About Elise

About

About Elise is a single player casual simulation game. It was developed by Toni Domínguez and was released on September 26, 2017. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Dive into this first person puzzle adventure and become Owen Scott to rescue your daughter Elise, who has been kidnapped by the organisation known as Kiminster Labs. By doing it, you will discover the big piece of the puzzle that is About Elise as a whole.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

72%

Audience ScoreBased on 75 reviews

story12 positive mentions

gameplay2 negative mentions

The game features a touching and emotional story that resonates with players, exploring themes of mental health and human connection.
Puzzles are engaging and thought-provoking, providing a satisfying challenge without becoming overly frustrating.
The game is free to play, making it accessible to a wide audience and showcasing the developer's commitment to sharing their work.

The graphics are simplistic and often considered unattractive, which may deter players looking for a visually appealing experience.
Controls can be clunky and frustrating, leading to difficulties in gameplay, especially during platforming sections.
The story is delivered through scattered notes, which some players find lacking in depth and immersion, making it hard to connect with the narrative.

story
42 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
54%
17%
The story aspect of the game receives mixed reviews, with some players praising its intriguing and mysterious narrative that unfolds through scattered notes, while others criticize it for being predictable, poorly written, or lacking depth. Many appreciate the combination of story and puzzles, noting that the engaging plot enhances the overall experience, despite some frustrations with gameplay mechanics. Overall, while the story captivates some players, others find it forgettable or underdeveloped.
- “About Elise is an excellent puzzle game that pulls out some thought-provoking scenarios as you follow the story.”
- “It has a pretty mysterious and slow-developing story, and it all makes sense at the very end when it all comes together.”
- “Good puzzle design, a magnificent OST, a simple yet engaging story, and an ending you may not see coming.”
- “Honestly, it confuses me how the dev managed to pull a story with strong essence yet messed up on something as simple as interacting with objects. The game is free, the dev simply wanted people to play their game, it was made with good intentions, so why the rush?”
- “There's some badly written, badly translated story to it all - I don't think English is their native language given how poor the grammar is and the amount of incorrectly used words.”
- “The storyline is a little boring and I found that the puzzles took too much time.”
graphics
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
66%
17%
The graphics of the game are generally criticized for their low-quality, low-poly 3D visuals, which many players find unappealing and outdated. While some appreciate the simplicity and the game's free price point, others feel that the visuals detract from the overall experience, describing them as ugly and lacking in excitement. Overall, the graphics seem to be a significant drawback for a portion of the player base.
- “It's a nice, short game with a neat art style.”
- “While the graphics and movement were also very smooth and nice, it's the puzzles that stand out here.”
- “Simple graphics are awesome because they run easily on any computer and they allow low budget indie game makers to get a foot in the door.”
- “In terms of visuals, this features fairly low quality low poly 3D visuals which will deter a lot of gamers, understandably.”
- “Gaming is a visual medium, and while some developers struggle with creating high quality visuals, failing to do so is a disservice to gamers.”
- “The game is extremely lackluster with an art style which has become old.”
music
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
12%
13%
Overall, the music in the game has received positive feedback, with many players praising the soundtrack as a standout feature that enhances the storytelling and emotional impact. While some reviews noted that the music and sound effects could be improved, the majority appreciated the calming and immersive qualities of the score, contributing significantly to the overall experience.
- “I totally loved your style, quiet music, muted lights, calm pace.”
- “Great story, great soundtrack (honestly love the soundtrack), great puzzles, and best of all; it's free to play!”
- “The great story paired with amazing music makes the sad ending even more sad.”
- “The graphics aren't awesome, the music is not engaging, the sounds are barely there, and the setting isn't exciting.”
gameplay
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
40%
40%
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with players criticizing awkward controls, poor movement mechanics, and issues with mouse locking on multi-monitor setups, which detracts from immersion. However, some users appreciated the game's subtle approach to teaching controls during gameplay. Overall, the core interactive mechanics are seen as flawed, impacting the overall experience.
- “I did like that the game taught you what controls did what during gameplay in a non-obtrusive way.”
- “At first, I was baffled that the game had more than mixed reviews. The controls were weird, movement was horribly implemented, the mouse isn't locked to the screen when you have dual or triple monitors, and interactions... it blows me away that the developers released the game with nearly broken interactions when interactive objects are the core mechanic of the game.”
- “It's trivial and doesn't really affect the gameplay, if at all, but it definitely breaks the immersion for me.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is reported to require optimization, indicating that performance improvements are necessary for a smoother gameplay experience.
- “The game desperately needs optimization.”
- “There are significant performance issues that require optimization.”
- “The lack of optimization is affecting the overall gameplay experience.”
atmosphere
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere of the game is perceived as lacking depth, leaving players feeling disconnected and questioning their engagement, as exemplified by a user's humorous lament about sacrificing sleep for a less immersive experience.
- “The atmosphere is incredibly immersive, drawing you into a world that feels both haunting and beautiful.”
- “Every sound and visual detail contributes to a sense of tension and wonder, making each moment feel significant.”
- “The game's environment is rich with detail, creating a mood that perfectly complements the narrative.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game somewhat tedious, particularly in relation to puzzles, but the overall brevity of the game prevents it from becoming overly frustrating. Some users suggest that additional lives may be necessary to manage the grinding effectively.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “The puzzles did feel a bit more tedious than they were interesting, but the game wasn't long enough to make that frustrating.”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The stability of the game has been criticized due to poorly designed puzzles that lack clear visual cues and contain buggy mechanics, particularly in the initial levels. While later puzzles show improvement, the early issues remain unaddressed, leading to a frustrating experience for players.
- “Some puzzles were clearly done without enough testing. The first puzzle had no visual indication of being on/off; just because I can move the switches left and right doesn't mean I'll know which direction is off and on. You can't move away. The second puzzle was the lowest point in the game, and some hints were poorly written. The machine where you write the answer is a buggy mess. I believe it's good practice to keep the placement of the last chosen number after you press it instead of resetting the position to 1, as it felt clunky. As for the remaining levels, the dev did step up their game; I just don't know why they didn't go back to the first two puzzles and redo them.”