Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

The hook lands immediately because neither partner has the whole picture. One player investigates the submarine directly, while the other uses the companion app for information that cannot simply be guessed from the main screen. You are not just solving puzzles beside each other. You are translating observations, asking better questions, and figuring out which detail matters.

That division makes communication the real skill check. A partner who says exactly what they see and reads instructions carefully can make a tough puzzle feel satisfyingly collaborative. Vague callouts and impatient assumptions, on the other hand, can turn a simple lead into a long, circular conversation. That is part of the point, but it also means the game will test how well the two of you actually work together.

The steadily increasing challenge should suit a pair that wants more than a quick novelty session. Simple controls keep attention on logic, coordination, and observation rather than execution. Since only one person needs the game while the second player uses the free app on a phone or PC, it is also an unusually easy co-op game to set up across two devices.

Cross-platform play helps if you and your partner do not own the same hardware. Before jumping in, make sure both of you are comfortable talking constantly, because silent co-op this is not. The game’s official How 2 Escape: Lost Submarine page is a useful place to find the companion-app details.

Graphics

You explore the submarine from a first-person viewpoint, which fits the close-quarters investigation at the center of the game. The setting keeps the action focused on the ship’s interior and the objects you need to examine with your partner.

Story

The stakes are refreshingly direct: a captured allied base has prompted a torpedo launch, then the government cancels the order after realizing it could cost countless allied lives and ignite a global war. Unfortunately, the submarine carrying the torpedo, The Triumphant, is out of contact. You and your partner are sent to find it before the cancellation arrives too late.

That setup gives the puzzles a stronger reason to exist than a bare escape-room excuse. Haurée and Leroy are submarine-fleet strategists, not random tourists locked in a themed room, and their mission is built around getting crucial information to the right place under pressure.

The story also introduces a moral dilemma among the sailors after the torpedo decision becomes known underwater. That thread gives the submarine search a human complication beyond simply locating a vessel. It is a compact premise, but a good one for co-op: every solved puzzle feels tied to stopping a disastrous mistake rather than merely opening the next door.

Overall Experience

How 2 Escape: Lost Submarine is for the duo that enjoys talking through a problem more than showing off individual skill. The best moments should come when one person notices a small environmental detail, the other recognizes its meaning from the app, and both of you piece the answer together at once.

It can frustrate couples or friends who communicate in half-sentences, rush ahead, or want a game they can mostly play independently. Here, the separation of information is the whole design. If one player disengages, the other cannot carry the experience in the usual co-op way.

For the right pair, though, that dependence is the payoff. The missing-submarine scenario adds welcome tension, the escalating puzzles promise a meaningful challenge, and the one-copy-plus-app setup removes a common barrier to trying co-op games together. It is a smart recommendation for two puzzle fans ready to put their teamwork under a microscope.

Retro Replay Score

7.4/10