How 2 Escape: Lost Submarine Review

Breakfirst Games returns with a follow-up to their inventive asymmetrical puzzler in the form of How 2 Escape: Lost Submarine—building upon the innovative foundation laid by the original How 2 Escape, this new entry delves deeper into murkier waters—literally and narratively. 

Developed by Breakfirst Games, How 2 Escape: Lost Submarine revives the distinctive two-player, two-screen experience that requires synchronized cooperation between a console or PC player and a companion app user. It's a high-concept escape room simulator that replaces the train-car setting of its predecessor with the metallic claustrophobia of a submerged military vessel teetering on the brink of triggering global catastrophe.

This sequel doesn't merely retread old water; it evolves. With a tense story, more complex puzzles, and refined gameplay mechanics, How 2 Escape: Lost Submarine offers a lean, pressure-packed experience. Yet it also asks more of its players—greater focus, clearer communication, and deeper trust. This isn't your average co-op puzzle game; it's a test of partnership under stress.

The narrative in How 2 Escape: Lost Submarine opens with a global crisis. Following an attack on an allied naval base, the military responds by ordering a retaliatory nuclear torpedo strike via the submarine Le Triomphant. When cooler heads prevail, and the strike is called off, one terrifying problem remains—the sub is too deep to receive the new orders. If it launches, the world may spiral into chaos.

You and your partner assume the roles of Major Har and Officer Leroy. One physically navigates the confines of a deep rescue sub via a console or PC, while the other operates remotely, armed with intelligence and coordination tools via the mobile companion app. The mission: intercept Le Triomphant and prevent catastrophe.

What makes the plot in How 2 Escape: Lost Submarine especially gripping is the way it bleeds tension into the mechanics. As time runs out and options grow, you have to deal with more than just locks and levers. They also have to deal with moral ambiguities and mental stress. Rumors of a mutiny and the fear of internal sabotage on the Le Triomphant lend the trip more weight, making it feel less like a puzzle and more like a moral duty.

The storyline is not cinematic in scale, nor does it rely on lengthy exposition. Instead, it offers thematic weight through design, environment, and urgency. The result is a minimalist but effective narrative—one that roots you firmly in their roles as both problem-solvers and saviors.

How 2 Escape: Lost Submarine relies on one of the most underrated design decisions in co-op gaming: asymmetry. One player explores, and the other guides. Neither is subordinate. Each has tools the other lacks. The console or PC player moves through dim submarine interiors, interacts with objects, and confronts environmental puzzles. 

Meanwhile, the mobile app player reads maps, deciphers codes, and relays critical instructions. Success relies entirely on clear, precise communication. This two-screen design is not new, but How 2 Escape: Lost Submarine elevates it by tightly integrating the mechanics with the theme.

When the player inside the sub describes the blinking lights of a periscope or the serial numbers on a ballast tank, their partner must translate those details into meaningful action using the app's data sheets, schematics, and cipher tools. The game doesn't hold hands—there's no universal HUD, no easy way to "check" the work of the other player. Trust is not just encouraged; it's required.

Each stage of the game represents a segment of the rescue mission. The first few levels serve as tutorials but escalate quickly, introducing more demanding interfaces and less room for error. Despite its simplicity in input—mostly basic movement and interaction—the game's complexity emerges from the cognitive load it places on both players. Timing, logic, deduction, and memory all play a role.

It runs easily on PS5, and the apps on iOS, Android, and PC all work together perfectly. You only need one copy of How 2 Escape: Lost Submarine, which makes it much easier to get in. Still, you need to set aside time and concentrate. This is not something to do in the background; it's a full-on exercise.

There's no combat in How 2 Escape: Lost Submarine, but the tension rivals any boss battle. The puzzles have many levels and are deeply rooted in the story's underwater setting. In dangerous situations, you'll have to line up sonar frequencies, change oxygen levels, decrypt torpedo launch procedures, and rearrange mechanical levers.

The game brilliantly blends classic logic puzzles with environmental context. A blinking periscope might require your partner to match lighthouse codes with patterns. Later stages feature navigation through underwater wrecks and complex code-decryption challenges that feel pulled from spy thrillers. The best puzzles demand not just intellect but synchronized execution, and the weakest—though few—can be immersion-breaking due to unclear logic or excessive trial and error.

What's remarkable is how How 2 Escape: Lost Submarine makes the act of cooperation itself the primary challenge. There's no brute-forcing your way through. Both players must internalize what their partner sees, wants, and means. Success becomes a reflection of shared mental models. It's exhausting. It's thrilling.

The game How 2 Escape: Lost Submarine does not have a conventional experience point system. The game utilizes a level-based progression system, with each section representing a different puzzle suite or scenario. Stat-based progression or character levels are not available in this game; rather, the game rewards players for their knowledge of the game.

As you get further into the campaign, the riddles will become more difficult, and the periods will increase in length. You are challenged to increase your ability to communicate with one another and to guess what the other person is thinking as a result of this steep but fair curve. The thing that makes you happy is not acquiring new talents; rather, it is improving as a team that brings you this happiness. Rather than being technical, it is a psychological experience.

This idea about how to design it works well. There isn't any fake grind. Every second moves the story or skill forward. By removing fluff, How 2 Escape: Lost Submarine keeps you tethered to purpose. However, some players used to traditional game reward systems may find this minimalist approach lacking in dopamine hits.

How 2 Escape: Lost Submarine is visually modest but thematically fitting. The submarine interiors are dimly lit, functional, and claustrophobic—exactly what you'd expect from a deep-sea military vessel. It doesn't rely on high-end visual fidelity but instead creates immersion through mood and minimalism.

The game avoids flash and flair in favor of clarity. Each interactive element is clearly defined, and navigational cues are never ambiguous. The UI on the app side is very well thought out. It's easy to navigate and get information when the risks are high because the fonts are clear, the icons are easy to understand, and the interface is responsive. The choice to lean toward functional reality makes the experience feel cold and heavy. It doesn't try to be pretty; it tries to be real, and it does that well.

How 2 Escape: Lost Submarine's sound creation is an important part of the experience. There is no dramatic music or soaring background. Instead, the sound cues are quiet, evocative, and accurate. Low thrums of machinery, the odd ping of sonar, and the faraway echo of water hitting steel will be heard.

These choices aren't arbitrary. They are a psychological tool, turning every breath, click, and rustle into tension. The game understands silence as much as sound. In moments of stress, the absence of noise becomes its own character.

There's very little voice acting, but every beep, hum, and error sound carries weight. This design choice ensures that the players—not the characters—own the tension. It is your failure or triumph that echoes in the submarine's tight corridors, not that of a pre-scripted avatar.

The video game How 2 Escape: Lost Submarine is an excellent example of cooperative design. It makes use of asymmetry not only as a gimmick but also as a foundational principle for the gameplay. When communication is at the center of the process, it transforms teamwork into something more than a mechanism; it transforms it into a survival tool.

Some people may be put off by its simplistic graphics and the absence of a conventional progression; nonetheless, these aspects are design features and not defects. In no way is the game intended to amuse each and every player. It does so with elegance, concentration, and the intention of telling a story, aiming for a specific niche. The title requires a lot of work but offers much more in return.

This one-of-a-kind video game, which was developed by Breakfirst Games, is more akin to a psychological examination than it is to conventional video games. The experience will force you to engage in more in-depth thought, put your patience to the test, and put your relationships to the test. It is a tremendous combination of excitement, cognitive challenges, and emotional payoffs, and if you are up to the challenge, How 2 Escape: Lost Submarine is a game that you should try, a bold, lean masterstroke in asymmetric game design.