Anoxemia

About

Anoxemia is a single player casual action adventure game. It was developed by BSK Games and was released on January 16, 2015. It received neutral reviews from players.

Anoxemia is a story-driven exploration game that puts you in control of the scientist Dr. Bailey and his operations drone, ATMA. Search the ocean floor as you discover and extract samples from the bowels of the underwater caves. Danger lurks in each passageway, everything from poison drifts to powerful ocean currents, mines leftover from the war, and mobile machines running haywire. There's also t…

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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54%

Audience ScoreBased on 174 reviews

gameplay20 positive mentions

stability13 negative mentions

Anoxemia creates a unique and atmospheric underwater exploration experience with a dark aesthetic and compelling sound design.
The game features an interesting premise and narrative that evokes psychological tension, making it engaging for players who appreciate atmosphere over action.
Despite its flaws, some players find the game rewarding and challenging, especially when navigating its puzzles and resource management mechanics.

The controls are often unresponsive and frustrating, leading to frequent deaths and the need to restart levels, which can feel tedious and unfair.
Many players report bugs and glitches that disrupt gameplay, including issues with character AI and level progression, making the experience frustrating.
The game lacks variety in its level design and objectives, leading to a repetitive gameplay experience that can become dull over time.

gameplay
67 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
54%
16%
The gameplay in Anoxemia is characterized by a mix of unique mechanics and frustrating elements, such as escorting a non-responsive character and navigating tight spaces with a drone. While some players appreciate the atmospheric visuals and the challenge presented by resource management, many find the gameplay repetitive, slow, and lacking in engaging mechanics, leading to a tedious experience overall. Despite its interesting premise, the execution suffers from awkward controls and a lack of meaningful progression, leaving players feeling unmotivated to continue.
- “The atmosphere is really good and the setting is pretty interesting, but the gameplay is lackluster.”
- “A very good game with nice level variety, an intriguing story, and solid gameplay.”
- “Simple, but enjoyable gameplay.”
- “Anoxemia means boring, aggravating gameplay as you escort a brain-dead scientist on a quest to collect plant samples on the bottom of the ocean.”
- “The gameplay itself is quite boring.”
- “I guess the developers wanted to give the player a sense of exploration, but with everything looking the same and with the same game mechanics being used over and over again without introducing anything new, it felt tedious every time I entered a new map.”
story
61 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
65%
5%
The story of Anoxemia centers around Dr. Bailey, a scientist on a deep-sea mission accompanied by a drone, exploring themes of isolation and madness. While some players find the narrative intriguing and atmospheric, many criticize it for being vague, underdeveloped, and overshadowed by tedious escort missions and gameplay mechanics. Overall, the story is seen as a significant focus of the game, but it fails to fully engage or captivate players as they progress.
- “Anoxemia has a wonderful sense of tension and a dark atmosphere with an interesting enough plot highlighting Dr. Bailey's isolation and possible descent into madness, but it begins to lose its charm as you progress.”
- “Everything is described so vaguely but yet so intriguing that I wanted to continue pushing to know what happens in the story.”
- “Anoxemia is a story-rich adventure game with mechanics that continue to present themselves in interesting new ways.”
- “Anoxemia means boring, aggravating gameplay as you escort a brain-dead scientist on a quest to collect plant samples on the bottom of the ocean.”
- “Honestly, I found Bailey to be a liability in this game. While the story does revolve around him, the game is basically just a big escort mission, as you control a drone which does all the work.”
- “The story in Anoxemia is sufficient, but fails to captivate.”
atmosphere
53 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
66%
28%
6%
The atmosphere in Anoxemia is widely praised for its dark, eerie, and immersive qualities, enhanced by effective visuals and music that create a sense of tension and isolation. However, some players feel that the game's design choices, such as unrelated quotes and frustrating controls, detract from the overall experience, leading to moments of monotony and disconnection. While the game excels in crafting a unique underwater ambiance, its gameplay shortcomings prevent it from fully realizing its atmospheric potential.
- “Anoxemia is one of those quietly ambitious indie titles that manages to craft a unique atmosphere despite its limitations.”
- “The atmosphere, between the graphics and music, was absolutely nailed, and it was a joy to be in it when immersed.”
- “It's a great creative idea, with an eerie but beautiful atmosphere.”
- “It is utterly one-note, trying to stand alone on atmosphere without any appreciable gameplay whatsoever.”
- “Other games (like Limbo, for instance) can be unendingly dark and you can embrace this atmosphere... this game is basically a pixel hunt in a shadow-puppet show for the one spot on the map that will move you forward.”
- “The atmosphere created by the visuals, lighting, and sound definitely hides a poor plot and its 'specific' control.”
graphics
38 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
47%
45%
8%
The graphics of Anoxemia are characterized by a dark, gloomy aesthetic that effectively enhances the game's atmosphere of isolation and tension. While many players appreciate the immersive silhouette style and artistic design, some find the visuals can become monotonous and difficult to navigate due to their low visibility. Overall, the graphics are generally well-received, particularly for an indie title, though they may not appeal to everyone due to their simplistic and sometimes fatiguing nature.
- “Visually, Anoxemia embraces a gloomy aesthetic.”
- “The atmosphere, between the graphics and music, was absolutely nailed, and it was a joy to be in it when immersed.”
- “I'm loving the atmosphere and the strangely beautiful parallax graphics.”
- “The graphics are dark and gloomy and can be eye-strainingly difficult to see at times, although this adds to the immersion.”
- “Graphics... well... fairly low effort 2D stuff (it's 2016 guys).”
- “This game has dull graphics and is very difficult to understand.”
music
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
54%
35%
11%
The music in the game is widely praised for its calming and atmospheric qualities, enhancing the overall experience with a beautiful and well-crafted soundtrack. While some users noted that the music can be repetitive, it effectively contributes to the game's immersive environment, making it a standout feature. Overall, the combination of music, sound effects, and voice acting elevates the game's appeal, particularly for those seeking a deep, atmospheric adventure.
- “The music is calm, mysterious, fitting to the theme and brings you on the mood.”
- “The music in this game is relaxing and soothing, and it was unexpectedly well made.”
- “The atmosphere, between the graphics and music, was absolutely nailed, and it was a joy to be in it when immersed.”
- “The soundtrack is repetitive.”
- “Music is repetitive (works for creating atmosphere but variation would have been nice).”
- “The music is quite relaxing, and the atmosphere/feel of the game gives a dark, claustrophobic feeling.”
stability
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is heavily criticized, with numerous reports of severe glitches and bugs that disrupt gameplay, particularly in the later stages. Players frequently encounter issues such as getting stuck in terrain, level resets, and game freezes, leading to a frustrating experience that detracts from the overall enjoyment. Overall, the stability issues have significantly impacted player satisfaction, with many deeming the game nearly unplayable due to these problems.
- “However, the ending is a bit rushed, the last few levels are somewhat buggy (you can get stuck in obstacles or walls), and the ending itself is very disappointing and somewhat bugged.”
- “I've started to experience dreadful glitches where I get stuck inside the terrain, so I'm forced to restart levels.”
- “The game is mostly buggy and clunky.”
grinding
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players consistently describe the grinding aspect of the game as tedious and frustrating, particularly due to the lack of checkpoints and repetitive gameplay mechanics. While the short levels offer some relief, the overall experience is marred by monotony and a lack of engaging exploration, leading to a sense of boredom rather than enjoyment.
- “Tedious, the potential for a slightly creepy exploration game is there, but the end result is so unfun to play that I can't be bothered to explore the story and the (arguably good) art.”
- “Gameplay is tedious; ignore the obstacles, pick up the battery for your energy levels so you can ignore more obstacles and pick up more batteries.”
- “I guess the developers wanted to give the player a sense of exploration, but with everything looking the same and with the same game mechanics being used over and over again without introducing anything new, it felt tedious every time I entered a new map.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's replayability is rated very low, with a score of 2/10, as players often find themselves needing to replay most levels multiple times, indicating a lack of engaging content to encourage repeated playthroughs.
- “Replay value: 2/10 - extremely small; you will probably be forced to play most levels multiple times anyway.”
- “Once you finish the game, there's little incentive to go back. The lack of variety makes replaying feel tedious.”
- “The game offers no new experiences on subsequent playthroughs, making it hard to stay engaged.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is characterized by a mix of explosive fun and dark comedy, with players enjoying the absurdity of characters meeting their demise in creatively humorous ways. While some elements may feel monotonous, the artistic presentation adds a unique charm to the overall experience.
- “You're having fun blowing stuff up!”
- “Compelling yet one-dimensional characters dying in macabrely humorous ways!”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization strategy has been criticized as a cash grab, with users expressing disappointment that the developers prioritized attracting a popular YouTuber over addressing the game's existing issues.
- “This is nothing more than a cash grab that was trying to get Markiplier to play it, and it's disappointing that they've focused on getting a YouTuber to play rather than fixing their broken game.”