Evac: get everyone out before the smoke
A hotel is on fire. Smoke is coming along each corridor from the stairwell at the far end, and the only way out is the lobby at the bottom. You are the elevator. The car is heavy: drag it in the shaft and it lags behind your hand, and when you let go it keeps going and brakes over most of a floor. Land it level with a corridor and the doors open. Land it between floors and they stay shut until you nudge it, and that costs you seconds you do not have.
How to play
Everything you do is done to the car. There is no button to press for a passenger and no menu to open. You drive, you stop, and the building does the rest.
- The verb: drag anywhere in the shaft to pull the car up or down. On a desktop you can hold the up and down arrow keys instead, which is kinder to a trackpad.
- The clock: how far the smoke has come along a corridor is how long the people in it have. It reaches the far end first, so whoever is standing deepest is on the shortest clock.
- The car holds four. Every door you open lets smoke in, and it stays in, so a stop you did not need costs everyone already aboard.
- The goal: everyone down to the lobby. Anyone you do not reach is left behind, and the card tells you which floor was still waiting.
Why it is clever
Most elevator games are about which button to press. This one is about weight and about choosing. The brake needs nearly a whole floor from full speed, so a good stop is a decision you make early, before you are anywhere near the corridor you want. And because the smoke spreads rather than ticking down separately for each person, the floor you skip gets worse while you are somewhere else. Going low first can make the top unreachable.
Every level from four onward is checked by a program before it ships. A planner that thinks one trip ahead must be able to clear it, so it is always winnable. On the later levels seven different obvious approaches, including the sensible one of starting at the top and working down, must all fail to clear it, so there is no rule you can learn once and stop thinking. Buildings that fail either test are thrown away.
Tips
- Let go a floor early. Trying to steer the car onto a landing is how you end up between floors.
- Fill the car. Two trips with two people each costs four door openings, and every one of them is smoke.
- Watch the deepest person on each floor, not the floor. They are the one the smoke reaches first.
Frequently asked questions
Is Evac free? Yes, completely free to play, with no account or download, in any modern browser on phone, tablet or desktop.
Does it work on mobile? Yes. The shaft sits right of centre on a phone so your thumb never covers the corridor you are serving.
How do I win a level? Get every person down to the lobby. Miss one and the level ends and you try again.
Is every level winnable? Yes, and it is checked rather than assumed. See the note above on how levels are certified.
Does anyone die? No. The fire brigade is on its way; anyone you do not reach in time is reached by them instead, and the card simply tells you how many you got out.
Stuck? Read the Evac strategy guide
Enjoy a good thinking puzzle? Try Bloom or Kaleido, or browse all Zamborin games.