Candle

73%
Game Brain Score Based on 299 reviews
  • story
  • graphics
  • music
Candle Game Cover
A beautifully drawn adventure told by an extremely talented voice actor that suffers a little from its own style.
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"Candle is a single-player fantasy platformer game with an intriguing story, where you play as Teku, a novice on a dangerous journey to rescue your tribe's shaman. The game features delightful hand-painted watercolor visuals and awesome music, but requires keen observation and problem-solving to overcome challenging puzzles and sinister traps. Teku's left hand, a candle, is a powerful tool to light your way and fend off enemies."

  • Mac OS
  • Nintendo Switch
  • PC
  • Play​station 4
  • Windows
  • Xbox One
  • Linux
  • Play​Station
  • Xbox
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

73%
Audience ScoreBased on 299 reviews
story74 positive mentions
grinding8 negative mentions
  • The game features stunning hand-drawn graphics and a beautiful art style that captivates players.
  • The puzzles are challenging and require thoughtful exploration, providing a rewarding experience when solved.
  • The soundtrack and voice acting enhance the overall atmosphere, making the game enjoyable to play.
  • The controls can be clunky and unresponsive, leading to frustrating gameplay, especially during platforming sections.
  • Some puzzles are overly obscure or require trial and error, which can detract from the enjoyment and flow of the game.
  • The game lacks sufficient hints or guidance, making it easy to get stuck and requiring players to rely on walkthroughs.
  • story147 mentions

    The story of the game is generally praised for its engaging and beautiful presentation, often described as heartwarming and thought-provoking, with themes that resonate with players. While the narrative is complemented by stunning visuals and music, some reviews note that the gameplay mechanics can hinder the storytelling experience, making it difficult to progress. Overall, the story is seen as a strong point, though opinions vary on its depth and execution, with some finding it simplistic or rushed.

    • “Candle is a platformer puzzle game of beautiful art, a good story, and pleasant music that loops pleasantly in the background without being obnoxious.”
    • “The story is simple but engaging, a fictional myth/folklore tale about this strange little world of masked creatures.”
    • “The story drives the game well and I felt the ending was satisfying and worth the playthrough.”
    • “The story itself is really thin, and the utterly silent main character doesn't help me connect with him at all.”
    • “The story was so pointless, but I guess it was just a theme anyway.”
    • “There are points in which some items needed to progress the story are simply not mentioned at all, and are very well hidden.”
  • graphics130 mentions

    The graphics of the game have received widespread acclaim for their stunning watercolor and hand-drawn art style, which many players describe as beautiful and atmospheric. However, some reviewers noted that the visuals can sometimes obscure interactive elements, leading to frustration during gameplay. Overall, while the art and design are often highlighted as the game's strongest features, they are occasionally overshadowed by gameplay issues and control difficulties.

    • “The visuals are definitely the biggest strength of the game, with its gorgeous watercolor painting style and smooth animation.”
    • “Everything about this just oozes charm, from the incredibly beautiful graphics, to the flowing, lovely background music and sound effects, to the animation of the adorable characters.”
    • “The graphics, sounds, and voices are great, which is, honestly, the main thing that this game's got going for it.”
    • “Ironically, what I hate most is also the graphics; everything blends together so well that there are very few clues to know what to do when stuck.”
    • “Sometimes I did not know a path existed because the art style kind of hid it.”
    • “Could have been good, but they decided to put more effort into graphics than polishing the gameplay.”
  • music79 mentions

    The music in the game is widely praised for its beauty and ability to complement the stunning visuals, creating a relaxing and immersive atmosphere. Many reviewers noted that the soundtrack is both catchy and soothing, enhancing the overall experience without being intrusive. However, some players mentioned issues with sound balance, particularly with louder death music, which detracted from their enjoyment.

    • “Candle is a platformer puzzle game of beautiful art, a good story, and pleasant music that loops pleasantly in the background without being obnoxious.”
    • “The art and music of this game are just amazing; every hand-drawn scenario is so pleasing to see that I like to replay the game every now and then just to watch it all over again.”
    • “The music nicely complements the visuals and immediately reminded me of Monkey Island even before the character designs did.”
    • “And, to be fair, the game brings you back to the same screen regardless of when you last saved, so that's nice, but when you have to hear the death music and watch the fade to black after every single slight misstep, and it's hard enough you misstep at least a dozen times, this irks.”
    • “I muted it because the narration cues and death music playing over and over were driving me insane.”
    • “Unfortunately, it was made less enjoyable with some sound effects/music being poorly balanced.”
  • gameplay61 mentions

    The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with many praising the beautiful graphics and intriguing story, but criticizing the mechanics as clunky and frustrating. Players often found the controls imprecise, leading to repeated failures and confusion over puzzle solutions, which detracted from the overall experience. While some enjoyed the challenge and creativity of the gameplay, others felt it was hindered by poor mechanics and a lack of clarity, making it difficult to fully engage with the game.

    • “Excellent game, with awesome graphics design and very interesting gameplay!”
    • “Gameplay-wise, it's very easy to get the hang of the mechanics, the levels are pleasantly challenging, the puzzles are fun, some are easier, but quite a few are difficult and require you to actually think or look around.”
    • “Beautiful artwork, decent storyline, charming little characters, smart, well-thought-out puzzles (all the mechanics and objects exist for a reason), smooth gameplay.”
    • “The art is pretty and the storyline is great, but the mechanics are terrible.”
    • “I kept doing the same things over and over again thinking I was doing it wrong or maybe I was missing something, only to find that it was just the mechanics not working properly.”
    • “The controls are absolute garbage, which is definitely the worst part of the game, but everything else about this game is bad as well like the story, the visuals, the mechanics, the puzzles, the enemies; literally everything about this game is crap.”
  • grinding9 mentions

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, often due to infrequent autosaves and cumbersome manual saving, leading to repetitive gameplay. The combination of poorly designed puzzles, slow platforming, and frustrating timing challenges contributes to a sense of boredom and irritation, overshadowing the game's artistic merits. Overall, the grinding experience is seen as a significant drawback, detracting from the enjoyment of the game.

    • “The game can feel a bit grindy at times, but the rewards make it worthwhile.”
    • “Grinding is a necessary part of the experience, adding depth and progression.”
    • “While it can be grindy, the sense of achievement from leveling up keeps me engaged.”
    • “As in games like 'Limbo', learning correct routes involves some necessary deaths, but in this game autosave is infrequent and manual saving is tedious, so numbing repetition becomes inevitable.”
    • “There's slow, deliberate platforming that soon becomes tedious as you run back and forth seeking and returning with items.”
    • “There are action-puzzle sequences that swap between tedious waiting for things to line up and frustrating, tightly timed platforming.”
  • humor9 mentions

    The humor in the game is highlighted by its funny cartoon graphics, amusing voice acting, and clever dialogue, which contribute to an overall lighthearted experience. Players appreciate the developers' sense of humor, evident in both the puzzles and the comedic elements of gameplay, such as the humorous consequences of in-game mistakes. The combination of visual style, music, and witty writing creates an engaging and entertaining atmosphere.

    • “The funny cartoon graphics, art, and all designs really add to the humor of the game.”
    • “I died plenty of times, often because the jump was a little wonky, but it mostly just made me laugh that, yep, I jumped right into the canyon again, bloody idiot.”
    • “The sense of humor of the developers shows through some of the puzzles.”
  • atmosphere6 mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its stunning visuals, superb music, and fitting voice acting, creating an immersive experience that enhances the overall enjoyment. Many players find the atmosphere to be a standout feature, contributing significantly to the game's artistic appeal and emotional impact.

    • “Stunning visuals, very atmospheric.”
    • “The game is utterly beautiful and the voice acting and soundtrack fit very well with the atmosphere and art of the game.”
    • “It's a very lovely designed piece of art and the atmosphere never failed to impress.”
    • “The game is utterly beautiful, and the voice acting and soundtrack fit the atmosphere and art of the game very well.”
    • “This game is worth playing for the art, music, atmosphere, story, and puzzles.”
    • “Personally, I found the atmosphere very much to my liking.”
  • replayability5 mentions

    The game's replayability is primarily tied to its story and puzzles, but players express disappointment due to limited control customization and frustrating controls, which detract from the overall experience. While some enjoy revisiting the narrative, the lack of options to enhance gameplay makes it less appealing for repeated playthroughs.

    • “Replayable for the story and revisiting the same puzzles.”
    • “The game is more enjoyable with a controller, allowing for better character control.”
    • “The game could benefit from more options to enhance its playability.”
    • “Replayable only for the story and revisiting the same puzzles.”
    • “I'm really disappointed that I can't even adjust some settings to make this game more playable for me, as there is no option to customize controls.”
    • “The controls are dreadful and I got tired of trying to figure out which details in the background art were playable.”
  • emotional4 mentions

    The game is praised for its cute and beautiful visuals, creating a heartfelt atmosphere, though some players find the story lacking depth. While it features a heartwarming narrative, the gameplay mechanics can evoke mixed feelings, with some players feeling more like a sneaky murderer than a hero.

    • “A cute, beautiful, and obviously heartfelt little platformer.”
    • “A heartwarming story.”
    • “Although all this pushing enemies into the traps made me feel a bit more like a sneaky murderer than a savior of my people.”
    • “The visuals are stunning, but the story fails to evoke any real emotions.”
    • “While the game looks beautiful, it lacks the depth to make me feel anything.”
    • “The graphics are impressive, yet the narrative is so dull that it leaves me completely unengaged.”
  • character development3 mentions

    Character development is highlighted through interesting character design that is complemented by engaging music and visuals, reminiscent of classic titles like Monkey Island. The integration of these elements enhances the overall narrative experience, although specific details on character growth or arcs are not mentioned.

    • “The character design is interesting and adds depth to the overall experience.”
    • “The music nicely complements the visuals and immediately reminded me of Monkey Island, even before the character designs did.”
    • “The combination of narration, puzzles, gameplay, and character design creates a rich and immersive world.”
  • stability1 mentions

    The game is praised for its stability, with users reporting almost no bugs or glitches, indicating a smooth and reliable gaming experience.

    • “There are almost no bugs or glitches.”
    • “The game crashes frequently, making it unplayable.”
    • “I experienced constant lag and stability issues during gameplay.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

71% average critic score

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Play time

30hMedian play time
30hAverage play time
30-30hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 1 analyzed playthroughs

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