Tried the game some months ago, reached days 10+ twice and gave up. Just started it a few days ago, reached day 14 without any progress and started watching lets plays.

Some of the main tips I missed was:

* be there at roll calls to know who is gonna get a cell search (if you don't want to lose everything and go in the solitary every other day)
* forks can break walls, spoons can dig holes (makes escaping from earlier prisons much easier, when advanced items are harder to access)
* roll of duct tape can craft you a LOT of things (poster, cutters, pickaxe, shovel, contraband pouch, tying guards, and many more things)
After that and a lot of spoiling from let's plays I managed to escape the first three prisons in 5 hours. If you know all of that, it's just a matter of time and proper timing to finish the game. I kind of wish I tried it myself, but I can't even imagine how much time it would've took me if I tried to learn everything myself.
So I say don't feel stupid if you give up and want to read wikis on craft recipes and which does what, the game does not have that art style just to save on artist salaries, it is also a reminder that old games were hard as ♥♥♥♥ and didn't give you step-by-step on how to wipe your own ass and left you there wondering 'what the ♥♥♥♥ do I do now?'. The game truly is a masterpiece in that regard.

[h1]***SPOILERS BELOW***[/h1] Tried the game some months ago, reached days 10+ twice and gave up. Just started it a few days ago, reached day 14 without any progress and started watching lets plays. Some of the main tips I missed was: [spoiler] * be there at roll calls to know who is gonna get a cell search (if you don't want to lose everything and go in the solitary every other day) * forks can break walls, spoons can dig holes (makes escaping from earlier prisons much easier, when advanced items are harder to access) * roll of duct tape can craft you a LOT of things (poster, cutters, pickaxe, shovel, contraband pouch, tying guards, and many more things) [/spoiler] After that and a lot of spoiling from let's plays I managed to escape the first three prisons in 5 hours. If you know all of that, it's just a matter of time and proper timing to finish the game. I kind of wish I tried it myself, but I can't even imagine how much time it would've took me if I tried to learn everything myself. So I say don't feel stupid if you give up and want to read wikis on craft recipes and which does what, the game does not have that art style just to save on artist salaries, it is also a reminder that old games were hard as fuck and didn't give you step-by-step on how to wipe your own ass and left you there wondering 'what the fuck do I do now?'. The game truly is a masterpiece in that regard.