Laboratory Escape video game: Do you have the keys to freedom?
By Alex Ashurst
Laboratory Escape is a game where the main character (the fishbowl) attempts to escape its former home. In order to escape, the character must collect keys while traversing suspended shelves and other creatures that may not be the friendliest in nature. Only if all keys are collected can the character escape to freedom, otherwise they are trapped with the other previously created science experiments and inventions.
After being assigned the task of creating a pixel art game, I began sketching random creatures that I thought would make interesting main characters. I wanted the game to have a cartoon style similar to Looney Tunes cartoons, particularly in their movements. I therefore gave characters extra legs and heads that would enable atypical movement, especially by incorporating objects and characteristics that would allow for exaggerated movements. These elements still had to be translated into a simple pixel design, so I decided on the fishbowl character and focused on the legs, water and the fish for exaggerated movement and personality.
After deciding on the design, the first scenario that was most compatible with the character and allowed for a large variation in other creatures was a laboratory that was filled with experiments. This environment allowed for storytelling to be shown in the game’s visuals. The background features platforms with papers recording experiments, broken platforms, damaged cages and overall aging to the environment, demonstrating that the experimentation had occurred for a long time and the main character was not the first to attempt an escape, but may be the first to succeed.
