NOX – Escape Games Reviews

by Laurz24601

I work at an escape room, so I was really excited when I saw NOX. However, the game is nothing like an actual escape game. There’s not much puzzle solving, it’s mostly just picking things up and putting them down somewhere else in the game. Some of the few puzzles that they do have didn’t make any sense even with hints. The end is really confusing and doesn’t seem to wrap up the story, in my opinion. (Spoiler alert) The way I interpreted the end was that the dad was abusing the mom and the kid (which is you) and then you had to hide from him and the parents disappeared and never found you. To me, I think that could be kind of PTSD-inducing for anyone who has experienced childhood trauma or domestic abuse. Overall, the graphics were cool and some of the puzzles were interesting, but it’s nothing like an actual escape game, the ending isn’t very clear, and I’m concerned that survivors of abuse and trauma would take serious issue with this game. I’d highly recommend that the developers add some sort of warning and also clarify that the game is kinda creepy (I played this in the dark without knowing that it wasn’t gonna be very lighthearted).

by Jkimchi

But then the puzzles just started to get inconsistent and convoluted and I had to look up a walkthrough at one point. The story at the end doesn’t wrap up the game at all and it wasn’t very satisfying, to say the least. If it also weren’t for the “fast travel” that I had unlocked at one point in the game, this game would have gotten really old really fast because the perspective moving system throughout the rooms was confusing and disorienting. Your inventory shows up at the bottom of your screen, which is practically overlapping with the swipe bar to your home screen, so sometimes I would find myself exiting the game without meaning to. I honestly don’t understand the high reviews and it raises suspicion.

[SPOILER ALERT] You figure out that basically you had a traumatic experience as a child and are thus suffering some sort of PTSD and/or are mentally incapacitated over it. I believe you’re talking to a therapist at the end, but it seems to end just how it started — “in darkness”, so I guess you (the player) are just continuously trapped in your own mind forever? But what about dad’s laboratory and his secret surveillance room? The parents just left the child and literally forgot about him? Did they die?

by Billmack In SC

There are some interesting puzzles here. I like the minecraft-sytle graphics. There are 2 main problems with this game. The first problem with this game is the inconsistent room states. If you move and object, open a drawer, turn on the tv, or move the dominos - they reset to their original position when you re-visit that room. It doesn’t matter if it was part of a puzzle, or not. Yet, the picture in the hallway (for example) slides off one side and hangs, but does not move anymore, and does not reset. The second problem is the fake ads for other games. It’s just bad business. The ads falsely show other gameplay that does not exist. The other games are grossly misrepresented and misleading. Why would I download another game only to find it was falsely advertized by your game? Which begs the more important question: Why should I support your this app game, if you falsely advertise? If you can’t control what ads are shown in your game, you are foolish. If you choose to continue to falsely advertize, you are not doing youselves or your customers any favors. I played a while and got tired of the same fake ads. I can’t support bad business practices.

by Ihkbvijosnfviji

Loved the atmosphere and the graphics and the way you could interact with items in your inventory, ex. pour water out of a jug while tilting it. The music and sound design overall was amazing and really helped to set the mood. I did enjoy quite a bit of the puzzles but at some point they started being unintuitive so i had to get to a lot of the steps/solutions with free hints. I have to give you credit for not forcing people watch an ad for a single hint like all those other escape room games, though. I think the ad placement was fine overall, considering this is a game you'd probably have to pay 3-4$ for just to play if it wasn't free. I saw ads every 10 minutes when i tapped to enter another room and i'm completely fine with that. The only thing i ABSOLUTELY hated was the ending. I knew something like that was coming but it wasn't set up properly until the very last minutes of the very last act. Sure, the collectibles gave some hints, but that wasn't nearly enough worldbuilding. And while some players complained about the ending cutscene being too long, i'm going to complain about it being too short and not having much going on in it. I mean, come on, the ending's supposed to be the thing that crowns a game.

Overall, i didn't feel like i wasted my time because i did really enjoy many parts of the game, but it definitely could've been 5* worthy.

by Tingfjkfffjj

It seems like they were trying to develop a game similar to the Rusty Lake escape rooms, but failed miserably. It’s just not as fun or as engaging as those games. A lot of this game is nonsensical. Some of the tasks you have to do make little to no sense. I don’t want to play a game where everything is obvious, but some of the things you have to do are so unapparent that it’s a good thing there are free hints. The game is so dark that some of the clues are just indistinguishable from the rest of the graphics. For example, you had to put bottles of wine in order according to their color. The clue for this was in the basement, but when I went to look I could hardly tell what color the labels were and there’s no way to zoom in and take a closer look. A lot of the colors in the game aren’t far enough apart to where you can tell what they are. The story made little sense. The constant dialogue was annoying. And don’t even get me started on that ending. There is absolutely no reason why it needed to drag on that long. We get it, he’s confused and his dad abused him and his mom. We don’t need some dragged out bunch of lines trying to make double, triple, and quadruple sure that we understand. Especially if there’s no way to skip through it. I was bored by the end of this game. And there was no explanation about being able to fast jump from the different rooms. I discovered that accidentally. Good job on that though, because that was helpful.

by CasinoOwl

There are things to like about this escape game, but overall I found it frustrating and a bit boring. The block graphics can get confusing since there are clues in some of the items but it’s hard to tell what is a color clue and what is just chunky pixels. I played for an hour and still felt lost in the house. The spinning room mechanic and doors that look similar make it hard to navigate. I found I got bored bouncing around the rooms and guessing what I should do next, so I was glad there were hints. But even those made references to rooms that were unclear. The map that is provided doesn’t label the rooms so I just had to guess which one they were talking about, and it took me several tries to figure out which doors would get me there. The dialogue writes itself just slow enough to be annoying, and in many instances you have to tap several times to get all the dialogue when it could have all fit on the screen in the first place. And many times I tapped on what I hoped would be tappable, just to have to click click click through the old dialogue again. I finally lost interest and gave up. I did pay the $3 to get rid of ads with no regrets since the developers show promise and I hope they do something else. I just hope they work out the parts that made this game unplayable for me.

by Fandomfox

To get the complaint out of the way: there are a few items that when you click them the dialogue doesn’t load, effectively freezing the game so you can’t continue unless you close the game and reopen. And it’s mostly a few snow globes that do it so I feel like I’m missing some important dialogue too. Other than that it was really good! The atmosphere was very well done, the house felt familiar and safe but at the same time it felt like you were constantly being watched and that there could someone there with you. The story was really interesting and unfolded steadily. I really appreciated the hint system, I liked that they were free and available for you so the flow of the game didn’t get interrupted by having to seek help. The unstoppable ads popping up between rooms were annoying of course but there’s nothing to be done there so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ overall really great! Again I was disappointed about the freezes but the game was still totally playable and fun

by Nika0

To parents and guardians: my 10 year old likes to play escape games too, so FYI for parents and guardians: there is nothing graphically violent in the story but it is a subtly disturbing murder story involving an emotionally scarred child and implying child abuse. There is, of course, also disturbing music (at times).

I found this a little too hard in some places but overall it was a very enjoyable game! At first I would get lost trying to find my way through series of similar doors that I couldn’t always see depending on the way the perspective was turned. (Until I unlocked the fast travel.) Some of the puzzles were too far apart (the clue from the actual puzzle) for me and there were extraneous clues that had no meaning or objects that had no use which made things confusing and at times tedious. I have to admit I had no idea there were hints available until I read it in one of these reviews. So I imagine that would have helped tremendously. However, I loved the challenging puzzles; some that were quite unique to what I’ve seen in other escape room games. I was pleasantly glued to my phone for hours wanting to figure this out.

by Avonette

I spent hours and hours trying to figure out the puzzles in this app! It’s so addicting I couldn’t put my phone down! It is very mysterious and always keeps me intrigued wanting to know what would happen next. But If they didn’t include the clues I probably would be at the same room unable to escape so I’m grateful I found that. It gets a little scary but that’s just part of the fun. Spoiler warning...there is this one part where I have to make a shape with yarn but I couldn’t replicate it the way I’m supposed to and even with the clues I can’t get it to be the same shape as the one in the children’s room chalkboard. I wish that was a bit easier because I haven’t been able to do it and I’ve been stuck there for about a week 😅. So far there hasn’t been any lagging glitches or anything like that and I’m not sure but I don’t think you have to pay for anything and usually for amazing games like this you do have to pay so I’m so happy it’s free so far. I really recommend getting this game! It is so much fun and so mysterious and scary I love it!! I just wish some things were a bit easier...

by Chibi Alexir

The storytelling with minimal dialogue is fantastic, you get caught up in the story easily, worrying about the same thing the person you’re playing as is only for a message to be sent through you experiencing it alongside them instead of through words. The visual and auditory designs are immersive and rather pleasant to deal with unlike some games. I highly recommend playing it. The only thing I can even find to criticize is the very end. The dialogue on screen at the most important moment has a few minor spelling errors that lessen the impact of the finale and its moral. Everything else is amazing and rare to find in such high quality on NOX Store. I don’t normally write reviews but this game was actually wonderful despite the occasional unskippable ad. I feel like it’s fine though, as this game likely would have cost around $3 otherwise. Creators, you did brilliantly. Much love and support is deserved from the community around you guys on this.

by Godlingcaptainchristina

I played this over the course of two days. I do wish that I’d taken longer to saver it, but it was too good to just Stop. The graphics are not the norm, I’d say, but they are a choice and i think that it adds to the effectiveness and fun on the game and the puzzles. All of the animations are smooth. Everything fits cleanly into everything else.
The puzzles weren’t easy for me and I did need a walk through for some bits that i just couldn’t get, but they’re there for a reason. It was still really satisfying to see how well things fit together. All of the bits are there and they make sense when you see them put into place.
My favorite part is 100% the sound design tho. They absolutely knocked it out of the park on this. It is unobtrusive until the exact second that they need you to notice something important to the story. The music choices are so, so good.
I will be replaying it to appreciate it more fully.

by Arrowheart3

I play a lot of escape the room games and right now this is one of my favorite iOS ones. The game offers puzzles that aren’t really too hard or too easy along with graphics that are pretty great, considering the fact that it’s kind of pixelated. It also has an underlying story that’s good but doesn’t become the entire game. I also like the fact that you don’t have a limited number of hints and don’t have to pay or watch ads to get them, it makes watching the occasional ad in game alright. My only small issue with it is that, like a lot of the other reviews are saying, if you have ptsd that’s triggered by abuse, I think it could potentially be a little triggering, as it seems to be an underlying theme. This is fine but there should be some kind of warning somewhere, be it in the description of NOX or at the beginning of the game itself. But overall a really great game that I would definitely recommend!

by Katièéëėē

I’m not sure why I see some reviews who said the game was boring... I could understand if someone felt bored while stuck on a particular task or puzzle, because there were TONS of puzzles. The game provides you with hints along the way if you get stuck. If you don’t like to use your brain then this game is not for you 😅 Besides that, the graphics in the game FOR A PHONE are so clean, and the entire gameplay is just so well thought out. I was engaged in this game for hours. I’m sad that the game was over in one day, because I could NOT put it down. The solution to one puzzle just threw you into another intricate mystery. For me, personally, I felt so much EMOTION, especially towards the end of the game before the credits when the story tied all of its ends. The music is soothing but also helped with anticipation. There were surprises LITERALLY left and right. I felt a plethora of emotions while I was playing the game from being aggravated, enlightened, excited, sad, confused, and empathy, and so on. I absolutely loved this game, it was truly a beautiful story. I would 100% play more games like this and from these developers. I say give it a try, even if it’s not your style. Try it. It actually almost brought me to tears at the end (which I hope persuades more people to finish the game). Thank you, Everbyte, for a phenomenal experience!

by :)aleyann(:

This game is completely free. No banner ads blocking the view or any annoying pop up ads. Yes there are ads but this game could easily cost $1.00 or more but they don’t it’s that good. The menu is a creative sneak peek into what the game looks like and has a guide for all controls. Wonderful music and sound effects. Simple designs on non important objects such as books or walls help you to decipher what is interactive and what is not by having tools and such be slightly more detailed. Along with a chat box that will tell you if your in a area where nothing can be interacted with. As a experienced escape game player this is very appreciated. Also, yes there’s ads but their short well placed ads that will only occasionally pop up as you move from room to room. They all go towards helping the creators of the game keep it free. This coming from someone who will normally turn on airplane mode as to not get ads but if it’s for a game like this and done in this way I don’t mind.

by TFAVLZPtK

This is an incredible game. The graphs are great and smooth, things are clear and easy to identify, and the music just brings everything together. It’s got such an incredible atmosphere, and the puzzles are incredibly well done (and I should know, I have over 30 irl escape rooms under my belt).
My only issues are both with my personal experience, which I’m sure are exclusive to me/my device: I’m playing on a tablet, which is usually not a problem, except the controls page on the home screen and the ‘fast travel’ text are both cut off, making them hard to read/use (there could me more but I’m not done with the game yet). Also, some of the ‘snow globes’ won’t display text, which makes it impossible to finish the cutscene and move on with the game. I’ve tried viewing them from both the in-game perspective and from the office on the home screen. Other than that, this is an absolutely incredible and fun game to play for anyone who enjoys puzzles or escape rooms.

by Axel.K.

This game is really, really good. It starts off mysterious, which quickly draws you in, wanting to see where it all goes. The clues and trails are cleverly planted, and it piques your interest as you progress through it all. The game’s music creates a somehow calm tone, with some intrigue. Kind of like an eerie calm before some sort of storm. It just really fits the atmosphere. The game’s visual look and appearance with its rooms and details is really satisfying too, and the interface can be creative at times while u play, which is something I appreciate as well. There’s so much more, you just have to play for yourself and experience. Not to mention, the devs were kind enough to make such a fun and creative game, and then MAKE IT FREE. So get it already! Anyway, I gotta get back to playing and see what happens next...and then afterwards...and then after that...it’s just so interesting uncovering bits of in formation to eventually uncover the grand mystery at the end of it all! Wait, why are you still here??? What are you waiting for??? Go play this app!

by EGGBOIIIIIIIIII

Look, it’s not perfect I’ll admit, but it’s a very fun and engaging game. I really enjoyed the unusual graphics and the storyline was really cool to slowly piece it together. Especially because I only figured out like a little piece of it right towards the end as said thing is pretty clearly being hinted at. Theres a lot of fun fairly simple puzzles and some good gatcha moments that I really appreciated. My only complaint is that sometimes the next step is very difficult to sus out without using hints. Which honestly didn’t matter a ton because the hints are very good. I appreciated the hint system a lot, mostly cause it doesn’t automatically give away anything and does it’s best to stay vague so that if you want to figure it out for yourself, it starts out just pointing you in the right direction, and progressively get more specific as you ask for hints. Absolutely what I’m looking for with hint systems. I really couldn’t recommend this game enough, especially since there’s not a ton of free really well made escape/mystery solving full-ish length games available for mobile. Thank you so much for a wonderful game experience!

by Suzsho

Haven't finished playing yet but wanted to leave a review because the game is so good. It's always great to see a quality game from a new developer. It took a little getting used to the way it works but after a few minutes all went well. The puzzles are quite challenging and are also unique - something I appreciate. The story is intriguing. The graphics are very pixilated which adds to the fun. There is a whole mansion to explore and a map to go with it. The only thing I'd add to the map is a teleport feature because there is quite a bit of running around but it's pretty easy to navigate. And you can play for free with ads or pay to go ad free which is what I did so that I could play without interruptions. All in all a great offering from a promising new developer. Thank you, Everbyte Studios! I'm already looking forward to more.

Update: the fast travel map just opened up! It appeared about halfway through. Yay!

Update 2: I decided to replay the game since I remembered enjoying it so much but I had forgotten about the mini arcade game. Ugh!! I don’t know how I did it the first time but don’t think I can deal with it again. Ugh again. Dev: people who play escape games don’t generally like arcade games. Can you put a skip button for it? Pretty please?

by Lou In Louisville

First I want to say this game is an amazing escape game that has excellent and challenging gameplay and puzzles. It’s definitely a few hours of play. For FREE at that.

For those complaining about childhood trauma and crying as if this game “triggered” you, give me a freakin break. I experienced childhood trauma like you could never imagine. This game, with its minimal storytelling, does NOT trigger true victims of childhood abuse of any kind. You are just looking for something to complain about. Seriously though, this game was EXCELLENT. The graphics were cool and the gameplay was smooth with no glitches. Yes, I had to use the hint system but that was because I got lazy towards the end. The game has sat on my home screen for quite a while and I just never got around to playing it. Now sitting home in QUARANTINE, I finally started it tonight and I’m glad I did. It’s a lot of fun. Definitely give it a try. It’s FREE, with ads occasionally but not intrusive whatsoever. And to those complainers that say crap about spelling errors, I didn’t see any. And there DOES NOT need to be some sort of trigger warning. It’s not that serious y’all. Great game devs, I appreciate your hard work making such a great escape game. It’s not like any other I’ve played. Definitely 5 stars. And yes, this is a REAL review. 👍🏼

by Waterwolf2006

Hello, I don’t normally place a review on apps, but this game was truly the best story line, of course I won’t spoil it, but at some parts of the map, if I pressed/clicked something, there would either be no text or the game would freeze, like in the kitchen, you’d zoom into the drawn pictures, and you press/click the family drawing and there would be no text and it’d freeze, and also the snow globe, [SPOILER AHEAD]
one of them looked to be empty but when I clicked of it, no text had shown (I think it was the one with eyeballs in it.

But other than that, this was amazing, and it’s surprising that it’s free! This is truly remarkable, and thank you for making this possible! I really enjoyed playing this, and I’m glad others can enjoy it too since there’s no price to it. And the graphics in the game are amazing! (I especially liked the lock picking part) I hope you make more of these kind of games, and I also hope you people have the great rest of your lives! Bye! (Thanks for reading)

by Charlieblue3

Was surprised by the dark theme when I started the game - and then immediately frustrated by the clunky mechanics. The idea is neat but connecting the dots along with the mechanics issue affected my ability to fully enjoy the game. Also missed opportunity to share some of the plot along the journey in addition to persons random dialog versus all at the end, though I imagine this was to up the mystique. I agree with other reviewers that the ending was disappointing...and should have a disclaimer due to the plot theme...

The puzzles were ok and I would say intermediate. I like games that make you piece and solve puzzles together from multiple sources. I finished this game in a few hours which I find long enough to be satisfying - especially for a free one!

For puzzle game enthusiasts I would still recommend since the style of play is novel. I hope the developers make more of these types of apps.

by Buckethead31594

I enjoyed this game and the puzzles were actually challenging. However, there were several times when the game would just hang/freeze when looking at the snow globes, or the pictures in the dining room (for the devs: I'm running iPad Air 2). More than once, I had to force quit and reopen it.

Secondly, the grammar is just atrocious. Frankly, it could be easily fixed if anyone with English as their first language checked over it. At the very end, especially, this broke my immersion enough that I was tempted to quit early out of frustration. I commend the devs for their hard work, and it isn't their fault if English isn't their first language. However, a finished game should be polished enough to at least account for grammar, especially if it's targeted to English speakers. For a game that has a narrative, such as this one, good storytelling REQUIRES good grammar.

Fix these problems and you will have a 5 star game, by far. I am surprised that the ratings are so high, given the grammar and spelling, especially.

by Dobbyssox

I am so impressed. Like legit impressed. From the unique game play to the very end scene that is unique to every player - this is a smashing game.
It was hard enough but fun enough for me to come back day after day and spend 30+min trying to figure out clues.
It’s a logical game that almost seems illogical until it works and then there is a big ‘omg why didn’t I think of that’! They are generous with clues and generous with answers. None of this pay to play nonsense. Yes, some ads but they are short enough for me to quickly go over notes to make sure I’m on the right track.
Developers - kudos on this masterpiece. Amazingly executed.

by Huystuhh

Although I don't play escape games all too often, I really enjoyed this one and finished it in 4-5 hours in a single night! It had me captivated and I couldn't stop playing until I 100% completed it. The puzzles were satisfying, difficult, and well thought out. I never thought it was unfair or that I was completely stuck on something I couldn't solve without looking for help. I also really liked the music/soundtrack and the artstyle. The navigation was nifty.

The one nitpick I have is that I wish the story was laid out better and more coherent (although I can see what the devs are going for with what they're doing).

Hope to see more games from you guys!

by Jedidiah C

I saw my family playing this game and was drawn in by the animation and graphics. Once I started playing, I couldn’t put it down! Intuitive gameplay, storyline, and creative challenges are all things that make this game a win. It’s full of little details and development that immerse you in the world and elevate game quality.

Fair warning, at least for me, the ads were the 30-second, no-skip ones. It’s well worth $1.99 (and more!) to remove ads AND support an up-and-coming app developer.

One bit of feedback would be to unlock fast travel right before the Wine Bottle Label puzzle, where you have to go down to the basement and all the way back up. For those of us who don’t get it right away (like me) it became tedious to do three or four…or seven times (yeahhh that one really stumped me).

Also, just to animate interactions, even if they aren’t relevant, that way you know the interaction was registered. Or like a sound effect. So like touch a non-consequential book and just hear a ruffle of pages or a little book shimmy.

Overall, great game! 😊 I love the puzzles, storytelling, and details. 5/5!

by TheDarkMaddness

This is by far one of the best puzzle games I’ve ever played. When I first saw it in NOX Store, I thought, “That could be fun. Shame there’s in app purchases.” Because I thought it would be one of those games that you make it halfway through and then you pay to go on, but it’s not. The whole experience is free, you just have the option to turn off ads and support the developers, which is amazing, and I would definitely suggest supporting the developers. The gameplay and the story is amazing too, especially with the subtle tutorial-like things that give you an idea of how to play the game as you go along. I would recommend playing this to anyone who loves puzzle games.

by A_chair

This game is probably one of the most enjoyable games I have ever played. Normally I’m not really a fan of puzzle games, but this one absolutely works. The game can be really calming, but you’re always put slightly on edge. This is due to the fact that strange things keep occurring as you play, and for most of the game it seems like you’re not alone in this house. The ending was really good and made a lot of things make sense and also left some unanswered questions which is always a good way to end things in my opinion. I’m honestly at a loss as to why this game is free. The game may seem rather simplistic, but you can tell a lot went into this game. Then there’s the music. The music was fantastic and I can tell the people who wrote it really knew what effect they wanted to be put on the player. The musics great. The gameplay is fun. Everything looks nice. I give this six stars out of five.

by That One Potato Chip

I don’t really like escape games and just got this game because it looked cool but I realized that it wasn’t just good looking it played good to and the fact that it’s free is just amazing. I think one of the best parts is if your stuck you can get hints without watching ads even though the game stops if it can’t load an ad I completely respect that decision since this game has to make money somehow and the random ads aren’t even that bad they only show up about every five rooms and aren’t that long (most of the time) which is even better (spoilers ahead) my favorite part so far is the marble box it’s so cool how you have to physically move your phone like it’s the marble box 10 out of 10 on this game

by Big_K_46

This was one of the best escape rooms that I’ve played. There’s an interesting backstory and reason for being in this mansion. I really enjoyed solving the puzzles, some of them being challenging but interesting. Some puzzles, however, were a little weird and out of place. For example, chopping of the railing in that big corridor with the staircase and smashing the vase from 2nd to 1st floor. Also, at the very end, I was surprised that I need to add that green plant to the test tube, just seemed a little weird. But then the chess puzzle, washing machine and many others were very enjoyable. I just wish the fast traveling was added a little earlier in the game. Overall, I loved the theme of the story and the globes with certain symbols in them like the teddy bear, swing, etc. Thank you for keeping the hints free, I was more than happy to watch the ads.

by Lkmm.

Amazing atmosphere, music was spectacular I don’t tend to review games but this game deserves it. The storyline was good, the game had me in suspense once in a while. I love intriguing puzzles and the animation was simple yet beautiful. The controls were easy to understand at first and it was nice to see the fact they added “Hints” to help the player progress in the story. They also added a “Fast Travel” feature which makes the player go to a room way faster and easier.
I spent about 4 hours playing this game which is a quite decent amount of time. I must say, it’s very considerate the fact it’s also free with the addition of ads (which wasn’t overwhelming)
Overall, this game deserves more recognition because it’s worth your time. I’m anxious to see what other games will be releasing this company.

by RJAaron

I don’t usually leave reviews but I have to say this game completely blew me away. It’s simple, but intriguing and the twist and turns of running back and forth around a whole mansion instead of just one room is fantastic. The simple style and quirky dialogue completely offset the spooky atmosphere but that only compliments the game further. I think my only complaint would be the tutorial for fast travel being so late, and the final puzzle was a bit difficult to actually do. I’m very glad for the hint system and I’m actually okay with the amount of ads that popped up.

TL;DR: Amazing game with minor issues that only are complaints from me.