It's been a while since I last visited my hircine Houdini buddy; 2012, in fact. I'm heartened to see that not much has changed in his 2D world of blocks, mechanisms, platforming, and frequent mousecapades. The Escape Goat series invariably drops you into a single-screen room with an exit and any number of keys required to unlock said exit, with a handful of persistent mechanics to rely on and hazards to overcome, and simply sits there pensively with arched fingers waiting to see what you do. Escape Goat 2 gives you plenty of variance with the level design, backdrops and a steady influx of new wrinkles to conquer, but the real diversity comes from how the game frequently adjusts its sliders for "platforming prowess" and "mental acuity" with each new stage, and you're never quite sure when entering whether it's your mind or your reflexes (or an equal amount of both) that is to be tested.

In many respects, Escape Goat 2 is a quintessential puzzle-platformer: it's not that interested in providing an open-world - though you do have a few branches in the path towards the mid-game if you should need a break from one nasty stage in particular - and it didn't compromise its treasured simplicity for the sake of some spacewhipper hooks or an overly elaborate story with regular cutscenes. The game doesn't even have collectibles to find: the closest equivalent would be its secret doors, hidden very well, which take you to the game's exceptionally more difficult secret areas.

Which isn't to say that Escape Goat 2 doesn't have a few tricks up its sleeve. Your protagonist goat starts with a double-jump and an air dash - moves that the game will have you relying on from the offset, but won't necessarily give away certain advanced techniques, such as how air-dashing from a standing position allows you to jump twice afterwards. He'll soon encounter his mouse buddy from the first game, who darts along walls and ceilings until he hits an obstacle, and be reacquainted with two mouse-based power-ups that the game uses sparingly: a cape, which allows the mouse to charge enemies and breakable blocks to devastating effect, and a hat, which allows the goat and mouse to switch positions instantly, often destroying whatever was between them in the process. It's not often you'll come across a puzzle which depends on a specific technique you've yet to ascertain - though I did encounter a few - but more that the solution is either tricky to execute or depends on some experimentation with the stage layout. Fortunately, the single-screen format means that the list of possible solutions is pleasingly finite, and it's rare you'll find yourself completely stuck because the correct course of action eludes you.

Unfortunately, if you do get stuck, it'll be because of the game's often demanding platforming. Escape Goat 2 occasionally flirts with masocore scenarios, having you air-dash and double jump through a series of narrow passages filled with traps, or dashing through a crumbling level as you attempt to execute on a series of fast moves in a very small window of time. These wouldn't be so bad, but the game's engine isn't always up to the task: there's a floatiness to the jumping that makes it hard to judge landings, and when coupled with the game's tile-based level design - where even circular traps are treated as square tiles, meaning you'll frequently clip the edge of what appears to be thin air and die - a hefty degree of frustration ensues. No level was insurmountable, at least in my experience, but it's best not to go into this thinking you'll be able to reach the end with your wits alone: it's more platformer than puzzle game, ultimately.

Still, I can't begrudge a game for choosing to make the player work their way to the end, especially when many of its hardest challenges are entirely optional. It's a solid, no-frills, focused puzzle-platformer game of the devious type that regularly drops nasty surprises in your lap and eagerly observes the resulting devastation. You get the sense that the developers really enjoyed putting their QA testers through the wringer with some of the more diabolical scenarios provided here.

Rating: 4 out of 5.