Above Snakes

About

Above Snakes is a single player open world role playing game. It was developed by Square Glade Games and was released on May 25, 2023. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

"Above Snakes" is an isometric Wild West-inspired adventure RPG that lets you create your own world and unleash your creativity. Gather resources, construct bases, and craft weapons and tools to hunt, fish, farm, and fight as you navigate through different biomes and battle against the elements or dangerous Lost Souls. Expand your base and build essential workstations to enhance your crafting skills and create more advanced gear.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

+11

Skip User Reviews

78%

Audience ScoreBased on 757 reviews

story88 positive mentions

grinding133 negative mentions

Unique world-building mechanic allows players to create their own map tile by tile.
Relaxing gameplay with a focus on exploration, crafting, and base building.
Charming art style and soothing soundtrack enhance the overall experience.

Combat feels clunky and unresponsive, making encounters less engaging.
Storyline is basic and lacks depth, with quests often feeling like repetitive fetch tasks.
Game can become tedious due to grinding for resources and limited variety in gameplay.

story
489 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
76%
6%
The story in this game is generally perceived as simplistic and linear, often relying on repetitive fetch quests that can feel tedious. While some players appreciate the casual and relaxed nature of the narrative, many criticize the lack of depth and character development, describing the protagonist as lacking personality and the dialogue as uninspired. Overall, the story serves primarily as a vehicle for gameplay progression rather than a compelling narrative experience, with some players expressing hope for future content that could enhance the storytelling aspect.
- “The story starts strong too; the quests are interesting and do a good job of tying the exploration and world-building together.”
- “With its distinctive art style, layered mechanics, and atmospheric storytelling, Above Snakes stands out as a thoughtful and methodical addition to the survival-crafting genre.”
- “The story is engaging enough that it didn't turn me off despite the fact that I really, really don't like zombie apocalypse kinds of stories.”
- “The story was lame and our protagonist has the personality of a cardboard; 99% of what they say is the same.”
- “The story feels empty and/or unfinished with a quest line that plays like a tutorial rather than telling any kind of story.”
- “The story is very simple and there is a ton of grinding to do, but it is still worth grabbing it while it is on sale.”
gameplay
231 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
32%
62%
6%
The gameplay of the game is characterized by a unique tile-based world-building mechanic that allows players to create their own map, which is both engaging and innovative. However, many reviewers noted that the overall gameplay loop can become repetitive and grindy, with combat and other mechanics lacking depth and excitement. While the game offers a chill and casual experience, it may not satisfy players seeking more challenging or varied gameplay.
- “The way you expand out the world in chunks that you can place yourself is an interesting mechanic, and unique to me for this style of game.”
- “The best mechanic the game has is the dropping tiles to build your own world map, which is used rather well.”
- “I really like the world-building mechanic, where you build the map you are playing on; it's a really interesting concept.”
- “The gameplay loop is unlock tile > get quest > pick materials > craft quest item > deliver > unlock tile > get quest > pick materials... This entire gameplay is this loop, which is truly a shame given that a game where you can 'craft' the world is completely on rails like that.”
- “The game doesn't take advantage of its own unique mechanics; the tile system becomes a progression chore and does not offer opportunities for adventure or exploration, as every unlocked tile is identical no matter how many you drop.”
- “Gameplay just gets way too grindy and repetitive once you discover the loop of grinding for the same resources over and over to create another land tile while taking on dull quests with dull dialogue and no voice acting that send you running from one end of the map to the other.”
grinding
141 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
4%
2%
94%
The grinding aspect of the game has received mixed feedback from players. While some appreciate the slower pace and find it rewarding for survival and exploration, many others criticize it as tedious and repetitive, particularly in resource gathering and farming mechanics. Overall, the game is seen as enjoyable for casual play, but the excessive grinding can detract from the experience, especially in the mid to late game.
- “The game is very well balanced in all aspects and not grindy.”
- “The building is fun and not too grindy, and the storyline is fun and keeps you interested in the NPCs.”
- “Quests and recipes are fairly well balanced, so there is no grinding really.”
- “Be prepared for a lot of grinding that isn’t eased much by progression in the game, which doesn’t make much sense.”
- “The gameplay just gets way too grindy and repetitive once you discover the loop of grinding for the same resources over and over to create another land tile while taking on dull quests with dull dialogue and no voice acting that send you running from one end of the map to the other.”
- “I found myself farming berries mainly to grind the tile XP since it's the quickest harvest and you get three XP gains from one bush.”
graphics
76 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
51%
45%
4%
The graphics of "Above Snakes" are widely praised for their charming, low-poly art style and immersive atmosphere, which contribute to a relaxing gameplay experience. Players appreciate the crisp visuals, vibrant colors, and the unique isometric view, although some report performance issues at lower resolutions. Overall, the game's aesthetics are considered a strong point, enhancing the enjoyment of its crafting and world-building mechanics.
- “With its charming art style and immersive atmosphere, Above Snakes is a standout for anyone who enjoys survival games with a calmer, more creative focus.”
- “The game’s visuals are crisp and appealing, with a stylized isometric art style that mixes the charm of pixel-based environments with clean, modern lighting and particle effects.”
- “Building the world piece by piece was incredibly satisfying, and the art style is lovely.”
- “I get a stutter playing this game even with the resolution reduced to 1024x768 and the graphics turned to low.”
- “Considering the quality of graphics and dialogue, the game is very overpriced; there are many games that do it better and cost half of the money that they ask for this one.”
- “It is missing the charm of the first and the aesthetics of the second.”
music
31 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
55%
35%
10%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its atmospheric and soothing qualities that complement the game's themes, while others criticize it for being repetitive and lacking variety. Many find the soundtrack fitting for a relaxing experience, though some express a desire for more diverse tracks to enhance gameplay. Overall, the music contributes positively to the game's ambiance, but its limited range may detract from long-term enjoyment.
- “The soundtrack is subdued and moody, favoring ambient tones and minimal instrumentation, which suits the game’s slow-burn pacing and gradually intensifying themes.”
- “All in all a very relaxing game, with atmospheric music fitting the western theme.”
- “The music fits perfectly, the controls are simple, crafting is intuitive, and of course the art style is perfect!”
- “The music is really simple, and at times I would just completely replace it with my own or with a podcast; there is sadly nothing special there.”
- “The music is an awful loop of a depressing song.”
- “While general sounds are good enough, the game lacks a decent number of music tracks, forcing us to listen to the same track throughout the game.”
replayability
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
65%
13%
The game's replayability is a mixed bag among users, with some praising the ability to create custom maps and explore different strategies, leading to high replay value. However, others criticize the limited content and fixed story elements, suggesting that once the main narrative is completed, replayability diminishes significantly. Overall, while there are elements that can enhance replayability, many players feel it lacks depth and variety for multiple playthroughs.
- “The game offers great replay value since you create the map yourself.”
- “I can see this having replay value as you can build a completely new map with each playthrough!”
- “It has compelling gameplay, a good story, good crafting mechanics, and tons of replayability as you make the map as you play.”
- “That is also the main reason for my negative review because I personally think the game has no replayability.”
- “Only once the story is played through, and you have fully developed your character, there is not much replay value, in my opinion.”
- “The Steam page says things like 'endless replay value,' which is completely bogus and deceptive.”
atmosphere
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
63%
18%
19%
The atmosphere of *Above Snakes* is characterized by its immersive and relaxing qualities, enhanced by a charming art style and atmospheric music that fits its western theme. While some players note immersion-breaking flaws, the game successfully creates a chill yet eerie environment that encourages exploration and creativity, making it a standout in the survival-crafting genre. Overall, it offers a cozy and methodical experience that appeals to those seeking a slower-paced gameplay.
- “With its charming art style and immersive atmosphere, Above Snakes is a standout for anyone who enjoys survival games with a calmer, more creative focus.”
- “Its combination of strategic tile placement, grounded survival mechanics, and slow-unfolding supernatural narrative makes for a deeply atmospheric experience that encourages both creativity and caution.”
- “A lovely survival game with great looks, beautiful music, and such a charming atmosphere.”
- “An immersive journey with plenty of immersion-breaking flaws, 'Above Snakes' is a survival/crafting game that dares to slow things down, trading adrenaline for atmosphere and complexity for calm…though it may have gone too far.”
- “This evolving atmosphere adds a sense of creeping tension and discovery that many survival games lack, and keeps the player hooked beyond just resource management.”
- “It's a chill atmosphere that calls to my soul and is very laid back.”
optimization
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
56%
25%
The game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with many players experiencing significant performance issues, including framerate drops and crashes, particularly on mid-range setups like the RTX 3070. However, the developers have been proactive in addressing these concerns through regular updates and patches, which have improved loading times and overall performance. While some users report a better experience on platforms like the Steam Deck, others still find the game to be a performance hog, indicating that optimization remains a work in progress.
- “The devs looked into it & within 2 weeks they put out an amazing optimization update that not only addressed that but it also improved loading times for the game as well.”
- “They continue to make optimization updates like that & even when they are in the background to other bugs being squashed I know they are listening.”
- “Above Snakes is also optimized for the Steam Deck, by the way, so you get an entertaining little game for on-the-go.”
- “Optimization - some areas kill framerate on medium settings with a 3070 RTX.”
- “However, it suffers from severe optimization issues.”
- “My only issue so far is that this game is unexpectedly a performance hog; I can run Darktide on high settings with no issues, but I experience multiple crashes on this one.”
stability
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is heavily criticized, with users reporting numerous bugs and glitches that disrupt gameplay, such as crafting issues, mission inconsistencies, and unresponsive mechanics. Players frequently encounter problems that require reloading the game, and the AI companion's behavior is also described as clunky and unreliable. Overall, the experience is marred by significant technical issues that detract from the enjoyment of the game.
- “The story is very strict and linear; however, you get almost no hint of what to do, and your game can be screwed up by missing one temporary component or it just being buggy (which it sometimes is).”
- “I also encountered a handful of bugs and glitches as well, which required reloading the game.”
- “Respawns are inconsistent and buggy, with some things respawning over time and others only respawning once you restart the game.”
emotional
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
100%
Players find the game enjoyable and appreciate its progression system, which evokes positive emotions with each new unlock. However, the limitations in tile placement and the lack of a compelling story detract from the overall emotional engagement, leaving some feeling that the experience could be more immersive.
- “There's a nice progression in the game, which made me feel good every time I unlocked something new.”
- “In short, the game idea is promising, but the story is boring and lacks emotional depth.”
- “The emotional moments feel forced and fail to resonate with the player.”
- “Despite its potential, the game struggles to evoke genuine feelings, leaving players disconnected.”
character development
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
33%
Character development in the game is criticized for being lacking, with reviewers noting a lack of depth and progression, which detracts from the overall experience. While the character designs are appreciated, the gameplay itself is described as repetitive and uninspired, offering little in terms of abilities or strategic planning.
- “The game features some very unique ideas and impressive character designs that I really enjoyed.”
- “Character development is a standout aspect, with each character feeling distinct and well-crafted.”
- “The depth of the characters and their growth throughout the story is truly engaging.”
- “Combat is mediocre and boring: slash-slash-slash, shoot-shoot-shoot. There are no abilities, no planning, and no experience, resulting in a lack of character development.”
monetization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization aspect of the game is characterized by a visually appealing aesthetic reminiscent of dating games, which may suggest a reliance on attractive graphics to attract players, potentially hinting at a strategy that includes in-game purchases or ads.
- “The monetization system feels like a cash grab, with constant prompts to spend money on in-game items that should be earnable through gameplay.”
- “It's frustrating to see that progress is heavily gated behind paywalls, making it nearly impossible to enjoy the game without spending real money.”
- “The game is riddled with ads and microtransactions, which detracts from the overall experience and makes it feel more like a money-making scheme than a fun game.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in "Above Snakes" is widely praised, with players describing it as a hilarious and clever gaming experience that stands out for its comedic elements.
- “Above Snakes is a hilarious work of gaming genius that we absolutely, positively didn't have anything to do with (shh, don't tell anyone).”