Its gameplay is patterned after that of real-world escape room activities, where players are supposed to work together to discover clues, solve puzzles, and accomplish tasks in one or more rooms to achieve a specific goal within a finite amount of time.

[1] Played from a first-person perspective, players earn grades by solving escape rooms themed after various academic subjects.

[4][5][6] Jordan Ramée from GameSpot praised the gameplay design behind each escape room which he found rewarding for co-operative play in multiplayer mode, as it allows all players to easily work together and contribute productively, and that the puzzles had enough variety to "challenge both logical and creative thinking".

[8] Kyle LeClair from Hardcore Gamer gave a positive review, and said he was hopeful that Escape Academy would be successful enough to warrant a sequel.

[9] Ozzie Mejia from Shacknews lauded Escape Academy as one of the best cooperative gaming experiences of 2022.