There is a hierarchy of puzzle games with games like Panel de Pon at the very top and the bottom would be one of those hidden picture games on your phone.  Pretty Girls Escape seems, at first glance, that it could be a phone game, but the mechanics of it fall more in line with some of the more interesting sliding tile games. 

The first thing that needs to be addressed is that the name of the game is Pretty Girls Escape – it is a puzzle game with JPEGs of cute anime girls.  The aforementioned anime girls are escaping nothing, all of whom seem to be pushing ever increasingly difficult puzzles on the player.  If it hadn’t been explained to me that “Pretty Girls” is actually the name of a series, I would have been completely lost.

But more importantly, the game does well with its limited run time.  Puzzles can be quickly restarted when failed, and most offer enough challenge to want to go back and three star the experience.  Even in the later levels the game never becomes entirely frustrating, and can be beaten in a handful of hours with casual play—this doesn’t mean that the game isn’t a good time.

The main selling point, aside from being able to change the outfits of the girls to sexier choices, is that it passes the introduction of new mechanics pretty well as to not overwhelm the player.  With every girl, and set of levels, there is normally a new gimmick that is unlocked each time.  They range from cubes that move with the other blocks, to blocks that can’t be touched without creating a game over.  It is never hard, but also never seems to over stay its welcome.

Pretty Girls Escape is a decent game, if it was any more than the budget price it is currently listed at it would be a clear no go—but it isn’t.  What has been delivered is a solid title with exactly the correct pricing on it.  If you happen to like puzzle games and anime girls, spend a couple of bucks and pick this up.  Otherwise this game pretty much just isn’t for you.