How to play No Escape! online
- Move Jason: left and right arrow keys
- Throw a stone: Space bar
- Start a game: F12 (Reset) or Space
- Choose one of 8 games: F11 (Select)
- Pause: F2 (Colour/B-W switch); play resumes with your next throw
- Difficulty: F4 for player 1, F9 for player 2
- Player 2: T/F/G/H to move, A to throw
Gameplay
Jason stands at the bottom of the screen, the temple roof is a band of bricks at the top, and the Furies fly back and forth in between. A stone that reaches the roof knocks a brick loose, and a falling brick destroys any Fury it lands on. If a stone hits a Fury directly, though, the Fury splits in two. Clear all the Furies to move on to the next temple.
If Jason stands still, his stone flies straight up. If he throws while moving, the stone curves in that direction, and it curves more the longer he has been moving. The Furies shoot back, and later waves get smarter: some chase your stones so they can multiply, and their aim improves the more you throw.
Jason starts with four lives, shown on a lifeline below the score. Being shot or crushed by a brick costs a life. You can win a bonus life after each wave, up to eight. The game ends when the lifeline turns black. It is also over in practice if you use up every brick, because you then have nothing left to fight with. Each Fury is worth 2 points, and each brick still in the roof at the end of a wave is worth 5. Accurate waves earn a bonus on top.
Variations and switches
Games 1, 3, 5 and 7 are for one player and get harder as the number goes up. Games 2, 4, 6 and 8 are the two-player versions. The players take turns, one wave each, and each has a separate lifeline and score. In position B the difficulty switch gives you a life for every wave you survive. In position A you only get one for a wave in which you were never hit.
Tips
- Throw less. Unused bricks are points, and on later waves every throw sharpens the Furiesā aim.
- Time the brick, not the stone. Throw just before a Fury passes under your target brick.
- Step aside after each throw. Your own falling bricks can crush Jason.
The story behind No Escape!
No Escape! was Greeneās first Imagic game, with graphics help from Michael Becker and Wilfredo Aguilar. AtariAge gives its working title as Escape from Argos. Greene has said it took about six months to make, and that the Greek myth theme was not his first choice. It came out in April 1983. Reviewers praised how different it felt from other shooters, and the ending, in which Pegasus carries Jason away. A very rare edition also exists on the Xante label.
