Beginner Tips And Tricks For Escape Academy 2: Back 2 School

Published Nov 5, 2026, 10:00 AM EST Steven is a seasoned writer specializing in the video game and technological fields, with years of experience creating reviews, features, and industry analysis. Passionate about the gaming world and its evolving culture, Steven has always wanted to combine his enjoyment of writing and love for gaming in a way that can provide insightful coverage for players and enthusiasts alike. Escape Academy 2: Back 2 School has plenty of complex puzzles, side quests, and rooms you'll need to figure out each time to break out of, but several tips will help you get the most out of the game while preventing a lot of headaches later on. Whether it's things to keep in mind to make solving puzzles easier or saving you from having to waste time backtracking, these tips are things that I wish I had known from the start when playing. Make Sure To Have A Pen And Paper Handy Although most of the puzzles in Escape Academy 2 are fairly intuitive to solve on their own, there were far more times than I can count where I had to rummage through a drawer to find a pen and some paper to write down a certain solution or work out a puzzle, which ended up making things drastically easier. This is especially true for any long-term ciphers or sudoku puzzles, as instead of running back and forth between a lock and a solution to put them in one by one or trying to memorize them, you can simply write them all down as you go and often guess the full word before solving the rest of the letters for some puzzles. Talking To NPCs Can Reveal Valuable Details While the sheer amount of NPCs you'll be able to talk to throughout Escape Academy 2's story can be a bit daunting at times, it isn't just jokes and puns that you'll come across, but also some incredibly useful hints and tips that can point you in the right direction. Even without needing to progress through a certain puzzle, your classmates will also provide hints on where to find extra Escape Bucks in the area, like mentioning that they found some in potted plants nearby, in toilets, or hanging from the window of a nearby building. Decide Early If You Want To Play With Friends One major benefit of Escape Academy 2 is that the entire game can be played start to finish in 2-player co-op. While great on its own, this does come with the downside that if you've already played through it once, there isn't much replayability without already knowing the solution to every puzzle, so you'll want to decide before starting if you want to wait for a friend or play by yourself. Thankfully, iam8bit has already teased more puzzle content in the future, so even if you do end up going through the main story on your own, there will still be post-launch challenges to play alongside your escape room partners, much like the first game. Complete Side Quests Whenever You Can While some of the side quests in Escape Academy 2 are ones that you can't immediately solve or might want to revisit later if you're already invested in your current story mission, the extracurricular activities offered by your classmates are easily the best source of Escape Bucks in the game. Even though your use of Escape Bucks is limited to zip lines outside of story progression, having a steady stream of income is still well worth the effort to prevent headaches down the road, with a few side quests even offering bonuses to your open-world exploration in the form of fuzzy companions. Don't Be Afraid To Ask For A Hint While the lowered grade during escape rooms can make you want to avoid using hints at all costs, the system is still incredibly useful and well worth delving into if you're ever getting too frustrated at a single puzzle for too long. It isn't just the escape rooms either, as hints can be used while completing story quests in the open world with no penalties, making them great for helping figure out some of the more convoluted open-world puzzles, or simply pointing you in the right direction for your next quest location. Always Have Some Extra Cash On Hand Speaking of Escape Bucks, one of the two main uses for Escape Academy 2's currency is purchasing story-related items that serve as roadblocks in your progression. While it can be tempting to blow all of your money on Zip Lines the minute you see one, you'll always want to have a bit of cash on hand for emergencies. With more needed for certain roadblocks the further you get into your school year, it's always good to have a reliable pool of money from picking up Bucks across campus or completing side quests wherever possible so you don't get stuck and are forced to backtrack to find more. Ziplines Are A Worthy Investment While it's true that you want to have some extra cash at all times to prevent you from getting stuck at a progression roadblock from the main story, that doesn't mean you should completely avoid spending your money on Ziplines, as you'll eventually have more than enough to afford both if you're keeping up with your extracurriculars. The science lab is one of the best Zipline investments, with how often you go back, with the arts center being a close second. Becoming more valuable the further you progress into your school year, Ziplines can save massive amounts of time traveling from one side of the academy to the other, while unlocking new secrets as from unlocking new rooftop areas to explore, or simply seeing the school from a new perspective. Make Sure To Explore Every Inch Of The World While there are plenty of times where you'll wind up stuck in a single room, much of Escape Academy 2's fun comes from exploring and completing puzzles all across the academy, which is well worth the effort. With side quests, secrets, collectibles, and Escape Bucks scattered liberally across the map, you would be surprised at just how many hidden items you could be walking by without realizing. This exploration mentality is even true when it comes to the game's escape rooms, as before trying to solve one part of a puzzle, you'll want to check all your surroundings so you'll know where to go next and to see if you're missing an essential piece of information to complete it. Don't Give Up When A Puzzle Is Taking Too Long If you're playing in Classic Mode and have a timer that is getting dangerously low, there's never much of a reason to start over from scratch without letting it reach zero. Aside from the chance that you might figure out the puzzle with mere seconds on the clock, you'll also be offered a time extension if you run out, which will give you a bit of leeway in solving it without having to start from scratch. If you find yourself stuck during one of these timed escape rooms, I would also recommend trying to look for a different step you might have missed, or trying to view it from a different angle altogether to make sure you aren't getting tunnel visioned into one solution. Always Keep An Eye Out For Collectibles With countless Escape Bucks and over 50 red plastic fish scattered around campus, there's no better time to start looking for collectibles than the present, especially if you plan on collecting all the herring to earn a hefty financial reward and a shiny achievement to go with it. Several collectibles can also be found tucked away behind boxes or in places you might least expect them, which is yet another reason why you should explore every square inch of your academy, as there is usually one lurking closer than you would think, whether it's on a plaque, in a bush, or blending in against a wall.