Salary Man Escape

2 Minute Video Review →
Salary Man Escape is a physics-based puzzle game.
In each level you’re presented with a miniature scene which contains a small salary man, and a door. You don’t control the salary man, but if there’s a clear path toward the exit then he’ll automatically walk towards it.
What you can do is manipulate the red blocks and platforms to rearrange the scene. Things start off pretty simple, as you would expect, and the later levels become real head scratchers.
The coffee cups act as checkpoints, so if you get stuck you can try again without restarting from the very beginning of the level.
The art style is pretty cool. It’s a mostly monochromatic world which allows the red blocks to stand out and be easily seen.
There’s 78 levels, with an estimated 8 hours of gameplay. So there’s a lot of content in here. And VR isn’t required, you can play this in regular flatscreen as well.
I found this pretty fun. If you’re a puzzle fan then I definitely recommend it.

I'm a fan of puzzle games so I immediately checked it out when a friend told me about this. The puzzles start out pretty easy, but they get hard fast. It gets more interesting as you go onto later levels because the puzzles become more physics dependent - it definitely put my puzzle solving skills to test and pushed me to the limit. That being said, I definitely recommend playing into the later stages to really gauge the difficulty of the game as a whole. Complaints would be that the time limit made it frustrating sometimes since I would have to start over in the midst of a hard puzzle, but it does fit in with the entire concept of the salaryman working on a deadline I suppose.

Don't be fooled... The puzzle gets harder! The music is groovy and blends nicely with the simple, dark theme of the game. Sometimes there were couple of issues moving the blocks around, but overall, I enjoyed it.There are lots of chapters to play, different non-repetitive puzzles to solve and some levels to unlock (which I haven't unlocked all yet), so more challenges for me. Worth it for an indie game. Now on to the next puzzles...

Salary Man has a unique style. The visual and auditory appeal is just as nice in game as the screenshots and videos make out.
There are plenty of brain teasers and small extras for which to aim. Even though the overall game progression is very linear, there is joy to be had. The puzzles are well done and the physics make it feel real.
Controlling the game can be a bit rough at times. Either with VR or with the mouse, there will be times where moving the blocks is a physical struggle (e.g. due to screen space.) This does not hinder gameplay all that much however, so there is not much reason to worry.
So basically if the style appeals, the gameplay looks fun, or you just love puzzle or VR games, it is worth a shot!

I like the overall atmosphere that the game sets, it harkens back to childhood days playing Jenga with friends (but this is way more challenging). Some points I liked:
Puzzles
- challenging
- addicting
- so many levels to unlock
-
Music
- funky retro love it (even if I don't understand it, now I have LSS)
Controls
- easy (not using any gear)
Quotes
- the best!
Definitely worth it if you like brain teaser puzzle games!

Honestly the puzzles are challenging and will give any puzzle gamer a run for their money. I like what the game is trying to get at with the whole salaryman and depressing workplace kind of thing, the concept in itself is quite unique, so that's definitely something to applaud. There are still aspects of the game that need to be more polished though, and hopefully the devs will continue with patching so more puzzle fans can find out about this game.

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Salary Man Escape is a physics-based puzzle game with a decent amount of levels have a progressive increase in difficulty. Game supports VR but does not require it.
Gameplay
Follow a loose storyline, introduced a bit more with each level throughout the game. The game is a metaphor for escaping the difficulties for someone who has a routine, repetitive, day-to-day job and just needing to get away.
Each level has various blocks that are mobile and can be dragged around by the player. These are blocks that are in red. There are other blocks that will move with respect to what you are doing with the red blocks, but you cannot drag them around. Your goal for each level is to get your stuck "Salary Man" to the door. It is like playing Janga with some more shapes and sizes, while only being able to select certain blocks, and an end path that you have to envision for the end.
The game has an interesting color scheme of mostly grayscale, likely to enhance the day to day ennui this game is trying to battle against. The backdrop is a office setting where everything is set up as well. A lot of these blocks, red and gray present words to describe the various emotions and perhaps the catharsis of the process of escaping. Of course even the mental escapes provided by this game is enough to breathe some life back into the office vapidity.
On the other hand, the energy level is always there within this game. It is truly outstanding for their usage of the soundtrack. As for me, perhaps I was being stuck on the same level for too long, to sometimes feel the repetitive nature of the music. I still felt reinvigorated whenever I paid attention to the music. I have not progressed far enough to know whether or not the soundtrack is more extensive, but I do wish that the tracks can be a bit more varied and random as you restart some levels repeatedly.
The are many levels available. There are six episodes total, with 10 levels each that progressively unlock as you progress through. There are also some coin that you can collect on certain levels, these allow for unlocking of three additional bonus levels in each episode. In total, that makes up 78 levels of varying difficulty. The additional paths that you have to take to get the coins add to the game as well.
Along your path for these levels, there will be coffee cups that your character will run towards once the path is cleared. Each one serves as a checkpoint. In the beginning, this is not as big of a deal, because the levels are shorter. You appreciate this function a bit more once you go beyond the five minute levels.
Each level has a time limit, and you have to complete it within that time limit. This involves sometimes a lot of restarts, but that is okay. You end up trying to optimize your time as well as your puzzle solving, which is difficult enough as it is.
Controls
Very intuitive, and is played with a mouse. You can adjust camera angles, zoom, and the rest just involves clicking and dragging the appropriate blocks in the appropriate order.
Graphics and Music
See above, the graphics fit into the metaphor of this game very well. The music is amazing. Sometimes it can be slightly repetitive within a level, so I wish this could be improved. But the tracks themselves are top quality.
Positives
+ many levels of increasing difficulty
+ I am really enjoying the story that tries to tie everything together
+ metaphorical representation of the game within the art style, colors, and overall game. Fortunately the game itself is fun to play
+ fantastic soundtrack
+ VR support, but not a requirement
Negatives
- being stuck on a level means you are listening to the same track repeatedly
- other than the bonus levels, all progression is linear, and you have to solve the puzzles one by one. It would be nice to offer some respite to a player who may be stuck on a level for too long
Conclusion
Salary Man Escape is a physics-based puzzle game has a lot to offer, is very fun to play, and really speaks to the player beyond the gameplay itself. It provides fantastic music and a great atmosphere for the player. As support for VR setups, but is not limited to such, so anybody can enjoy this game. I highly recommend this game.
The following video shows my initial foray into this game:
I received the product for free. I did not receive any compensation to write this review. The opinions represented here are entirely my own and were not influenced in any way.