13 Days to Escape Cell 13 Guide: What You See at Wake-Up and What to Use First

Quick answer

You wake up on a bunk in Cell 13 after a short opening cut-scene. Posters of a drill and a knife hang on the wall; a guard and an orange-jumpsuit NPC with a cash bubble stand outside — the walkthrough later buys tools here from OJ, the orange-jumpsuit NPC at cell 13. The cell door opens, a ROLL CALL alert appears and an objective panel shows in the top right. Start using three things: OJ's Deals (buy the Saw, then the Screwdriver), the window bars (saw them off when RETURN TO CELLS starts) and the toilet (unscrew it, move it aside and dig the tunnel below).

Cell 13 is where 13 Days to Escape [ALPHA] begins — the official description welcomes you with "Your release date? Never." — and the room itself is the first piece of your escape plan. The vendor stands at your door, the window gives you an exit once its bars are gone, and the toilet hides the tunnel the game tells you to dig. Here is what each detail in the waking scene is, and the order in which to put them to work.

What you see when you wake up

After a short opening cut-scene, your character comes to on the bunk. From there, the first morning looks like this:

• The bunk — where you wake, and the base your Day 1 plan runs from.
• Two wall posters — one drill, one knife. The drill matches a tool you can pick up for free later that same day.
• A guard NPC standing outside the cell.
• An orange-jumpsuit NPC — a cash bubble over his head, standing right beside the cell; the walkthrough later buys tools here from OJ.
• The cell door opening, a ROLL CALL alert, and an objective panel in the top right of the screen.

Two of these do real work. The objective panel is the game's to-do line for your escape — it updates as you go, later switching to "Unscrew the toilet" once you own the right tool. The cash bubble on the orange-jumpsuit NPC is the tell that he is not set dressing: the walkthrough later buys tools from OJ, the tool vendor who stands at cell 13 itself. In the recorded first morning, no shopping happens — the first shop visit shown is at YARD TIME. His shop opens with the day's activity periods, at the timings below.

The three things worth using first

The store description spells out what a cell is for: work prison jobs, earn cash, buy tools from OJ's Deals, then "Hide your tools, move the toilet, and dig your way out." Three fixtures around Cell 13 carry that plan:

Data table

Object

OJ, the orange-jumpsuit NPC beside your cell

What it gives your escape

Opens the OJ's DEALS shop when you press E. The walkthrough buys the Saw here for 110 cash and the Screwdriver for 25 cash.

When to use it

YARD TIME for the Saw; on Day 1 he is open again at RECREATION TIME, when the Screwdriver purchase happens. In the recorded Day 1, his first shop visit is at YARD TIME.

Object

The cell window bars

What it gives your escape

Cutting them away with the Saw turns the window into your exit route.

When to use it

Scouted in daylight; in the recorded run, sawn during the RETURN TO CELLS alert — a Saw bars progress bar finishes the job.

Object

The toilet

What it gives your escape

Unscrewing its bolts with the Screwdriver and moving it aside reveals a vertical tunnel opening — your dig site.

When to use it

Once you own the Screwdriver and the Power Drill; the objective panel switches to Unscrew the toilet at this point.

Data table

Object	What it gives your escape	When to use it
OJ, the orange-jumpsuit NPC beside your cell	Opens the OJ's DEALS shop when you press E. The walkthrough buys the Saw here for 110 cash and the Screwdriver for 25 cash.	YARD TIME for the Saw; on Day 1 he is open again at RECREATION TIME, when the Screwdriver purchase happens. In the recorded Day 1, his first shop visit is at YARD TIME.
The cell window bars	Cutting them away with the Saw turns the window into your exit route.	Scouted in daylight; in the recorded run, sawn during the RETURN TO CELLS alert — a Saw bars progress bar finishes the job.
The toilet	Unscrewing its bolts with the Screwdriver and moving it aside reveals a vertical tunnel opening — your dig site.	Once you own the Screwdriver and the Power Drill; the objective panel switches to Unscrew the toilet at this point.

How Day 1 sets all three up

The opening day of the full walkthrough shows one working order for everything above:

1. Earn cash with prison jobs. The library guard requests books by number — #106, #032 and #140 on this day — worth 10 cash each on delivery. At lunch, "Peel potatoes 5/5" pays per completion, and clearing the yard's "Pick up litter 8/8" pays 20 cash. The prison jobs and money guides cover the earning side in more depth.
2. Buy the Saw at YARD TIME. Return to the cell block, find OJ at cell 13 and press E to open OJ's DEALS. The Saw costs 110 cash; the OJ's Deals shop page has more on his stock.
3. Scout the window bars in daytime. The walkthrough player walks right up to them with the saw equipped but leaves them intact — the cutting has its own moment later in the schedule.
4. Buy the Screwdriver at RECREATION TIME. OJ sells it for 25 cash, and the objective panel changes to "Unscrew the toilet" — the game pointing you at the third fixture. The tools guide explains what each tool is for.
5. Saw the bars when RETURN TO CELLS fires. Get back inside before the countdown ends, use the Saw on the window bars and complete the "Saw bars" progress bar. The bars come off, and the cell door locks for LOCKDOWN.
6. Run the LOCKDOWN errands. Climb out through the now-open window and sneak into the vehicle area behind the cell block. Pick up the cash stacks in the open prisoner transport and step into the workshop with yellow-black hazard markings — a free Power Drill sits on a workbench inside.
7. Open the tunnel. Back in the cell, crouch at the base of the toilet, "Unscrew" its bolts with the Screwdriver, then "Move aside" the toilet. The vertical tunnel opening appears; jump in with the Power Drill and hold the left mouse button to drill through the dirt walls.

Notice the shape of the day: daylight belongs to jobs, shopping and scouting, while the two alerts — RETURN TO CELLS and LOCKDOWN — are when the cell itself starts turning into an escape route. The day/night cycle guide breaks down that schedule, and the prison routine page covers the daily loop around it. For what comes after the toilet moves, continue with the digging guide and the tunnels guide; the move toilet walkthrough covers that step on its own.

Why the room matters: act normal by day, escape by night

The urgency is written into the game's own description: after lights out, "Prisoners are taken behind the STAFF ONLY door... and they don't come back the same. Escape before it's your turn." That door — covered further in the staff only door guide — is the deadline your cell setup is quietly racing against.

In practice the game's summary line, "Act normal by day. Plan your escape by night.", means staying ready for roll call, avoiding guards and CCTV, and keeping your suspicion low while you earn, shop and scout. The suspicion guide and stealth guide cover that side, and the store page notes you can play solo or team up with up to 3 friends — the walkthrough records the solo wake-up shown above (see playing with friends).

Other odd corners of the prison are collected in the secrets guide, and once the first tunnel is open, the escape plan page helps you line up the rest. Until then: read the objective panel, keep your cash moving toward OJ, and let the day's alerts open both the window and the floor for you.