Escaping Wonderland [Meta Quest 3] | REVIEW

Down the Rabbit Hole was one of the most delightful puzzlers that I’ve played on the Meta Quest platform, so I was excited to learn that Cortopia Studios were returning to its world with Escaping Wonderland. It offers an equally enthralling adventure too, with the quirky charm of the original game resonating throughout the wacky yet wonderful journey to make your way home.

Check out some screenshots down below:

Escaping Wonderland puts players in the role of Molly, who awakens within Wonderland but with no idea as to how she got there. She has also lost all of her other memories, which becomes apparent when she encounters a Mole who knows exactly who she is, but that she has no recollection of. He informs Molly that in order to get home, she’ll have to help recover four parts of a machine that are in the possession of some of the colourful characters who inhabit Wonderland, sending her on a whimsical adventure to track them down.

It’s a quirky and charming tale that’ll immediately catch your attention thanks to its references to the world of Wonderland, with familiar faces such as the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat, Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum, and the villainous Queen of Hearts showing up throughout your journey. You’ll find yourself in plenty of wacky scenarios as you deal with their mischievous ways too, but it’s nothing Molly can’t handle, and whilst she starts her journey afraid, she builds in strength and confidence as she journeys further up through Wonderland.

It’s the connection to Molly that adds an emotional undercurrent to the adventure, especially with the collectibles you find across the world that flesh out her backstory. Whilst I’ve never been a fan of pausing the action in a game to listen to collectible audio files, I wanted to know more about Molly and the mystery behind her appearance in Wonderland, with the narrative offering enough intrigue to encourage me to fill in the blanks. It’s all effectively executed to make you care about Molly’s plight, and it’ll certainly help you appreciate her growth as a character through the adventure.

“Escaping Wonderland is a worth successor to Down the Rabbit Hole, with its wonderful world design, creative puzzling, and engaging storytelling ensuring its another virtual reality hit for the team at Cortopia Studios.”

When it comes to the gameplay, Escaping Wonderland will be familiar to anyone who played Down the Rabbit Hole, with players manually controlling Molly whilst also interacting with the diorama-like landscape through various motion-based actions. The difference this time? You’ll be pulling yourself up through the rabbit hole as opposed to down it, with the roots you grab taking you further up through Wonderland. It’s a small detail, but it’s one that I found easy to appreciate that immediately helps differentiate Escaping Wonderland from its predecessor.

I’ll never stop appreciating just how immersive third-person games can be in virtual reality, with the world of Escaping Wonderland a real treat to observe and navigate through. Seeing Molly run around as I peek across each locale always brought a smile to my face, with the cute approach still as appealing now as it was in Down the Rabbit Hole. Character interactions and some puzzles even take place from Molly’s perspective, giving players a shift of view that offers a closer look at the spectacles of Wonderland. I wish there were more games like this, because whilst first-person titles are the most popular in virtual reality, it’s titles like this that offer something a little different that really make the platform feel magical.

It’s all complemented by some creative puzzling that require both logical thinking and a bit of physical handywork to solve, with Molly finding herself in plenty of unique situations that are befitting of the oddities of Wonderland. Having to make a fake ID to fool a guard, blasting at objects with a slingshot with banana ammunition, repairing pipes by carefully putting the pieces together, moving a mirror to guide a lasers, or repairing a clock’s gears whilst tinkering with time – there’s lot of little things that you’ll find yourself doing, and whilst they might not sound that exciting on paper, the immersion offered by virtual reality (as well as the unusual allure of Wonderland) ensures they’re always delightful.

Check out some screenshots down below:

Admittedly, Escaping Wonderland is a pretty easy game, so you shouldn’t struggle with the puzzles too much. Sure, you might find yourself scratching your head momentarily, but it’s rare that you’ll find yourself taking longer than a few minutes to figure out an enigma, especially since they take place in confined areas where everything you need to progress is right in front of you. However, if you do struggle, there’s a neat little hint system in place that’ll give you a nudge in the right direction, with three clues offered to help you progress. It’s the sort of feature that I’ve used in similar titles in the past so I can appreciate its inclusion, whilst it also makes the game more accessible for a wider range of players. Just don’t be surprised if you never need to use it during your playthrough.

Presentation-wise, Escaping Wonderland is a real treat on the eyes, with some brilliantly designed locales to explore that really lean into the weird and wonderful with their design. The world is rich with depth and detail that help brings each location to life, whilst the nods to all things Wonderland will certainly appeal to those with an affinity for the world. I’d implore players to really get stuck in and take a closer look at the world when playing too, because it’s not only gorgeous to look at but also full of little secrets that were always a treat to discover. The audio is on point too, both with the gleeful soundtrack that fits the tone of the adventure perfectly and the voice acting that’ll make you appreciate the wacky characters of Wonderland even more.