You have escaped when the team label in the corner changes from Inmate to Escapee. That also awards the Escape The Prison badge. Resetting after the tag appears drops you at the Escapee base with the locker, and that reset does not spend one of the three lives. Dying or being arrested does.
Watchtowers and the highway are the dangerous part of the handoff. Riot and State Police weapons, including beanbags where they are still issued, are built to stop people on the perimeter road. If the base is in the open, do not stand still in the spawn.
What each tool is for
| Tool | Documented cost or source | What it opens |
|---|---|---|
| Rope | 2 shirts and 3 pants from laundry | Climb a broken barbed-wire fence. Hold E to mount it. |
| Employee Keycard | Trash cans (guides cite about 10 percent), medical or janitor areas, and the cafeteria tunnel floor | Cafeteria back doors, laundry, and staff rooms. Clearance is listed as level 1. |
| Corrections Keycard | Checkpoint desk, dropped officers, Escapee base table, Director office | Interior security doors and the outer gates. One sheet calls this level 2 clearance and another calls the same card level 3. |
| Screwdriver | Crafted from metal and plastic, or found in bins and utility rooms | Unscrew a vent grate in 5 seconds. |
A second rope needs 4 shirts and 6 pants. Shelves often spawn short. Wait for the pile instead of roaming the yard with nothing to climb.
Minimum and Medium: yard rope
This route does not need a keycard.
- Take 2 shirts and 3 pants from the laundry room by the low and medium cells.
- Craft one rope.
- Walk to the outdoor yard by the soccer field. Do not sprint through a patrol line.
- On the right fence near the light post, where the barbed wire is broken, equip the rope, hold E, and climb.
Cafeteria storage: card plus rope
- Search Minimum trash until an Employee Keycard drops. Bins can also give a baton, a shiv, or a little cash.
- Craft one rope.
- Open the cafeteria rear doors with the employee card.
- Follow the fence behind storage, mount the rope on the gap, and climb.
Gate run: Corrections card, no rope
- Get an Employee Keycard from a bin or an unattended staff spot.
- From the Minimum cells, go upstairs to the checkpoint and open it when the room is empty.
- Take the Corrections Keycard on the office desk.
- Use it on the inner doors and the outer vehicle or pedestrian gates, then leave before the tower looks down.
The same card is also described on the Maximum checkpoint desk, the Escapee base table, and the Director's desk. Officers drop one if they are downed.
Maximum Security: vent, not the yard
Max does not give you a normal yard loop.
- Craft or find a screwdriver. Metal nodes are a 3-second hold and are said to respawn about every 2 minutes in the cell blocks, cafeteria, gym, workshop, classroom, and the basement by the generator. Plastic is the other half of the craft, including commissary plastic listed at 1 money. A full craft is described as about two minutes once the scrap is in hand. Exact piece counts are not published.
- Reach cafeteria storage or the Maximum hallway vent near solitary.
- Hold the screwdriver on the grate for 5 seconds. There is a chance the tool snaps.
- In the cafeteria duct, the written path is straight, right, immediate left, then forward to the exit grate. Unscrew that grate too.
The tunnel network joins the Maximum hallway, the cafeteria (barn) vent, the outside vent by the State Police building, and the RIOT/CERT armory vent. Booking's vent is separate: it dumps you in the lobby hallway, not into the tunnels. An Employee Keycard is documented on the tunnel floor by the cafeteria grate. Interior latches on the Maximum and cafeteria vents can be pulled shut from inside without a toolbox.
After the tag flips
Sprint for the gas station and Escapee base, or reset once the Escapee label is on. Re-equip a vest. You are now the raid team, not the prisoner. Three lives, then Maximum Security.
Public lockers are shared. Hide a spare card. Do not store it where the next player can press E.