Beat The Game

About

Beat The Game is a single player action adventure game with post-apocalyptic and science fiction themes. It was developed by Worm Animation and was released on September 7, 2017. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Beat the Game is a surreal adventure game where you find your way by collecting items and discovering sounds. Sounds you find introduce cinematic cutscenes as the story unfolds. You can combine a soda can with a drumstick to unlock hi-hat sounds or search the hidden corners of the world and you might run across a character who will share a bassline with you. You’re equipped with a Sound Scanner …

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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60%

Audience ScoreBased on 88 reviews

music20 positive mentions

story4 negative mentions

Unique and creative art style with surreal, Tim Burton and Dali-inspired visuals that are highly praised for their quality and animation.
Innovative concept combining exploration and music mixing that allows players to create their own techno beats using samples collected in the world.
Enjoyable audio-visual experience with well-designed soundscapes and a relaxing atmosphere suitable for those who like electronic music and psychedelic vibes.

Extremely short gameplay duration, typically less than an hour, leaving many players feeling the game is unfinished or more like a tech demo than a full game.
Limited gameplay depth with very basic mechanics focused mainly on collecting sounds and minimal interaction, resulting in repetitive and low engagement.
Technical issues such as camera problems, control clunkiness, bugs, and lack of clear guidance that hamper the overall experience and accessibility.

music
86 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
72%
5%
The game's music, centered on electronic/trance/techno genres, offers a unique and enjoyable interactive experience where players collect and mix samples to create personalized soundtracks. While praised for its innovative fusion of music creation and surreal art style, the limited sample variety, short playtime, and occasional technical issues reduce its depth and replay value. It's best suited for electronic music enthusiasts willing to embrace an experimental, music-driven adventure rather than traditional gameplay.
- “Great attempt to make something unique and beautiful, fusing gaming and musical experiences together.”
- “The music is amazing, you really enjoy mixing up your own!”
- “It also manages to incorporate the creation of music in a way that is both user-friendly and actually relevant to the game’s core gameplay.”
- “Even the sound, which is the main core of this conceptual thing, is problematic, as it is not smoothly implemented and very frustrating for people from the music world like me.”
- “If you ever tried composing music on PC you will find a familiar 8-step sequencer as the focus of this game (like a beat VST) which is a really cool concept but the game does not incorporate it well into gameplay.”
- “So music ends up overlapping and being annoying as a result. Maybe the music in the world should stop if you are using the sequencer? Who listens to 2 songs at the same time.”
graphics
39 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
25%
8%
The game features a distinctive, surreal, and trippy art style often compared to Tim Burton and Psychonauts, with vibrant, well-animated visuals and a unique, punk-inspired atmosphere. While the graphics are widely praised for their quality and creativity, some users note technical issues like bugs, camera lag, and limited environment size that detract from the experience. Overall, the graphics are a standout element that elevates the game despite its short length and sparse gameplay.
- “The aesthetics, saving the distance, have a surrealism style that reminds me of Tim Burton, Dalí, or even steampunk somehow.”
- “Short little creative game with excellent animations and vibrant artwork.”
- “Masterpiece work was done for graphics, sounds and the art side of the game.”
- “While I did like the aesthetic, there is just not enough here (one small area) to justify its price, even at a discount.”
- “Don't be whisked away by charming graphics and cinematics; the game is very limited with only 24 sounds to explore within your mixer, and you wander a boring world that feels incomplete and lacking.”
- “The graphics and (perhaps) music are the redeeming factors of what can only be loosely referred to as a game.”
gameplay
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
75%
11%
The gameplay is notably basic and short, primarily involving searching for sound samples to create music via an 8-step sequencer, which serves more as a sandbox tool than an engaging game mechanic. While the unique music mixer and slow-paced exploration provide a charming and relaxing experience, the overall gameplay lacks depth, challenge, and narrative integration, leading to an abrupt and somewhat unsatisfying conclusion.
- “Very interesting animation, very cool mechanics, very cool overall, but the ending I got, after playing for 80 minutes, was, near as I and several watchers could tell, unbeatable.”
- “Because there are so many different gameplay elements (e.g. piloting a drone) it feels like the devs were intending to make the game longer.”
- “It also manages to incorporate the creation of music in a way that is both user-friendly and actually relevant to the game’s core gameplay.”
- “The concept is typical of uni/school works, gameplay, content, depth, narration is severely lacking.”
- “Get all of the sounds (which doesn't take very long at all) and you get to do the final part of the game where it literally highlights everything you have to do, so there is no puzzle or free gameplay unless you feel like prolonging things.”
- “The gameplay is minimal, just wandering around and finding samples and items.”
story
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
40%
The story aspect is widely criticized for its lack of depth, clear plot development, and characterization, leaving players confused or unsatisfied. Many note the game feels unfinished, with hints of a larger narrative that is neither fully explained nor delivered, resulting in an anticlimactic and vague experience.
- “There's no characterization, no story, no real gameplay, nothing.”
- “Whatever story it's trying to tell, it didn't tell me much, and the ending is explained only in the description.”
- “The anticlimactic ending with the unexplained story was not satisfying.”
stability
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game generally runs smoothly with beautiful graphics but suffers from occasional freezing issues, especially when trying to exit or during certain stages. There are also some minor collision and visual glitches, and the movement can feel somewhat bumpy, impacting overall stability.
- “Literally can't get past a part in the game where the protagonist finds a robot because it freezes every time.”
- “Beautiful graphics, game runs smooth, until you try and exit this game it just freezes and you have to force close the program.”
- “The game even tells you in the 'help' that completing a DJ part takes you to the next stage (it takes you to the credits). Unfortunately, there are some visual glitches and the movement feels a bit bumpy.”
optimization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
75%
The game runs smoothly with no bugs and offers good Linux support and graphics, indicating solid technical optimization. However, some users feel the gameplay elements could be streamlined for a more focused experience, though this does not affect performance quality.
- “The music mixing part is similar to messing around in loop software like Acid or Ableton, where you combine loops into performances.”
- “It runs smoothly, with no bugs, Linux support, and nice graphics, but I just wish there was more of it.”
- “For my taste, they should have dropped the gamey (live performance as a challenge) and OCD/completionist elements (finding 2/3 of sounds works just as well with me and would add replayability) of the game and made it an experience piece/walking simulator.”
- “For my taste, they should have dropped the gamey (live performance as a challenge) and OCD/completionist elements (finding 2/3 of sounds works just as well for me and would add replayability) of the game and made it an experience piece/walking simulator.”
- “The strangely cacophonic final live performance was kind of a failed opportunity for a great climactic ending to me.”
- “The music mixing part is similar to messing around in loop software like Acid or Ableton where you combine loops into performances.”
atmosphere
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its immersive sound design and unique, stylized visuals that blend a post-apocalyptic yet charming aesthetic. Players find the overall ambiance both enjoyable and captivating, enhanced by an inventive music-making mechanic.
- “Atmospheric sound design in the cut scenes is one of the best I've ever heard.”
- “Beat the game offers you a unique experience with nice stylized graphics, a post-apocalyptic but cute atmosphere, and a unique music-making mechanic.”
- “You'll both enjoy and be amazed by the atmosphere.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is largely subtle and relies on quirky visuals and an unconventional style rather than dialogue, with some users perceiving it as an attempt at comedic effect through silence and music. However, opinions vary, with some finding the humor and presentation unengaging or lacking in polish.
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game excels in character design, showcasing unique and well-crafted characters that reflect a high level of artistic talent. However, despite this strong visual appeal, the gameplay experience related to character development feels lacking or underutilized.
- “He is the best character designer I know and this game is a feast in terms of the uniqueness of its characters.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users express dissatisfaction with the game's emotional impact, feeling that the experience was lacking and did not justify even the discounted price. They suggest that adding a couple more levels might have improved their emotional engagement.
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users feel that removing the gamey challenges and strict completionist goals in favor of a more relaxed, experience-focused approach would enhance the game's replayability. They suggest that allowing partial completion and emphasizing exploration could make repeated playthroughs more enjoyable.