Cellar
- March 23, 2016
- Vertical Skull Games
- 60h median play time
Get on Steam
Get on itch.io Store"Cellar" is a single-player arcade game with stunning pixel art visuals, offering around 60 hours of playtime. The game takes you on a journey through a maze-like basement as you search for your missing teddy bear, avoiding dangerous traps and monsters along the way. With gameplay reminiscent of Bomberman and Sokoban, "Cellar" is a casual yet challenging experience. The game auto-saves only at the beginning of each level.
PC
Windows
Linux
Xbox
Reviews
- The pixel art is charming and well-designed, contributing to a cute aesthetic.
- The game offers a fun and simple puzzle experience, making it suitable for younger audiences.
- Despite its short length, the game provides some tense moments and challenges while navigating the maze.
- The gameplay is repetitive and lacks variety, leading to a tedious experience as levels progress.
- The controls are unresponsive and the tile-based movement feels awkward, detracting from the overall enjoyment.
- The sound design is poor, with a repetitive music track and an annoying death sound that disrupts the intended atmosphere.
- gameplay25 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 68 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by slow, tedious mechanics focused on tile-based movement and repetitive tasks, such as collecting items while avoiding a pursuing monster. Many players find it simplistic and lacking in depth, with frustrating elements like one-time-use tiles that can lead to unavoidable restarts. While the visuals and music are praised, the overall experience is often described as dull and not worth the investment, especially given its short duration.
“Gameplay consists of plotting your path on the grid-like levels while searching for/collecting toys and avoiding the monster that is chasing you.”
“Nice music and visuals, with occasionally challenging gameplay makes for a pleasant experience lasting about an hour or more.”
“The gameplay is tight and concise and the pixelated graphics give it quite a bit of charm.”
“Every death plays a trumpet noise and starts you from the beginning of the level. Even after collecting a collectible, you need to recollect it and then the key to escape. Repeat until done; that's literally the entire gameplay summed up.”
“The gameplay is not very exciting, but the thing that really killed it for me is that there are tiles you can only cross over once, and then they crumble and can't be crossed again. If you mess up once, you botch the entire level and just have to restart.”
“I was hoping the game would be a little bit more of an exploration/adventure type of game, but the gameplay is more like an old Atari game, and not really in a good way.”
- graphics21 mentions
- 43 % positive mentions
- 43 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the charming pixel art style and overall aesthetic, while others find it uninspired and lacking in variety. Although the visuals are described as cute and well-detailed, some players feel that the retro graphics are outdated and offer no customization options. Overall, the art style is appreciated for its charm, but it may not appeal to those seeking more contemporary graphics.
“The gameplay was rather simplistic, but the artwork was truly amazing to gaze at.”
“The graphics are well detailed and have a nice aesthetic.”
“What I really liked was the art style and the atmosphere.”
“A choice was made to use obsolete, decades old retro pixel 'art' as a substitute for contemporary PC graphics.”
“There's no option to change the resolution and no useful graphics tweaks.”
“The visuals are uninspired (enemies all look like the same sad glob).”
- music19 mentions
- 16 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many players noting the limited selection of only three royalty-free tracks that loop throughout all levels, leading to a repetitive and lifeless experience. While some appreciate the charm of the music and its fit within the game, the lack of variety and sound design has left many feeling disappointed and bored as they progress. Overall, the soundtrack is seen as a significant drawback, detracting from the overall enjoyment of the game.
“I relaxed for 5 minutes listening to this music, long enough to realize that I would be okay.”
“Nice music and visuals, with occasionally challenging gameplay makes for a pleasant experience lasting about an hour or more.”
“The graphics and music are charmingly simple.”
“There's only three soundtracks.”
“It's rather disappointing how all of these tracks are reused constantly, and honestly, I grew tired of the music before I even got midway through the game. Considering how short the game is, it's not a good sign.”
“The title screen, main menu, and every level in the game play the same music on loop.”
- story16 mentions
- 31 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 19 % negative mentions
The game's story is generally seen as minimal and serves primarily as a backdrop rather than a driving force, with some players finding it enjoyable despite its simplicity. While some appreciate the cute and unique storyline of a girl searching for her teddy bear, others feel that the lack of depth and time constraints detract from the overall experience. Overall, the narrative is considered charming but not central to the gameplay.
“Moral of the story: you never know what life has in store for you, and if I had given up when all odds were against me, I wouldn't be where I am today.”
“I love the storyline; it's so sweet!”
“The story was unique and has an unexpected ending.”
“That's about as much story as you're going to get in Cellar, as it's not really a story-driven game, with the story just being there as a backdrop.”
“I find time constraint/chase games annoying anyway since I like to have time to appreciate the art style and the story, so if you're the same, you probably won't enjoy this much.”
“Cellar is kind of a dull game, but at least for the story.”
- atmosphere6 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is generally praised for its unsettling and gothic qualities, enhanced by charming art and good sound design. However, some players found that while the initial atmosphere was engaging, it did not sustain their interest throughout the gameplay.
“A fun little game, good sound, lovely art style, and great atmosphere for an hour or so.”
“What I really liked was the art style and the atmosphere.”
“Great, almost gothic atmosphere.”
“For an unsettling atmosphere that the game tries to create, the game over screen throws a whiplash of a background music.”
“I bought this game mostly because it looks extremely charming and I was really digging the atmosphere in the trailers and screens, but once I started actually playing the game, it quickly became apparent that it was not for me.”
- replayability4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game offers some replayability through achievements and a new difficulty level, but many players feel it lacks sufficient incentive to return after the initial playthrough. While it may appeal to younger audiences as a starter horror game, its limited scare factor and overall lack of engaging content diminish its replay value for others.
“Impressive game, very creative and with replay value.”
“Not to mention that the achievements increase the replay value greatly.”
“They tried to add some replay value with the achievements and a new difficulty, but I see no reason why you would want to return to it again.”
“A good horror game to start your 6-year-old with, maybe, but being not scary enough to fit the horror theme and not interesting enough to play without it doesn't give this game much replayability.”
- grinding3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, as the maze expands in complexity and the tile-based movement system hampers fluid navigation, resulting in frequent, unnecessary deaths. While some recommend it for farming purposes, the overall experience is described as silly and unenjoyable.
“A maze that gets bigger and more tedious as levels go on. The movement feels really bad as it's tile-based, so you're running from tile to tile instead of actually having free movement, which leads to a lot of unnecessary deaths.”
“Tedious and silly.”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is highlighted by the presence of comically ugly monsters, which blend elements of both fright and amusement, making for an entertaining experience that players highly recommend.
“The monsters are pretty funny! :D”
“With the ugly monsters, it's both funny and frightening. I totally recommend you play it.”
- stability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game experiences some stability issues, particularly with bugs that cause monsters to glitch outside the map. These glitches can disrupt gameplay, indicating a need for further optimization.
“There are also a few bugs where the monster glitches outside the map.”
“Some bugs cause the monster to glitch outside the map.”
- monetization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Reviews indicate that Gamemaker Studio is often associated with the creation of retro-style games that are perceived as low-effort cash grabs, suggesting a negative view of its monetization practices.
“Gamemaker Studio is most commonly used to make retro pixel shovelware and cash grabs.”
- emotional1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is characterized by its cute and casual nature, creating a lighthearted atmosphere. Players find that the maze-like design adds a layer of nostalgia and engagement, as they navigate while avoiding moving obstacles.
