ArchiTac
- June 25, 2020
- Squish-Fish Games
Stranded on a deserted planet, you must explore and gather resources to craft buildings so that TAC can find and repair his spaceship.
Reviews
- The game features a cute character and charming graphics, making it visually appealing.
- It's a fun and quick experience, with a simple gameplay loop that can be enjoyable for casual players.
- The game is free to play, allowing players to try it without any financial commitment.
- The game suffers from severe performance issues, including frequent crashes and low frame rates, even on high-end PCs.
- There are numerous bugs and glitches that disrupt gameplay, such as issues with building mechanics and resource management.
- The game is very short, with many players reporting they can complete it in under an hour, leading to a lack of replay value.
- graphics17 mentions
- 47 % positive mentions
- 35 % neutral mentions
- 18 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players praising the cute aesthetic and good character designs, while others criticize performance issues, including lag and crashes even on low settings. Many users note that the graphics are visually appealing but may be demanding on hardware, leading to a frustrating experience for those with less powerful systems. Overall, the game's art style shows potential, but technical optimization is needed for a smoother experience.
“The graphics are so cute and I like the idea of the game.”
“Really good and small game, sadly my GPU couldn't survive the awesome graphics this game had to offer.”
“I absolutely love the aesthetic and how the main character looks.”
“Horrible graphics.”
“Bro, this game is so laggy I have to play on everything lowest, even 15 Hz, and I still keep crashing. I need the 4090 graphics card to even play without my game crashing.”
“The graphics were slow and the gameplay was boring.”
- music12 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 42 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The music in the game is described as cute and fitting the overall aesthetic, but it suffers from significant limitations, including a very small number of tracks that alternate in a jarring manner, leading to a repetitive experience. Many users report performance issues that affect audio playback, and the lack of sound effects further detracts from the overall immersion. While the soundtrack has therapeutic qualities, it is clear that the game is still in early development, needing more variety and polish in its audio design.
“The soundtrack I like and the aesthetic is cute, but there is a lack of sound effects and the controls are not always the most responsive, which makes it feel slow.”
“Cute game with nice music and great graphics.”
“Its simplistic graphics combined with its soundtrack were very therapeutic and laid back.”
“The music stutters; it's glitchy as hell even with an i7 and GTX 1080.”
“The music, though cute, consists of only 1 or 2 songs that alternate through the day/night cycle of the game, and the audio cuts very suddenly, which is jarring for the player.”
“This is clearly a game very early in its development cycle, with a very simple crafting mechanism, 1 repeating soundtrack, and huge performance dips when looking at busier areas of the map.”
- optimization11 mentions
- 18 % positive mentions
- 36 % neutral mentions
- 45 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's optimization has been widely criticized, with users reporting significant performance issues such as lag, stuttering, and crashes, even on higher-end hardware. Many players feel that the game is poorly optimized and requires further development to improve its stability and performance, particularly in resource-heavy scenarios. The consensus suggests that the game feels unfinished and struggles to run smoothly, indicating a need for substantial optimization efforts moving forward.
“The game is good, but I hope it will be more optimized in the future as I struggle to get it to run smoothly on my computer.”
“Also a notable thing: if you leave a resource gatherer alone for too long unattended, it will impact performance, especially the fishing machine, as there is a particle effect if the fish get dropped in the water. If there are too many fish in a pile and you try to pick them up, it may not be able to pick all of them up quickly, and if you land in the water, all of those particle effects will happen at once.”
“The only problem is that the game crashes and it's poorly optimized.”
“Terrible lag and stuttering; I closed and uninstalled the game after 2 minutes of playing.”
“This is clearly a game very early in its development cycle, with very simple crafting mechanisms, one repeating soundtrack, and huge performance dips when looking at busier areas of the map.”
- gameplay9 mentions
- 56 % positive mentions
- 22 % neutral mentions
- 22 % negative mentions
The gameplay is generally well-received, with players appreciating its fun mechanics and solid gameplay loop, likening it to a creative mode experience similar to Minecraft. However, some users noted issues with lag and clunky controls, particularly with the building mechanic, which can be challenging at first but becomes easier to master. Overall, the game shows significant potential despite some technical drawbacks.
“It's a cute game with actually fun mechanics and design.”
“The gameplay loop is actually pretty solid, and I can see a lot of potential in this game.”
“The art team has done such an amazing job, and the gameplay has such huge potential!”
“The 'gameplay' is basically Minecraft creative mode with clunkier controls for placing blocks.”
“The graphics were slow and the gameplay was boring.”
- stability6 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game suffers from significant stability issues, including frequent bugs, glitches, and poor frame rates, which detract from the overall experience. While some players find it charming despite these problems, many recommend avoiding the game due to its numerous technical flaws.
“It's pretty buggy; I found myself trapping myself in blocks without trying.”
“Buggy and does not have good frame rates; don't bother downloading.”
“There are also a few glitches, like not being able to place in certain areas and all your builds being moved or rotated a few studs when you enter the game.”
- story2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's story revolves around a cat-cosmonaut who crashes on uninhabited islands and must gather resources to rebuild his ship. While the premise is intriguing, many users find the narrative to be very short and lacking in engagement.
“Very short story, not really enthralling.”
“The game tells the story of a certain cat-cosmonaut who was caught in the crash of his ship, and he was forced to search for resources on uninhabited islands to build a new one.”
- grinding1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding mechanics frustrating due to the auto-switching tool feature, which often leads to ineffective attacks and a tedious experience when trying to engage enemies. The need to find the "sweet spot" for effective combat adds to the overall annoyance of the grinding process.
“Auto-switching tools based on proximity and visual direction is a short-lived gimmick that leaves you flailing build hammers at enemies too close to your structures, or possibly the pickaxe, resulting in the hammer doing no damage. Finding the 'sweet spot' to actually attack the enemies becomes tedious and frustrating.”
“The grinding in this game feels endless and repetitive, making it hard to stay engaged with the content.”
“I spent hours grinding for resources, only to realize that the rewards weren't worth the time invested.”
- replayability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The game has been criticized for having virtually no replay value, indicating that players may not find enough incentive to revisit it after completing it once.
“Absolutely no real replay value.”
“The game lacks any incentive to play through again.”
“Once you've completed it, there's nothing left to draw you back.”