Escape from Norwood
A downloadable game for Windows and macOS
Explore a city that lives without your input in this illustrated text adventure. Observe the lives of its inhabitants behind the veil of your invisibility magic. Find items and combine them to solve intricate puzzles. Set your own pace as you control time and move freely in an open fantasy world.
Synthesis
Mostly text-based, but showcasing detailed 2D backgrounds for its many locations, Escape from Norwood lets you free to explore the world and try to combine hundreds of items in any way you want, to trigger unexpected effects on the lives of its vast cast of characters. By using the uncanny abilities of invisibility magic you can protect yourself and learn intimate and state secrets alike, in this story-rich game. This freedom comes with simplicity: no text prompt ever shows up, simply click on someone, something or somewhere to see the possible interactions and choose among them… for dozens of hours of play and discovery.
Synergy
Escape from Norwood combines 80's text adventure imagination with 90's point and click streamlined interactions. Add a pinch of 00's open world and 10's forgiving gameplay to live a unique experience that feels both classic and modern.
Synopsis
Cursed with a magic which does not fit within the five cardinal aelic callings, 13-years old Lecia has to hide from the guards and find a way out of the city. Yet this magic will allow her to sneak into places and observe plots and schemes that could shake the foundations of Magistan, as the Empress’ progress approaches Norwood. What secret ties her family and an empire where the only discrimination is based on the order of birth?
Features
- Interact with every character and every object: the depth of a classic text adventure with a unique gameplay and modern UI.
- Journey through the city and explore every nook and cranny on your own terms.
- Everyone has their routine: what can you learn through observation? How can you help them?
- Combine items in unexpected ways to solve puzzles and move the story forward.
- Master the powers of a Shroud to move unseen and espy secrets.
- Keep track of your missions to do them in any order.
- Screen reader support: the game is fully accessible and can be played entirely via keyboard and text to speech. Type Control + F12 to activate accessibility.
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $5.99 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Also available on
Download demo
Development log
- Catching up on all the updatesFeb 16, 2024
Comments
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will this recieveany future updates/content?
A new version should be published end of week. Further updates will keep coming but they will be on UI / UX and small changes. The game is heavily story-driven and so story is written.
the steam version seems to recieve many small updates, but i can't see any here.
should i buy the game from here or steam?
The same version is deployed on itch and Steam. This is my first time on itch so I didn’t use any update notification features, my bad. I will fix this going forward.
im asking as the page here on itch says that it can completed withing half-an-hour.
sorry for asking so many questions.
how much time will this take to finish?
The game is more like a 20-30+ hours experience, depending on how long you take to solve the puzzles and how much you rely on the hints.
wow!. that's alt. will prob buy this by the end of March.
if i buy this on ios, do i need to buy it on pc also?
Yes those are two different storefronts. Please note that the mobile version does not support screenreader. Overall, the experience is probably better on desktop
should this be read before or after playing the game?
it doesn’t matter either way. There are no real spoilers in one regarding the other
when i look at the demo, what is that pdf file for?
Just a free short story set in the same universe, to set the tone and for the curious ones who will look for the connection with the game.
what does this game use for outputting tts? sapi (in-built) or screen readers like nvda?
The game uses vanilla Unity accessibility plugin, outputting to your configured screenreader. As I’m not a screenreader specialist myself, if you need more specifics there is a topic on the game on audiogames.net
that's all i wanted to know, thanks alot.
how does the accessibility work?
You can trigger it with Control F12: it reads all incoming events and allows you to switch between possible actions (also available with keyboard shortcuts)
does this have music/sfx?
The game has music, FX and ambience sounds. The relative volume of all 3 can be controlled separately. The OST is available for purchase too