The Artful Escape

What to Know

Critics Recommend

Average Score

Total Reviews: 61

Play It

A short, bold, beautiful platformer through the cosmos, with a killer soundtrack and strong narrative. Dull platforming areas and a lack of depth to the gameplay hamper the experience.

Play It

Critics Recommend

Critic Reviews: 61

Critics Consensus

# Reviews: 61

A short, bold, beautiful platformer through the cosmos, with a killer soundtrack and strong narrative. Dull platforming areas and a lack of depth to the gameplay hamper the experience.

Where to Play

** VSG may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.

Rate and Review

What did you think of The Artful Escape?

Player Reviews0 Votes

Critic Reviews for The Artful Escape

Critic Reviews

Score Distribution

61

Reviews

Average Score - 80/100

80%

Ranges

8/10

Tristan Ogilvie (IGN)

There hasn’t been a guitar-based adventure as excellent as The Artful Escape since Bill met Ted.

September 8, 2021 |

Full Review

The Artful Escape is a short but oh-so-sweet platformer that will have you bopping to its impossibly catch beats and transfixed by its beauty.

September 8, 2021 |

Full Review

4.5/5 stars

Alyssa Mercante (GamesRadar+)

8.5/10

Jill Grodt (Game Informer)

It won’t challenge your platforming skills, and the action boils down to galactic Simon Says, but The Artful Escape is a gorgeous experience that makes you feel utterly cool.

September 8, 2021 |

Full Review

Tristan Ogilvie (IGN)

8/10 - (Read Review)

There hasn’t been a guitar-based adventure as excellent as The Artful Escape since Bill met Ted.

Alyssa Mercante (GamesRadar+)

4.5/5 stars - (Read Review)

The Artful Escape is a short but oh-so-sweet platformer that will have you bopping to its impossibly catch beats and transfixed by its beauty.

Jill Grodt (Game Informer)

8.5/10 - (Read Review)

It won’t challenge your platforming skills, and the action boils down to galactic Simon Says, but The Artful Escape is a gorgeous experience that makes you feel utterly cool.

**Read all 61 critic reviews on the desktop version of VSG.

Read the Reviews (61 total)

Outlet	Author	Score	Date	Quote	Read
3DNews	Александр Бабулин	8.5 / 10	09-18-2021	Putting the gamepad down, I want to turn on Van Halen, grab an air guitar and dash for the stars.	Read review
Atomix	Alberto Desfassiaux	80 / 100	09-24-2021	The Artful Escape is a wonderful audiovisual experience with a lot of great moments and a intense story. If you like this types of games, you should try it.	Read review
Attack of the Fanboy	Andron Smith	4 / 5 stars	09-08-2021	The Artful Escape provides a strong narrative adventure focused on self-discovery, identity, and expression that musicians, artists, and just about anyone can find something to relate to. While the experience stumbles a bit due to some dull platforming areas, the groovy universe Beethoven & Dinosaur have crafted is one that players should take the time to fully explore.	Read review
AusGamers	Steve Farrelly	9 / 10	09-09-2021	And it honestly doesn’t take the game long to deliver on that hinted at promise.	Read review
BaziCenter	Bahram Bigharaz	7 / 10	09-13-2021	The Artful Escape feels like a novel written by a musician, and takes the music and electric guitar fans to a beautiful but not so perfect journey.	Read review
CGMagazine	Philip Watson	7 / 10	09-08-2021	The Artful Escape has a stellar narrative with actual good humour enhanced by the voice acting talent and beautiful landscapes, but the gameplay is stale and those who dislike electric guitar are in for a long haul.	Read review
Checkpoint Gaming	Omi Koulas	10 / 10	09-09-2021	The Artful Escape is a story about legacies, finding yourself, change and transition that presents itself in such an ingenious way that all can absolutely enjoy it. Gliding across the cosmos, playing electric guitar in unknown lands, and eventually vanquishing a divine complication with intricate audio design and superb music to accompany – it’s perplexing how captivating this interstellar adventure is. Inviting players on a musical journey through cosmic realms and challenging introspection, The Artful Escape is a masterpiece.	Read review
COGconnected	Mark Steighner	88 / 100	09-08-2021	The Artful Escape is by turns psychedelic, moving, exultant, and lovely. The central metaphor of a young performer bringing fantastic new worlds into existence through the art of music is a powerful one, and while the theme of a struggling musician finding his authentic voice while paying homage to the past might not be a new one, it’s certainly new to videogames. The Artful Escape only missteps when it tries too hard to be a game, ironic given the story’s premise of search for authenticity. Aside from that, The Artful Escape is a surprising and joyous exploration of the power of collaboration, the struggle for identity, and the mind-blowing, life-altering sound of the very loud galactic symphony.	Read review
Digital Chumps	Nathaniel Stevens	7.5 / 10	12-11-2019	The Artful Escape is a visual and audio masterpiece that creates a sincere narrative that gives hope to any struggling would-be artist that they will find their own voice at the end of a tough journey. As good as that message might be, the gameplay mechanics don’t nearly live up to the hype the rest of the game creates.	Read review
Eurogamer	Christian Donlan	Recommended	12-14-2021	A lurid and generous trip through the iconography of seventies rock.	Read review
Everyeye.it	Cristina Bona	8.5 / 10	09-08-2021	Unmissable for Xbox Game Pass subscribers, and absolutely recommended for everyone else, The Artful Escape of Francis Vendetti tells with irony and intelligence the path of artistic and inner growth of a talented teenage musician. Through the celestial bodies of Stupefacosmo, the protagonist and the player learn together to follow only the rhythm of their electric guitar, among extraordinarily inspired landscapes.	Read review
Explosion Network	Dylan Blight	10 / 10	09-09-2021	It’s a psychedelic trip through a glam-rock wonderland, an utter visual delight, like nothing out of this world; indeed, something that feels ripped straight from Ziggy Stardusts head.	Read review
Forbes	Unknown	Recommended	09-08-2021	Ultimately, The Artful Escape’s title couldn’t be more apt: it’s a masterfully crafted, beautiful experience, and one that completely removes you from the world around you.	Read review
Game Informer	Jill Grodt	8.5 / 10	09-08-2021	It won’t challenge your platforming skills, and the action boils down to galactic Simon Says, but The Artful Escape is a gorgeous experience that makes you feel utterly cool	Read review
Gameblog	Plume	9 / 10	09-10-2021	After almost 2 years without being able to attend a concert normally, those who claim to be music lovers have the opportunity with The Artful Escape to participate in what comes closest to it: a completely barred rock narrative experience.	Read review
GameGrin	Ibrahim K	7.5 / 10	10-13-2021	The Artful Escape is a great visual-novel and a rock and roll dream. It is one of the best looking games I’ve played with an equally interesting narrative. However, the severe lack of interactiveness really drags down the game.	Read review
GameMAG	Unknown	7 / 10	09-19-2021	The Artful Escape is a wonderful four-hour musical performance with some epic guitar solos and an incredible visuals.	Read review
GameSkinny	Mark Delaney	8 / 10	09-08-2021	The Artful Escape is a kaleidoscopic coming-of-age story that is a joy to move through, even if the actual gameplay is sometimes hardly there.	Read review
GameSpew	Kim Snaith	8 / 10	09-09-2021	A tour de force of light and sound, The Artful Escape is unlike anything else you’ve played. With no easy genre label to stick on the game, the only way you’ll know if you’re going to enjoy it is to try it. It’s a trip alright, one that will have your foot tapping and your head rocking from start to finish.	Read review
GameSpot	Andrew King	8 / 10	09-14-2021	Rock opera and space opera meet for some artful escapism.	Read review
GamesRadar+	Alyssa Mercante	4.5 / 5 stars	09-08-2021	The Artful Escape is a short but oh-so-sweet platformer that will have you bopping to its impossibly catch beats and transfixed by its beauty	Read review
Gaming Nexus	Eric Hauter	9 / 10	09-15-2021	The Artful Escape tells a heartfelt story of artistic self-discovery through a filter of color, light, sound, and joy. Combining gonzo sci-fi imagery with blaring space-rock guitar chords, The Artful Escape is a playable concept album – or at least a grand trip through that album’s cover art. Never difficult but always fun, The Artful Escape is highly recommended as both a great narrative and a fun exploration into Bowie-style space rock imagery.	Read review
GamingBolt	Pramath	8 / 10	09-08-2021	The Artful Escape is an incredible odyssey of self discovery, and its few shortcomings don’t hold it back from being an excursion patently worth making.	Read review
GamingTrend	Noah Anzaldua	70 / 100	09-08-2021	The Artful Escape perfectly encapsulates the feeling of being transported away by a David Bowie track to a far-out world filled with colorful characters and wildlife and great music, but its gameplay falls flat, offering little depth past its first tutorial. While the game is short enough for its systems to never feel too egregious, it never reaches its full potential through its story or its mechanics. Fans of zen games, nice visuals, and quippy dialogue may want to pick this up, but do not expect a deep experience in playing The Artful Escape.	Read review
Generación Xbox	José Antonio Corcoles	8.6 / 10	09-09-2021	‎The Artful Escape is a game expected by many, including myself. We are facing a different title and that is not for all ‎‎audiences, but if you really like music you must try it, since I do not remember trying anything similar.‎‎ It reminds me a lot of the 70s and 80s where rock groups like Pink Floyd and others dominated the music scene of the time. Above all I think we should see this title as a set of experiences, since the union of everything shows us an incredible and unforgettable experience where we will live a musical made video game.‎	Read review
God is a Geek	Chris White	9.5 / 10	09-08-2021	The Artful Escape is a bold and beautiful trip through the cosmos, featuring a killer soundtrack and a thrilling space adventure.	Read review
Guardian	Simon Parkin	4 / 5 stars	10-02-2021	You play a young guitarist exploring your prog-rock ambitions to the full in this richly enjoyable psychedelic journey	Read review
Hardcore Gamer	Kyle LeClair	4 / 5 stars	09-09-2021	The Artful Escape may not have particularly deep or challenging gameplay, but the main reason to attend this show is its incredible writing and Francis’ trippy, out-of-this-world journey in discovering his new persona, one which features a lot of nifty twists in various ways, alongside truly striking sci-fi visuals and an expertly-crafted soundtrack. The Artful Escape is an astonishing rock and roll epic that the likes of Ziggy Stardust would be proud of.	Read review
Hey Poor Player	Andrew Thornton	4 / 5 stars	09-10-2021	The Artful Escape is an unforgettable psychedelic journey. Its short length helps its simple mechanics stay fresh so you can focus on Francis’ journey and its stunning visuals. Perhaps fully embracing the medium could have made this something even more special, but it’s an experience all its own, and that’s okay. Much like the game tries to teach Francis, sometimes you can just have to be what you are.	Read review
IGN	Tristan Ogilvie	8 / 10	09-08-2021	There hasn’t been a guitar-based adventure as excellent as The Artful Escape since Bill met Ted.	Read review
IGN Italy	Davide Mancini	8.2 / 10	09-09-2021	The Artful Escape is a powerful and aesthetically wonderful generational hymn, which sounds great and uses gameplay as a subtle way to give rhythm to a short, but intense, experience.	Read review
KeenGamer	Kyle Chamaillard	8.5 / 10	09-16-2021	Are you ready to shred on your guitar and discover how groovy the universe really is? In The Artful Escape, you will become Francis Vendetti, a young musical prodigy trying to find his place in this world. After spending most of his life in the shadow of a famous relative, it’s time for Francis to look to the stars and discover his true potential.	Read review
Luis Alamilla	Luis Alamilla	9 / 10	09-08-2021	The Artful Escape is but another notch in Annapurna Interactive’s pedigree of beautifully crafted games that left me with an emotional and thought-provoking ending. While it does sadly suffer from the occasional performance dip, the blemish didn’t take away from the impact nor disrupt the marvelous story being told. Upon finishing this game, I immediately wanted to talk to someone and just say go play this game. Being in my mid-20s, I think it’s a moment in time that I and many of my friends find ourselves in, still trying to figure out what we want and Artful Escape is just that, an artful escape from it.	Read review
MonsterVine	Diego Escala	3.5 / 5 stars	09-08-2021	The Artful Escape is a visual and auditory feast for the senses, but the final result almost makes you wonder if this would have worked better as a short film than a game.	Read review
New Game Network	Alex Varankou	74 / 100	09-13-2021	The Artful Escape is a joyous intergalactic trip with an electric guitar and vibrant visuals. Like a good solo, if you get swept up in the experience, you’ll forget all about its flaws.	Read review
Nintendo Life	Roland Ingram	8 / 10	01-31-2022	The Artful Escape is a thrill. It’s true that the most joyous bits of action are underused – in terms of both playtime and what they could give the story – and some scarce but present graphical issues on Switch are a shame. Overall, though, the strengths are major, the niggles minor, and it will strike a chord with any pipe-dreaming rock star.	Read review
Nintendo Wire	Amelia Fruzzetti	7.5 / 10	01-31-2022	Much like a Pink Floyd laser light show at your local planetarium, The Artful Escape can razzle and dazzle, but you probably won’t remember it too long after the fact.	Read review
NintendoWorldReport	Joe Devader	8 / 10	02-06-2022	Francis’s story is memorable and powerful, and the environments he shreds through are truly a sight to behold. People who enjoy the aesthetics of artists like the late David Bowie should absolutely give this game a look, especially if they also happen to be musicians themselves. You might learn a bit about what you actually want for yourself in life and become inspired to visit a Cosmic Extraordinary of your own.	Read review
Noisy Pixel	Colin Buchanan	6.5 / 10	09-08-2021	I wanted to come away from The Artful Escape feeling inspired and changed, with a story to really mull over. I came into this four-to-five-hour experience with expectations set by early gameplay, and while some of them were met, I don’t know that it does enough to really justify its choice of medium. It has got more than enough in terms of eye candy and audio bliss, but I can’t confidently say that any of the other pieces manage to come together in this space oddity.	Read review
Oyungezer Online	Mert Köse	8 / 10	09-15-2021	The Artful Escape is more an experience than an actual game in which you go up on glittering (game) stages and make your guitar do the talking.	Read review
PC Gamer	Rachel Watts	75 / 100	09-17-2021	An eye-popping musical adventure that will leave you with a serious case of galaxy brain.	Read review
PlayStation Universe	Timothy Nunes	9 / 10	01-25-2022	The Artful Escape takes you on a trip with Francis into the cosmos, marrying music and visuals into a beautiful gameplay experience. Small things pop up a time or two, but absolutely nothing keeps The Artful Escape from being entertainment brilliance. Place this among the top indie titles on the PlayStation platform.	Read review
Press Start	Brodie Gibbons	8.5 / 10	09-09-2021	As a guitar-shredding odyssey throughout a stunning cosmos, The Artful Escape delivers on its name tenfold. It is a short tale and I’m in no hurry to book a return trip to the Cosmic Extraordinary, but it remains an unforgettable journey thanks to superb art direction, an uplifting story, and stirring guitar solos by cliffside.	Read review
Push Square	Graham Banas	7 / 10	01-25-2022	The adventure does ultimately end up being a worthwhile one, with interesting characters, an incredible art style, and great music. But if there were more to the gameplay, the game – and its world – could have offered so much more.	Read review
Rock, Paper, Shotgun	Matthew Castle	Recommended	09-08-2021	One man’s musical mission is an audio visual delight, but there’s not enough room for expression or mastery.	Read review
Screen Rant	Leo Faierman	2 / 5 stars	09-08-2021	For such a visually boisterous experience, The Artful Escape feels more like a chilly museum after closing hours.	Read review
Shacknews	Chris Jarrard	6 / 10	09-08-2021	While The Artful Escape does a strong job with its presentation and sense of style, it still suffers the same drawbacks as most adventure games, particularly with the boring-at-best game mechanics.	Read review
SpazioGames	Nicolò Bicego	8.4 / 10	02-08-2022	The Artful Escape is unique and plays like a little shiny gem.	Read review
Stevivor	Steve Wright	10 / 10	09-09-2021	Ultimately, The Artful Escape is so stellar in terms of both character building and narrative	Read review
TechRaptor	Lee Mehr	7.5 / 10	09-08-2021	Beethoven & Dinosaur’s musical odyssey across the universe isn’t as adventurous with its gameplay as its venues, but that doesn’t stop The Artful Escape from being a fun ride.	Read review
The Escapist	Marty Sliva	Recommended	09-08-2021	Video Review	Read review
The Games Machine	Claudio Magistrelli	8.3 / 10	09-10-2021	The Artful Escape is a hard to define game. Light platform and rhytm’n’game elements are diluted inside a narrative driven gameplay that tasks the player with life and artistic choices. While the gameplay is bent to the main thematic of the game, visual and music take the mind of the player through an epic, psychedelic journey in a rock, sci-fi, over the top space opera.	Read review
TheSixthAxis	Dominic Leighton	8 / 10	10-01-2021	The Artful Escape is an enigmatic coming of age story, wrapped in reverb-laden riffs and space opera shenanigans. It is quite unique, and absolutely unmissable.	Read review
TrueAchievements	Luke Albiges	4 / 5 stars	09-08-2021	A cosmic rock voyage of self-discovery that doesn’t folk about, The Artful Escape is a truly unique experience and a feast for the senses.	Read review
TrueGaming	Unknown	8 / 10	09-21-2021	The Artful Escape is a unique experience of exotic and out-of-the-ordinary experiences, although the gameplay experience is weak, the interesting story and the visual and audio fun that is presented make it one of those experiences that deserves to be experienced for lovers of different experiences.	Read review
Use a Potion	Unknown	8 / 10	01-28-2022	The Artful Escape wowed me with its wonderful sights and sounds, with the wacky musical adventure of Francis Vendetti sure to keep a smile on players’ faces. Sure, it might not offer a deep gameplay experience, but there’s enough on offer between exploring the bizarre yet beautiful world, uncovering the surprisingly heartfelt narrative, and simply sculpting your own unique Francis to ensure the adventure remains a memorable one.	Read review
VideoGamer	Josh Wise	5 / 10	09-08-2021	At the end of The Artful Escape, all I could think of were the words he fired back at a heckler, angered by the electricity in the air: I don’t believe you.	Read review
WayTooManyGames	Leonardo Faria	9 / 10	09-10-2021	I would absolutely score it a “Bill & Ted air guitar riff out of ten” if I could.	Read review
Wccftech	Ule Lopez	7 / 10	09-08-2021	The Artful Escape is a rockin’ Space Opera but it doesn’t have much going for it besides its pretty visuals and incredible music. The platforming is basic and the plot is serviceable, but it’s nothing that audiences haven’t seen before. I’d recommend this game only if you’re a fan of rock music from the ’70s and ’80s.	Read review
WellPlayed	Kieron Verbrugge	9 / 10	09-09-2021	The Artful Escape is a brash, bold and beautiful musical journey with a simplistic gameplay hook and all the interdimensional jellyfish deities you can shake a quantum-powered space guitar at. It’s the next-best way to spend an afternoon indoors to dropping acid.	Read review
Windows Central	Carli Velocci	5 / 5 stars	09-08-2021	The Artful Escape is a tender look at creativity and finding your voice coated in outlandish visuals, an electrifying soundtrack, and a ton of lasers.	Read review

** Learn more about how to become a MetaMeter-approved Critic.

Game Info

Game Description / Storyline:

On the eve of his first performance, Francis Vendetti battles with the legacy of a dead folk legend and the cosmic wanderings of his own imagination. In this 2D adventure platformer, Francis, a teenage guitar prodigy, sets out on a psychedelic, multidimensional journey to inspire his stage persona.

RELEASE DATES:

DEVELOPER(S):

PUBLISHER(S):

GENRES:

SERIES/FRANCHISE:

GAME MODES:

GAME ENGINE:

DLC:

BUNDLED IN:

DIRECTOR(S):

PRODUCER(S):

DESIGNER(S):

PROGRAMMER(S):

ARTIST(S):

WRITER(S):

COMPOSER(S):

LINKS:

AGE RATING:

Detailed Information

GAME MODES:

GAME ENGINE:

DLC:

BUNDLED IN:

DIRECTOR(S):

PRODUCER(S):

DESIGNER(S):

PROGRAMMER(S):

ARTIST(S):

WRITER(S):

COMPOSER(S):

Developed by Beethoven & Dinosaur. All titles, content, brand names, trademarks, logos, artwork, and associated imagery are trademarks and/or copyright material of their respective owners. © All rights reserved.