Californium
- February 17, 2016
- Nova Production
- 3h median play time
Get on Steam"Californium" is a single-player historical simulation game that offers an intriguing story and unique atmosphere, paying homage to sci-fi legend Philip K. Dick. As struggling writer Elvin Green, you'll navigate a journey of self-discovery amidst drug-induced hallucinations, failed relationships, and a fading career, all while questioning your grasp on reality. With excellent visuals and a good soundtrack, the game delivers a sensory trip that challenges your sense of reality.
Mac OS
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game features a unique and visually appealing art style that captures the psychedelic essence of Philip K. Dick's works.
- The atmosphere is immersive, with a captivating soundtrack and intriguing voice acting that enhances the overall experience.
- For fans of Philip K. Dick, the game offers a rich tapestry of references and themes that resonate with his literary style.
- The gameplay is primarily focused on finding hidden symbols, which can be frustrating and tedious due to their often obscure locations and the need for precise positioning.
- The story lacks clarity and depth, leaving many players confused about the narrative and its connections to PKD's themes.
- Technical issues, such as bugs and a lack of save points within chapters, detract from the overall experience and can lead to significant frustration.
- gameplay178 mentions
- 11 % positive mentions
- 76 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game has been widely criticized for its simplicity and repetitiveness, primarily revolving around a single mechanic of finding and clicking on hidden symbols or "sigils." Many reviewers noted that this mechanic feels tedious and frustrating, detracting from the overall experience, despite the game's engaging narrative and atmosphere. While some players appreciated the artistic elements and thematic depth, they felt the gameplay itself lacked the complexity and innovation seen in other titles, making it less compelling as a standalone experience.
“The gameplay is straightforward; you're hunting for omega sigils with a set of gimmicks to figure out.”
“Gameplay-wise, this game was like pulling teeth.”
“The core mechanic - hunting and clicking on sigils really forces you to examine the worlds as they unfold.”
“And sadly, the gameplay felt like someone wanted to gamify QA.”
“Too bad the gameplay is based on one of the worst ideas I've encountered: you have to click on symbols that appear in each area, and making them visible requires trial and error positioning.”
“The gameplay is just blindly walking around a space looking for the white light.”
- story148 mentions
- 23 % positive mentions
- 73 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The game's story is a psychedelic and abstract exploration that draws inspiration from Philip K. Dick, featuring a faltering writer navigating surreal encounters and alternate realities. While some players appreciate its intriguing atmosphere and artistic storytelling, many criticize the narrative for being vague, disjointed, and lacking a coherent structure, often feeling more like an art project than a traditional story-driven experience. Overall, the game offers a unique but polarizing narrative that may resonate with fans of experimental storytelling, though it risks alienating those seeking a more structured plot.
“Delusional, psychedelic, and yet simple story that will lead you down the garden path gently before it yanks the chain.”
“The story follows a faltering writer with a drug problem through confrontations with the landlady, his publisher, an immigrant restaurant owner, and a narc, among others, and then the game changes as his reality changes.”
“The style is incredibly strong and original, the story is mind-blowing and the suspense grabs you to the end and leaves you breathless.”
“It sets up a bunch of loose plot threads and pays off none of them.”
“The story still makes absolutely no sense, and comes across as someone trying their hardest to be so unbelievably pretentious that they've just regurgitated a bunch of half-baked, over-the-top, artistic claptrap.”
“However, the fact that talking to NPCs is half of the game, but you can miss out on a lot of dialogue and story by interacting with the environment or talking to other NPCs and having NPCs disappear, is one of the stupidest design decisions I've ever seen.”
- graphics72 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their unique and colorful 70s-inspired aesthetic, with many reviewers highlighting the beautiful art style and level design. However, some users noted issues such as asset flickering and limited graphical options, which detracted from the overall experience. While the visuals are considered a strong point, opinions vary on whether they compensate for the gameplay and narrative shortcomings.
“The graphics are simple but the developers used their possibilities nicely to create 4 unique worlds with different looks and different feelings in graphics, music, sounds, story, and characters.”
“Visually, I was impressed and liked the aesthetic the designers went for with its 60's inspired psychedelia.”
“The art style is beautiful and the storytelling is unique, and for that, I can recommend it.”
“Absolutely not optimized for Mac: even in low graphics, the game is slow as hell...”
“The graphics options are not impressive; I hate when a game only has one overall graphic slider. It would be much better if we could change everything separately, maybe I want this type of anti-aliasing or this type of texture quality, etc.”
“The graphics are very stylized, drenched with pastels and primary colors, and the NPCs are all doom-era sprites with only a front.”
- atmosphere48 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 44 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The game is praised for its rich and immersive atmosphere, characterized by unique art styles, engaging storytelling, and a trippy, 60s sci-fi vibe. While the visuals and voice acting contribute positively to the overall experience, some players feel that the gameplay mechanics, primarily focused on hidden object puzzles, detract from the potential depth of the narrative. Overall, it is recommended for those who appreciate atmospheric games, despite some frustrations with gameplay.
“If you appreciate atmospheric games, I highly recommend it.”
“Rich, stylish, trippy and dripping with atmosphere of both the 60s and the 60s sci-fi (modern folk refer to these qualities as 'weird').”
“However, this is a game that you play for the story and the atmosphere, so the gameplay itself serves mostly as a vehicle here.”
“Intriguing story, fantastic artwork, engaging monologues, a thick almost suffocating atmosphere.”
“Lovely art, well voiced in English and a strange, heavy druggy atmosphere.”
- music34 mentions
- 47 % positive mentions
- 44 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its emotional depth and fitting atmosphere, enhancing the immersive experience of the unique worlds. Reviewers appreciate the varied soundtrack, which avoids repetitiveness and complements the game's themes of suspense and surrealism. Overall, the combination of music and visuals creates a captivating and eerie ambiance that resonates with players.
“The art and music are excellent, and the 'other world' portal effect is very nice too.”
“The music in the game is great, it fits this sort of game, and I'm happy that there's a varied amount of music, not just the same 2 or 3 songs playing over and over driving you insane.”
“The music destroys my heart and the narration reminds me of when I was hallucinating from withdrawing from my antidepressants for a month before getting back on them again.”
“The soundtrack is fitting to the suspense and increasing dread the player is likely to feel as they dive deeper into a rabbit hole of diverse realities.”
“Californium is very immersive, with its unusual design and eerie soundtrack.”
- stability10 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 80 % negative mentions
The game suffers from significant stability issues, with numerous bugs that can disrupt gameplay, such as persistent mouse movement and flickering items. While some glitches are integral to the game's theme, the overall experience is marred by these technical problems, leading to a frustrating experience for players.
“Unfortunately, the game is quite buggy, sometimes fatally - the first time I booted the game, the mouse kept moving to the left.”
“Some parts were kind of buggy when you walk around and interact with the environment.”
“In essence, Californium is a walking simulator where the sole gameplay element revolves around finding glitches in your reality: items flickering in and out of existence, TV sets sending out secret, subversive messages only you can hear.”
- grinding8 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, often leading to a lack of immersion and dissatisfaction with the gameplay experience. The repetitive nature of tasks, such as searching for sigils and solving puzzles, detracts from the overall enjoyment, prompting some to request refunds. Despite its artistic merits, the gameplay is criticized for being overly laborious.
“Beautiful work of art that captures the atmosphere of a bygone era and a disillusioned mind, but ultimately hampered by tedious and oftentimes frustrating gameplay.”
“Requested a refund because it is tedious looking for sigils - especially with the low framerate on a late 2013 MacBook Pro.”
“The 'puzzles,' such as they were, became tedious, and the ending was unsatisfying.”
- optimization4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has been widely criticized, with users reporting unreasonably poor performance that negatively impacts gameplay and causes discomfort, such as nausea. Additionally, the game is noted to be demanding on system resources, which has surprised some players.
“The unreasonably poor performance makes everything worse, and the movement made me slightly nauseous.”
“It was very demanding performance-wise on my computer, which was surprising to me.”
- humor4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is noted for its dark undertones, though some reviewers feel it is somewhat lacking. Additionally, there is a humorous element related to the censorship of Philip K. Dick's name in the reviews, which adds an amusing layer to the overall experience.
“The dark humor is also there, but a little lacking; aside from that, this is a super-simple walking simulator that will be a hell of a ride (or more like a trip) for anyone who loves the work of the troubled writer-genius, Philip K.”
- replayability4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game is criticized for its limited replayability, with many users noting that it can be completed in just a few hours, leaving little incentive to revisit it. Overall, the consensus suggests that the lack of content and depth significantly diminishes its replay value.
“The game itself can be finished in a couple of hours, and I can't really imagine there to be much replay value.”
“This game is short in gameplay, content, replayability, and commentary on Philip K.”
- character development2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The reviews indicate that while the game's graphics and character design may not be impressive, the focus on character development is still noteworthy, suggesting that players should prioritize narrative and growth over visual aesthetics.
