Don't Escape: 4 Days to Survive

***Don't Escape: 4 Days to Survive*** is the fourth game in the Don't Escape series, created by Scriptwelder, and by far the biggest one. It features a group of four people (David, Catherine, Cody, and Barry) as they survive four days in a wasteland.

## Plot

*Following a bizarre cataclysmic event that cracked the moon in half, the Earth is struggling with the environmental fallout. Everything is already dead or dying... except you. Or so you think. Don't Escape: 4 Days to Survive is a post-apocalyptic thriller from veteran developer Scriptwelder, creator of the popular horror series Deep Sleep and Don't Escape. Players must figure out a way to properly fortify their home against each night's new danger, as they learn the truth behind the apocalypse and search for a way to safety, if one exists.*

Players will journey alongside David, a lone survivor after the end of the world, who finds himself having prophetic dreams... or nightmares. Each chapter of the game has multiple potential variations to encounter, from poisonous fog or spiders to a gang of murderous thugs or a deadly heat wave, and as a result, you'll need to adjust your strategy on different playthroughs. But you don't have forever. Certain actions advance the in-game clock, and you'll need to complete your preparations to (hopefully) stay alive before night falls.

Will you make it through all four days? Will your companions?

## Gameplay

### 4 days and Their Dangers

The four days that the player must survive have different dangers that the player should prepare for. Like in the previous two games, there is an in-game clock that indicates how much time the player has left before the danger arrives. The time left is reduced with each trip between locations, and each labor-intensive task that is performed.

Depending on how well the player prepares, the outcome can be:

* Perfect (the threat never makes it into the hideout, and the player can rest well. As a reward, the maximum amount of weight David can carry increases by 5 kg)
* Good (the threat does make it indoors, but is still reduced to zero, so David and anyone that is with him lives, but no bonus is given)
* Problematic (David lives, but some of his allies may die and David himself might suffer injuries that impact his performance later. The player is punished for this outcome by having less time or resources for the next day).
* Failed: David dies.

Day 1
This is the only day that David is all alone.
* **Locusts**: A swarm of hungry locusts approaches. To survive, the player can lock the doors of the farmhouse, secure window nets to the 3 windows with either duct tape or nails, put on the sprinklers outside and mix the water with pesticide found in a truck nearby, put up a Sonic Repellent Device set to the right frequency (a different frequency is needed per playthrough), and arm himself with a makeshift flamethrower (made from a water spay, gasoline, and a lighter).
* **Giant Spiders**: Twenty giant spiders attack the farmhouse. To survive, the player can close the doors of the farmhouse, secure metal bars on the 3 windows with either duct tape or nails, put on the sprinklers outside and mix the water with the correct bug repellent found in a truck nearby (which one is the right one differs per playthrough), put up bear traps outside, and arm himself with a rifle or the flamethrower.
* **Poison Gas**: A cloud of corrosive, poisonous gas is approaching. Actions taken to survive can include: locking both doors, putting plastic sheets on all the windows, getting a hazmat suit with a new air filter and fixed up with duct tape, put on the sprinklers and mix the water with a neutralizing agent (figure out the pH of the cloud to find out which agent), stay on the correct floor of the house depending on the density of the cloud (lighter or heavier than air), and put towels beneath the doors.

Day 2
On this day Cate will join David, and it is optional to recruit Cody and Barry. If the latter 2 are not recruited today, they become unavailable for the rest of the game.
* **Heat Wave**: An intense heat is on its way. While it is possible to get a perfect night when using the farmhouse, it is easier when using a nearby cave instead. Regardless of the location, the player can install an air-conditioner and a working fan, get 3 heat absorbing tiles, give all members in the party a bottle of water, and (depending on the location) either seal the entrance of the cave with a blanket, or seal off all the windows, doors and attic hatch of the house.
* **Cold Snap**: The polar opposite of the other threat. To survive the player can unclog the chimney and light the fireplace, make sure he has enough fuel to keep the fire going all night, install an electric heater and a gas heater, give everybody a warm jacket, turn on the oven in the kitchen, close the doors, put blankets on all the windows, and cover the attic hatch.

Day 3
If the player recruited both Barry and Cody, one of them will die this day during the first playthrough, but both will live during *the Awakening* (see below). It is also the first day that one or both floppies needed for the perfect ending can be found.
* **Thunderstorm**: An acid rain and thunderstorm is coming. The player can dig a trench, put tarp on the hole in the roof, close all doors, make a lightning rod with copper wire, board up the windows, set up three Stormcatchers in a triangle around the house, and cover the attic hatch.
* **Bandit gang**: Razor's gang will attack the house. The player can lock the doors, put metal bars on the window downstairs, arm David with a sniper rifle upgraded with a silencer and scope, give either Barry or Cody a loaded gun (in Cody's case, he has to learn to use it first), and put 4 bear traps outside. Before the fight begins, reduce the number of bandits beforehand by sabotaging their ammo supply, either convince Sarge to leave the gang or kill him from an ambush, leave a bottle of whiskey or poison their food (though this will backfire if you already convinced Sarge to leave).

Day 4
The day the moon will crash into the earth. Also the only day that choosing to wait for the day to end is no option. The group has to find the spaceship and get it to work, but one of two problems can arise:
* **Fuel**: The ship has no proper fuel, no navigation chip and no calibrator for the engines. All need to be obtained.
* **Air**: The ship has no proper air supply and no working LiOH Filter. Both need to be found, and the player also has to make special pills to let him and his team survive the trip.

In both cases, the ship will also have a crack that needs to be welded shut.

Upon successful lift-off and reaching the moon base, the player learns that the "escape" consists of entering a sleep pod and sending his consciousness to an alternate dimension, where it will merge with his counterpart from that dimension. Depending on how many floppies are used, the player will either forget the whole adventure, remember enough to avoid some mistakes made last time, or get the perfect ending.

### The Awakening

Throughout the game, the player can use either Cody or Barry's help to find one of 2 floppy disks, and take these with him to the moon.

Upon using one of two floppy disks in the Moon base terminal, a special second playthrough will become available, called The Awakening, and you have an opportunity to get the best ending; characters (the ones who survived your first play through) will start to comment on how all of them seem rather familiar. On the third day, depending on who you saved in your first play through, either Cody's plushie tiger or Barry's wife will appear in David's dream and tell you how to save their respective person, avoiding the otherwise unavoidable death on day three by having Cody/Barry wait behind before the sign falls and destroys the ground, removing the need to choose between Barry or Cody. In a custom playthrough, it is possible for Barry's wife and Cody's plushie tiger to appear together in David's dream, allowing David to know the real identity of the Shadow People. Having access to both of their respective abilities will allow David to obtain both floppy disks, when otherwise only one would be accessible. Bringing these disks to the moon and using them in the console allows for the true ending to be achieved, transferring the character’s consciousness into realities where the apocalypse never occurred.

## Characters

### Main Characters

* David
* Cate
* Cody
* Barry

### Other Characters

* Maggie
* Sarge
* Josh
* Mark
* Steve
* Paul
* Razor
* Razor's gang

## Key locations

* Farmhouse (the main hideout for David and his friends)
* Gas station
* Sidereal plexus building
* Restaurant
* Construction Site
* Barry's house
* Cave (second potential hideout on day 2)
* Hunter's lodge
* Crashed plane
* Crashed bus
* Spaceship outpost
* Moon base

## Sidereal Plexus

*Main page: Sidereal Plexus*

In the game, Sidereal Plexus is arguably the most important piece of the story and their activities help progress the game has a whole.

### Technology

Sidereal Plexus has created some of the most useful items in the game. Depending on each randomized day, Sidereal could have created a device that uses electricity has a shockwave, etc.

### Activities

Sidereal Plexus has been seen to have been in activities of questionable proportions. They found out a way to separate consciousnesses in a kind of deep sleep between universes. It has also been noted that they have been involved in some mining operations.

## Reception

Reception to Don't Escape 4 was very positive. Don't Escape 4 has a 9/10 on steam.

## Trivia

* On the Sidereal Plexus website, there are a total of 36 known off-limits worlds where the Lunar Incident happened, it is possible that Don't Escape 4 takes place in one of these realities.