Non-lethal paralysis gun

There are games that base themselves on escape, with trials that challenge the player.

Being captured offers the opportunity for infiltration, access to an enemy base, the chance to gather information on the enemy, and possibly the the taking of something valuable upon or during escape.

It could be that you meet a fellow prisoner that has information that you need.

Other scenarios could include forced labour working on a giant capital ship that was part of a planned invasion fleet.

As long as the is a perception of progress against the grind, a goal and a prize to drive the player along, it should satisfy.

Don't get me wrong—I'm not rejecting your scenarios. I just want to point out that escape room-type games and scenarios have game mechanics tailored to that scenario.

On the contrary, SE has game mechanics that are almost exactly the opposite—it gives you the freedom to act, destroy, and create/build.

That freedom comes from the use of tools, this is a challenge of observation and planning, you will get your tools back and gain your freedom.

Or I'll hit backspace, and grab one of the 40 fresh sets I keep in my carrier's cargo (you tend to lose a lot when you fly small grid for the challenge, so spares are a must).

Dedicated pve escape-scenarios could be fun, but I don't think players would use this weapon if a mission didn't require it. The ability to respawn makes death rather cheap, and subsequently a corpse is less of a security risk than a trapped live opponent with nothing important to lose.

@Tael - We do not know the specifics of SE2 re-spawn yet. I am thinking about variants on the re-spawn system and reasons not to kill the engineer outright. This could open up different scenarios not explored in SE1. I have suggest a pirate prison scenario on another post. I may be thought testing areas that SE1 players wish to remain untouched. SE1 is what it is, SE2 can be more.

https://support.keenswh.com/spaceengineers2/pc/topic/49146-pirate-mine-prison-camp-dig-for-food

and a complex offering of cloning re-spawn

https://support.keenswh.com/spaceengineers2/pc/topic/49105-cosmyk3-cloning-system

It is a work in progress idea and will need refining, I am sure that you are able to pick holes in it. I am not expecting it to get anywhere, but it is something to think about.

They work respectively as scenarios and a "hard-core" game mode but not as vanilla, too many holes that couldn't be reasonably fixed.