Escaping won't be easy though. You'll have to work around the strict prison schedule and avoid the unwanted attention of guards. Craft weapons and tools found (or stolen) from within the prison, but beware of cell shakedowns. Get a job or perform “favours" for your fellow inmates to purchase vital supplies, all while scouting escape routes.

Team17 has launched a free content update for its sandbox prison-escape game The Escapists 2 with the arrival of the Santa’s Shakedown prison.

Celebrate the festive season with this snowy free new prison that has it all: state of the art equipment, high tech security measures … and an overtly theatrical warden who has repurposed the sports hall as a theatre and is more concerned with putting on an extravagant pantomime than the wellbeing of his inmates. Look past the tacky decorations and an opportunity to escape may just present itself!

The free Santa’s Shakedown update includes:

• A new festive themed prison to escape
• 2 new ways to break out
• New craftables such as the mince pie and Xmace
• Festively themed jobs including toy making, tree decorating and sorting letters to Santa
• A new leaderboard to make your mark on

Santa’s Shakedown is now available as a free The Escapists 2 game update for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

Key Features:

• A dedicated tutorial for new players to learn the basics of prison life
• 10 unique themed prisons to escape from including the frosty Fort Tundra, a train hurtling through the desert, and even a trip to the final frontier!
• Play each prison solo or multiplayer with both local and online co-op and versus modes for up to four players**
• Drop-in, drop-out online multiplayer experience.  Carefully plan and execute an intricate escape from your initial incarceration with your fellow inmates either online or locally, or simply hop into an existing game already in progress to help pull off the final touches of the escape!
• A brand new combat system to make every prison brawl even more bruising
• Create your con with over 300 customisations to create your perfect prisoner
• New ways to escape
• New items to craft - Build yourself a home-made Taser to knock out guards plus many more!

The Escapists 2 is available to purchase for Xbox One via the Xbox Games Store, PS4 via the PlayStation Store and for PC, Mac and Linux via Steam.  The Escapists 2 is also coming to Nintendo Switch at a later date.