratories safety protocols to gain your freedom. And to make your escape a little bit sweeter. we promise that there will be cake. No lie.



Read more and wishlist on the Steam page:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2000170/Escape_Simulator_Portal_Escape_Chamber/

[h2] Build-a-Room contest is still going! [/h2]

To our builders, dont forget our current Build-a-Room challenge! To coincide with our Versus update that was released last week, we want you to create your own room that fits with this theme ! For more information, be sure to read the announcement!

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1435790/view/3666544940498467272

[h2] Join your fellow cake enjoyers [/h2]

We sure hope that this announcement gave you some appetite for this new sweet escape adventure! Theres a lot more exciting things coming to Escape Simulator, so be sure to join our Discord or subreddit so you wont miss out on anything!


[h3]Pine team [/h3]

We're packing our bags for a (well deserved) 2-week summer break, but not before delivering a sizzling hotfix packed with bunch of fixes!
Don't forget to enter our Build-a-Room #4 challenge it's your chance to get creative and win a cool $2000!



Changelog:

[h2]Versus Core[/h2]

• Fixed freeze if you are playing versus mode with a room that has an eject slot at the beginning of the map
  
• Removed "You Lost!" message if you are left alone in a versus map.
  
• Versus trophy screen is visually much more consistent across all maps.
  
• Fixing freeze at Versus rooms where the game would freeze if other players disconnect at the trophy screen.
  
• Fixed bug where versus leaderboards would display 1 instead 10.
  

• Adjusted lasers in "Versus Apprentice" room so its easier to see if you finished the puzzle
  
• Adjusted hints for "Versus Apprentice" room.
  
• Adjusted laser block time in "Versus Apprentice" so it's a more fluid feel.
  
• Adjusting Japanese translations in "Versus Apprentice".
  
• Fixing bug where rotating cubes could be rotated at a weird angle in "Versus Apprentice".
  

• Adjusted random lobbies so they look for additional regions for a match.
  
• Searching for a random lobby now shows "Connecting" panel and disallows click spamming random matches.
  

• Fixing freeze in "The Elevator" in coop when picking up a key.
  
• Fixed wrong player spawn locations in "The Metaverse" in versus mode.
  

• Removed token UI in rooms that have no tokens.
  
• Fixing soft lock if you leave a zoom
  
• Fixing bug where big items would clip through a player when entering a slot.
  
• Changed "Dynamic Walkthrough" Steam tag to "Versus".
  

Hello Room Builders!

In case you missed it in yesterdays VS Update announcement, a new Build-A-Room has started! With only one condition, it needs to be a Versus room, perfect for our room escapers to put on their smarty pants and racing shoes!

[previewyoutube=weeOjkY0Ais;full][/previewyoutube]
You can submit your rooms until August 21st 8AM CEST / 2AM EST. The Pine Team will play and review all the submissions until August 31st. Like before, well host a winning ceremony stream and announce the winners. Once we have a date for that, well let you all know!

[h2] What are the prizes this time? [/h2]

• The first place winner will earn themselves $2.000 in cash + an escape room board game by PostCurious!
  
• The second and third place winners get $100 Steam gift card + an escape room board game by PostCurious!
  
• Winner #4-10 get a $100 Steam gift card!
  

• To submit a room for the competition, post a link to your room in the "#challenges" channel in the Pine Studio Discord, or you can send a submission via this Steam thread.
  
• You can only submit one room. Multiple submissions will not be counted.
  
• Multiple builders can work together on one room,but there will be only one prize for them.
  
• It has to be a room escape.
  
• The gameplay should be ideally under 30 minutes, but it could be longer.
  
• You can make the room as big as you wish.
  
• You need to record a video walkthrough.
  
• You are allowed to bug fix your room after submission, but you cant resubmit an entirely different room.
  
• Copies of other players' rooms are not eligible.
  
• Keep it fun/clean! No profanity, racism, hate speech, sexually suggestive, etc. content. Rooms that might be considered offensive in any way or form will be disqualified.
  
• The Pine team will choose the winners this time!
  

• Go to Escape Simulator, "Workshop" button, "Your Rooms," and press "Create". This creates an empty room, and you can start building.
  
• To get some help, you can look through "Tutorial Rooms" and learn the basics such as puzzles and animation.
  
• Watch our tutorial video.
  
• Finally, you can also join our dedicated Discord community to ask about anything you might need help with!
  
• Less is more sometimes! ;)
  

[previewyoutube=weeOjkY0Ais;full][/previewyoutube]
[h2]Are you ready for a battle of the brains? [/h2]

Always wondered if you were the one with the biggest brain among your friends? Today you'll be able to find out for yourself by challenging them in Escape Simulator's brand-new Versus Update! Rise to the top of the ranks by being the first to solve all the puzzles in one of our many escape rooms. To commemorate this new way to play, we are also adding a truly challenging room that takes place on a quiz show from the 80s.

Finally, we would like to challenge all of our community's incredibly talented room builders to create their own Versus rooms! That's right, we are kicking off our fourth official Build-A-Room challenge TODAY! As always, there are some awesome prizes involved. Be sure to keep reading for more information on this new Build-A-Room challenge down below!

The Versus Update is absolutely huge and it features a new game mode, new rooms, soundtrack, outfits, a few very interesting additions (such as "join random multiplayer lobby" option), and a bunch of fixes. The full massive changelog is in the bottom of the page.

[h2]But how does it work?[/h2]

As the title implies, in this brand-new Versus Mode, you will be able to take on other players to prove that you are the greatest escape artist. Just like in the regular Co-op Mode, one player will need to host a game to create a lobby for your opponents to join. Once that's settled, youll have to select a room that each of you will be tackling individually. You can choose any room you want, even the community rooms made in the in-game room editor!

Once you've selected and entered a room, the game begins. In order to keep track of how far along your opponents are, we've added an in-game progress bar that shows you exactly whether you're ahead of the game or if you should step it up a notch! This progress bar will allow you to see the exact progress of your opponents. No pressure or anything.

[h2]Back to the 80s! [/h2]

In addition to the new game mode, we are also adding another free room with two different difficulties (the hard one is designed in collaboration with Wollo!) as part of this update! This time, you will find yourself on the set of a classic game show from the 80's. This room was specifically made with Versus Mode in mind, so you can definitely expect a truly challenging room this time around! Finally, we are also adding a brand-new outfit that will come in two different colours; red and blue! Will your team come out on top and steal the show? Only time will tell!


Build-A-Room #4: Versus Challenge!

As mentioned earlier on in this announcement, the next Build-A-Room contest kicks off RIGHT NOW! The only condition for this contest? Create your own Versus Room that is explicitly made to have players race against each other. But what can you win? Well, we're glad you asked!

[h2]Prizes:[/h2]

• The first place winner will earn themselves $2.000 in cash + an escape room board game by PostCurious!
  
• The second and third place winners get $100 Steam gift card + an escape room board game by PostCurious
  
• Winner #4-10 get a $100 Steam gift card!
  

• To submit a room for the competition, post a link to your room in the "#challenges" channel in the Pine Studio Discord, or you can send a submission via this Steam thread.
  
• You can only submit one room. Multiple submissions will not be counted.
  
• Multiple builder can work together on one room together but there will be only one prize for them.
  
• It has to be a room escape.
  
• The gameplay should be ideally under 30 minutes, but it could be longer.
  
• You can make room as big as you wish.
  
• You need to record a video walkthrough.
  
• You are allowed to bug fix your room after submission, but not resubmit an entirely different room.
  
• Copies of other players' rooms are not eligible.
  
• Keep it fun/clean! No profanity, racism, hate speech, sexually suggestive, etc. content. Rooms that might be considered offensive in any way or form will be disqualified.
  
• Pine team will choose the winners this time!
  

• This Thursday, August 3rd at 8PM CEST, we'll host a Steam stream with Q&A
  
• Submissions are open till August 21st 8AM CEST / 2AM EST
  
• We'll play and review all the submissions till August 31st when we will host a winning ceremony (stream) and announce the winners. More info about the stream later.
  

• 3, 2, 1, Race! Two Versus specific rooms just landed in the game.
  
• Immerse yourself in Versus mode with new customization options featuring 2 racer outfits.
  
• Try the new Random Game finder if you can't find players to play with.
  
• Use Versus props in room editor to create thrilling racing rooms.
  

• New Roulette Logic Prop! Finally some randomness. Activate one random target from the Targets list!
  
• Camera movement speed setting! Now you can modify the camera movement speed setting while holding right click and scrolling. Use shift/ctrl while moving to temporarily modify the speed.
  
• Added tooltips for all targets. Now you can tell which target is which by setting its Descriptive name and checking the tooltip.
  
• Right click prop selection window UX fixes. Modified when the window is closed, how it reacts to other right clicks, right clicking over gizmo and more.
  
• No more double clicking after using the prop search field.
  
• Fixed highlighting hovered props behind tranform gizmo which cannot be selected.
  
• Fixed some props rotations.
  
• Fixed some props being in multiple groups.
  
• Fixed loading older rooms not opening due to wrong serialized data.
  

• Added a new Host screen with additional options.
  
• Added option to change lobby options while already in a lobby.
  
• Added option to choose game difficulty in lobby - Normal or Hard
  
• Added new a hover outline type that is less intrusive. You can change it in Options -> Hover Effect Type.
  
• Added interaction when clicking the dial that moves the dial for one step.
  
• Changed versioning system to one number, removing prefix 1.0. For example v1.0.27288n became v27288n.
  

• Fixed game crash when spamming water turning on and off in "The Lab".
  
• Removed Steam Cats in Time popup in "Cats in time".
  
• Fixed not exiting zoom on specific locks in "Leonardo's Workshop".
  
• Fixed wrong lock click direction in "70's Room" and "Treasure Island".
  

• Fixed flashing objects when selecting them in inventory.
  
• Fixed custom models changing size in certain conditions.
  
• Fixed invisible items when being dragged in zoom.
  
• Fixed bug where you could lose an item when spamming click on zoomed item while throwing it out.
  
• Items no longer shrink if you leave zoom while they animate.
  
• Fixed bug where you could duplicate item while spamming E and changing item via numpad.
  
• Fixed bug where you could end some interactions too soon if you click alt.
  
• Added error screen if you try to enter a lobby with corrupted data or the lobby doesn't exist anymore.
  

• Fixed Steamdeck UI bugs in co-op screen.
  
• Fixed UI bug where some dropdowns would have extra white elements on edges.
  
• Fixed rare case of UI overlapping after finishing room ("Use" was behind room stats on the top right).
  
• Fixed buttons staying highlighted in the in-game menu when exiting the menu with ESC.
  

[previewyoutube=50_Ao47FEyo;full][/previewyoutube]
[h2]Versus Mode is coming to Escape Simulator![/h2]

Team work makes the dream work? As if! In the upcoming Versus mode, every player must fend for themselves. Which puzzle fanatic within your friend group will come out on top? Theres only one way to find out! Challenge your friends to an escape room extravaganza in the FREE Versus Update, which will let you experience all of your favorite rooms in a brand-new way. Coming to Escape Simulator on August 1st!

[h2]The race is on![/h2]


In the brand-new Versus Mode, you will be able to take on your friends to see which one of you is the best puzzle solver. Just like in the regular Co-op Mode, one of you will need to host a game to create a lobby. Next up, youll have to select a room that each of you will be tackling individually. This means everyone will need to make it through the same room on their own merit!

As soon as you have all entered the room that youre about to escape from, the game is on. Not feeling the pressure yet? Well, perhaps the in-game rank list can help you with that! While playing in Versus Mode, you will be able to see the progress of your opponents. Try to keep a cool head to rise through the ranks!


Versus Mode will also be compatible with community rooms made in the Room Editor. This means you will still be able to challenge your friends to tackle new rooms even if you have already played through the entire base game!

[h2]Are you ready for your close-up?[/h2]



In addition to Versus Mode, we are also adding a brand-new room with two different difficulties that is specifically designed to take on your friends. Ever wanted to be on a game show from the 80s? Good news, because both you and your friends got invited to be participants in the most challenging game show on broadcast television! And dont worry, if your friends cant make it, youll still be able to play this room in Solo Mode. Finally, we are also adding a brand-new outfit that will come in two different colours; red and blue! Which team will you join?

[h2]1v1 me, bro![/h2]


We hope youre all excited for this brand-new way to experience Escape Simulator! Want to find other players to challenge when Versus Mode launches on August 1st? Then you should definitely join our official Discord. You can also find us over on Reddit to talk about all things Escape Simulator. We hope to see you there!

[h3]Pine team [/h3]

[h2]It belongs in a museum![/h2]

Ever since Escape Simulator originally launched, we've seen many excellent community rooms get published on the Steam Workshop. Today, another very ambitious room joins the ranks! The Collab: Museum is an incredible team effort, created by sixteen different builders from within our community. The Collab: Museum is a follow-up to last year's The Collab: Boardgames that sets the bar for community rooms even further!

[h2]Subscribe here: The Collab: Museum[/h2]



As the title implies, you will need to escape from an awe-inspiring, spacious museum in which many imposing showpieces are put on display. The Collab: Museum is a true team effort that perfectly showcases what the Escape Simulator community is capable of and we are honored to see such an awesome creation come to fruition. Be sure to subscribe to this room on the Steam Workshop or check it out via the in-game room selection screen!



The Collab: Museum was made by:

• ChazzyB
  
• Duc
  
• Elkondo
  
• Eureka Paprika
  
• Franch
  
• GetOffMyBeard
  
• Klemes
  
• klov3r
  
• Kusane
  
• LeoWolfbane
  
• Mumbo
  
• namo_krub
  
• Robin
  
• Thoroniul
  
• Wollo
  
• Zesty Mordant

[h2]Changelog:[/h2]

• The Puzzle Logic prop has been updated and it had it's functionality changed to better suit general use and our next update!
  
• Fixed "The Train" totem freeze.
  

[h2]Changelog:[/h2]

• Fixed Puzzle prop not saving properly
  
• Time scale of the water prop can now also be transitioned
  

[h2]Summer has arrived! [/h2]

Ahoy there, mateys! In case you missed it, last month we released a brand-new, free room update for Escape Simulator. This update contains the biggest level in Escape Simulator so far: Treasure Island! This pirate-themed level provides the freedom to explore a vast island hiding a secret treasure chest filled with gems, jewels and other valuable items.

Speaking of treasure, we are also opening up a treasure chest filled with assets for builders to design their very own tropical settings with! That's because as of today, we are adding a whole bunch of palm trees, beaches and many pirate-themed objects to the in-game Room Editor! We are also adding a new water logic prop (and it's awesome!) We can't wait to see what the ever-so-talented room builders will create with all of these new items.



Last month, we also revealed that Escape Simulator VR is now in development! It would mean the world to us if you could add Escape Simulator VR to your Steam Wishlist, as it helps us immensely. You can do so right here or via the button below.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2440240/Escape_Simulator_VR/

Finally, Escape Simulator and all of its DLC's are currently on sale as part of the Steam Summer Sale. Be sure to tell your friends or grab one of those DLC's if you haven't done so already! Of course, June also saw the release of an abundance of brilliant rooms made by the room builders from our community. We are incredibly thankful for their never-ending creativity, so without further ado... let's have a look at our monthly picks for June!

[h2]Fun at the laundromat! [/h2]



In the past, we have already seen many incredibly original locations recreated in our Room Editor, but so far we have never seen a room based on a laundromat yet! However, with the release of Laundry Day by namo_krub, you can now do wash your clothes while also solving some tricky puzzles! Can you make a clean escape from this laundromat?

[h2]Donut miss out on this tasty room! [/h2]



Managed to make your way out of the laundromat, but now you're feeling hungry? Then you should definitely pay a visit to the Jobville Donut Shop. In this room by GetOffMyBeard, you will need to perform a series of tasks to make sure the titular donut shop keeps running properly. This includes managing the orders, fixing the Wi-Fi and starting up the Donut Maker 5000. Can you get it all done before your boss returns?

[h2] or ?[/h2]



In Tic-Tac-Tomb by A Really Short Hobbit. you take on the role of an archaeologist who uncovers the tomb of the forgotten pharaoh Tic-Tac-Tut. In order to make your way through the tomb, you will need to solve a series of puzzles based on the ancient game of Tic-Tac-Toe. The one who manages to solve all of them will be rewarded with a valuable golden orb!

[h2]Time to get spooked all over again! [/h2]



Just when you thought you were safe, the ghost of Little Emily returns! For Little Emily: Chapter I THE REMAKE, Cico revisited one of his classic and probably most infamous community rooms so far and enhanced it to make the experience even spookier! If you're not familiar with Little Emily yet, be warned! This room is not for the faint of heart.

[h2]It's a wrap![/h2]

And that's it for June's monthly picks! As always, we hope you'll enjoy these rooms just as much as we did! Want to talk to some of the room builders from our community or just share your enthusiasm for Escape Simulator? Then be sure to join us on our official Discord or on our subreddit. We hope to see you there!

[h3] Pine team[/h3]

[h2]Join us for another Pine Studio livestream![/h2]

We hope you've got your mind-boggling questions ready, as tonight we aim to answer as many of your questions as possible during this AMA livestream! It will kick off today, July 6 at 8PM CEST / 11AM PST. The livestream will take place right here on Steam. During the livestream, we will also be announcing June's monthly community room picks! If you've got any questions for us; be sure to ask them in the comments down below. We hope to see you there!

[h3] Pine team[/h3]

[h2]General Fixes[/h2]

• Fixing rare case where you couldn't use slot in tutorial
  
• Zoomables do not rotate weirdly in coop anymore
  
• Fixed item not entering correct slot if it enters 2 slots in the same frame
  
• Fixed parenting issue in Room Editor
  

• Reduced number of packets in "The Elevator"
  
• Fixed weird navigation hole in "The Elevator"
  
• Fixed badges puzzle in "The Saloon"
  

[h2]General[/h2]

• Fixed token on "The Top"
  
• Fixed some sound issues in "Treasure Island"
  
• Fixed crash caused by pinning items
  
• Fixed crash in "Executive Office" caused by a screwdriver
  

[h2]X marks the spot! [/h2]



Ahoy there, scurvy dogs! Arrrr ye prepared for another swashbucklin adventure in Escape Simulator? Yed better be, because were plottin a course to Treasure Island! This free update features a brand-new room in which youll be able to explore a vast island thats said to hide an invaluable treasure. The Treasure Island update also comes with a matching outfit and an additional soundtrack to accompany you on your quest for booty!
Finally, we also made a whole bunch of fixes and additions for which the full changelog can be found all the way at the bottom of this announcement!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1435790/Escape_Simulator/

To celebrate the launch of this new room, you can now get Escape Simulator with a 25% discount! So if you haven't purchased the game yet or want to gift it to a friend, now would be the perfect time to do so!



With this new update, two secrets from our roadmap for 2023 have been revealed! In case you missed it, we recently announced Escape Simulator VR, which is coming soon. In this VR version, all rooms from the base game will be playable, meaning you will soon be able to explore Treasure Island from up close as well! We would truly appreciate it if you can add Escape Simulator VR to your wishlist on the Steam Store here or via the button below.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2440240/Escape_Simulator_VR

[h2]Avast, ye landlubbers![/h2]



We hope youre all ready to set sail to Treasure Island and we cant wait to hear your thoughts on this brand-new room! As you can see in our roadmap for 2023, theres still plenty of updates coming up, so please look forward to even more announcements soon. In the meantime, feel free to join us over on our official Discord or subreddit. We hope to see you there!

[h3]Pine team [/h3]

Full changelog:

New content:

• Shiny new room: Treasure Island
  
• New character customization options for Treasure Island
  
• New Puzzle logic prop for the room editor
  

• Saves are now in Json format.
  
• Fixed some RAM memory leaks
  
• Reduced size of the game
  
• Objects cannot enter two slots by throwing
  
• More performant Mirrors
  
• Mirrors work in zoom
  
• CJK Fonts now work on Steam deck
  
• Added zoom in hint on controller when possible to zoom in
  
• Internal rework of sliding puzzles so they are less error-prone
  
• Fixed all small UI input offsets in levels
  
• Added rounded corners where they were missing
  
• Next Level now works across all extra rooms
  
• Particles are now hidden in ghost placement objects
  
• Changed the way items are interacting with physics engine, resulting in more fluid collisions
  

• Every puzzle now has a name
  
• Every sent data packet is smaller, Coop should work better
  
• Rework of syncing object poses, the packets are much more smaller, bigger rooms are more smooth now
  
• Fixing crashing when interacting with items with weird parenting in custom rooms
  
• Items are now spawned into host's inventory when a player disconnects
  
• Items are now thrown from the hand resulting in smoother animation
  

• Audio crashes with sound props fixed
  
• Better handling of audio on large rooms
  
• Zoomables now with free camera position
  
• Walkthrough text cutting off and not saving fixed
  
• Editor Tutorial rooms - fixed teleport buttons
  
• Fixed Game freeze on dragging objects to slots
  
• Locks don't need to trigger sound props with a 1
  
• Open walkthrough with H for testing in room editor
  

• Fix "The Top" bug where multiple people would "solve" slider puzzle.
  
• Far objects in "The Top" are now pingable in coop
  
• Orange is more orange than ever in "Leonardo's Workshop"
  
• Fixed wrong syncing of balls in "Chamber of Danger"
  
• Better colliders in the clock of "The Underground Lab"
  
• Fixed keypad position in "The Lab"
  
• Fixed "Decompression Chamber" bug where tool would be fly in the air after using it.
  
• Reduced amount of net packets sent in "Space Walk", should be smoother
  
• Better controller handling of rope puzzle on "The Engine Room"
  
• Fixed disk syncing in "The Engine Room"
  
• Better controller handling of final puzzle on "The Helm"
  
• Better colliders in sink of "The Saloon"
  
• As always, we've added more bugs to fix later
  

[previewyoutube=Ty58-Uc-lyo;full][/previewyoutube]
[h2]Set sail for adventure! [/h2]



Arrr, mateys! Are ya ready for the treasure hunt of a lifetime? Prepare to join our jolly crew on June 22, when we launch another free update next week featuring the brand-new Treasure Island room! In this new room, you'll be able to explore a vast and extensive island that's said to be hiding a big chest full of invaluable knick-knacks, gems and jewels. Treasure Island is our biggest free room yet and we can't wait for you to discover each and every corner of this tropical setting. Avast, ye landlubbers!



With this new update coming out next week, we have now officially revealed two columns from our 2023 roadmap! In case you missed it, we recently announced Escape Simulator VR which will be coming soon. If you haven't already, it would mean the world to us if you could wishlist it here or via the button below!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2440240/Escape_Simulator_VR/



[h2]Exploring in style![/h2]

Whether you're hunting for treasure on your own or with a mighty pirate crew, you're going to need some new threads to withstand the summer heat. No worries, we've got you covered! As always, this new update will come with an exciting new outfit that will fully prepare you for all of the challenges you will face on this island. Additionally, Treasure Island also comes with a brand-new soundtrack that will surely get you in the mood for some swashbuckling action!



[h2]A pirate's life for me! [/h2]

We hope all of you are excited to set sail to Treasure Island when it launches next week on June 22! There be a lot more updates on the horizon, so be sure to keep an eye (or two) out on our various channels. In the meantime, join the excitement over on our official Discord or subreddit. We hope to see you there!

[h3]Pine team [/h3]


PS. Yes. We ARE adding a crab as well!

[previewyoutube=ujc7uMIzXrg;full][/previewyoutube]
[h3]VR WHEN?!?![/h3]

If theres one question weve seen in our community a lot, its definitely VR when? We know many of you are very eager to experience Escape Simulator in VR and we're thrilled to reveal that development of Escape Simulator VR is officially underway!

The official store page for Escape Simulator VR is live right now! It would mean a lot to us if you could add ES: VR to your wishlist, as it helps us immensely!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2440240/Escape_Simulator_VR

While we cant share any specific details about the expected release date just yet, we are working hard to bring this new way of experiencing Escape Simulator to you soon.


There ain't no party like a VR dance party!


[h3]The Roadmap[/h3]

Finally, while part of our team is working on this VR version, we still have many other updates in store! Currently, we have five free rooms in development, the first FREE collab DLC, and the third paid DLC. Last but not least, we are also preparing another Build-A-Thon which will undoubtedly result in many excellent new rooms made by the community! To summarize everything thats coming up for Escape Simulator, heres a handy little road map to guide you!



We hope you are all just as excited as we are for everything thats coming and if you want to share your excitement with us and other players, be sure to join us on Discord or Reddit. We hope to see you there!

[h3]Pine Studio <3[/h3]

[h2]June has arrived![/h2]

It's another new month, which can only mean one thing! Time to look back at everything that happened last month. In case you missed it, we introduced a brand-new recurring section called Meet The Builders. In this first edition of Meet The Builders, we interviewed room builder Zesty Mordant. Of course, a whole bunch of excellent community rooms got released as well! So without further ado, let's dive into our monthly picks for May!

(PS. We have a bunch of exciting new announcements coming up soon, so be sure to stay tuned! )

[h2]Who wants to play pool? [/h2]



Who doesn't love to play some rounds of pool? Well, as luck would have it, there's a pool tournament going on at The Red Lion! The only problem is the billiard balls, as well as the key for the Old English Pub have gone missing. In this room by builder Mocklate Donkey, it's up to you to find the missing items and get the tournament going!

[h2]An enigmatic escape![/h2]



Enigmas of the Nile by GG3L is an incredibly polished looking room, set in an ancient Egyptian temple. This room stands out for its fun and intuitive puzzle design that probably won't have you doubting your puzzle skills for too long, On top of that, it's always fun to explore some ancient ruins, right?

[h2]Time to go back to school! [/h2]



Room builder GetOffMyBeard has become a bit of a household name within our community and his latest room 4 Privet Drive is a very interesting one! For this room, GetOffMyBeard took a very different approach by locking your character in place to recreate the feeling of a point 'n click adventure game! Before returning back to Hogwarts, you'll need to gather your stuff and place them in your trunk. Definitely give this one a try!

[h2]A remake of three classic rooms! [/h2]



Our in-game Room Editor has gone through a numerous amount of updates since launch, providing our community with more and more options to optimize their room. Recently, we've been seeing several 'remakes' of classic community rooms pop up and that's exactly what Brengo did for The Scientist's Breakthrough! This room serves as both a remake and a compilation of Brengo's first room series, reimagined as a continuous adventure. If you've never played these before or want to see how they have changed, this one is an absolute must-play!

[h2]More awesome stuff coming up! [/h2]

And that's it for May! As always, we hope you'll enjoy these monthly picks as much as we did! Want to talk to some of the room builders from our community or just share your enthusiasm for Escape Simulator? Be sure to join us on our official Discord or on our subreddit. We hope to see you there!

[h3] Pine team[/h3]

[h2]Meet Zesty![/h2]
Welcome to our brand new "Meet the Builders" series, where we delve into the creative minds behind some of the most remarkable community room designers in Escape Simulator.

Kicking off our first edition, we introduce you to Zesty, also known as Paul from Canada. As the mastermind behind exceptional community-made rooms like "The Devilish Diorama" and "The Ominous Obelisk", Zesty has gained a reputation for his inventive designs and captivating gameplay.

With a background in programming and a deep love for escape rooms, Zesty crafts immersive experiences that keep players enthralled. In this interview, he unveils his creative process, sources of inspiration, favorite creations, and valuable lessons picked up on his journey.



[h2]Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got into playing Escape Simulator?
[/h2]
My username is Zesty, my real name is Paul, and I'm based in Canada. I'm a programmer by trade but also for fun. I was introduced by my friend to my first escape room back in 2016.

I had played the classic online flash escape rooms like Crimson Room and Vermillion Room back in the day but I fell in love with playing them live.

I started building escape rooms for fun out of a vacant room for my annual halloween party. My first one was pretty basic but for later rooms I started investing in micro-controllers, IR and NFC sensors, cameras, 3D printing props, and programming various display interfaces. My favourite part of running homebrew escape rooms was observing players from my "command center".

The same friend who introduced me to my first escape room also introduced me to Escape Simulator in late 2020 and I've been playing with them since :)

[h2]What inspired you to start designing rooms in the game?[/h2]
I wanted to continue building physical escape rooms but couldn't due to the COVID-19 lockdown, also they were very expensive to build. I briefly considered hosting them remotely with a body cam while everything was under lockdown, but it wasn't the same.

I built my first Escape Simulator map (Perplexing Paintings) in January 2021 to see what the room editor was like and see what was possible with the game engine. I really enjoyed how intuitive the experience was and how quickly I could prototype new ideas.



I was stunned by the sheer volume of players I had access to through Steam workshop. With my physical rooms Id have ~50 players each season - now with Escape Simulator I had access to tens of thousands.

I always had ideas that were too expensive or physically prohibitive to implement in real life but with Escape Simulator I could do anything I want so that was a big draw for me.

[h2]Can you walk us through your process of creating a room? [/h2]
I start with a core mechanical theme. I draw out my ideas on pen and paper, just messy doodles and sketches. I write as many puzzle and room ideas as I can think of on a text editor.

Then I plan out the progression, starting with some level 1 puzzles (puzzles that require little to no context to solve), followed by 2-3 parallel progression tracks (so players can work in parallel or switch between tracks if they get stuck on one), and a final large scale "meta" puzzle that uses the entire room layout, requires knowledge/context/items gained from previous puzzles, etc.

[h2]What are some of your favorite rooms you've created so far, and what makes them unique?
[/h2]
One of my favourite rooms that I created is The Devilish Diorama. The concept is that you're stuck in a room that has a diorama version of itself on a table. I'm quite happy with how the mechanics of the recursive room were communicated to the player and the pacing of the room.

I'm quite proud of The Ominous Obelisk as well, which is a map where you're ascending a cyberpunk pyramid (not an obelisk haha) while solving puzzles themed around HyperX and OMEN PC gaming peripherals. Cheesy as hell, and so much fun to make. With this room I started to experiment with presentation, music selection, and more unique assets. I also wanted to make an experience that felt more substantial and fleshed out (since my last map The Devilish Diorama felt very short at 15 minutes). One of my design goals was to create a room that looked nothing like anything else in the workshop and I think it worked!

[h2]How do you come up with the themes and puzzles for your rooms?
[/h2]
This is going to sound silly, but I take a letter of the alphabet (A, B, C) and I think of an alliterated title. So P gave me Perplexing Paintings, D became The Devilish Diorama, Q became The Devilish Diorama 2: Quantum Quandary, etc. Its a weird way to come up with room themes, but its also given me some of my best ideas, like a creative writing prompt. That'll give me the core mechanical theme to focus my room around. I feel that it's important to make a room feel unique and cohesive vs. another Victorian-themed escape room.



[h2]What do you think are the key elements to creating a challenging yet enjoyable escape room?
[/h2]
Its important to focus on intuitive and clearly communicated puzzles. That's why I limit the number of distracting elements such as visual noise, red herrings, clutter, busywork, and verbose text. Interfaces in game should employ a toyetic quality that naturally invites users to play and interact with them.

Its better to show than tell - designers should minimize explicitly writing out rules for puzzles in text. Ideally, players can intuit the rules of a game by experimenting with its systems, seeing what is possible, observing the resulting consequences of their actions, etc.

It's also important to focus on guiding the players to win vs. actively trying to stump them - a subtle distinction. Games are meant to be won, not lost. That doesnt mean handing players the solution, rather to empower and guide them towards their solution in as pure and undilated an experience as possible.

[h2]What are some tips and tricks you can share with players who want to try their hand at designing rooms in Escape Simulator?[/h2]
It helps a lot to understand how the lock logic object and its different types work (i.e. continuous, in-place). Knowing how to chain locks together and send values between them allows for some pretty nuanced logic even without Lua.

Using the empty logic object and parenting objects together is very useful and can help you build very complex, multi-faceted compound objects. The visibility activator will let you load/unload chunks of your room to save on performance which is crucial for larger maps.

I usually delete the standard walls/ceilings/floors the room editor provides you at the start and make my own with the given props, this gives a lot more freedom on laying out the room.

It is super important to test your room in different configurations since everyone will play it differently. I test my rooms with 1) an underpowered PC, 2) multiplayer (with a second copy of the game I bought myself), and 3) with a gamepad.

To make yourself stand out on steam workshop, use a distinctive preview image with high contrast and a large, legible font. It's also important to sell your room with a unique and instantly recognizable hook.



[h2]What are some lessons youve learned the hard way as a creator for Escape Simulator?[/h2]
With my first map, I learned the hard way that my puzzles were too hard and too high in frustration. I learned to focus on improving the readability of my puzzles and reduce distracting elements as much as possible. I also have the inverse problem of some of my puzzles being too trivial to be of good gameplay value. Its a tricky balance Im still working and iterating upon with each new map.

I also learned how to better analyze and respond to constructive feedback. I learned that sometimes what people say dont always line up with their actual experience. The best indicator for a players experience is to watch them play it live and observe their minute to minute experiences.

Another lesson I learned is that no matter what you do, its impossible to please everyone, and thats perfectly fine.

[h2]Can you share any memorable experiences or funny stories that have happened while you were designing or playing your escape rooms?[/h2]
I had a lot of fun designing the final boss room in The Ominous Obelisk. I won't spoil it, but it makes fun of a lot of things like corporate sponsorship and branding, PC gamer culture and streamers. It was super fun making an experience that was ominous but also completely over the top and ridiculous.

I had a lot of fun making The Devilish Diorama 2. This was the first time I used a voice actor in my room. Murk (a Twitch/YouTube streamer) is a super talented voice actor so I gave him a lot of different roles including a voice answering machine, an animatronic cowboy, and a businessman (think of the manager from the movie Office Space). I wanted to channel his chaotic and irreverent energy so I gave him exaggerated, over the top lines. He even improvised lines which were so good I had to include them. I included some sus cowboy lines to throw him off like "It's time for a good old rope and choke".

A while back he played the Cats In Time room in Escape Simulator, there he threw a kite (a key item) out the window and immediately regretted it - I included the same kite as hidden secret in The Devilish Diorama 2 along with some easter eggs specifically about him haha. It was amazing to watch him play through that live.


[h2]What are some of the nicest reactions or interactions youve had with people who played one of your rooms?[/h2]
I love popping into streams of people playing my maps, it's so funny watching their reactions especially when they don't believe its me. Murk didnt believe me when I first stopped by to watch him play The Devilish Diorama, he thought I was trying to impersonate the creator XD. At the end he was nice enough to offer his voice for the sequel. Its always heartwarming when players offer to help out with playtesting or otherwise just enjoy my maps.

After Dr. Poly (Twitch/YouTube content creator from Australia) played through my maps, we did an interview live on Rec Room (social VR game). That was so much fun, Poly is a super cool and funny content creator. It was surreal walking into his TV studio set (which he made in Rec Room!), shaking his hand, waiting behind the studio for my cue, walking out like I was on the set of The Tonight Show, such a fun experience.

One of my favourite comments to my rooms was, "this room made me rethink everything I thought I knew about space and time" haha.

[h2]What do you feel has been your greatest Escape Simulator accomplishment so far?[/h2]
Probably the Ominous Obelisk, I'm quite happy I managed to make it in 11 days (for the Escape Simulator Build-A-Room #2 contest) and it turned out as well as it did - normally I take a very long time to release maps.



Also very happy with the way The Collab: Boardgames turned out. It was tough coordinating a large group of creators (13 of us), but everyone pitched in great content and I got a ton of support, especially from Mumbo who was co-managing the project with me. He and Ich helped keep the project scope in check and Wollo and Franch provided lots of insight into project management. I learned a lot about when to step back and delegate work and also when to put my foot down. Everyone was awesome to work with and super enthusiastic.

[h2]Are there any features you would like to see added to the room editor in future updates?[/h2]
Verticality (stairs, ramps, ladders, multiple floors) would be my most anticipated feature. I'd also like to more easily collaborate on rooms with other creators i.e. through real-time multiplayer editor sessions. An in-game Lua code editor that shows available variables would be nice. The ability to render elements/props specifically for different players would make for great supernatural-style experiences.

It would also be neat to be able to send requests in-game to external APIs (i.e. my own server) so I can do things like retrieve live information, record statistics from players about their play sessions, or integrate live Twitch features like letting viewers affect the play session.



[h2]Are there any other room designers in the game whose work you admire or draw inspiration from?[/h2]
When I started out making maps, Zek (Sudoku Puzzle Room) was a huge inspiration. Duc's maps (Riddles, Books, and a Lab) were a great inspiration too, he's really good at putting out polished and consistently engaging experiences. Cico's (Little Emily) maps scared the hell out of me and helped me understand how to make experiences that really drew the player in. I was blown away by the raw scale and ambition of Franch's (INSIDE) and Robin's (It's All Led Up To This) maps. They all set a high bar for me to aspire to.

[h2]What are your future plans for designing rooms in Escape Simulator? Do you have any big projects in the works? ;)[/h2]
We're currently working on a new Collab map. Its a huge group now - before it was the 13 of us for The Collab: Boardgames, now theres 24 with everyone offering varying levels of support.

Then I'm releasing The Devilish Diorama 3: Byzantine Box which I've been working on and off for some months now. There's a lot of new ideas I'm excited to show everyone. I wont make the mistake of announcing a target release date too early and missing it again haha.

Then Inversion Inc. which will be my first original mainline room in a while. The theme of the room is "binarism" (two sides to everything) and will focus on a mechanic of "inverting" objects (as for what that means, Ill leave it to your imagination).



We're incredibly grateful to Zesty for taking the time to share his insights with us. While we wait for his next fantastic creations, be sure to check out his existing masterpieces here or in-game. If you wish to chat with Zesty or other amazing community room builders, make sure to join our Discord. We hope you enjoyed this new recurring series and we look forward to diving deeper into the creation process of many other room builders. Stay tuned!

Pine team

[h2]May has arrived![/h2]

As we have reached another new month, it's once again time to have a quick look back at last month's highlights! In case you missed it, we rounded off our latest Build-A-Thon contest. The grand prize for this contest was a trip to Paris, which was won by none other than room builder Robin! But of course a lot more community rooms got published last month, so without further ado, here are our monthly picks for April!

[h2]A feast for the eyes and ears![/h2]



We love to see all the unique little ways in which the room builders from our community utilize the in-game Room Editor and Colors and Sounds All Around is a very interesting room indeed! For this room, BoomboxGuyJJ lets you explore the relationship between music and art through the use of color study. If you're willing to try out something totally different, then you should definitely check this one out!

[h2]The hunt is on![/h2]



Next up, we've got Join the Hunt by JetSkiAttack! This room based on the tv series Supernatural puts you in the shoes of a 'hunter' who is looking to become an apprentice to the legendary hunters Sam and Dean Winchester. In order to prove your worth, you will need to solve a case that involves multiple ghost sightings in a small community in Kansas. Good luck, hunter!

[h2]An unfinished masterpiece...[/h2]



The Architect's Legacy by HashtagWarriors is another very unique room that is entirely focused on the art of architecture. You play as someone who's part of a group of architectural historians that gets the chance to visit the studio of the late Charles E. Whitmore, a prolific modernist architect. As you make your way through the studio, you will need to solve many puzzles to find the plans for Whitmore's unfinished masterpiece.

[h2]We all live in a yellow submarine![/h2]



Finally, we've got another excellent room made by GetOffMyBeard! In his latest room The Yellow Submarine you will be exploring.... well, a yellow submarine! Unfortunately, your vessel is stuck at the bottom of the sea and you will need to get all of its systems up and running again to make it back to the surface. No pressure!

[h2]Join our community![/h2]

And that's it for April! As always, we hope you'll enjoy these monthly picks as much as we did! Want to talk to some of the room builders from our community or just share your enthusiasm for Escape Simulator? Be sure to join us on our official Discord or on our subreddit. We hope to see you there!

[h3] Pine team[/h3]

[h2]Astonishing Creations in the Build-A-Room Contest! [/h2]
[previewyoutube=wlTzZNMP5-o;full][/previewyoutube]
The third Build-A-Room contest has officially concluded! We announced the winners during yesterday's Pine Studio livestream. With so many exceptional entries, selecting the top rooms was an incredibly challenging task. To celebrate the amazing talent showcased, we are awarding ALL our top 15 entries with fantastic prizes!

[h2]Place 4-15[/h2]
[h3]Reward: 100$ Steam Gift Cards! [/h3]
We've decided not to rank the rooms from #4 to #15, as it was impossible to place them in order. Each of these outstanding entries will receive a 100$ Steam Gift Card! Winners, keep an eye on your Steam accounts for your prize. Congratulations, and we hope you enjoy your rewards! Check out the twelve winning rooms below:

• The Escher Trap by Leo
  
• Mozart's Mind by Tommy_NL
  
• Still (in) Life by Eureka Paprika
  
• Artopia by med1nh0
  
• Artception by MelonVerse
  
• Mel N. Collie Museum of Art by JetSkiAttack
  
• Nifty Ways To Leave Your Louvre by CeruleanK
  
• The Legend of the Mysterious Meme Lisa by Bartololomeo
  
• Escape Museum Takeover by Mumbo
  
• Le Pretentiousse by Elkondo
  
• The Silhouettist by Wollo
  
• This End Up! by Franch
  

[h2]Who will be the big winner? [/h2]

Over the past few weeks, the room builders from our community have once again been hard at work to craft some truly excellent creations! As we are reaching the end of another successful Build-A-Room contest, it's almost time to announce the winners of this contest! This time around, we asked the room builder to create a true masterpiece in our in-game Room Editor. And we have to say, our community delivered!

In total, we received 33 entries that really managed to raise the bar! We were absolutely blown away by the sheer quality of these rooms and it definitely wasn't easy to select the winners this time around. We will check out our top 10top 15 rooms and officially announce the winner (and his/her super-awesome prize!) during our next livestream tomorrow, April 12th at 08:00 PM CEST (11 AM PT). You won't want to miss out on this one! You can check out this stream right here on Steam.

In the meantime, be sure to join us over on Discord or our official subreddit for more Escape Simulator fun! We hope to see you there!

[h3] Pine team[/h3]

[h2]Time marches on![/h2]

March was another great month for Escape Simulator! Not only did we release another update that included the brand-new Leonardo's Workshop room, but we also kicked of our third Build-a-Room contest: The Masterpiece Challenge! You're going to have to wait a little longer for us to announce the Build-a-Room #3 winners, which we will do during our next stream on April 12 at 8 PM CEST.

Finally, we've been busy working on last Saturday's EscapeGPT announcement! In case it wasn't clear yet, this was of course our April Fool's joke this year. You didn't think we would actually let you miss out on all of those mind-boggling puzzles through the use of AI, right?

On top of all this, we of course also saw a lot of excellent new rooms being published again last month. We hope you're ready to play a bunch of really cool new rooms, because these are our top community room picks for March!

[h2]I'm a what? [/h2]



If you're in the mood for a pinch of magic, then you definitely have to play I'm a Wizard? by Green Hand! In this room, you will be taken on a journey across the wizarding world. Your day starts out like any other with you waking up in your bedroom, but things quickly become a lot stranger when you are visited by an owl carrying an invation letter. As it turns out, you just happen to be a wizard! The name of the room sort of gave it away already, didn't it?

[h2]So many letters![/h2]



The LETTERS Room by A Really Short Hobbit might just be one of the most original rooms we've seen in a while! As the title of this room implies, the entire room is based around letters! Using all of the different letters which are scattered across this room, you will need to form words which will bring you closer to your escape. You'll literally need to use your words to solve this one!

[h2]Tomororow Never Spies [/h2]



Much like Elkondo's earlier room You Only Spy Twice, Never Spy 2 High is a co-op spy adventure for 2+ players! And the best part? Part 2 is already out as well, with a third part coming out soon! If you enjoy co-op rooms that rely heavily on proper communication with your escape buddy, then you should check this one out. Especially if you like some good espionage!

[h2]Mo' money, Motel?[/h2]



Finally, we've got another great room made by GetOffMyBeard in which you will need to prepare a heist from your room at The Grand Lark Motel. You play as a character called Russo who has been asked to complete a number of tasks by 'the big guy'. You'd better not fail to do so if you want to get your cut!

[h2]That's all for now![/h2]

As always, we hope you'll enjoy these rooms as much as we did! But hey, if you want to play even more awesome community rooms, be sure to check out the Build-a-Thon #3 submissions as well. We added a tab at the in-game level select screen that includes all of the competing rooms! Want to talk to some of the builders or just share your enthusiasm for Escape Simulator? Be sure to join us on our official Discord or on our subreddit. We hope to see you there!

[h3] Pine team[/h3]

Dear escapers,
We are excited to announce a game-changing update to your favorite puzzle-solving experience! Get ready for the most cutting-edge AI-powered feature ever created: EscapeGPT!

EscapeGPT offers you the ability to solve any escape room puzzle by simply clicking a button. Say goodbye to the frustration of being stuck, and embrace the future of puzzle-solving with EscapeGPT.
Here's a video preview:
[previewyoutube=l5_UGfut0KU;full][/previewyoutube]
Have you ever found yourself stuck on a particularly challenging puzzle in Escape Simulator, wishing you had a super-intelligent AI to assist you? Our talented team of developers has been working hard to make that dream a reality.

Coming soon to Escape Simulator!

-Pine team <3

*This message was generated using AI.
*Also, today is April 1st!!

[h2]Are you ready for Da Vinci's NEXT challenge? [/h2]

Calling all room builders! As you are probably aware, we just released a new free room called Leonardo's Workshop last week! In this workshop, the world famous grandmaster Leonardo da Vinci created many of his masterpieces, such as the iconic painting Mona Lisa. Now we want to challenge all of you to create your very own work of art in a brand-new Build-A-Room contest: The Masterpiece Challenge!

For the Masterpiece Challenge, we want you to build...well, a masterpiece in the Room Editor! This means we would like you to channel all of your creativity to make something that belongs in a museum. Whether you want to go all out and create a full-on gallery or just a single art installation, it's up to you! If you want to, you could even recreate your favorite work of art in the form of an escape room! As long as it qualifies as a masterpiece, anything goes! Think you're up to the challenge, but don't own Escape Simulator yet? You're in luck, because the game is currently 25% off during the Steam Spring Sale!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1435790/Escape_Simulator/

This contest will take place from March 17 at 6PM CET until March 31 at 6PM CEST. Submissions will be considered if they are sent in before the deadline on March 31 at 6PM CEST. We hope you're feeling creative, because as always, the winning contestants will get some awesome prizes!

[h2] Prizes[/h2]

While we can't reveal what the grand prizes are going to be just yet, we can assure you that it's going to be something that will definitely blow your minds! If you've been keeping up with the previous Build-A-Room contests, you might know that we like to go big when it comes to rewarding our loyal room builders. That's why for the very first Build-A-Room, we gave out a grand total of $2000! As for the previous two contests? Well, we think the following images speak for themselves.


[h2] Rules[/h2]

• Create a masterpiece in the Room Editor that will earn you the title of grandmaster.
  
• To submit a room for the competition, you have to post a link to your room in the "#challenges" channel in the Pine Studio Discord, or you can send submission via this Steam thread.
  
• You can only submit one room. Multiple submissions will not be counted.
  
• Multiple builder can work together on one room together but there will be only one prize for them.
  
• It has to be a room escape.
  
• The gameplay should be ideally under 30 minutes, but it could be longer.
  
• You can make room as big as you wish.
  
• You need to record a video walkthrough.
  
• You are allowed to bug fix your room after submission, but not resubmit an entirely different room.
  
• Copies of other players' rooms are not eligible.
  
• Keep it fun/clean! No profanity, racism, hate speech, sexually suggestive, etc. content. Rooms that might be considered offensive in any way or form will be disqualified.
  
• Pine team will choose the winners this time!
  

• Go to Escape Simulator, "Workshop" button, "Your Rooms," and press "Create". This creates an empty room, and you can start building.
  
• To get some help, you can look through "Tutorial Rooms" and learn the basics such as puzzles and animation.
  
• Or you can watch our tutorial video.
  
• Finally, you can also join our dedicated Discord community to ask about anything you might need help with!
  
• Less is more sometimes! ;)
  

[h2]Setting up the perfect workspace![/h2]

So you managed to outsmart the great Leonardo da Vinci and now you've been thinking about designing your own workshop? Well, you're in luck! As of today, the props from our new free room Leonardo's Workshop are available to use in the in-game Room Editor! As always, we can't wait to see all of the incredibly innovative ways in which the infinitely creative room builders from our community will use these stylish looking assets! We're sure you'll be able to create some true masterpieces with them!

Curious about everything included in this room editor update? Then you should definitely join us during our next livestream, in which we'll be going over some of the newly add props and features! And for anyone who's up for a challenge, we will have a special announcement in store for you as well! This livestream will take place later today, March 17 at 7PM CET (now!), so make sure you don't miss out! Tune in via Twitch or right here on Steam!

We can't wait to see what all of you will create with the new props and hope to see you during our livestream! In the meantime, if you're looking for a co-op partner or just want to chat about our game, please consider joining us over on Discord or our subreddit!

[h3] Pine team[/h3]

P.S. The Steam Spring Sale has begun and Escape Simulator is currently available with a 25% discount! Go tell your friends!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1435790/Escape_Simulator/

Changelog:

[h3]New props![/h3]

• The Leonardo da Vinci room props
  
• Mirror logic prop
  
• Hint boxes
  

• No more auto focus on linked props! Use the [F] keyboard shortcut to focus on a selected prop or enable the old setting in the Room Configuration menu.
  
• Fixed Visibility Activators targeting renderers
  
• Added a new Steam Tag In-Game Walkthrough which is automatically added on publish to rooms with the new in-game walkthroughs
  
• Logic props (except for the Lock) can no longer exit zoom on unlock
  
• Fixed Tags and Walkthrough not saving on exit
  
• Controller slot interaction on pickable props fixed
  
• Open File/Folder fixed
  
• Ingame Walkthrough text can no longer go out of bounds
  
• Fixed importing display logic from other rooms
  
• Fixed preview screenshots ignoring some props
  
• Fixed prop deletion when targeting parent and child props
  

Greetings, Escape Simulator fans!

[h2]Room Editor Update![/h2]
Get ready for an exciting update coming to Escape Simulator tomorrow! We're introducing an array of props and items inspired by the renowned Leonardo Da Vinci room, which will be available in the room editor for everyone to use. Unleash your creativity and design custom escape rooms featuring the genius of Da Vinci!

[h2] Join us on Twitch tomorrow![/h2]
To celebrate the release of this new update, we'll be hosting a livestream tomorrow on our official Twitch and Steam page. Make sure to tune in to see the latest additions in action and learn how to make the most out of these unique Da Vinci-inspired props and items.

[h2] Announcing: The New Room Builders Challenge![/h2]
During the livestream, we'll also reveal the details of our upcoming Room Builders Challenge! Stay tuned for more information on the challenge theme, submission guidelines, and the amazing prizes up for grabs.

See you at the livestream!
[h3]Pine team[/h3]

[h2]Do you have the skills to beat this challenge?[/h2]

It's no secret that Leonardo da Vinci was a man of many skills. Not only was he a masterful painter, but he also took a great interest in many other subjects such as science, engineering, sculpting...and apparently puzzles as well! So with that knowledge in mind, do you think you will be able to outsmart the great Leonardo da Vinci himself? We would definitely like to see you try!

If you think you've got what it takes, try solving our new free room Leonardo's Workshop, which is out now! This additional room is part of a free update, which also includes a full translation into Italian! Of course we are also adding another outfit and a soundtrack so you can get fully immersed in the world of Leonardo da Vinci. Finally, this update brings a whole bunch of optimizations to the Room Editor, including faster room loading. A full changelog can be found at the end of this announcement.

To celebrate the launch of this new room, you can now get Escape Simulator with a 25% discount! So if you haven't purchased the game yet or want to gift it to a friend, now would be the perfect time to do so!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1435790/Escape_Simulator/

[h2]Leonardo's Workshop is open for business![/h2]



We truly hope all of you will enjoy this brand-new update and we can't wait to hear your thoughts on the new room. Looking for a co-op partner or just want to chat about our game? Then please feel free to join us over on our Discord or our subreddit for more Escape Simulator fun! Make sure to stay tuned in the meantime, because we still have plenty of stuff planned for the (near) future.

[h3] Pine team[/h3]

[h2] Full changelog:[/h2]
[h3]New content[/h3]

• New room. Find all secrets in Leonardo's Workshop!
  
• New language; Italian. Ciao!
  
• Expanding your fashion choices with new "Leonardo's Workshop" outfits.
  

• Daily picks evolve in Trending. Displaying the top 6 rooms of the last week.
  
• Better RAM usage when loading rooms.
  
• Better handling of wiping systems in "The Office" and "The Elevator".
  
• Hovering over Slidable now shows a drag crosshair.
  
• Fixing bug where you couldn't throw some items in slots.
  
• Fixed some hairs so they are fading in coop mode.
  
• Better co-op syncing in "The Lab".
  
• The furnace gate in "The Engine Room" is disabled when opened the first time.
  

• General stability.
  
• Better Slidable handling.
  
• items popup work with both thumbsticks.
  

• Better handling of Activator components in coop levels.
  
• Added Custom walkthrough for customs levels.
  
• Remade publish screen.
  

[h2]Get ready for the next big update! [/h2]

In case you missed it, another free update is coming to Escape Simulator on March 8th! This update will include the brand-new room; Leonardo's Workshop, in which you will need to solve all sorts of puzzles revolving around the legacy of Leonardo da Vinci. As always, we are also including an additional outfit and a soundtrack, so you can get fully immersed in this new setting. Finally, the update also includes a full translation of Escape Simulator into Italian!



We hope you are all looking forward to this update! Looking for some more rooms to play in the meantime? The room builders from our community got you covered! So without further ado, here are our top community room picks for February!

[h2]Vikings await![/h2]



If you've been keeping up with our monthly picks, then you are probably already familiar with room builder Brengo! Brengo is known to make some incredibly beautiful and atmospheric rooms and Song of the Longhouse absolutely continues that trend! In order to make your way out of the titular longhouse, you will need to delve into Norse mythology and translate ancient runes. Another instant classic!

[h2]This house is haunted! [/h2]



Up for something truly spooky? Be warned, because The Evil House by Lycos is definitely not for the faint of heart! In this community room, you will need to make your way through an abandoned house with a dark and secret past. Chills guaranteed!

[h2]What a way to make a livin'![/h2]



If you're in the mood for something a bit more light-hearted, then we highly recommend you to check out the latest room by GetOffMyBeard. In Jobville: Working 9 to 5 you will need to solve some SERIOUS problems at your new job. Honestly, who's responsible for causing a flood at the office? It's going to be a long, long day...

[h2]A sinister story...[/h2]



So far, there have been three entries in the 'Kidnapped' series by Green Hand, which tells a mysterious and sinister story. Seeing as it's been a while since the first part originally got published, Green Hand decided to remake it! Kidnapped - Part 1 Remake is a complete reimagining of the original room with new puzzles and even more sinister vibes! If you've been keeping up with this series, you'll definitely want to check this one out.

[h2]In the middle of the night[/h2]



Something Is Wrong is another excellent room by Bartololomeo, who has been consistently putting out great content since the very beginning! In this room, you wake up at 2AM with an uneasy feeling. You're not exactly sure what it is, but something isn't right. In fact, something is very wrong! This community room includes flashing lights, violence and jump scares, so be warned!

[h2]See you next week![/h2]

That's it for February's monthly picks! We hope these incredible rooms are enough to keep you entertained until Leonardo's Workshop launches next week, but of course there are always more great community rooms for you to check out. In the meantime, you can always join us on our official Discord or subreddit to talk about all things related to Escape Simulator. We hope to see you there!

[h3] Pine team[/h3]

[h2]Think you can crack THIS code? [/h2]
Mark your calendars for March 8th, as we're excited to announce the launch of a brand-new, free room that will put your problem-solving skills to the test. Can you crack the code and outsmart the great Leonardo da Vinci himself? This room will take you on a thrilling journey into the mind of the legendary painter, scientist, and inventor. Do you have what it takes to uncover all of its hidden secrets?

[h2]Parli italiano?[/h2]

We have even more exciting news for Escape Simulator players who prefer to play in Italian. Our next free update not only includes the new Da Vinci room but also features a complete Italian translation. From March 8th, you can immerse yourself in the game entirely in Leonardo da Vinci's native language. Bellissima!

[h2]Dress the part and become a true artist![/h2]

To fully experience the new room's atmosphere, we've included a new outfit for your character to wear while exploring Da Vinci's workshop. Additionally, a new soundtrack will accompany your journey, adding to the immersive experience.

Starting from the launch of the new Da Vinci room on March 8th, the game will be available at a whopping 25% discount - Mamma Mia!



Want to meet and talk to other players or room builders? Feel free to join us over on Discord or Reddit.
As always, we're grateful for your continued support and hope you're looking forward to the upcoming free update.

[h3] Pine team[/h3]

[h2]It's a date![/h2]

Don't have any big plans for Valentine's Day just yet? Don't worry, because we've got you covered! On Tuesday, 14 February 2023, we will be hosting the second edition of our Discord Date Night where we will match you up with another person to play Escape Simulator together! All you'll need to do to participate is join our official Discord server and sign up for a specific time slot by reacting to the most recent message in the announcements channel.

You can sign up for this event until the 14th of February, 9AM CET after which we will start matching players up. All matches will the be announced on our Discord, so make sure you don't miss out for a fun night of escaping! Don't know which room to play? Well, we've got some great community room suggestions that are awesome to check out for two players!

[h2]I spy with my little eye... [/h2]



If you've been keeping up with our monthly picks, you might already be familiar with by Elkondo. This room is designed to be played by two people, as each player will start a different location and you will need to work together to solve the room. Communication is key here, so let's hope you'll be able to work together! Good luck, spies!

[h2]Dating in space! [/h2]



You know what's even better than solving a mystery? Solving a mystery together...in space! If that sounds like something you'd be interested in, then Nova 501 Mystery by Mx.Extra is the room for you! In this room you will need to find out what happened on board of the Nova 501 Research Station after communication was lost. Are you up to the task?

[h2]Light years apart [/h2]



Finally we've got 2 player Stargate SG-2 by BARDOSY[HUN]. This is another great room in which both players will start at a different location. However, in this case they are actually positioned light years away from each other! One player is located on Earth, while the other is on a faraway planet. Will the two of you be able to get everyone back to Earth safely?

[h2]Ready for your date?[/h2]

We hope these two player co-op room suggestions got you excited for our Discord Date Night! If so, be sure to join our official Discord server today and sign up via the announcements channel! We hope to see you there and we wish you all a happy Valentine's Day in advance!

[h3] Pine team[/h3]

[h2]Time for the first monthly picks of 2023![/h2]

Are you ready to play some awesome community rooms? Well, you're in for a treat then! January has been another great month in which the room builders from our community have once again greatly contributed to our Steam Workshop! So without further ado, here are top community room picks for January!

[h2]They're creepy and they're kooky... [/h2]



It's about to get mysterious and spooky, because the latest room made by GetOffMyBeard is based on The Addams Family. As it turns out, Uncle Fester trapped Thing in a cage to teach it a lesson and now it's up to you to set Thing free again. However, you'll need to find four keys to unlock the cage! Will you be up to the task at 'hand'?

[h2]Something's hiding in the forest! [/h2]



If you're up for a stroll through a mysterious forest, then Behind The Trees by [Juice Box] is the right room for you! At first, this forest might seem like a magical place, but could it be hiding a dark secret? Things might just get a little eerie, so be warned before entering these woods!

[h2]No talking in the library! [/h2]



Wollo is known to create some incredibly challenging rooms filled to the brim with all sorts of tricky puzzles. This was the case with The Seven Ages of Man and it definitely applies to The Library as well! Chances are high that you're going to need some hints to get through this one! As long as you're reading these hints quietly, you're in a library after all...

[h2]Fuzzy, but deadly! [/h2]



They may look all cute and fluffy, but you don't want to mess with The Four Killer Cats! In this room by Ariel, you will need to find four deadly, vicious and armed killer cats in apartment #28. If you're in the mood for a community room filled humor and some silly jumpscares, then be sure to check this one out!

[h2]The return of a veteran room builder! [/h2]



If you've been playing a lot of community rooms, there's a pretty big chance that you've checked out one of Cico's creations in the past. If you're a fan of his spooky rooms such as Little Emily: Chapter 1&2 and The Motel, then we've got good news for you! Last month, Cico finally returned with a brand new room called Ghostly Report. It's a huge room so you'll probably be trying to escape this room for a long time, if you're up to the task, be sure to check it out!

[h2]Stay tuned for more![/h2]

And that's it for the monthly picks of January! We hope you'll enjoy these community rooms as much as we did. We've still got plenty of stuff planned for Escape Simulator and we can assure you that thing are about to get really exciting, so be sure to keep an eye out on all of our channels. In the meantime, you can always join us on our official Discord or subreddit to talk about all things related to Escape Simulator. We hope to see you there!

[h3] Pine team[/h3]

[h2]Happy New Year! [/h2]



It's 2023 and we at Pine Studio are ready for another exciting year for Escape Simulator! We hope you all of had a great holiday season and are looking forward to all of the additional content and free room updates we have in store for you. In the meantime, there are still plenty of awesome rooms by our community builders for you to check out!

Speaking of which, room builder GetOffMyBeard is currently running a room building contest over on our official Discord in which you can win some Steam Gift Cards and the Wild West DLC. More on that later in this announcement, but first off, here are our top community picks for December!

[h2]So many festive rooms![/h2]



December is a month of celebration and there was definitely no shortage of Holiday themed community rooms in Escape Simulator! Some of our personal favorites were Santa's Helper by [Juice Box], Visiting Grandma by Marloes and The Grinch Escape Room by GetOffMyBeard. Are you still in a festive mood? Then you should definitely check out some of these holly, jolly escape rooms!

[h2]Runaway train![/h2]



Of course December also saw the release of our brand new Wild West DLC. GetOffMyBeard decided to put the Wild West assets to good use for his room The Great Train Escape! You can never have enough train themed escape rooms, right? All aboard!

[h2]Explore an ancient castle![/h2]



Next up, we've got a completely different setting in store for you, because Karakuri Castle by namo_krub takes place in an ancient Japanese castle from the Edo period. This 1000-year old castle was found by a group of explorers and houses many different traps, protecting the gold that's hidden deep inside of the castle walls. Will you be able to get around these traps and find the treasure?

[h2]This room will really lift your spirits![/h2]



It's just another boring day at the old 9 to 5. Or is it? We hope you're ready for an unexpected adventure, because The Elevator Escape - Floor 1 by MelonVerse will take you on a journey through multiple worlds where you will meet many interesting individuals. Your ultimate goal? To reach the top floor, of course!

[h2]Time for a challenge![/h2]

And that's it for December's monthly picks! Ever considered building a community room yourself? Well, now is the right time to start! As mentioned earlier, room builder GetOffMyBeard is currently running a room building contest over on our Discord. To participate, you will need to build a room centered around one of your favorite movies or movie franchises. Be sure to join our official Discord for further details. You can also join us on our subreddit to talk about all things related to Escape Simulator. We hope to see you there!

[h3] Pine team[/h3]

[h2]The holidays are almost here![/h2]

As the end of the year approaches, we wanted to bring you one final update to truly round out 2022 in style. In case you haven't finished your holiday shopping yet, consider giving the gift of Escape Simulator - it's 25% off during Steam's Winter Sale! Now sit back, relax, and get into the festive spirit with us!

[h2]Final update of the year![/h2]



First off, as of today a new update is available which adds new holiday props to the room editor! This means room builders will now be able to make their Christmas rooms even more festive than before! Additionally, the update fixes several know bugs and issues.

• Hanging props spawning position fixed
  
• Added wild west lock numbers
  
• Chandelier material fix
  
• Some wild west prop icon fixes
  
• Several other small fixes
  

Yee-haw!
We're excited to announce that we've added a whole lasso of Wild West props and items to our Escape Simulator room editor. Now you can saddle up and create your very own saloon, bank heist, or dusty old western town. These new props are available to ALL players (with or without the DLC), so don't be a chicken and give 'em a try!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2175260/Escape_Simulator_Wild_West_DLC/

Get help with the room editor and send us your creations on Pine Discord!

[h2]Changelog:[/h2]

• Added the Wild West props!
  
• Fixed the house not winning in The Saloon
  
• Fixed sound positioning for preset 3D sounds
  
• Added a plant category for props
  
• A few more smaller fixes
  

[h2]Wild West DLC has arrived![/h2]

Wait, we're almost halfway through the month already? Where does the time go? Well, all of us at Pine Studio have been incredibly busy with all of the preparations for the launch of the Wild West DLC of course! In case you missed it, this new DLC featuring four brand-new rooms came out on the 8th of December and is now available!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2175260/Escape_Simulator_Wild_West_DLC

To celebrate the release of the Wild West DLC, Escape Simulator is currently on sale with a 25% discount! What better way to surprise one of your friends during the Season of Giving? This sale lasts until December 15th, so be sure you don't miss out on this deal and grab it !

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1435790/Escape_Simulator/

Now, without further ado, let's have a look at four of our favorite community rooms published in November!

[h2]A magical journey...[/h2]



MelonVerse is back with a brand-new room filled to the brim with (dark) magic! In The Horcrux Hunt Part 1 you will need to track down and destroy two horcruxes that are hidden away in a store full of curious artefacts related to the dark arts. Do you think you can find them in time? The future of the wizarding world depends on it!

[h2]Past, present and future![/h2]



Next up, we've got another excellent room by Brengo! In Plastic Paradox, you're asked to investigate an anomaly discovered in a suburban home. After finding a strange device, you stumble into a time-distorted mess that will take you across multiple different eras. Now it's up to you to solve this paradox!

[h2]I spy with my little eye...[/h2]



Have you always wanted to be a secret agent? Then you should definitely try out The Spy Escape by GetOffMyBeard! In this room, you play as a secret agent working for the Secret Agent Service D.E.P.T. You need to get to your next training, but first you have to find your way out of the spy bunker. Are you up for the task?

[h2]Stay out of the dark![/h2]



Something really mysterious is going on in Kidnapped - Part 3 by Green Hand. As implied by the title, it is the third part of the Kidnapped series and continues the plot that was established in Part 1 and 2. In the latest part of the series, it seems that you're making a series of dark discoveries about yourself. Be warned though, because you might be in for a fright with this one!

[h2]Happy holidays! [/h2]

And that's it for November's monthly picks! As we are counting down the days until 2023, we would like to once again thank all of you for your amazing support this year. We've still got a couple of things planned for December, so be sure to keep an eye out on our channels! In the meantime, feel free to join us on Discord or Reddit to talk about all things Escape Simulator! Happy holidays, everyone!

[h3] Pine team[/h3]

We fixed multiple issues and bugs in Wild West DLC. Here's a list of most important ones:

• Fixed Chinese translation for the Faro table
  
• Changed token location for the safe one
  
• Fixed some physics issues
  
• Fixed hints in the Saloon
  
• More visible "dead bet" note in the Saloon room
  
• Fixed issues with colliders.
  
• Some important items now respawn if lost
  
• Added a few missing names
  
• Polished a few interactions
  

[h2]Full changelog: [/h2]
[h3]Added Wild West DLC[/h3]
[h3]Various Fixes[/h3]

• Added rich presence for Graveyard and 70s Room
  
• Loading to the second Tutorial room shouldn't freeze the game
  
• Fixed UI glitches on Publish popup window
  
• Items should not appear on top of options anymore
  
• Turnable speed is now consistent on any FPS
  
• Several fixes for French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish
  
• Improve chat profanity filter: no longer as aggressive as before
  
• Added option to disable profanity filter
  
• Fixed turnable pieces and other pieces being pickupable
  
• Removed memory leak when loading multiple levels in one session
  
• Fixed bug where UI behind interactive object would take input
  
• Added more skin colors
  
• Fixed Santa's hat and Twitch's hat not being visible
  
• Added more bugs for later fixing ^^
  

• Characters' colors in a co-op are much more consistent
  
• Fixed scales in co-op
  
• Fixed zoomable in co-op
  
• Stop the timer when disconnected in the co-op
  
• Voice beta tag removed
  

• Redesigned zoetrope puzzle in Lost Spirits
  
• Fixed eraser in The Office
  
• Fixed mop in The Elevator
  
• Fixed hints on The Office, Executive Office, and Cats in Time
  
• Fixed throttle in The Helm
  
• Pipes eventually sync if they desync in Space Walk
  
• Fixed cannons staying open after firing in The Crew Quarters
  

• Fixed look achievements with controller
  
• Better dial handling on the controller
  
• Better joystick handling on the controller
  
• Fixing UX and UI for the controller
  
• Added trail when moving the cursor with the controller
  
• More solid interactions with "A" and "RT".
  
• Two thumbsticks are interchangeable in various interactions
  

• Fixed transparent plane repeats edge pixels
  
• Only one matryoshka doll
  
• Custom skybox seams fixed
  
• The download texture button no longer overwrites old images
  
• Fixed the 'Open UGC Folder' button for Mac
  
• There are no longer weird lit lines in workshop levels
  

[h2]Yeehaw! The new DLC is here![/h2]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2175260/Escape_Simulator_Wild_West_DLC/

We hope you're ready for a rootin'-tootin' escape adventure, because the Wild West DLC is out now! The Wild West DLC features four additional rooms: The Sheriff's Office, The Saloon, The Bank and the Post Office and The Train. Of course, you'll need some matching clothes to fit the occasion, so the DLC also includes two new outfits. Will you dress up as a sleek sheriff or a rugged outlaw? The choice is yours!

Ready to embark on this new adventure? Don't wait a minute longer and purchase the Wild West DLC right here! YEEHAW!

[h2]All cleaned up! [/h2]



Bugs are pesky little things, aren't they? Before you know it, you have an infestation on your hands. Obviously, no one wants that for Escape Simulator! That is why all of the bug reports and general feedback we receive from our community is always extremely valuable to us.

Over the past few weeks, we have been working hard to address as many of your reports as possible. To make sure you get the fully optimized Wild West experience, we are also releasing an additional update today. This update should fix a great amount of known bugs and issues. Through this update, we hope to enhance the Escape Simulator experience even further. It is of great importance to us that anyone who supports our game gets to fully enjoy Escape Simulator as it was intended. You can find a full overview of the different bugs that were addressed right here.

[h2]Come hang out with us![/h2]



To celebrate the release of the Wild West DLC, we are doing another Escape Simulator livestream today at 8PM CET! We'll be answering any questions you might have about the new DLC. Additionally, we will announce the two lucky winners of the Wild West DLC fanart contest! Be sure to tune in and come hang out with us on Steam, Twitch or !

[h2]Stay up to date![/h2]

We still have a lot more exciting things planned for Escape Simulator, so be sure to keep an eye out on our channels for future updates! Can't get enough of the game and want to talk to other players or room builders? Then please consider joining our official Discord or subreddit! In the meantime, we want to thank all of you once again for your ongoing support. We hope everyone will enjoy these four new rooms and we can't wait to hear what you think!


All aboard the hype train!

[h3] Pine team[/h3]

[h2]Can we count on your vote? [/h2]



The Steam Awards 2022 have officially kicked off! While Escape Simulator has been out for over a year now, our game is still eligible for a nomination in the Labor of Love category. This category was established to reward games that are still being nurtured after the initial release date.

Over the past year, we have put in a lot of work to continually expand upon the base game. So far, we have added nine free rooms, greatly improved the room editor and released the additional Steampunk DLC. We still have several free rooms in development and we are also releasing the Wild West DLC on December 8th, which you should definitely add to your wishlist!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2175260/Escape_Simulator_Wild_West_DLC/

So if you want to show us some additional love and support, please consider nominating Escape Simulator for this category. It would truly mean a lot to all of us here at Pine Studio!

[h2]Get cozy with Escape Simulator this Autumn! [/h2]



Want to play Escape Simulator with one of your friends, but they haven't gotten around to purchasing the game just yet? Well, have we got news for you! Escape Simulator is part of the Autumn Sale, which means you can currently purchase the game with a 25% discount right here! Additionally, the Steampunk DLC is also currently on sale, so if you haven't boarded the Valor yet, now would be the right time!

[h2]Feeling creative? [/h2]



Can't wait for the Wild West DLC to arrive on December 8th? Neither can we! That's why we are currently running a fanart contest. We will be selecting two winners who will each receive two keys for the Wild West DLC on the release date! Entries can be submitted until December 5th on our official Discord or subreddit. More information about the contest can be found here. We can't wait to see what all of you will submit!

[h3] Pine team[/h3]

[h2]It's almost Christmas, y'all![/h2]

Howdy, pardners! It's the most wonderful time of the year! Why? Because the Wild West DLC is coming out on December 8th! And yeah, also because it's almost Christmas of course. With these two joyous events coming up very soon, we were wondering to ourselves: What would a Christmas celebration look like if it took place in the Wild West? With that in mind, we would like to challenge all of you to get creative with this idea in our very first Escape Simulator fanart contest!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2175260/Escape_Simulator_Wild_West_DLC

For this fanart competition, you are free to express your interpretation of a 'Cowboy's Christmas' through any art form of your preference. Whether that means you want to make a painting, write a song, design an escape room or put together an interpretative dance routine! The choice is up to you!

Of course, the two most creative and original entries will not go unrewarded! By participating in this fanart contest, you'll get the chance to win two keys for the Wild West DLC. Entries will need to be submitted before December 5th on our official Discord or subreddit. The winners will be announced on December 8th. Please note that submitted entries may be shared on our various social media channels.

PS. If you haven't already, make sure to wishlist the Wild West DLC on the official store page right here!

[h2]Giddy-up! [/h2]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2175260/Escape_Simulator_Wild_West_DLC/

We hope you're ready for a brand-new adventure, because the Wild West DLC is coming out on December 8! This DLC will take you on an rootin'-tootin' journey across four new settings that should feel very familiar to anyone who's ever watched a classic Western film: The Sherrif's Office, The Saloon, The Bank and Post Office and finally The Train. If you haven't already, be sure to wishlist right here!



In addition to the new rooms, there are a few more bonuses that come with this DLC! First off, you'll get more outfits for your character to wear! Will you be a sleek sheriff or a rugged outlaw? The choice is yours! Additionally, the DLC comes with four new tracks to accompany each of the Wild West rooms.



Finally, the assets used in these rooms will be freely available to use in the in-game room editor for everyone!. That means you'll be able to build your very own Wild West room, whether you own the DLC or not! We can't wait to see all of your awesome creations!



We can't wait for all you to check out all of the new content when the Wild West DLC launches on December 8. We hope you're as excited as we are! In the meantime, do be sure to wishlist the game on the official store page. Want to share your excitement with other Escape Simulator players? Then please consider joining us over on Discord or Reddit. YEEHAW!

[h3] Pine team[/h3]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2175260/Escape_Simulator_Wild_West_DLC/

[h2]It's about to get WILD! [/h2]

If you've been keeping up with our news updates, you might have noticed that a lot of cool stuff happened in October. First and foremost, we announced the next big DLC for Escape Simulator, which is entirely set in the Wild West! This DLC pack is set to release in December, so if you haven't already, be sure to wishlist it right here!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2175260/Escape_Simulator_Wild_West_DLC/

But that wasn't all, because we also announced the winners of the 48-hour Build-A-Thon, released a new Halloween room AND celebrated Escape Simulator's one year launch anniversary! Finally, the community room builders have once again been working hard to publish some incredibly creative community rooms. As always, we selected four of our favorites for you to enjoy. So without further ado, here are our monthly picks for October!

[h2]Second nature [/h2]



Are you up for some tricky puzzles involving nature? Then you should check out The Naturalist by Citron Vert! In this cleverly designed room, you're trying to get hired by a naturalist. However, in order to get the job, you will need to prove your worth first! Can you do it?

[h2]Trick or treat! [/h2]



The spooky season might be over, but perhaps we can still interest you in another bone-chilling Halloween room? All Hallows' Eve by Tarmo is not for the faint of heart, but it's a great room if you're in for a fright! It might seem like a regular night of trick-or-treating, but there's definitely more going on here. Be warned!

[h2]To the saloon! [/h2]



Can't wait until the Wild West DLC launches in December to visit a saloon? Then we would highly recommend you to check out Wild West Escape by GetOffMyBeard! This excellent community room features some very interesting puzzles that require logic and wits. Also, we hope you've brushed up on your poker skills!

[h2]Lost in the jungle [/h2]



Wait, another room by Tarmo? Yes! Because who doesn't love to go on a great adventure? We sure do! In Aztec Jungle: The Temple, you'll have to solve a series of intricate puzzles while exploring an ancient temple. Your goal is to protect the course of history from time pirates who are threatening the timeline. No pressure.

[h2]More Escape Simulator?[/h2]

Can't get enough of Escape Simulator? Want to meet other people to play the game with or are you interested in building your own rooms? Then you should consider joining us on Discord or Reddit! We'd be more than happy to welcome you to our community and we hope to see you there. Thanks again for all of your support and be sure to let us know which community rooms from October you enjoyed the most in the comment section below!

[h3] Pine team[/h3]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2175260/Escape_Simulator_Wild_West_DLC/

[h2]Another update? [/h2]

That's right! Today we're rolling out another update for Escape Simulator with some additional features! This update includes new options for both room builders and puzzle solvers, so there's a little something for everyone. But before we get into the new stuff, we would like to remind you that both Escape Simulator and the Steampunk DLC are currently on sale! This sale lasts until November 1st, so be sure you don't miss out on any sweet deals. More info can be found on our store page right here!

[h2]Build your own spooky room! [/h2]



Always wanted to build your own Halloween room? Well, now you can! The Halloween props that were used in our brand-new Graveyard room are now available to use in the room editor! That means you are now free to use our tombstones, carved pumpkins and spooky fences. We can't wait to see all of your creations!

[h2]A groovy new outfit! [/h2]



We're going back to the 70's again! In case you missed it, we recently released an additional free room that is entirely centered around the grooviest decade of them all. However, to truly dive back into the 70's, you'll need an appropriate outfit as well. Well, we've got you covered! We're adding a new customization option that will really take you back in time!

[h2]Even more coming up! [/h2]

Of course we still have a whole bunch of awesome stuff planned for the game! First and foremost, we have a new Wild West DLC coming up, which is set to release in December. If you haven't already, make sure to wishlist here! Additionally, we still have more free rooms coming up as well, so be sure to keep an eye out on our channels for more updates and announcements. Finally, if you would like to meet and talk to other players and room builders, feel free to join us over on Discord or Reddit. In the meantime, thanks again for all of your continued support!

[h3] Pine team[/h3]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2175260/Escape_Simulator_Wild_West_DLC/

[h2]Things are about to get spooky! [/h2]



We hope you're ready to solve some more tricky puzzles, because the Halloween update for Escape Simulator is OUT NOW! This update features a brand-new room set in an eerie looking graveyard. Will you be able to solve its many mysteries?

To really add to the spooky vibes, the new Graveyard level is accompanied by a special soundtrack! But wait, you didn't think we'd let you celebrate Halloween without a matching outfit, right? Of course not! That's why the Halloween update also features a new customization option that allows you to turn your character into a ghostly version of itself!
We also did more than 600 fixes and quality-of-life improvements for the game. You can read the whole changelog below.


We hope you will all enjoy this free update to celebrate the month of Spooktober! In case you missed it, we recently announced the next big DLC for Escape Simulator as well. The Wild West DLC is set to release in December, so make sure to wishlist it! This way, you'll receive a notification as soon as it's out. In the meantime, feel free to join us on our official Discord or Reddit to talk about all things Escape Simulator. Hope to see you there!

[h3] Pine team[/h3]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2175260/Escape_Simulator_Wild_West_DLC/

[h2] Full changelog:[/h2]
New content:

• Brand new haunted room: Graveyard.
  
• You have the option to be a ghost in multiplayer levels!
  

• 70's Room: Fixed polaroid flash.
  
• The Engine Room: Fixed using fire extinguisher with a controller.
  
• The Top: a rotating object should feel better in singleplayer and multiplayer.
  
• The Elevator: there is a reset button for the circular puzzle in case you get stuck.
  

• Better error handling, the log will show on what line the error occurred
  
• Added support for Slidables in Lua
  Lua fixed can't enter negative indexes for locks
  

• Introducing the all new prop behaviour The Slidable
  
• Added button to fix workshop item id in the publish room menu
  
• Controller slot interaction should work better
  
• Pickables now work on zoomables
  
• Fixed crashing on copy/duplicate and undo
  
• Unlock input on locks should now work for continuous and fixed locks
  
• Fixed importing a display prop with textures breaks the room
  
• Only the display logic prop needs the transparent order offset checkmark
  
• Custom models material fixes
  
• Fixed laser effect rendering on screen
  
• Sounds shouldn't continue on loading next episode
  
• Fixed finish screen exit room buttons
  
• Keypad prop reset button fixed
  

• There is a new news section. It will display important updates to the game.
  
• Better controller handling.
  
• Better controller slot interaction.
  
• Voice chat is now much more reliable.
  
• Proximity chat is now working properly.
  
• Fixed a bug where removing an item from inventory could crash the game.
  
• Fixed placement of the held item on all camera FOVs.
  
• filtered chat messages are no longer just ignored
  
• Item can no longer be pinned during animation.
  
• There are avatars in UI showing who is speaking in voice chat.
  
• Sliders have been improved across the game. They should feel better in singleplayer and are synced better in multiplayer.
  
• 617 commits of bug fixes and quality-of-life improvements!
  

[h2]Happy birthday to us! [/h2]

Wow! Has it really been this long? Where does the time go? We can hardly believe it ourselves, but it's definitely true. As of today, Escape Simulator has officially been out for an entire year already! And what a year it has been for all of us at Pine Studio!



To celebrate the first anniversary of Escape Simulator, we're looking back at everything that has been achieved so far, while also giving you a sneak peek of what's yet to come. Join us for another dev update and feel free tell us your favorite memory of the game so far in the comment section down below! If you do so, and give this a announcement a like, you might win a key for our upcoming DLC (once it's out) !

[h2]The journey so far...[/h2]

When Escape Simulator first released one year ago, the base game featured 15 rooms spread out across three different themes. So far, that number has been increased to 23 and we still have more free rooms planned! Five of these were part of the Omega Corporation update and of course we also added three extra rooms: Santa's Workshop, Cats In Time and the recently released 70's Room. Additionally, we released the Steampunk DLC back in June and we just announced a second DLC as well! More on that in a bit!

Of course, Escape Simulator also owes a lot to its incredible community! That's why we want to give a massive shoutout to all of the builders who keep surprising both us and all other puzzle fans with awesome content. So far, there are already over 3000 published rooms to check out on the Steam Workshop! We also loved to see all of the excellent entries we received during the three different builder competitions that took place so far.

Of course our room editor has also gone through a lot of changes since the initial release. A whole bunch of new features have been added, with the Room Editor 2.0 update being our biggest update to the editor so far. As you might recall, that update featured the addition of new lighting options, scripting with LUA, a model importer and many more quality of life tweaks.

Finally, we are happy to say that Escape Simulator is now playable in a grand total of twelve languages, eleven of which have been added post-launch! We have also added gamepad support, so you can play the game however you want. We were astounded to the see game reach over ONE MILLION players and we hope you'll stick with us for even more escape fun! Now, are you ready for a sneak peek on the future of the game?

[h2]...and what lies beyond! [/h2]



So if you've been keeping an eye on this channel, you might already know that a second DLC is coming to Escape Simulator! Last week, we announced the Wild West DLC which is set to release in December! If you haven't already, be sure to wishlist it to receive a notification as soon as it's available!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2175260/Escape_Simulator_Wild_West_DLC/

Can't wait that long? No worries, we've got you covered! In order to celebrate the SPOOKY SEASON , we are adding a free Halloween room to the game next week! This update also comes with an additional outfit and a new music track to match the eerie vibes. We still have at least two more free rooms in development, so please continue to look forward to those as well!



Thanks again for all of the support you provided over the past twelve months! We couldn't have done it without all of you!

[h3] Pine team[/h3]

[h2]Trick or treat! [/h2]



No, this definitely isn't a trick! In honor of the spooky season, we are treating you all to another brand-new room that's coming to Escape Simulator next week! This time around, you will need to escape from an eerie looking graveyard which may or may not be haunted. We hope you've got nerves of steel!

This room will be added to the game as a free update, so that everyone will be able to join in on the Halloween festivities. But wait, All Hallows' Eve isn't complete without a good outfit, right?

[h2]Too spooky for me! [/h2]



Yes, of course we're also throwing in an additional outfit for you to wear. You best start believing in ghost stories, because you're in one! Or better yet, you can become a ghost yourself with this new customization option. So go out there and make sure to give your friends a good scare!

[h2]Happy Halloween! [/h2]



As you might know, we still have a bunch of new rooms in the works, so please continue to look forward to that. If you would like to talk more about Escape Simulator, please consider joining us over on Discord or Reddit. In the meantime, we hope you'll enjoy this new room when it drops next week and we wish you all a spooktacular Halloween!

[h3] Pine team[/h3]



PS. Don't forget to wishlist Wild West DLC: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2175260/Escape_Simulator_Wild_West_DLC/

Are you ready to explore and escape the Wild West? A new DLC is coming to Escape Simulator!

This DLC will contain 4 new rooms, which will all sound familiar to any outlaw that plays the game; The Sheriff's Office, The Saloon, The Bank and Post Office and finally The Train. Sounds like you will be the star in your own Western movie with this DLC, so giddy up and get ready to escape the Wild West!

[previewyoutube=vp8TCQFR0A0;full][/previewyoutube]
The Wild West DLC will be available this December and will contain additional content besides the 4 new rooms! It will have 4 new tracks to accompany each room and youll have more outfit options as well! Do you wanna be a sleek sheriff or a rugged outlaw? The choice is yours!
Of course for the room builders, this will mean that you can now make your own Western inspired room as well! We cant wait to see what you all make!

Be sure to wishlist the DLC now so youll be notified when its out!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2175260/Escape_Simulator_Wild_West_DLC
Pine team

[h2]Congratulations, winners! [/h2]

Build-A-Thon '22 has been officially wrapped up! We just announced the three winning rooms during our livestream. In case you missed the event, you can still check out the recorded version right here. Now without further ado, here are our three lucky winners!

• The Legend of the Golden Bread by Bartololomeo
  
• Quantum Conundrum by Leo
  
• The Projectionist by Duc
  

[h2]It's time for the Builders' Awards! [/h2]

In case you missed it, we held a Build-A-Thon event on the 17th and 18th of September. During this Build-A-Thon, some of the most dedicated builders from our community created a tiny room within only 48 hours. The theme they had to work with? Lost Artifact!

After a first nomination round, we announced ten final contenders for all of you to vote on. Today we will be announcing the three winning rooms during a livestream that you will be able to check out on Steam, Twitch and YouTube. Additionally, we will be making a special announcement during the livestream. So if you want a sneak peek on what the future of Escape Simulator will look like, be sure to join us! The fun will begin on October 6th at 9PM CEST. We hope to see you there!

[h3] Pine team[/h3]

[h2]Wrapping up September[/h2]

September has been another great month for Escape Simulator! In case you missed it, we released our brand new 70's room. This room is part of a free update that also includes several new features and tweaks to the room editor. You can read all about this new update right here!


Additionally, a Build-A-Thon took place during which the room builders from our community had to make a tiny 'Lost Artifact' room within only 48 hours. Last week we announced our ten nominees right here and you can still vote for your favorite rooms until October 5, 6PM CEST. Voting can be done via the Google Form found here. The three winners will be announced during our livestream on Twitch, YouTube and here on Steam. Be sure to tune in, because we will also be sharing a special announcement!

Finally, September also saw the release of many great new community rooms! So without further ado, these were some of our favorites!

[h2]Very underground[/h2]



The Subway Heist is yet another great room by GetOffMyBeard known for The Space Escape. In The Subway Heist, you're playing as someone named Mickey who's part of a big heist. Your task is to ensure a safe getaway through the subway. Will you be able to make your escape?

[h2]Check for prints![/h2]



In Paperback Predicament by Brengo, you're finishing some simple assignments for your boss at a printing workshop. Sounds like this should be an easy enough task, right? However, not everything might be as it seems. Go try it out to find out what's really going on here!

[h2]An aquatic escape[/h2]



Under The Sea is another beautifully atmospheric room by Duc. As the title of this room implies, it takes place in the deep, murky depths of the sea. Be sure to have a good look around, because you'll spot plenty of aquatic flora and fauna here!

[h2]A devilish sequel![/h2]



If there's one room we've been looking forward to for quite some time now, it has to be The Devilish Diorama 2 by Zesty Mordant. It's a full-blown sequel to one of our all-time favorite rooms and features some excellent voice acting by Twitch streamer Murkked. Once again, this room is filled to the brim with dioramas that will directly affect your surroundings. Be sure to check out this devilishly tricky room!

[h2]It's a wrap![/h2]

And that's it for our monthly picks of September! We would once again like to thank all of the dedicated builders from our community for all of your creativity and hard work. If you haven't already, be sure to join us over on Discord and Reddit to talk about all things Escape Simulator. We hope to see you all during the Build-A-Thon livestream!

[h3] Pine team[/h3]

[h2]Drum roll please! [/h2]



On the 17th and 18th of September, we asked the room builders from our community to build a tiny room within 48 hours. This means they were only allowed to use one single space on the grid of the in-game room editor. The theme they had to work with? Lost Artifact!

A grand total of twenty room builders participated in this Build-A-Thon. Out of the twenty rooms that got submitted, we have selected ten of our personal favorites for you to vote on. Please note that the following nominees are in random order. So without further ado, here are our ten nominees!

• The Rotating Room by Mumbo
  
• The Projectionist by Duc
  
• The Box in the Basement by Not a Driller
  
• The Broken Device by Citron Vert
  
• The Legend of Golden Bread by Bartololomeo
  
• Toilet Escape by Asahi
  
• Quantum Conundrum by Leo
  
• The Big Reveal: Bastet Cat by Franch
  
• The Mystery Box by Elkondo
  
• Bastet Obelisk by namo_krub
  

70's Room visual bug fixes
- 70's Room translation fixes
- Translation fixes on some levels in Steampunk DLC
- More solid monitor selector option
- Fixed transparency clipping issue for custom rooms
- Better right click movement in the room editor

Added missing textures for translations

[h2]Peace out! [/h2]



We hope you like lava lamps and disco balls, because it's time to go back to the 70's. That's right, we're releasing a brand-new room for Escape Simulator today! In order to escape from this incredibly cozy looking room, you'll need to know your way around some 'ancient' technology, such as cassette decks and a very retro game console. So vintage!

That's not all, though! The 70's room is part of our latest update, which also contains a whole bunch of additional features for the room editor. We hope you're excited to start using these features, builders! Additionally, this update contains the following tweaks:

- Different internal level packing, the game should be smaller on disk. It's about 5GB smaller than before!
- New hint system that tracks what puzzle you are playing and gives relevant hints
- Localization fixes
- Separated settings and save files. Only save is uploaded to cloud save, meaning settings is local to the machine.
- Faster performance mode for custom rooms
- Disable shadows option has 2x increased FPS in built-in rooms
- Chat key is can be rebound to different key
- Changed how zooms are calculated, some items are now bigger for better clarity
- Better controller support
- Better support for breaking hanging objects (plants, mirrors, ...)
- Its easier to use slots with controller with new Controller-Slot interaction UX

More patch notes can be found right here!

[h2]More rooms to check out! [/h2]

We really hope you'll enjoy this free update and that you'll continue to look forward to even more rooms in the future! We're working really hard to bring a bunch of additional rooms to the game and of course we're always trying to further improve upon the room editor as well. For all things Escape Simulator, please consider joining our dedicated Discord community or come talk to us over on Reddit.

[h3] Pine team[/h3]

[h2]Game[/h2]
- Different internal level packing, the game should be smaller on disk. It's about 5GB smaller than before!
- New hint system that tracks what puzzle you are playing and gives relevant hints
- Localization fixes
- Separated settings and save files. Only save is uploaded to cloud save, meaning settings is local to the machine.
- Faster performance mode for custom rooms
- Disable shadows option has 2x increased FPS in built-in rooms
- Chat key is can be rebound to different key
- Changed how zooms are calculated, some items are now bigger for better clarity
- Better controller support
- Better support for breaking hanging objects (plants, mirrors, ...)
- Its easier to use slots with controller with new Controller-Slot interaction UX
- Brand oldie-but-goldie room: 70's Room

[h2]Room Editor[/h2]
[h3]Features[/h3]
- Added Cats In Time room props
- Added 2 transparency props (the reign of the sticker is over)
- Added number, letter and symbol props
- Added the Display logic prop
- Added a functional keypad prop
- Added a button for exporting default prop textures
- The 'Finish' logic prop can now be used to load other custom rooms, you can continue your stories through other rooms
- Added options on the 'Finish' logic prop for setting the final camera position
- Hide props while editing the room with 'H' or 'Shift + H'
- Right click on a collection of props and select one by name
- Added a 'Use Rigidbody' checkmark to Animations/Buttons to help with physics prop interactions
- Added a button for fixing custom texture sizes for better compression
- New room option added: 'Require post processing'
- Lua activator API added
- Teleport, Sound, Fog, Post Processing and Skybox can now be triggered by any value except for zero (enabled by resetting the connection)
- Community room lighting option added
- Locks now have a reset pin ("R"), target it with any value but zero to reset the lock values to zero (for lua, just target the index with -400)
- Locks also now have a master unlock pin ("U"), target it with any value but zero to unlock the lock (for lua, just target the index with -500)
- Right click on a prop to show a list of all selectable props under the cursor, change prop names to easily differentiate between props when selecting this way
- Logic props that are based on locks (Sound, Fog, etc.) can now be triggered by any number except zero
- Added a transparency order offset setting for transparent objects, change this if you want some transparent objects to render in front/back of other transparent objects
[h3]Fixes[/h3]
- Smoother animations in zooms
- Visibility Activator delay removed to help with desync
- Fixed an issue where Visibility Activators didn't disable all colliders on some props
- Fixed issue with importing props from other rooms, references to non copied props are removed
- Pickable animations can now be set as slot keys
- Animations and buttons can no longer be picked up in zoom without using the pickable checkmark
- Fixed a hole in a halloween wall
- Fixed ambience sounds not stopping when starting other music sounds
- Transitioning to post processing with a disabled color filter now correctly transitions to no color filter
- Fixed removing prop links from slots when changing prop behaviour and undo
- Fixed reflection change on further away floors and props
- Fixed activator triggering for each player on start
- Exit zoom is no longer blocked by buttons and animations
- Fixed embedded gltf falsely reporting missing models
- Slot keys can now have triggers as children
- Fixed issue with slot keys disappearing when ejected while in zoom
- Fixed Visibility Activator enabling collider renderers on some props
-Zoomables can no longer have the pin button
- Click and drag selection now targets all props, use alt + click and drag to target only the root parent object
- Clone onChange updates now correctly update when animations are completed and not at the start
- UI text fixes, some translations and hints added
- Rect selection now selects all objects instead of only parents, use ALT + click and drag to only select parents
- Fixed pivots for certain props (to see the change replace the old prop with the new version of it)

[h2]Don't forget to sign up for the Build-A-Thon![/h2]


September has arrived, which means it's almost time for the Build-A-Thon! In case you missed it, Escape Simulator's next room building event will take place from 17-09-2022 00:00 CEST until 18-09-2022 23:59 CEST. Builders will have exactly 48 hours to build a room based on a theme that will be announced shortly before the Build-A-Thon kicks off. More information on the Build-A-Thon can be found here. Ready to join in on the room building fun? Sign up for the event via the Google Form found here.

Now that we've got all that out of the way, you could probably do with some inspiring examples of what an excellent community room can look like. Well, the dedicated room builders from our community have got you covered! So without further ado, here are our top community room picks for August!

[h2]Can you dig your way out?[/h2]



We were really impressed by the sheer size of Abandoned Mine by namo_krub, which took us quite a long time to finish! In Abandoned Mine you have to escape, well, an abandoned mine. Pretty obvious, right? However, it's not going to be easy! In order to evacuate safely, you will need to face the mine's many challenges. This includes operating heavy machinery, fixing an elevator and identifying several rocks (or are they minerals?). Will you be able to make your way back to the surface?

[h2]It's a masterpiece![/h2]



Stroke of Genius is the latest room by Brengo, who you might already know from S.O.S. - An escape room out at sea and the Scientists' Office series. Brengo's latest room takes place in an art gallery which contains four different paintings made my by your recently deceased grandfather. Each painting will take you to a bite sized escape room with its own theme. Together, these four paintings will unravel your grandfather's story bit by bit. An excellent way of compiling several themes into one room if you ask us!

[h2]The final frontier![/h2]



We're always happy to see new up-and-coming room builders join our community. One new builder to definitely pay attention is GetOffMyBeard! We were really impressed with The Space Escape, which is only the second room they ever published! The Space Escape features a whole bunch of very clever puzzles that we really enjoyed solving and we think you will too! And let's be honest, you can never have enough space rooms, right?

[h2]Whodunnit?[/h2]



If you enjoy some good old film noir, then you should definitely check out Noir in NYC by MelonVerse. For this room, MelonVerse has made excellent use of the recently added color filter, because the entire level is in black-and-white. Noir in NYC also features some excellent voice acting by community member and room builder Robin, which really adds to the room's atmosphere. You're going to need your detective skills in order to solve this murder mystery, so be prepared for some tricky puzzles!

[h2]Ready to build?[/h2]

We hope all of these excellent rooms have inspired you to start building yourself! If they did, why not sign up for the Build-A-Thon right away? If you need help to start your room builder journey, you can also consider joining us over on Discord or Reddit. Thanks again for all of your support and we hope to see you on September 17th when the Build-A-Thon commences!

[h3] Pine team[/h3]

[h2]Ready, set, build![/h2]

Attention, room builders!

The time has finally come for us to announce the next room building event! However, this time around we will be mixing up the formula just a tiny bit! Allow us to tell you what Escape Simulator's very first Build-A-Thon will be all about!

[h2] The clock is ticking![/h2]

This time around we will need you to work on a much tighter schedule than before! Instead of having the event go on for several weeks, the upcoming Build-A-Thon will last 48 hours! To be precise, the Build-A-Thon will last from 17-09-2022 00:00 CEST until 18-09-2022 23:59 CEST. It will be a race against time itself, but we're sure you'll be able to fully utilize those hours to create something incredible!

[h2] How do I sign up for the challenge? [/h2]

You can sign up for the the Build-A-Thon via this Google form
For the upcoming two weeks, you are also abelt to send in your own ideas for themes that everyone will need to work with. Afterwards, the theme we liked the most will be the final theme for this Build-A-Thon and will be announced in our Discord.

[h2] Where do I submit my entry? [/h2]
The submitting form will be shared with the participants right before the start of the Build-A-Thon! For now, we ask you to fill in the sign-up for and share your fun and creative ideas for its theme!

[h2] Prizes[/h2]

Of course the winners of this challenge will not go unrewarded! The three winning entries will get a receive a Pine Studio mystery box! In order to maintain the mystery behind this box, the contents of the box will have to remain a secret for now.

[h2] Rules[/h2]

• Room must be entirely new, no projects that were already in progress
  
• Room needs to be built between 17-09-2022 00:00 CEST and 18-09-2022 23:59 CEST. Any rooms published after 18-09-2022 23:59 CEST will not be considered.
  
• Builders must join the Pine Studio Discord theme will be assigned here!
  
• You can only submit one room. Multiple submissions will not be counted.
  
• You must upload a video walkthrough of your room and a workshop link.
  
• You are allowed to bug fix your room after submission, but not resubmit an entirely different room.
  
• Copies of other players' rooms are not eligible.
  
• Keep it fun/clean! Dont create anything that might be considered offensive in any way or form. No profanity, racism, hate speech etc.
  

[h2]Summer has arrived![/h2]



Wait, it's August already? Time really does fly when you're having fun!

Speaking of fun, we are currently participating in The Yogcast's Tiny Teams 2022 Festival, which is taking place between August 1 and August 8. To celebrate our participation in this event, both Escape Simulator and the Steampunk DLC are on sale now! Go check out our store page for more info!

Now without further delay, it's time for us to announce some more monthly picks! July has once again been a great month for community content and while selecting some of our personal favorites wasn't easy, we hope you will enjoy these recommendations!

[h2]Lost at sea[/h2]



Looking for a short and sweet community room to play? Look no further than S.O.S. - An escape room out at sea by Brengo! This might be one of the most spacious community rooms we've played so far, as it takes place at the open sea! You're the survivor of a shipwreck and you will need to find a way to get back to the mainland. By the way, did we mention that there are sharks around? Good luck!

[h2]Spyfall[/h2]



Do you love espionage? Want to play an awesome community room with one of your friends? If
you answered 'yes' to both of these questions, then You Only Spy Twice by Elkondo is the room for you! This room features two different roles, which means you and your co-op buddy will each have a different experience while playing through this room. Don't have a co-op buddy yet? Well, then you will just have to spy another day!

[h2]It's about time![/h2]



If you've been keeping up with our monthly picks so far, you might be familiar with Klaode's 'Mind Lock' series already. Like previous entries in the series, Back To Now continues to explore the theme of entering someone's mind to fix their memories. Once again, Klaode proves to have a real knack for creating some incredibly clever puzzles. We love to see it!

[h2]Open the gate![/h2]



Last but certainly not least, it's time for some sci-fi nostalgia! You might remember that back in the nineties, there was this very famous tv show called Stargate. Well, room builder Asahi made a stunning looking room based on that exact tv show! We were incredibly impressed with the sheer amount of detail in Stargate-Escape and on top of that, the puzzles it contains are a lot of fun to figure out. If you haven't already, you should definitely check this one out!

[h2]More Escape Simulator?[/h2]

Well, that officially wraps it up for July, but of course we still have a lot more stuff planned! This includes four entirely new rooms, a whole bunch of updates to the room editor and a new event for our room builders! More information on future updates can be found in our latest dev update! In the meantime, we hope you continue to enjoy Escape Simulator. Thanks again for all of your support!

[h3] Pine team[/h3]

[h2]Busy, busy, busy! [/h2]

Wow, can you believe that it's already been nine months since Escape Simulator was released on Steam? Seeing as it has been a while since our last development update, we thought it would be good to give you a little sneak peek at what we've been working on behind the scenes. We hope you are as excited as we are because there is still plenty of stuff coming up for Escape Simulator!

[h2]We heard you like updates! [/h2]
First off, we're glad to tell you that we still have four additional rooms planned for Escape Simulator! Two of these rooms are already in production, while the other two are currently in the design phase. Each of these rooms will be centered around an entirely new theme which we will reveal later!


More of a room builder than a puzzle solver? No worries, we've got you covered as well! While the in-game room editor recently got its major 2.0 update, that's definitely not the end. We are still working hard on adding even more features and tools for you to build with! We are working on several features: Texture exporter, next level loader, 2 new transparent planes, new sprite display, and many, many more!


Finally, you might wonder if there will be another Build-a-Room challenge soon! Over the past couple of months we received a lot of incredibly valuable feedback from our community in regards to these events. We've been gathering and processing all of this feedback for our next event which will be taking place in September. We will share more information on that soon!


[h2]But first, a short Summer break! [/h2]

As a team, we're proud of what we have accomplished so far, and we are incredibly grateful for our awesome community. However, even we need a break sometimes, which is why Pine Studio will be off on vacation for the next two weeks. Hopefully, after that, we will once again be completely energized to bring you even more content and updates! We hope you all have a great Summer vacation and we will see you soon!

[h3] Pine team[/h3]

[h2]It's been an exciting month![/h2]



Wow, July already? Where does the time go? Summer has arrived, which can only mean one thing: Steam Summer Sale! You can still get Escape Simulator with a 25% discount until July 7, so be sure to tell all your friends!

June was once again an incredible month for all of us here at Pine Studio. Not only did June see the release of the new Steampunk DLC, but we also released the free Room Editor 2.0 update, which provided room builders with a whole bunch of new tools to play around with! Speaking of room builders, June was also a great month for new community rooms! So without further ado, here are our monthly picks for June!

[h2]Look who's inside again...[/h2]



Did you know that it took room builder Franch over 600 hours to create his very first room INSIDE: Escape Simulator Edition? Yeah, we were quite impressed too! The result? An incredibly fun and original room based entirely on Bo Burnham's comedy special Inside. Franch even went as far as to record cover versions of the songs featured in said comedy special. Whether you're familiar with the source material or not, we can confidently say that you definitely need to check this one out!

[h2]Get ready for more mind-bending puzzles![/h2]



If you ever played any of the rooms from Klaode's 'Mind Lock' series, you probably already know what you can expect from The Path of Memories! The Path of Memories is the fourth instalment in this mind-bending series. You will once again have to enter the mind of someone suffering from memory loss in order to try and restore their memories. Up for some very intriguing puzzles? Then this one's for you!

[h2]Teamwork makes the dream work![/h2]



Want to know what makes the Escape Simulator room building community so incredibly awesome? The fact that the builders from this community are always glad to help each other out and even collaborate on projects! The biggest example of such a collaboration so far? Why, The Collab: Boardgames of course! For this community room, twelve builders all made their own individual rooms which then combined to make one big room. All of these separate rooms are based around one central theme: Board games! We love this initiative and would really like to see more collaborations like these!

[h2]All the world's a stage...[/h2]



We're pretty sure everyone has heard of William Shakespeare before, but how familiar are you with his work? Well, The Seven Ages of Man is based entirely on a monologue from Shakespeare's As You Like It. In this room by Wollo you will be going through the seven titular stages of man, from infant to old age. It features a series of seriously tricky puzzles, so be sure to give this one a try if you're up for a challenge!

[h2]Who's the best? You're the best![/h2]

So that's it for our monthly picks for June, but there are of course many other great community rooms out there! Did you miss any rooms which you think should have made the cut? Be sure to let us know in the comment section below!

Finally, we would like to thank all of you for your continuous support. There is still plenty of awesome stuff coming up for Escape Simulator, so we hope you continue to look forward to that! In the meantime, why not join us on Discord or Reddit where you can stay up to date about all things Escape Simulator? We hope to see you there!

[h3] Pine team[/h3]

The Crew Quarters

• Fixed cannonballs
  
• Added water sounds
  

• Fixed sign and flower faces
  

• Fixed textures
  
• Fixed handles
  

• When changing behavior on a prop (button/animation) the prop no longer gets removed from the activator targets
  
• Dial value counts can no longer be set to 0
  
• Importing props fixes:
  
  
  
  • Custom models are now copied when imported (but they need some time to load in and the prop isn't refreshed when they load in)
    
  • Importing audio, scripts and custom model files is blocked if the room is not saved
    
  
  
• Fixed some models not loading paint-overs properly for custom models
  
• Fixed steampunk walls on new room
  
• Added a dropdown for the impostorClone update type: Never/OnChange/Always
  

• Fixed unable to unsubscribe from custom room when the files are deleted locally
  
• Male/Female character model colliders are now the same size
  
• Scrollbar snaps to the top when entering workshop rooms menu and when searching
  
• Fixed activator component desyncs in coop play
  

[h2]The Steampunk DLC is here![/h2]
It's been been a little more than a week since we officially launched the Steampunk DLC for Escape Simulator! Taking place on a majestic steampunk airship called Valor, the DLC features a total of four new rooms, each of which are bigger than any of the previously released rooms. If you haven't already, you can wishlist the DLC right here!

However, maybe you've already purchased and finished the Steampunk DLC! If that's indeed the case, you might just be interested in playing even more awesome rooms to keep that escape mood going! Luckily, our community recently provided just what the doctor has ordered! On that note, we can highly recommend you to check out Escape Simulator's very first mega-sized collaboration room made by a grand total of twelve excellent room builders from our community!



[h2]There's no I in team work![/h2]
Last month, several room builders from our Discord server were discussing the idea to make one big collaboration room together. This idea eventually came to fruition and resulted in the creation of The Collab: Boardgames. The idea behind this massive project was that each of the room builders involved would create a single smaller area based around a specific board game. Each room builder was allowed to apply their own signature style. In the end, all rooms would get compiled together to form one mega-sized room.

If you ask us, the final result speaks for itself! Each area featured in The Collab: Boardgames is a unique little space that serves as a showcase of what you might expect from the creators that made them. Above all else however, we are just floored by the sheer awesomeness of this initiative! It took a lot of planning and resourcefulness for the builder to create and combine all of their creations and we are beyond excited to see that our community members pulled through to deliver this awesome room for you to enjoy!

The Collab: Boardgames was made by Citron Vert, Franch, Gav, klov3r, Kusane, LeoWolfbane, MelonVerse, Mumbo, Obvious / Ich, Rawrzee, Thoroniul, Wollo and Zesty Mordant! Great job all of you for putting together this amazing project. We love to see it!

[h3] Pine team[/h3]

Here's one more hotfix patch for the base game, Steampunk DLC and the Room Editor. We did a bunch of smaller fixes but here are the most important ones in 1.0.22752r version:

General changelog

• Added an option to remove timers
  
• Fixed host can start a custom room before all players have installed it
  

• Fixed some hint/key item tags and item names
  
• Removed the trunk fruit from the tree
  
• S1 lighters can no longer be picked up before solving the puzzle
  

• Teleport - "change rotation on teleport" checkmark is no longer inverted
  
• Room title issue with some characters (like %) fixed
  
• Fixed loading steampunk walls when creating a new room
  
• Victorian key prop no longer has the unlocking audio when placed on the floor
  
• Steampunk props - fixed some pivot and collider issues
  

[h2]The Valor has arrived![/h2]



If youve been keeping an eye on our channels, you might have noticed that we released the brand new Steampunk DLC last Monday! This DLC takes place on a majestic steampunk airship called Valor and features a total of four new rooms, each of which are bigger than any of the previously released pre-built rooms. Its currently still on sale with a 10% discount, so now would be the best time for you to board the Valor!

However, chances are that you have already played through all of the new rooms and are still hungry for more awesome content! Luckily, there are of course plenty of great community rooms that are more than worth your time. In fact, we have once again selected four of last months finest rooms for you to enjoy! So without further ado, these are our monthly picks for May!

[h2]A towering achievement![/h2]



In Aqueduct Tower by namo_krub you get to explore...well, an aqueduct tower, of course! While wandering through this ancient structure which has been out of operation for millennia, you accidentally get trapped. In order to escape the tower, you will have figure out the mechanics and get it working again. Are you up to the challenge?

[h2]Cats can have lasagna, right?[/h2]



Something strange is going on with Grandma's Kitty! In this room created by Cico, it is your task to feed and take care of your grandmother's many different pets. Sounds easy enough, right? However, it might be trickier than you'd expect! Will you be able to figure out what Grandma's Kitty is secretly up to?

[h2]Can you solve this mystery?[/h2]



Fair warning, Catholic Orphanage is not meant for the faint of heart. In this room by Tarmo, you'll have to solve a mystery which the authorities were unable to uncover. If you're up for something really scary, then this is the room for you!

[h2]An epic conclusion![/h2]



The Scientists' Office Part 3 by Brengo is the final chapter of the Scientists' Office trilogy. It picks up right where Part 2 left off, so be sure to check out the previous entries in case you haven't played those yet! In this final chapter you enter a realm disconnected from the normal world. Will you be able to save the very concept of science itself?

[h2]Up for even more community rooms?[/h2]

Want to be the first to find out which rooms might be featured in next month's picks? Or perhaps you would like to learn more about how to create your own rooms! Well, if that's the case, you might be interested in joining our official Discord server! Here you'll have the chance to chat with some of the most dedicated room builders from our community and find out about their upcoming projects! It's fun!

[h3] Pine team[/h3]

Hello explorers!
We've listened to your feedback and fixed all critical bugs and issues reported in the last few days. Also, we've added all Steampunk assets to the room editor for everyone to use!
The update is now live, and here's a changelog of fixes that we can remember we did:

• Added new Steampunk props for Room Editor
  
• Loading custom model without images fixed
  
• Fixed cannon bug in Steampunk 1 (S1)
  
• Fixed Omega DDR3/PC bug
  
• Fix not seeing Steampunk image as a client if the DLC is not installed
  
• Fixed puzzle box bug in S1
  
• Added reset button sound in S1
  
• Added better spawn points
  
• The botanists should be happy with new updated plant names in S3
  
• Multiple texture fixes in all rooms
  
• Yellow crystals don't stack with bolts and screws anymore
  
• Fixed box clipping in S1
  
• The butterfly in the greenhouse now has a much better path
  
• The propellers are now ok in the helm room
  
• The radar doesn't have that one bright button anymore
  
• The labyrinth in the engine room should work every time!
  
• The seed shouldn't disappear from anyone!
  
• Multiple optimizations
  
• Added more bugs to fix later
  

PATCH NOTES

[previewyoutube=UbVeACVMOMY;full][/previewyoutube]

• [h3]NEW Steampunk DLC[/h3]
  
• [h3]UPGRADE Room editor 2.0[/h3]

• Added Light prop, now you can add custom lightning and it comes with better performance!
  
• Added post-processing prop, change the ambient of your rooms.
  
• Added zoomable behavior, no more zooming to locks
  
• Added scripting custom rooms using Lua
  - More flexible than current setup, but you Lua programming knowledge is required.
  - Added Custom Drag behavior specifically for scripting. It gives you more control over object interactions.
  
• Added loading custom models as props, you can create musical instruments using primitive objects or import one from .gltf file!
  
• UX tweak: Changed from behavior buttons to a dropdown (Button, Animation, Turnable,...)
  
• Menu UI scale fix for smaller screens
  
• Added Discord Rich Presence, show others what awesome rooms you are playing
  

• scripting props need to be enabled in the room config - only to view them in the menu, doesn't affect loading or saving
  
• exposed the Vector3 and Quaternion class for static methods
  
• now it's possible to lua functions to chat so players can trigger them
  
• access to player IDs + teleport specific players
  
• importing a lua object should now copy the lua file as well
  

• collider dropdown added - None/Box/ConvexMesh/ConcaveMesh
  
• shiny material issue fixed
  
• cross platform loading of custom models fixed
  

• new event: LuaCallType.ChatCommand when players write "/something"
  
• Vector/Quaternion exposed
  
• new functions for players: getAllPlayers, getLocalPlayer, getClosestPlayer, getMainPlayer
  
• new function for teleporting: teleportPlayer
  

* Fixed search in the in-game workshop not working
* Fixed community rooms issue with teleport.

[previewyoutube=UbVeACVMOMY;full][/previewyoutube]
[h2]Four brand new rooms for you to escape from in style![/h2]
Get ready to solve a lot more puzzles, because the brand new Steampunk DLC is out now! Featuring four additional rooms that are filled to the brim with all kinds of curious machinery, this DLC is sure to get your gears grinding! To celebrate the arrival of this new content, both Escape Simulator and the Steampunk DLC are currently on sale! Additionally, you can now get all available content directly through the newly available Escape Simulator: Collector's Edition. This bundle is also available if you already own Escape Simulator and will add the content that you don't own yet to your Steam wallet. If you can't wait to board the Valor, then you can get the Steampunk DLC right here!

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/26190/Escape_Simulator__Collectors_Edition/

Each room in this DLC represents a different area of the steampunk airship Valor. Your journey through the Valor begins at The Crew Quarters, where you are awoken by a sudden explosion. Youll have to make your way topside by putting out fires in The Engine Room and by taking care of the plants in The Greenhouse. Will you be able to make it to The Helm Room on time and regain control of the airship?

[h2]Bring your community rooms to the next level![/h2]
In addition to all of the newly available Steampunk content, we are also releasing the free Room Editor 2.0 update today! This update will greatly expand the amount of possibilities for builders to make awesome community rooms! Additionally, builders will also get access to all of the Steampunk DLC assets, regardless of whether they bought the DLC or not.

To start things off, the latest version of the Room Editor now allows room builders to add all types of lighting to their rooms! With this feature, youll be able to really crank up the atmosphere in your creations. Additionally, we are adding post-processing options and a brand new model importer! With this model importer, builders are now able to add their own assets to their rooms, which will open up a world of opportunities!



Finally, the new Room Editor also adds a function which allows builders to make use of LUA scripting. Through scripting, builders will be able to modify the properties of their rooms to their own will. Like with the other added functions, we believe this will allow builders to further create rooms that are beyond our imagination!

For more information on the contents of the Room Editor 2.0 update, see the patch notes below!

• New Light prop, now you can add custom lighting and it comes with better performance!
  
• New post-processing prop, allowing you to change the ambience of your rooms.
  
• New zoomable behavior, no more zooming to locks
  
• New scripting custom rooms using Lua
  
• More flexible than current setup, but Lua programming knowledge is required.
  
• New Custom Drag behavior specifically for scripting. It gives you more control over object interactions.
  
• New loading custom models as props, you can create musical instruments using primitive objects or import one from .gltf file!
  
• UX tweak: Changed from behavior buttons to a dropdown (Button, Animation, Turnable,...)
  
• Menu UI scale fix for smaller screens
  
• New Discord Rich Presence, show others which awesome rooms you are playing
  

Explorers, are you ready to take to the skies?
A brand new Steampunk DLC pack is coming to Escape Simulator next month! In this DLC pack, you will find yourself on the beautiful steampunk airship Valor. This airship is filled with tricky puzzles that will surely put your wits to the test. Youll have to make your way through four brand new rooms featuring all kinds of curious machines.

Your adventure begins in your quarters, when you are suddenly awoken by an explosion on the lower decks. In order to prevent a disastrous event, you will need to repair your airship and make your way to the helm room. Will you be able to make it there in time to regain control of your ship?



The Steampunk DLC will be available on the 6th of June for only $4,99/ 4,99! In addition to the new rooms, it also features an exclusive steampunk skin for your character to wear. The estimated runtime for the DLC is around four hours, which means the size of each room is quite a bit larger than all of the rooms that are currently available. Please note that the rooms included in this DLC will only be playable online with players who also own the DLC.

Make sure to keep an eye out on all of our channels for more teasers and information! And don't forget to add the DLC to your wishlist!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1942100/Escape_Simulator_Steampunk_DLC
Pine team

• Fixed Friends invite bug if invite code was not generated
  
• More optimal loading of large workshop rooms
  

[h2]Thanks for joining the HYPE![/h2]

First off, we would once again like to thank our incredible community for all of your continuous support! Last Tuesday we rounded up Build-A-Thon #2 and we were of the immensely creative rooms that got submitted. As a small token of our gratitude, we decided to give you all a small preview of what's coming up next in terms of content from our side. So in case you missed that, be sure to check it out right here!
Now without further ado, we present you our top community room picks for April!

[h2]This seems vaguely familiar?[/h2]



In Virtual Intelligence you wake up in a room that bears a striking resemblance to your own bedroom. However, something doesn't feel quite right. To escape this familiar looking room, you will need to solve a series of strange and intriguing puzzles. Virtual Intelligence will put your puzzle-solving skills to the test and was one of two winners of the community award in our HyperX and OMEN Build-A-Room competition!

[h2]Nothing beats a good bowl of soup![/h2]



The second community award went to An Unprepared Forecast! To escape from this room, you will need to find all of the scattered tiles needed to summon forth your familiar Fern. But before you do that, why not grab yourself a nice bowl of soup? You're going to need it!

[h2]A E S T H E T I C[/h2]



That's right, folks! It's time to go back to the eighties! Well, sort of. We hope you've brushed up on your synthesizer skills for 100% Polyester in which you'll enter a VERY pink vaporwave dreamscape! And if not, you can always just go shopping for some timeless horse shirts.

[h2]I find your lack of ESCAPE disturbing...[/h2]



Star Wars day has already come and passed (May the Fourth be with you, though!), but we can still celebrate! Why not try escaping none other than ! This awesome room will provide you with some very interesting new insights about how the Sith formerly known as Anakin has decorated his humble abode. So cozy!

[h2]Still want more to play?[/h2]

In case you missed it, we also just released an update featuring a brand new room that pays tribute to our previous game Cats In Time! More info on that update can be found here. Additionally, we also just put out a smaller hotfix patch. Of course there are still plenty of other updates coming up, so we hope you continue to look forward to those! In the meantime, thanks again for all of your wonderful support!


Pine team

• Lobby creation should now be much more reliable.
  
• Better voice volume in-game
  
• Push-to-talk button for controller (L2)
  
• Fixed issue with climbing on the walls in Corporation room #3
  
• Fixed missing tutorial image
  

[h2]To our 1,000,000 players, thank you![/h2]

We are both delighted and overwhelmed to share the amazing news that we have officially sold more than 1 million copies of Escape Simulator. We never anticipated our game to reach this amount of success and we are incredibly thankful for each and every one of you! To celebrate this very special occasion, we are glad to announce that as of today, you will be able to play through a new official room! This new room pays tribute to one of the earlier PINE games: Cats In Time!

[h2]Can you make it in time?[/h2]

In the new Cats In Time room, you will need to figure out how to repair Professor Tim Edger's time machine. However, this task won't be easy and you might just run into some strange issues while trying to fix the device. The clock's ticking! Will you be able to finish your task within thirty minutes?

To celebrate this milestone, both Cats In Time and Escape Simulator are both 20% off on Steam. Don't miss out on these discounts and make sure to tell all of your friends!

[previewyoutube=dze1DmQFDg0;full][/previewyoutube]
[h2]What else is new?[/h2]

Additionally, the latest update comes with a whole bunch of other new features and improvements!

First off, Escape Simulator now features in-game voice chat! We know that many of you were waiting for this feature, so we are happy to inform you that you will now be able to hear each other's voices without having to use external software. On that note, you are of course still free to join our official Discord channel if you are in need of a co-op partner! We also added a brand new config screen to the room editor, which features a better option floor colliders and an option to adjust the visibility of both player nameplates and item nameplates. Finally, we added several other improvements to the Room Editor, such as the option to use multiselect all objects in a room, including locks! For the full list of updates, check the changelog below!

General updates:

• Texture compression in custom rooms
  
• You can change the type of compression in options, if you select lower quality, custom rooms will run more smoothly
  
• Main Menu using less RAM

• Better disconnecting in coop games
  
• Offscreen ping indicators in coop games
  
• Added voice chat

• Brand new room config screen
  
• You can use better floor colliders option
  
• When using better floor colliders items respawn in inventory
  
• Change visibility of player and item nameplates in your rooms
  
• Added custom texture selection scrollbar
  
• More tooltips! Every option has a tooltip describing what it does
  
• Multiselect for everything. Yes, even locks!
  
• Fixed bug where you couldn't click on items after moving with arrow keys
  
• UX tweaks for large lists of targets
  

[h2]And the winners are...[/h2]

Our Build-A-Room #2 competition in collaboration with HyperX and OMEN has officially come to a close! Missed out on the livestream during which we announced all of the winners? No worries, we will gladly get you up to speed. So without further ado, here are all of the lucky winners of Build-A-Room #2!

If you missed the livestream you can watch a recording here:
[previewyoutube=8qer1k8Tzlo;full][/previewyoutube]

10. VASEBREAKER
Starting off the list is VASEBREAKER by WexCore, who has made it to tenth place! We loved the great 'action' ending of this room and did we mention it features an RGB vase for the real gamers?

9. Escape Simulator Developer Simulator
Finally, a room that's all about us! Escape Simulator Developer Simulator by Mc.Rawrzee has earned ninth place! This experience that takes 'meta' to the next level features a great voice-over, smooth gameplay and it's also incredibly funny!

8. Game On!
Next up is Game On! by MelonVerse! This room features some really interesting puzzles and a cool story!

7. The Golden Rig
The seventh spot on the list goes to The Golden Rig, which was made by Mumbo. Excellent puzzle design is the key phrase when it comes to this room!

6. The Parable of Stanbert
What do you get when you put 250+ hours of work into a room? You get The Parable of Stanbert by Khadgar! This room actually features multiple endings and a great, hilarious voice-over!

5. The O.M.E.N. System
The fifth place goes to The O.M.E.N. System by Klaode! It features a big robot. What more do you need?

4. The Hyper Adventure
We're almost at the top three, but not before we highlight Cico's The Hyper Adventure! This room features an excellent adventure, some great character designs and the story is top notch!

3. The Virtual Prison
And the third place goes to The Virtual Prison by Duc! We always love a room with some good voice acting. Additionally, this room made perfect use of the assets, featured some great lore and was just a lot of fun to play through!

2. It's All Led Up To This
The runner-up spot goes to It's All Led Up To This by Robin! We really liked both the concept and the execution of this room and it includes some really smart puzzles!

1. The Ominous Obelisk
And the grand prize goes to The Ominous Obelisk, made by Zesty Mordant! We were overall really impressed by the great puzzle design, perfect use of the assets, and additional lore. To top it all off, the room includes a well designed hint system and and an excellent save system. Well done and congratulations!

And that's everyone! Once again, congratulations to all of the lucky winners! If you were fortunate enough to grab home one of those prizes, make sure to contact us via community@pinestudio.com and we'll inform you on the following procedures!


[h2]Honorable mentions![/h2]

Of course there were many more great submissions that unfortunately didn't make the final cut. However, we would still like to grant these rooms their time in the spotlight! So if you haven't already, be sure to also check out the following list of rooms! Also, you can pick your favorite from the honorable mentions list and we'll award them "community pick" prize! Vote here: https://forms.gle/nudZfPrZsMMJR6Md9

[h2]It's time to announce some winners![/h2]
[h3]Join the livestream tomorrow on Tuesday April 26 at 8pm CEST/6pm GMT.[/h3]

It's time to announce the winners for our Build-A-Room #2 competition in collaboration with HyperX and OMEN! We have picked our top 10 already, and tomorrow we will be livestreaming to show off some of the great entries we received and to share the winners, who will be getting some sweet gaming gear!

The goal of the contest was to build the ultimate gaming escape room with Escape Simulators in-game room editor, making use of new assets that represent real-life HyperX and OMEN products. Once again, our talented room builders have knocked it out of the park!



[h2]Vote in the Community Choice[/h2]
It's not only our opinions that matter for the contest - prizes are planned for the Community Choice winner as well! We'll be collecting and tallying your votes as part of the livestream, and we're all very curious about what the community pick will be.

Hope to see you there, on Tuesday April 26 at 8pm CEST/6pm GMT!

Pine team <3

Gotta keep building!

While the Build-A-Room #2: HyperX & OMEN Gaming Showdown is still ongoing, it is time for us to take a look at some of last month's latest and greatest community rooms! We continue to be amazed by all of the work you put into making these. So without further ado, these are top community room picks of March!

Stranger things have happened, right?



The Devilish Diorama features a series of strange, mind-expanding puzzle rooms and a bunch of compelling boxes. Will you be able to solve all of them, while trying to escape from a quantum neural interface?

Can you save the world from impending doom?



In Clockwork Inc. it is up to you to save the Earth from a highly destructive meteor. In order to achieve this, you will need to fire up an experimental death laser and blast it from the sky. Are you up to the task?

Emily's back...



In the mood for something spooky? Look no further. Little Emily: Chapter II picks up right after the first part and reveals more details about Emily's tragic story.

What time is it?



At Three Thirty tells the intriguing story of a person suffering from amnesia. Their only memory? A time point. 3:30 to be specific. Using highly advanced technology, you dive into the mind of your patient to uncover the secrets behind this mysterious time point. Curious to know what happened at 3:30? Then definitely give this one a go!

What's your favorite community room?

Once again, we want to thank all of you for your amazing support! We really enjoy checking out all of the awesome community rooms, so definitely keep them coming. Did we miss out on any of your personal favorites? Please let us know in the comments down below!


Pine team

.0.20872 - Hotfix Release

• Fixed crash with wrong format workshop rooms (stuck on menu screen with % signs)
  
• Fixed download and unsubscribe buttons
  
• Egypt - Room #2 - Chamber of the Dead - fixed Scarab puzzle in multiplayer
  

THIS IS A RE-STREAM!

This livestream on Steam is to celebrate our participation in the SimFest event on Steam and also to talk about the HyperX & OMEN campaign we announced today.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1435790/view/3111431264448532984

In the stream we will cover:

• Highlight the HyperX campaign. How the competition works, what people you can win!
  
• Show the HyperX assets in-game
  
• Explain the judging criteria
  
• Q&A
  
• If there's time left, play some of our favorite community rooms!
  

This livestream on Steam is to celebrate our participation in the SimFest event on Steam and also to talk about the HyperX & OMEN campaign we announced today.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1435790/view/3111431264448532984

In the stream we will cover:

• Highlight the HyperX campaign. How the competition works, what people you can win!
  
• Show the HyperX assets in-game
  
• Explain the judging criteria
  
• Q&A
  
• If there's time left, play some of our favorite community rooms!