Buoyancy
- August 30, 2019
- Devs on a Boat
- 7h median play time
Get on Steam"Buoyancy is a single-player strategy game set in an ocean world, where you build and manage a floating city. Construct various buildings for resource production and population management, and keep your villagers happy and healthy. Explore the ocean to exploit resources and move your city for production boosts, as you manage a growing population and expanding city."
Reviews
- The game has a unique concept of building a floating city, which is engaging and fun.
- The soundtrack and visuals are appealing, creating an enjoyable atmosphere.
- The game offers a good amount of content for an early access title, with potential for future updates.
- The game has been criticized for being abandoned by developers, with no updates since 2022.
- Many players report bugs that hinder gameplay, such as pathfinding issues and resource management problems.
- The balance of gameplay is off, with pirates and storms being overly punishing, leading to frustrating experiences.
- gameplay54 mentions
- 26 % positive mentions
- 69 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players appreciating the unique concepts and mechanics but expressing frustration over numerous bugs, incomplete features, and balancing issues. While some find the core gameplay enjoyable and addictive, others report significant problems that hinder progress, particularly as cities grow larger. Overall, the game shows potential but requires substantial polish and rebalancing to reach its full potential.
“There is so much depth in both gameplay and atmosphere that this has to offer, in time of course.”
“Buoyancy has a fun and constantly stressful gameplay loop and puts a nice spin on the colony management/survival genre.”
“Good music, great gameplay, I don't regret any of the 23 hours I spent on this game.”
“With only four hours of gameplay, most of this time was trying to fix the crashes.”
“Bummer—I really enjoyed the concept, atmosphere, and a lot of the mechanics, but as you'll gather in the reviews, the game as it was last left is still quite buggy and unpolished in certain areas.”
“I usually enjoy any type of city builder, and while I get that it's in early access, it has far too many buggy mechanics that should not exist after more than a year.”
- stability25 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's stability is a significant concern, with numerous users reporting persistent bugs and glitches that hinder gameplay. While some players find it enjoyable despite these issues, many describe it as unpolished and incomplete, with frequent crashes and unresponsive mechanics. Overall, the game is still in early access and requires substantial improvements to reach a stable state.
“Bummer—I really enjoyed the concept, atmosphere, and a lot of the mechanics, but as you'll gather in the reviews, the game as it was last left is still quite buggy and unpolished in certain areas.”
“The current version is fairly buggy and lacks content to keep you going for long.”
“As of now, the game is too buggy to enjoy.”
- graphics17 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 53 % neutral mentions
- 18 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally described as appealing but simplistic, with some users noting that while the art style is cute and engaging, it can also feel underwhelming and occasionally confusing. There are mixed feelings about the quality of animations and visual clarity, with some praising the graphics as good for a smaller game, while others express disappointment in the lack of depth and detail. Overall, the visuals contribute positively to the gameplay experience, but they are not the standout feature of the game.
“Flotsam has the better artwork and the better UI and is also slightly more accessible.”
“The graphics were pretty cool and for a less than 1GB game, it's damn good.”
“The game is pretty but simple in art style.”
“Don't support devs who add features and change the building graphics while ignoring game-breaking bugs.”
“The game does have a lot of promise and potential; however, the art graphics and animations are where the game lets itself down and misses out.”
“-graphics are underwhelming; it is hard to tell one thing from another.”
- story11 mentions
- 27 % positive mentions
- 45 % neutral mentions
- 27 % negative mentions
The reviews indicate a significant lack of story content in the game, with players expressing disappointment over its sandbox nature and absence of unique narrative elements. Many users are hopeful for future updates that could introduce missions, challenges, and long-term goals to enhance the gameplay experience. Overall, the current state of the story is seen as minimal, with a strong desire for more engaging content.
“I look forward to when the game has developed more content in the form of both buildings and story.”
“Hope to see much more content down the road - events, upgrades, maybe quest chains etc.”
“Excited for techs, perhaps missions/objectives, etc. can't wait to play more.”
“No story, no unique points of interest.”
“Was basically just a sandbox city builder with no real story to speak of.”
“I had to turn it down to about 57-60% - no story at all.”
- music10 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 20 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews; while many players praise the great soundtrack and its ability to enhance the atmosphere, others criticize the frequent silences and inconsistent volume levels. Overall, the soundtrack is appreciated for its quality, but some players desire more continuous music to maintain immersion.
“Great soundtrack, cute visuals, and significant strategy required for any long-term survival.”
“I love the soundtrack.”
“Good music, great gameplay; I don't regret any of the 23 hours I spent on this game.”
“And to top that piece of fine work, the music that is supposed to create the atmosphere or entertain you, stops.”
“Couple of minutes of music, then silence, then a little more music, and more silence... god dammit.”
“The music is way way way too loud.”
- optimization5 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has received mixed reviews; while some players report improvements and a smoother experience following recent updates, others continue to experience significant performance issues and frame rate drops. Overall, many users feel that the game still requires further optimization to reach its full potential.
“It seems the devs have fixed this issue, I am now able to play without any performance issues, so props to them for that.”
“While the game is interesting and it is really fun to play, it has poor frame rate issues and is not well optimized yet.”
“Unfortunately, it seems abandoned. The last major update was way back in 2022, and there are performance and crash issues that still persist in the game's current state.”
“I understand this could be my poor performance, but I found it really hard to get anywhere decent.”
“However, for the time being, I will be returning the game until further updates and optimizations come out.”
- grinding5 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 20 % neutral mentions
- 80 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, often requiring excessive micromanagement and leading to repetitive tasks without meaningful progression. The early game presents challenges, but the late game becomes a grind, with players feeling compelled to restart due to overwhelming obstacles like pirates and storms. Overall, the experience is described as a "horrible grindy mess."
“Having to rebuild buildings on the outside of the raft and then micromanage moving the city around is tedious.”
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“All in all, at this point the early game is challenging and the late game is tedious without any real progression beyond building more for the sake of perfection.”
- replayability5 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- -20 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is mixed; while some players find it lacking initially, others appreciate the randomness of resources and regular updates that enhance the experience. There are suggestions for improvements to increase replay value, indicating potential for future enhancements.
“There is much replay value, as resources appear to be random so you never know what you're going to get.”
“It's being worked on regularly, there’s a good amount of replay value, the art style appeals to me, and more.”
“Although, it would be nice if buoyancy implemented a few things to make it a much better experience with more replayability.”
“Not much replayability, but it was good.”
“So, I put the game away and a few months later decided to try it out again - the developers had put out a patch or two; hopefully, the game's more playable.”
“Although, it would be nice if the developers implemented a few things to make it a much better experience with more replayability.”
- atmosphere4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is praised for its depth and engaging concept, but it suffers from bugs and unpolished elements that detract from the experience. Additionally, issues with music interruptions and visibility due to environmental effects like fog and camera limitations further impact the overall immersion.
“There is so much depth in both gameplay and atmosphere that this has to offer, in time of course.”
“I know it's for the atmosphere, but between the clouds, the fog, and the max camera height/angle, it can be hard to spot that resource you need.”
“And to top that piece of fine work, the music that is supposed to create the atmosphere or entertain you stops.”
“I know it's for the atmosphere, but between the clouds, the fog, and the maximum camera height/angle, it can be hard to spot that resource you need.”
- monetization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy has been criticized as a cash grab, particularly in the context of its early access phase, suggesting that players feel exploited rather than valued.
“Another unfortunate early access cash grab.”
- humor1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Users find the humor in the game's bugs, particularly one that resulted in an excessive amount of resources, which they found amusing enough to overlook the frustration of losing their save progress.
“This means the save is gone, but I've been going through saves pretty regularly, and this bug of an insane amount of resources was so funny I didn't mind losing another save.”
