aMAZE
- March 14, 2017
- Blender Games
- 2h median play time
"aMAZE is a single-player Simulation game with a good soundtrack, suitable for all ages. The goal is to navigate a ball through a constantly changing maze across three difficulty levels. Gameplay consists of moving through a series of increasingly complex labyrinths, with the goal of reaching the finish line. With its dynamic mazes and challenging levels, aMAZE provides a fun and engaging experience that takes about 2 hours to complete."
Reviews
- The game is cheap and provides a simple, relaxing experience for puzzle lovers.
- It features easy achievements and is suitable for casual gamers or children.
- The game has a straightforward control scheme and can be completed in a short amount of time.
- The mazes are generally too easy, with little challenge even in the harder levels.
- The graphics and backgrounds are often poorly designed and can be visually overwhelming.
- Controls can be frustrating, as the ball's movement is floaty and imprecise, making navigation difficult.
- music71 mentions
- 23 % positive mentions
- 68 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally described as relaxing and suitable for the environment, but it suffers from repetitiveness and a lack of variety, often looping a single track that can become tedious over time. While some players appreciate the calming ambiance it provides, others find the transitions jarring and the overall quality reminiscent of royalty-free stock music. Players have the option to mute the in-game music and play their own, which many prefer to enhance their experience.
“The music is relaxing and immersive, and guides you through this experience perfectly, blending with all the rest of the atmosphere.”
“Simple (but not necessarily easy) mazes with relaxing music in the background.”
“The music is soothing, which is a variety of instruments like the piano and guitar.”
“The music is ok, but the transitions from one part to another are rough and not well made, which goes against the relaxing aspect for someone like me.”
“The music is a short, bland loop of nothing that gets very old very quickly.”
“The huge downside to this is that they only have like 30 seconds of music recorded and they loop it.”
- graphics18 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 56 % neutral mentions
- 28 % negative mentions
The graphics in the game are generally described as minimalistic, basic, and often unappealing, with many reviewers noting issues such as bland visuals, chaotic backgrounds, and poor animations. While some players appreciate the colorful elements and psychedelic effects, the overall consensus leans towards dissatisfaction, with many finding the graphics hard on the eyes and lacking in detail. Despite the low graphical demands allowing it to run on older hardware, the visuals are frequently criticized as a significant drawback to the gameplay experience.
“Great game, great music, great graphics, great levels.”
“The graphics are gorgeous and photo realistic at times, with lots of different balls and psychedelic backgrounds which often transported me into something like a parallel universe and gave me unprecedented visuals similar to those of a DMT trip.”
“Review: this is a short and decently good game to play; colorful graphics, various balls to play as on levels and an okay tune.”
“The graphics are bland, the controls dodgy, the animations annoying, and the button layout ripped from the worst sort of mobile UI.”
“Graphics are very basic and quite often hard on the eyes as the backgrounds can be chaotic.”
“On the contrary, some backgrounds are too bright, and there is no possibility to change the graphics settings in the game, which is why even for a short time that is required to complete the game from start to finish, eyes are getting tired too quickly.”
- gameplay15 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 87 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The gameplay is straightforward, focusing on guiding a shiny piece through a labyrinth to reach a black hole exit, with basic controls limited to mouse and arrow keys. While the mechanics are simple and the graphics are colorful, many players find the experience mediocre and repetitive, leading to a lack of motivation and a sense of progress. Overall, the gameplay is described as decent but flawed, with some players experiencing discomfort during extended play sessions.
“The gameplay is straightforward and true to its name: guide your shiny piece through the labyrinth to reach the black hole exit.”
“No reason to go into great detail on the gameplay, it's exactly what it says on the tin: get your shiny piece across the labyrinth to the black hole exit.”
“The game mechanic is fairly simple, you've got a ball resting at the starting point, which needs to be moved to a goal within the maze.”
“The controls are basic, limited to using the mouse in the menu screens and the arrow keys during gameplay.”
“This might demotivate and bore you since you will lose the sense of progress during gameplay.”
“The gameplay is mediocre at best; it does what it's supposed to but is executed badly.”
- replayability8 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Overall, the game has limited replayability, with many users noting a lack of incentive to replay once completed. While some players may find enjoyment in revisiting levels after a break, particularly those who appreciate maze challenges, the general consensus is that the game offers minimal replay value.
“It has some replayability, especially if it's been a while since you finished a level and you enjoy doing mazes.”
“For kids, it's definitely replayable.”
“There is zero replay value.”
“Cons: no replayability.”
“Playtime is probably about 0.5-1 hour, with little replayability.”
- grinding5 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and lacking in challenge, as the mazes become increasingly larger without introducing meaningful difficulty. While the game offers a simple and enjoyable experience for farming trading cards, the repetitive nature of tracing solutions detracts from overall engagement.
“All mazes have one solution that ends up being more tedious to trace than difficult to discover.”
“There, I think I've pretty much exhausted every tedious, insignificant detail I could think of to try and find enough content to justify a review.”
“Badly designed mazes, very simple and amateurish; they don't get harder, they just get bigger and more tedious as the game progresses.”
- story4 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 75 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's storyline encourages players to create their own narratives, as the official plot tends to become monotonous towards the end. Users suggest that personal interpretation can enhance the overall experience, especially when the game feels lacking in engagement.
“Moral of the story: you never know what life has in store for you, and if I had given up when all odds were against me, I wouldn't be where I am today.”
“The game is more fun if you try to make up your own story to it because it does get a little boring near the end.”
“The storyline is lacking depth and fails to engage the player.”
“The narrative feels disjointed and doesn't provide a satisfying experience.”
“The characters are one-dimensional and the plot is predictable.”
- monetization3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy of the game has been criticized as a blatant cash grab, with users highlighting its reliance on asset flips and a lack of originality, as it was quickly bundled with other low-quality titles for sale. This approach has led to perceptions of the game as a scam, undermining its value and integrity in the marketplace.
“The developer, Blender Games, took a template from Clickteam Fusion, slapped a couple of asset-flipped sprites on it, and dumped the results onto Steam as a cash grab scam.”
“Here's some other asset flips from exactly the same template, all shamelessly dumped on Steam as nasty cash grabs.”
“To cement the position of this asset flip as nothing but a cash grab, it was dumped onto cheap daily indie game shovelware bundles very shortly after launch.”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is well-received, with players finding it amusing and entertaining, often highlighting its comedic elements in a brief gameplay experience.
“This game is hilarious and kept me laughing throughout!”
“The humor is spot on, making even the simplest moments entertaining.”
“I love how the game incorporates witty dialogue and funny scenarios.”
- atmosphere2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere is characterized by relaxing and immersive music that seamlessly enhances the overall experience, creating a light and fun environment. Players find the combination of music and atmosphere enjoyable, contributing to an engaging gameplay experience where achievements are easily attainable.
“The music is relaxing and immersive, guiding you through this experience perfectly and blending seamlessly with the overall atmosphere.”
“The music and atmosphere are light and fun, creating an enjoyable experience as you progress through the levels.”
- stability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Users report that the game exhibits excellent stability, with no lags or glitches encountered during gameplay.