CHKN
- February 3, 2016
- Katapult
- 4h median play time
Get on Steam"Chkn" is a 2-player platformer game with support for multiplayer and co-op modes. It features open-world sandbox gameplay where you can create and customize creatures, explore, craft, and survive in an online world. The game has poor optimization, bugs, and grinding, but it makes up for it with good mechanics, pretty visuals, and plenty of humor. The game encourages player feedback and continuously adds new features through updates.
Mac OS
PC
Windows
Linux
Reviews
- The creature creation mechanic is fun and allows for a lot of creativity.
- The game has a unique and humorous aesthetic that many players enjoy.
- It's a fun game to play with friends, especially in multiplayer mode.
- The game has been abandoned by the developers and has not received updates in years.
- There are numerous bugs and performance issues that hinder gameplay.
- Players who purchased the game before it became free feel cheated and frustrated.
- humor81 mentions
- 98 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 2 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is widely praised, with many players finding it hilarious and entertaining, especially when creating bizarre creatures and experiencing their antics. While the initial comedic value is strong, some users note that the novelty may wear off over time, and the gameplay can become repetitive. Overall, it is recommended for those seeking a funny experience, particularly when played with friends.
“This game is hilarious.”
“The addition of being able to create creatures of your own as well as seeing the natural monstrosities that spawn makes it an enjoyable and funny experience for most.”
“Built some hilarious hideous 'chkns' that tried to eat me.”
“Not funny, chicken!”
- graphics60 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 57 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players praising the charming art style and creature designs, while others criticize the overall quality and performance issues, such as frame drops and glitches. Despite these concerns, many appreciate the game's aesthetic and the improvements made in recent updates, suggesting that the graphics fit the game's whimsical theme. Overall, while the graphics are not universally acclaimed, they are seen as a significant aspect of the game's appeal, especially in terms of creativity and user-generated content.
“This game is an amazing piece of artwork.”
“Its an awesome game with very good graphics!”
“The graphics also scale very well on high settings... it looks even much better than Bannerlord or Monster Hunter, for example.”
“The graphics are pretty bad.”
“But the graphics aren't good and they put effort into the creatures.”
“The graphics options don't do anything to speed up the game, and choosing one can give your PC a BSOD.”
- gameplay59 mentions
- 27 % positive mentions
- 66 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with players noting its fun and unique mechanics but also criticizing clunky movement and a lack of guidance for progression. While some appreciate the creature-building aspects reminiscent of games like Spore, others find the current state of gameplay to be boring and buggy, suggesting it needs further polish. Overall, the game shows potential but is hindered by its early access status and design choices.
“Just started but it's fun and interesting with mechanics I haven't really seen in other places.”
“The game is still in the works but I love the concept and the gameplay so far.”
“There are so many different animals and this adds a lot of variety and depth to the gameplay.”
“I had seen the early access gameplay on YouTube, so I eventually ended up buying it and was really disappointed.”
“The mechanics and movement feel clunky. The mountains that you have to climb are often more annoying to deal with than if the entire world was flat. There is very little guidance on which direction leads to forward progress and which leads you directly into a zone where you will die immediately.”
“Due to it being early access, the gameplay is pretty bad and boring.”
- stability50 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's stability is a significant concern, with numerous users reporting frequent bugs, crashes, and glitches that can make gameplay frustrating and, at times, unplayable. While some players find it manageable and entertaining despite these issues, the overall consensus is that the game is currently in a very buggy state, particularly in multiplayer modes, which suffer from severe lag and connectivity problems. Regular updates are needed to address these stability issues and improve the overall experience.
“The current state of the game is just way too buggy. One of the worst bugs that made this game pretty much unplayable is that any new game or character that you've created will eventually crash (usually within an hour), meaning you lose everything and have to create another new game or character and start from the beginning all over again.”
“A buggy mess of a game, and despite constant claims of optimization and a revamped engine, many of the core problems persist, not the least of which are crashes that leave the game running in system memory even after attempts to force quit, and cannot be remedied without a full system restart.”
“The game is extremely buggy at this point in time, so you will probably get mad at some point if you decide to take it seriously.”
- story30 mentions
- 10 % positive mentions
- 80 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The story aspect of Chkn is largely underdeveloped, with many players noting the lack of a cohesive narrative despite the presence of a survival mode that includes some story elements. While the game offers a creative sandbox experience where players can create and breed unique creatures, it lacks quests and a structured storyline, leaving players feeling aimless after collecting parts. However, the potential for storytelling is recognized, and players express a desire for more quests and a deeper narrative in future updates.
“Chkn is a fun story/sandbox game allowing you to either tame or create your own custom creature or breed your creatures to make a new hybrid of sorts.”
“I like that there is a creative mode and you get infinite creature parts, and you can probably build more than 2,973 creatures. There is also a survival mode where there is a story, and there are not a lot of games like this that I know of that actually have a story.”
“The game's potential is almost infinite, but it really needs a story.”
“There's not really a story or anything, and once you collect all the parts you kind of realize you don't know what to do anymore.”
“The game's potential is almost infinite but it really needs story.”
“Could have been better if there were some quests and bonuses.”
- optimization27 mentions
- 11 % positive mentions
- 41 % neutral mentions
- 48 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is widely criticized, with players reporting severe performance issues, including low frame rates and frequent stuttering, even on capable hardware. Many reviewers suggest that the game is currently unplayable for some due to these optimization problems and numerous bugs, recommending that potential buyers wait for significant improvements before purchasing. Despite these issues, some players still find enjoyment in the game, provided they can overlook the technical shortcomings.
“It definitely needs more optimization and additional goals for adventure mode for people to sink their teeth into, but I've had a ton of fun in it thus far.”
“All in all, I'd say the game would be worth buying once the devs do something about optimization to help with FPS issues.”
“The game needs a fair amount of bug fixes and optimization.”
“Even though the game has an interesting premise and can be enjoyed to some extent, I would refrain anyone from buying this game as it has horrible performance and a lot of bugs.”
“The problem with this game is the optimization; it's really bad as of right now.”
“However, the biggest issue is how poorly optimized it is.”
- grinding19 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 5 % neutral mentions
- 95 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and slow, particularly in unlocking crafting recipes and gathering necessary materials, which can detract from the overall adventure experience. While some enjoy the farming and building elements reminiscent of survival games, many feel that the grind can become overwhelming and may lead to a lack of direction in gameplay. Overall, the crafting and farming mechanics are seen as minimal but potentially enjoyable, leaving room for improvement in future updates.
“Unlocking crafting recipes is tedious and slow, and crafting itself hardly matters because in the end you're likely going to be 'mid tier' in terms of power before you even find the method to break rocks, which are necessary to craft some basic equipment.”
“After a while, the player is not sure what to do in the adventure, other than grinding and fighting with some creatures.”
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- emotional6 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players describe the game as an emotional journey, highlighting the profound experience of creature creation and the impactful moments in the arena. The exploration, while brief, offers deep emotional rewards that resonate with players, making it a standout in the god-game genre.
“This game was an emotional journey.”
“The exploration is brief, but highly rewarding on a deep, emotional level.”
“Yet, as a god-game, Chkn rules the roost: building creatures feels like touching the infinite, and watching them explode in the arena feels like glimpsing eternity!”
- music6 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The game's music is minimal, with no theme music present, allowing for a focus on ambient sounds like storms and animal noises. While some players appreciate the groovy bongo music reminiscent of personal experiences, others find the sound effects overwhelmingly loud, often drowning out any musical elements. Overall, the music aspect is polarizing, with a mix of appreciation for the ambient sounds and criticism of the sound balance.
“This game has weird and derpy gameplay - on the plus side, the really groovy bongo music reminds me of my trip to South Africa.”
“The sound effects in this game were so loud I had to turn it down to a point where I didn't even know there was music.”
“This game has weird and derpy gameplay - on the plus side, the really groovy bongo music reminds me of my trip to South Africa where I lost my phone.”
- atmosphere2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The atmosphere is characterized as being very childlike, evoking a sense of innocence and playfulness.
“The atmosphere is very childlike in nature.”
“The atmosphere feels overly simplistic and childlike, lacking depth and maturity.”
- monetization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy of the game has been criticized as a blatant cash grab, suggesting that the developers prioritize profit over player experience.
“Another cash grab startup company.”
