Rooftop Escape Review

It's not often that an endless platformer of some variety comes along and I actually sigh a breath of relief - I'm not about to complain about playing something almost completely devoid of the need to think and it's likely many others feel the same way when they play these addictive titles. Rooftop Escape by Colorbox is a vertical falling game that pits you against the side of a building as clothes-lines and balconies act as the only thing between you and high-score victory.

Touching either side of the screen will move your character one column over in that direction, allowing you to quickly avoid many of the obstacles in your way even at high speed. The main character doesn't take long to hit Terminal Velocity and while you could simply spend your time avoiding ledges, you're far better off slowing yourself down with clothes-lines to score bonus points. If you slow down enough you'll be able to use the line as a rope, slowing down your decent and extending its time with each new clothes-line you encounter.

If you haven't played Canabalt - which is a feat all by itself - then the gray-scale pixel-art style will be less familiar to you. Those who have played it will know what to expect. Each run is generally short, with some rather cheap traps occurring in longer runs to effectively cap your progression until you can anticipate them. Objectives are handed out as an incentive to increase your score multiplier (much like Tiny Wings) and to keep you coming back for more instead of simply putting the game down after a few tries.

As a distraction, Rooftop Escape provides a decent amount of entertainment while the objectives last. Even then some of these goals may prove to be too much to attain, resulting in frustration instead of fun. In either case, it's a decent title if you're after something new to keep your mind off your surroundings and you're burned out on your other time-wasters.