Candellum

About Candellum

Candellum is a single player hack and slash game with a fantasy theme. It was developed by Out of Seats Studio and was released on May 5, 2026. It received overwhelmingly positive reviews from players.

Play as a candle warrior fighting to keep your flame alive in a world where fire means life and death. Steal wax from enemies to survive, wield your flame tactically in intense hack-and-slash combat, and uncover the dark secrets of a dormant wax factory filled with danger !

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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Reviews

97%Audience ScoreBased on 213 reviews

gameplay55 positive mentions

grinding1 negative mentions

Unique and innovative candle and flame-based combat mechanic that creates a dynamic risk-reward gameplay loop.
Beautiful, polished art style and atmospheric audio design that establish a compelling and immersive world.
Smooth and satisfying gameplay with fluid controls, interesting puzzles, and well-designed combat that keep players engaged.

Extremely short gameplay experience, often described as a demo or proof-of-concept, leaving players wanting more content.
Some issues with controls, especially for mouse and keyboard users, and occasional bugs or optimization problems.
Lack of UI elements can make it difficult to track health and game status, which sometimes hinders gameplay clarity.

gameplay
107 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
51% positive mentions, 43% neutral mentions, 6% negative mentions
The gameplay of this game is widely praised for its unique and clever flame-and-wax mechanic, which creates a strategic balance between offense and self-preservation, making combat engaging and memorable. Although the game is short, its polished, fluid combat and integration of puzzle elements provide an enjoyable and tightly designed experience that leaves many wanting more content or a full-length release. Some note that while the core mechanics are innovative and well-executed, the gameplay can feel somewhat repetitive over time due to its linear structure.
- “The unique mechanics of the game absolutely blew me away, and this game found the perfect balance of difficult and fun.”
- “The gameplay is fun and engaging; I really enjoyed the mechanic of losing life over time and having to put the flame on enemies to heal.”
- “This game is overall very fun; the mechanic for the fire is really well done and makes an amazing action-packed fighting mechanic that has you going back and forth on powering up enemies to stay alive and gaining back HP.”
- “And if you guys are reading reviews, just one recommendation: please don't make this into a repetitive gameplay loop of 1 puzzle room and 2 combat rooms.”
- “Apparently this is a work in progress, so the potential for development exists, but as of now this is entirely linear and thus not particularly appetizing for anyone looking for Metroidvania gameplay.”
- “However, the same mechanics that make the game unique can occasionally become repetitive during longer sessions.”
graphics
36 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
81% positive mentions, 13% neutral mentions, 6% negative mentions
The game's graphics are widely praised for their beautiful, calming, and charming art style, featuring high-quality textures, smooth animations, and impressive lighting effects that create a rich, atmospheric world. Visuals complement the unique gameplay and enhance the overall immersive experience, despite minor graphical bugs and limited in-game graphics options.
- “The artstyle for this short game looks so good with great lighting effects and high quality textures and models.”
- “The visuals are genuinely beautiful, and I particularly loved the use of depth of field to give the world a rich, atmospheric quality.”
- “Great game, the graphics are really good and the animations feel really vivid.”
- “The only issues I faced were some AI and graphical bugs as well as problems during combat.”
- “Only downside was length (but can be ignored of course since it's free and a student game) and lack of graphics options in-game, but they can be manually tweaked using the file.”
music
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
74% positive mentions, 26% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its emotional depth, atmosphere, and perfect fit with the visuals and gameplay. Users highlight the soundtrack as a standout feature, describing it as amazing, immersive, and enhancing the overall experience, despite the game's short length. Many express a desire for a longer playtime to enjoy more of the excellent music and sound design.
- “The music, the sound design, the art, the visuals all made an atmosphere that was beyond superb, not to mention perfect for the game.”
- “Candellum is genuinely the best free game I've played on Steam as it ticks all the marks I love; incredible atmosphere, unique visuals & designs, tight gameplay and a great soundtrack.”
- “The soundtrack balances melancholic tones with moments of intensity, helping the world feel emotionally consistent throughout the experience.”
atmosphere
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
76% positive mentions, 12% neutral mentions, 12% negative mentions
Candellum delivers a superb and immersive atmosphere through its unique industrial fantasy setting, combining beautiful visuals, haunting environments, and a fitting soundtrack that enhances the game's themes. The art style, lighting, and sound design work harmoniously to create a dark, stylish, and memorable mood that supports both gameplay and storytelling. While the world is somewhat limited in scope, the atmosphere remains a standout strength, especially for fans of atmospheric hack-and-slash experiences.
- “The music, the sound design, the art, the visuals all made an atmosphere that was beyond superb, perfect for the game.”
- “Candellum is genuinely the best free game I've played on Steam as it ticks all the marks I love; incredible atmosphere, unique visuals and designs, tight gameplay, and a great soundtrack.”
- “Crackling flames, heavy industrial ambience, and atmospheric music combine to create an unsettling but immersive environment.”
- “The atmosphere and worldbuilding are very minimal, but the amazing designs for the environments as well as the characters tell so much.”
- “The environments carry a haunting atmosphere that supports the themes of slow deterioration and survival.”
story
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30% positive mentions, 40% neutral mentions, 30% negative mentions
The story is brief and somewhat minimal, offering a well-executed but limited narrative within a short gameplay experience. While the concept and mechanics are praised, users feel the game would benefit from a longer, more developed storyline with additional characters and plot elements. Overall, it serves as a strong foundation with potential for expansion into a richer adventure.
- “We don't see much of the world or story, but what we have in this short excerpt is really well done.”
- “The game transforms a simple concept involving living candles and fire management into a full gameplay ecosystem that influences combat, exploration, atmosphere, and storytelling simultaneously.”
- “This game is overall very fun, the mechanic for the fire is really well done and makes an amazing action packing fighting mechanic that has you going back and forth on powering up enemies to stay alive and gaining back hp; the game is overall very fun, the fights are fun, the story is pretty good (although missing some parts that leave some stuff a little unknown on how a became b) but overall very fun and pretty crazy that it's free but I'm not complaining.”
- “Would be better if the game is longer and has more storyline to it.”
- “Not a bad game, good mechanics, smooth but very very short story making hardly any gameplay.”
- “I’m sure that if the developer uses this as a foundation, adds a story, more characters, more skills, mob drops, a wider variety of enemies, and more mechanics, this game could really take off and become very popular.”
optimization
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38% positive mentions, 24% neutral mentions, 38% negative mentions
The game's optimization is generally praised for solid performance and excellent engine efficiency, with smooth gameplay after initial stutters. However, some users experience occasional lag and stuttering, especially during intense moments or on lower-end PCs, and the lack of video settings is a noted drawback.
- “It features a beautiful art style, a great atmosphere, enjoyable gameplay, and excellent engine optimization.”
- “That is a clear sign of solid optimization, which has become quite rare these days.”
- “The optimization is excellent, and the gameplay is enjoyable - at least until you reach the part where you have to fight huge waves of enemies.”
- “The game optimization is so bad and there is no video settings either.”
- “I also hope performance is optimized for lower-end PCs, as I noticed some lag even with an RTX 5060 Ti.”
- “There is initial stutter when I first started the first stage, but that luckily went away after.”
grinding
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions
Users commonly criticize the game for having excessive grinding, which can make progression feel tedious and repetitive.
- “Too much grinding.”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions
The game experiences significant stability issues, including a glitch in the first room that causes extreme brightness, which does not resolve on its own.
- “The game glitches in the first room and it gets extremely bright and won't fix itself.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
The emotional aspect is enhanced by a soundtrack that skillfully blends melancholic tones with intense moments, creating a consistently immersive and emotionally resonant atmosphere throughout the game.
- “The soundtrack balances melancholic tones with moments of intensity, helping the world feel emotionally consistent throughout the experience.”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
The character development was well-received, with particular praise for the character design, which complemented the engaging gameplay mechanics and music.