Ellie: Help Me Out... Please (監獄脱出少女Lie - "Prison Escape Girl Ellie") is a free Japanese Room Escape Game developed by A-Team for mobile devices.
One night, you are driving home when an sudden earthquake strands you in the middle of nowhere. You enter a derelict building in search of aid, and discover a computer displaying a security camera feed of a room where a young girl stands captive. Using a two-way audio intercom, the girl introduces herself as Ellie Fosternote and pleads with you to help her escape the room before her kidnapper awakens.
You can download it for free on iOS
and Android. An additional scenario with harder puzzles is also available for a small price.
This game provides examples of:
- Cold-Blooded Torture: It's implied that the kidnapper does this to his victims, and that she was next, hadn't it been for the earthquake. She admits to it if you find the real victim.
- Damsel in Distress: Ellie. Subverted - when you see the girl under the camera, she reveals her Ax-Crazy identity. There's still the real Ellie Foster to play this straight.
- Dead Man Writing: There is a message burned onto the bed of the room by another victim of the kidnapper, but you need to find a way to make it visible again.
- Dying Clue: A scrambled message by a previous kidnapping victim is left behind inside the room that Ellie stays in, where making it legible to read reveals that Ellie's claims that she was kidnapped by a man is a lie. It was a girl, or more specifically, the girl that the player have been trying to rescue.
- The Dulcinea Effect: If you're a male player, then Ellie is essentially counting on your chivalry-to-strangers to make her plan work.
- The End... Or Is It?: Even though you stopped the fake Ellie, her body is never recovered.
- Evil Sounds Deep: After the fake Ellie is exposed, her voice turns deeper, calmer and more menacing. Every line she speaks when reacting to an object or event is re-dubbed in that voice.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: Ellie takes some persuading to hold a mirror up and show the reflection to the camera when prompted, even though beforehand she was always cooperative with any other commands. It's because her kidnapping victim, the real Ellie, is hidden underneath the camera the player is using, and she doesn't want the player to see her with the mirror's reflection.
- Giggling Villain: 'Ellie' will do this at times once exposed.
- Good Eyes, Evil Eyes: After the fake Ellie is exposed, her iridae shrink.
- Multiple Endings:
- Bad End: To get this ending, do the least you need to do to finish the game - open the hatch and let the fake Ellie escape through it. Or alternatively, failing to stop the fake Ellie after exposing her. Both will lead you to a cutscene where she'll approach you and kill you with the trowel.
- Good Ending: You need to do everything that needs to be done, exposing the fake Ellie in the process, then find a way to stop her while having the real one unharmed.
- The another room scenario continues with multiple endings. In this case, you need to pre-emptively sabotage the electric chair and move the crane arm into the correct position before you open the hatch.
- Soft-Spoken Sadist: The fake Ellie starts talking in a deeper, sultrier and creepier voice after dropping her facade.
- Spoiler Title: In the Japanese version, the Lie part of Prison Escape Girl Lie should apparently be a more westernized spelling of the girl's name, Rie... but it may also refer to the fact that what she's trying to make you believe is a Lie. This doubles as Bilingual Bonus.
- Villain Ball: 'Ellie' slips up early on that a man had abducted her, while a dying message in the room she is trapped in mentions "She is the devil disguised as a girl", which contradicts what 'Ellie' claims. Had she mentioned that a girl had abducted her, 'Ellie' would have an easier time selling her story to her would-be rescuer by claiming that she tied up the kidnapper while she was unconscious, instead of hiding her victim from out of sight.
- Wham Line: The last line from dying message left behind by a previous kidnapping victim reads: "She is the devil disguised as a girl".
- Wham Shot: Once the player persuades an unusually agitated Ellie to hold a mirror above the star marked on the floor to get a view of what is underneath the camera, you can see a girl tied up on the floor in the reflection. The real Ellie Foster.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: The fake Ellie pretends to be the victim of the kidnapper, so that you'll help her escape... and once you do, she'll just get rid of you. Depending on what you do, she may or may not succeed.
