Escapes and exits: every way out, where they spawn, and how Michael finds them
Escaping is the civilians’ whole objective and the game does not teach it. On the Michael side the question is the mirror image: Michael players are asking how anyone finds an exit at all before the notification says somebody has already left. The developers have said very little, so almost everything below is what players have recorded, shown with who says it.
What each exit needs
The picture is the short version. The claims under it are the evidence, and the tools themselves are covered on the items page, with the Fuse the one that only the gate uses.
Bolt cutters cut a storm cellar's chains open, and a key opens it as well.
2 sources: Aliychu (8:03) · MattZephy (1:01) · MattZephy (2:24)
A key does not work on every cellar. The game tells you on the left of the screen, when you find one, whether a key will open it.
One source: MattZephy (2:24)
Wooden boards over an exit break to any weapon.
2 sources: Aliychu (8:14) · emph (6:15)
Even a gun works on the boards, at the cost of a few bullets.
One source: Aliychu (8:14)
A fuse gate is powered with a fuse.
3 sources: Aliychu (8:49) · MattZephy (1:49) · MintSkull (10:01)
Powering the gate with the fuse takes a little time.
One source: MintSkull (10:01)
Fuses only work at the gates on the edge of the map.
One source: MattZephy (1:49)
A fuse gate also needs bolt cutters, like the other exits.
One source: Aliychu (8:49)
A key can open a fuse gate.
One source: MattZephy (2:24)
The car needs a repair kit, fuel and keys. One guide calls the fuel an oil can.
3 sources: Aliychu (9:33) · not Otzdarva (34:28) · MattZephy (1:14)
The car carries up to three people.
One source: Aliychu (9:47)
Fixing the car is not the escape. Someone still has to drive it out of the town, which means the driver has to escape themselves.
One source: not Otzdarva (32:35)
Michael breaks fuse boxes, power boxes and cars, including the ones civilians have to repair.
2 sources: emph (11:51) · MintSkull (8:46)
A car Michael has broken can be repaired again with a repair kit.
One source: MintSkull (8:46)
How many exits, and where
Exits do not have one fixed place. Each map has a set of spots where one can appear, and each match picks a few of them. What makes them findable is that the set is small enough to learn.
Each map has a fixed set of places an exit can appear, and a different few are picked every match.
4 sources: DeftyConch (5:33) · not Otzdarva (33:24) · SIMPLYAMAZING (4:53) · u/BlutoBeyond (Reddit)
Orange Grove Estates has four places a storm cellar can spawn.
2 sources: DeftyConch (5:09) · u/BlutoBeyond (Reddit)
There are three exits in total in a match, counting storm cellars and escape gates together.
One source: DeftyConch (1:14)
One blue car spawns every match, in one of four to five places depending on the map.
One source: DeftyConch (1:08) · DeftyConch (4:19)
Cellars usually spawn behind houses. The fuse gate is on the edge of the map and secluded, so Michael is less likely to check it.
One source: Aliychu (8:23) · Aliychu (8:56)
Community maps of every possible exit spawn exist and are worth looking up.
2 sources: u/BlutoBeyond (Reddit) · not Otzdarva (33:17)
Every possible spot, by map
One channel counted the spawn spots on all four maps across about seventy private matches. It is the only per-map count published, so treat it as one player’s tally rather than a datamine.
| Map | Cellars | Gates | Car | Gate positions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haddonfield Heights | 8 | 3 | 4 | One north, one north-east, one south. (video) |
| Orange Grove Estates | 4 | 3 | 5 | Two in the north, which can land next to each other, and one in the far bottom left. (video) |
| Haddonfield Town Center | 3 | 1 | 4 | A single gate spot. (video) |
| East Haddonfield | 5 | 1 | 5 | A single gate spot. (video) |
When an exit fills up
Exits fill up. Once one is full, no more players can escape through it.
4 sources: Aliychu (9:07) · not Otzdarva (33:52) · SIMPLYAMAZING (8:56) · u/BlutoBeyond (Reddit)
On a cellar or gate, the icon shows a lock while it is locked, a white circle while it is open with the progress of how many more can use it, a red cross after Michael closes it, and a red circle when it is full.
One source: u/BlutoBeyond (Reddit)
Playing Michael: finding them
The question that started this page. The honest answer from the players who have worked at it is that Michael is told an exit has opened and not where, so finding one is a matter of knowing the possible spots and going to look. The abilities page has the powers mentioned here, and Michael’s own page has the rest.
Michael is told when someone is escaping or an exit has opened, but the notification does not say which exit.
3 sources: u/Miserable_Watch_943 (Reddit) · BloodThirstyLord (6:36) · Bryce Games (106:46)
Exits appear on Michael's map and HUD once found, and he can see whether each is locked or open.
2 sources: u/BlutoBeyond (Reddit) · u/-JLH- (Reddit)
Getting close to an exit reveals it: an Escape Discovered message and a sound, after which it stays marked on the map for the rest of the match.
One source: u/BlutoBeyond (Reddit)
Bloodthirst tier 3 has nothing to do with it. Another player asked whether that revealed exits, and was told it does not.
One source: u/BlutoBeyond (Reddit)
Opening an exit is loud, and Michael can hear it from far away.
2 sources: MintSkull (7:46) · Middi (11:18)
Detection Pulse's in-game text lists victims and occupied structures. No source says it marks exits.
One source: Ravenysx (4:59)
One player uses Detection Pulse to see where civilians are heading and what they are carrying, such as bolt cutters or a gas can, which beats checking every possible spawn.
One source: u/BlutoBeyond (Reddit)
Another player wishes Detection Pulse showed every open exit, because there are so many to check.
One source: u/DeathVVorship (Reddit)
Otherwise you learn the possible spawns and check each one in turn.
2 sources: u/DeathVVorship (Reddit) · not Otzdarva (9:16)
That is very tedious, and you will often still be unable to deny the exits, especially with so many of them.
One source: u/DeathVVorship (Reddit)
On East Haddonfield, stick to the outskirts when you search for exits.
One source: DeftyConch (8:41)
Playing Michael: shutting them
This is the thinnest part of what has been published. Only closing an exit has more than one source; every other tactic comes from one player, and is labelled that way.
Michael can close an exit that civilians have opened.
3 sources: u/BlutoBeyond (Reddit) · BloodThirstyLord (15:09) · Bryce Games (246:40)
Civilians can reopen an exit Michael has closed, and Michael players expect them to camp or reopen a known one.
One source: BloodThirstyLord (11:45)
Patch 1.0.2 fixed civilians being able to kill Michael while he is interacting with a Storm Cellar or Exit Gate.
One source: Patch 1.0.2 notes (IllFonic)
One player asks whether a car Michael has placed on a cellar or in front of a gate can be removed, because it ruins the exit.
One source: u/Beyoncewig (Reddit)
The Blackout power turns off the car escape's electricity so Michael can break the car. It also turns off every powered thing around Michael and unlocks every locked door.
One source: MintSkull (2:47)
Blackout also instantly cancels blinds from flare guns and flashlights, and stuns from firecrackers.
One source: u/sh4desthevibe (Reddit)
Michael can break the fences civilians slip past, which helps near exits. A heavy weapon does it quickly and a knife takes too long.
One source: MintSkull (6:36)
The police wagon
The one exit that takes no equipment, and the one with the most disagreement about how it starts. The trigger argument is set out under the disputes below.
The police wagon is an exit that arrives on a countdown after the police have been called.
4 sources: Aliychu (2:34) · not Otzdarva (42:18) · SIMPLYAMAZING (9:35) · Middi (7:08)
A countdown with a small van icon appears at the top left of the screen while it is coming.
One source: SIMPLYAMAZING (9:35)
The side doors of the wagon work as well as the back, in case Michael is standing at the back.
One source: Aliychu (8:36)
One creator says that if you run into the wagon head-on you do not die, and it stops the van early, so you can escape without waiting for it to reach its destination.
One source: Alecdalorian (3:48)
Playing as Michael, one creator says you can stop the wagon by going in front of it: it stops in front of you.
One source: EvansTacos (13:24)
Hiding the bodies of civilians you kill in the street, for example in a parked car, prevents the police from calling the escape van.
One source: MintSkull (4:15)
Where the guides contradict each other
Five questions on which players give different answers. None of them can be settled from what has been published, so each is shown as it stands.
Is a storm cellar guaranteed in every match?
- DeftyConch: At least one, and up to three, storm cellars in every match, over about 70 matches. A gate is not guaranteed.
- u/BlutoBeyond: On Orange Grove Estates there can be anywhere from zero to three cellar spawns, from four possible spots.
Does a fuse gate have a cap on how many can leave?
- Aliychu: There is no maximum on the fuse gate. Cellars always have one.
- u/BlutoBeyond: For cellars and gates the icon turns red when full, meaning no more can escape there.
- not Otzdarva: Most gates limit escapees, and with four people through they turn off. He had first called the cellar hatches exit gates, so this may not be about the fuse gate at all.
What makes the police wagon come?
What reveals exits to Michael?
- u/-JLH-: Bloodthirst tier 3, they turn up on the map. He asks it as a question.
- u/BlutoBeyond: Nothing to do with Bloodthirst. You only need to be near them.
Can Michael escape?
The two lines that bear on it do not agree.
- MintSkull: Michael cannot use his car to leave the match. It just hits an invisible wall.
- u/R6Prince: Has played against a few Michaels who escaped, and the team still won.
Watch the spawns
Every spawn spot, map by map
Halloween: The Game - All Escape Locations and Spawns Explained
DeftyConch
The source of the per-map counts above. He walks each map and shows the spots on screen, which is the quickest way to learn the set if you play Michael.
Recorded in the first days after launch, before Patches 1.0.1 and 1.0.2 changed how far civilians discover escapes and fixed several exit bugs.
What nobody has published
- How Michael closes an exit: which button, how long it takes, and how many times it can be reopened.
- How close Michael has to be to discover an exit, and whether the Patch 1.0.1 range increase for civilians applies to him.
- Whether Detection Pulse or any trait ever shows exits to Michael.
- Whether Blackout does anything to the fuse gate or the wagon, or only to the car, and for how long.
- Whether the sedan Michael drives is the same one civilians repair to escape.
- How long the police wagon takes to arrive from the moment the call is made.
- Whether the exit counts and spawn spots above changed with Patch 1.0.1 or 1.0.2.
Questions people arrive with
How do you escape in Halloween: The Game?
Four ways out are described: a storm cellar and a fuse gate, both opened with bolt cutters (the gate also needs a fuse), the repaired car, which needs a repair kit, fuel and keys, and the police wagon, which arrives on a countdown once the police have been called. One guide adds a fifth, surviving until the match timer runs out.
How does Michael find the exits?
Mostly by knowing where they can spawn and checking. Michael is told when someone escapes or an exit opens, but not which one. Getting close to an exit reveals it and marks it on his map for the rest of the match, and the icon shows whether it is locked or open. Nothing published says Detection Pulse shows exits.
How many exits are there in a match?
One channel that played about seventy private matches counted three in total, made up of storm cellars and escape gates, plus one car. The number of places they can appear varies a lot by map, from three cellar spots on Haddonfield Town Center to eight on Haddonfield Heights.
Can Michael close an exit?
Yes. Three sources say he can close one that civilians opened, and one says they can reopen it. Nobody has published the button, how long it takes, or how many times it can be reopened.
Can Michael escape?
It is not settled. One creator says his car cannot leave the match because it hits an invisible wall. One player says they have played against Michaels who escaped.
What does the police wagon need?
No guide lists anything to carry for it. What starts it is a police call, and the guides disagree on what triggers that: civilians filling the police badges, Michael running into the police, or bodies the police can see in the street.
Keep going
Sources: Day One Patch 1.0.1 notes (IllFonic) · Patch 1.0.2 notes (IllFonic) · DeftyConch — All Escape Locations and Spawns Explained · Aliychu — The COMPLETE Civilian Guide · MattZephy — The 5 Best Items to Pick Up · MintSkull — 15 Tips For MYERS · r/TheHalloweenGame — How do you find exits as Myers?