A Way Out is a unique co-op game where players take control of an incarcerated pair of inmates named Vincent and Leo. In the opening chapter titled Escape, you and your co-op partner must devise a plan to escape prison and start on your road towards vengeance. Follow the steps in each section of our walkthrough below to help Vincent and Leo bust out of prison and make their great escape in A Way Out Chapter 1: Escape.
Beginnings
During the opening of A Way Out, you’ll have a chance to choose which of the two prisoners you want to play as. Vincent begins within the bus, while Leo is already at the prison. Vincent is a new prisoner who must go through the motions of getting stripped down and prepped to serve time in prison.
Meanwhile, Leo is allowed to wander the yard to do as he pleases (within reason). Leo can also follow Vincent from a distance by spectating from the upper levels of the prison.
As nude Vincent, head up the stairs until the guard leaves you. Your cell happens to be right next to Leo’s cell. Get some clothes on and prepare to settle in for the night. In the meantime, Leo should try to make his way to his own prison cell.
The Yard
The next morning begins back in the prison yard, with Leo and Vincent located on two separate areas of the yard. You’ll have some free time to mingle with other inmates and even get in a brief workout before the next major event goes down.
Eventually, Leo will get into some trouble with several other inmates. Vincent must attempt to intervene. As the argument escalates into a brawl, prepare yourself for a series of quick-time events. You’ll have to punch, dodge, and counter as much as possible during the fight. Continue until the guards arrive to break up the kerfuffle.
Canteen Brawl
After the fight, Vincent and Leo will head to the canteen. Vincent goes to get some food and sit down. Leo, on the other hand, will go around to speak with several inmates about the food.
The Canteen Brawl starts to ramp up when Leo gets attacked by Harvey’s hitman. Once again, Vincent goes to interject. As the fight escalates into the kitchen area, both Vincent and Leo must fend off their attackers by shoving shelves and lobbing objects while retreating through the kitchen.
Keep going until the guards intervene once more. After a brief cutscene, the two inmates will wake up in the prison infirmary.
Helping Hand
In the infirmary, Leo will ask Vincent for help with an escape plan. Vincent and Leo agree that they must work together if they are going to be able to steal the chisel that they need. The plan is to have Vincent distract the prison guards and nurses while Leo sneaks through the ward in search of a chisel.
Vincent will kick off the plan by using the bedside buzzer to call over the nurse. Once the nurse is busy attending to Vincent, Leo will have the chance to slip out into the hallway. If the guard is blocking Leo’s path, simply wait for the guard to finish his coffee run before moving on.
When the guard returns to his station, Vincent can knock on the glass to get his attention. This catches the guard off guard, enough for him to spill his coffee. While the guard is distracted, Leo can continue forward to snag the chisel. It’s best to have Leo wait for the guard to head to the bathroom before sneaking back to his bed while Vincent chats with the nurse.
Once Leo returns to bed, a cutscene will trigger showing Leo toss the chisel out the window. The next order of business in A Way Out is to retrieve the chisel and bring it back to your cell.
Work Detail
In Work Detail, Vincent and Leo are tasked with tarring the prison’s rooftop, just below where Leo happened to throw the chisel. Vincent and Leo will need to collaborate on another plan to distract the guards and get the chisel.
Head over to the broom in the buckets and grab the one on the right. You can do this with either character. Snap the broom in half, then get the guard’s attention to tell them that it’s broken.
Take the broken broom over to the guard by the door. Lean against the crate beside the guard and cooperate with your partner to climb up onto the scaffolding.
While one partner is chatting with the guard at the door, the other needs to go up the ladder and retrieve the chisel underneath the window. The character who stayed on the ground needs to distract the guard to allow the other player to go across the walkway.
The player on the roof must sneak across the walkway and make their way into the rooftop window higher up. Drop down into the building and go over to the locked door. The player on the outside of the door must crack the lock. Afterward, bring the chisel to Fred to complete this section.
Cell Breach
Fred manages to find a way to bring the chisel back to Leo through book delivery. You’ve found yourself with the stolen chisel once again, but this time you’re going to have to use it.
Your new objective in A Way Out is to detach the toilet, remove the panel behind the toilet, and chisel out a bit of concrete off the wall using the stolen chisel. The chisel turns out to be an all-purpose weapon for the job, as you’ll need it every step of the way.
Take the chisel and detach the toilet from the wall. Use the chisel once more to rotate the screws on the panel and proceed to kick in the grate.
The other player needs to stay on lookout in case a guard approaches. If a guard gets close, just stop what you’re doing to avoid being caught. If the guard gets close enough to the cell of whoever is on lookout duty, then buy your partner some time by distracting the guard while the chiseling partner escapes.
After the first player has finished chiseling and has kicked in their panel, hand over the chisel to the other inmate. Now, your roles will switch. Whoever is not chiseling must remain on lookout duty while the other player removes their panel.
Once both of you have removed your toilet panels, you’ll have to wait until bedtime to escape from your cells. After lights-out, climb through the new opening in your cell and crawl along the wood planks. Use the ladder to climb down to the next room.
On the upper level, keep to the left as you walk out onto the planks. Look for a pipe on the wall that you can interact with. Leo and Vincent will need to collaborate to pull the pipe off the wall and use it to jam the fan.
Crawl through and find a switch to shut off the fan. Work with your partner to break open the door. When you reach the large elevator hole, you’ll be stuck until you find a way to get down.
Laundry Smuggle
After escaping from the cellblock, Vincent and Leo’s new objective in A Way Out is to steal sheets from the laundry room. You must make your way through the open maintenance area to reach the backroom. The plan is to fill a laundry cart with sheets and take it to the vent for use later.
The two of you will have to go around and speak with a few inmates who are working in the laundry area so that you can use them as a distraction later on. After some socializing, make your way to the back of the laundry area and talk to the inmate by the laundry carts. Use whatever means necessary to convince him, then one of you needs to hop into the cart.
The player outside the cart must begin collecting sheets from beside the cart room and load the sheets into the cart to cover your partner. Three sheets should be enough. Whoever is in the cart can cover themselves up in the sheets when ready.
With their partner covered, the player outside the laundry cart must push the cart out to where the guards are patrolling. The guards will take the cart, so be patient and wait for the cart to come to a full stop before trying to jump out.
Vincent and Leo must both make their way into the backroom, but so far one of you is still stuck on the outside. There’s also a guard blocking the way, so you’ll have to devise another distraction. You can either start a fight or cause one of the machines to break.
If you opt for starting a fight, all you have to do is rile up some of the inmates who don’t like each other. This is where your socializing from earlier will come in handy. Once a fight breaks out, go over to the guard blocking the backroom and bring the fight to his attention to give yourself some time to reach the backroom.
The door will be locked, so the player who was inside the cart must open the door from their side. However, there is a guard inside the backroom as well, so you’ll need to wait until the coast is clear before trying to open the door.
Once Leo and Vincent are reunited, go to the room where the laundry cart was taken and grab some sheets. You can also take some sheets off the tables. One of you must boost the other up the bars and then pass sheets upward. Get three sheets through the bars to complete the Laundry Smuggle section in A Way Out.
The Way Out
The next section of A Way Out sees Vincent and Leo trudging through the underground sewer. Climb down the sheets and work with your companion to open the heavy grate on the floor in the middle of the area. When the grate is removed, prepare to jump down into the murky depths.
Leo will jump down first. Vincent takes a moment to grab the flashlight off a nearby shelf before dropping down as well. As Leo, turn the valve to stop the water flow, then go through the new opening. Turn another valve to stop the flow of water in the next section.
As Vincent, hand Leo the flashlight through the bars, then return to the locked gate. This initiates a cutscene showing you breaking the lock.
There’s a locked door on the other side. At the same time, Vincent and Leo must both ram into the door to bust it open. Stay close to one another on your way through the dark tunnels in the next section. Pull back the metal sheet in the following section to start the next objective.
Your new task is to shimmy your way back-to-back up a vertical shaft. While Vincent and Leo support one another during their ascent, you and your partner must synchronize your button presses along the way. A poorly timed button press from either of you will cause Leo and Vincent to wobble off balance during their climb. Try to stay at the same level with each other, but if one of you ends up higher than the other, be sure to wait before pressing another button so that your partner can catch up.
Once Vincent and Leo reach the top of the shaft, they will automatically pull themselves up. Next, you’ll need to find a wrench to proceed with your escape plan in A Way Out.
Wrench Relay
When Leo and Vincent make their way to the workshop, the next task is to procure a wrench. The wrench is found on the table near the inmate who is hammering away at some metal. One of you must distract the inmate while the other snags the wrench.
The goal is to get the wrench out of the room without it passing through the metal detector. One of you must take the wrench to the other side of the room and stand near a wall vent. The other person can exit through the metal detector and look for the supply room on the right. Move the bin out of the way, then kick open the vent where your partner stands on the other side. Have your partner pass the wrench through the vent to get it out of the workshop without going through the metal detector. Now, the remaining player in the workshop can simply exit through the metal detector.
This theme of passing the wrench back and forth will continue throughout this section. Keep going until you reach the pat-down checkpoint. The player who has the wrench should wait by the bars while their partner goes through the pat-down. Once your partner gets checked, pass them the wrench through the bars, then continue through the pat-down yourself.
Continue through the cell block. When you reach the two guards, the player without the wrench needs to distract them with conversation. When it’s time for a shakedown, look for a cell with no guards in it. Toss the wrench behind the toilet so that the guards don’t find it during the inspection.
Prison Escape
Once you bring the wrench back to your cell, it’s time to finally escape from prison in A Way Out. The wrench will come in handy at the top of that shaft you and your partner climbed up earlier. Don’t worry, you won’t have to do that part again.
Use the wrench to undo the nuts, then push the hatch open together. Climb up, then find a crate-covered cart in the side room. Push the cart over to the yellow vent near the ceiling. Climb onto the boxes and enter the vent. Drop down and sneak along the pipes past the guards, using the boxes as cover.
When you get to the locked door, you’ll have to ram into it to bust it open. However, you’ll have to time this with the sound of thunder to disguise the loud noise. Wait to see a lightning flash, then press the button. This make take a couple tries.
Vincent and Leo will find themselves outside in the storm, but they aren’t free yet. You and your partner must make your way across the rooftops, taking down guards along the way to avoid being caught. Sneak up behind each guard for a stealth takedown.
Climb up the crate, close to where you threw the chisel earlier. Open up the window to the Warden’s office and climb through. If you notice the birdcage on the balcony, open the cage to free the bird to unlock an achievement/trophy.
Exit through the double doors and head downstairs to the infirmary. Two guards will be standing there, so make sure to crouch along the wall to sneak out of the window unnoticed.
The two of you will be back outside once more, but this time you’ll have to make your way to the guard tower. Continue to crouch and sneak along the walls, staying hidden in the shadows. Wait for the spotlight to pass by before proceeding. Once you get to the tower, climb up the ladder and quietly take down the guard.
Now you’re in the home stretch. Look for a long power line connecting from the tower to a building beyond the prison. Grab a coat hanger from inside the tower. You’re going to use this to zipline your way to freedom. When you reach the other side, cooperate with your comrade to open the roller door, then sprint through the woods as fast as possible.
You may have escaped prison, but you’re not out of the woods yet. A Way Out Chapter 2: Fugitives picks up shortly after you escape, so be prepared to make a run for it!
