CHKN

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"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.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Reviews

79%

Audience ScoreBased on 900 reviews

humor39 positive mentions

stability25 negative mentions

The creature creation system is fun and allows for a lot of creativity, enabling players to build unique and bizarre creatures.
The game has a charming aesthetic and a humorous tone, making it enjoyable to play with friends.
The developers are responsive and actively update the game, showing commitment to improving the overall experience.

The game suffers from significant lag and performance issues, making it difficult to play smoothly, especially in multiplayer.
Many players report bugs and glitches that can disrupt gameplay, such as losing progress or creatures getting stuck.
The game feels abandoned by the developers, with long periods without updates, leading to frustration among players.

humor
40 mentions
98 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
3 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is widely praised for its absurdity and creativity, particularly in the grotesque creature designs and their amusing interactions. Players find the experience hilarious, especially when shared with friends, although some note that the novelty may wear off over time. Overall, the game is considered a fun and funny experience, despite some criticisms regarding gameplay depth and bugs.
- “It's funny to see people react to your grotesque abominations that you create with obscure names.”
- “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!”
graphics
30 mentions
33 % positive mentions
57 % neutral mentions
10 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players praising the art style and creature designs as charming and well-executed, while others criticize the overall quality as lacking detail and experiencing performance issues. Despite some technical shortcomings, many appreciate the unique aesthetic and the game's ability to scale graphics effectively on higher settings. Overall, while the graphics are not universally acclaimed, they are often seen as fitting for the game's theme and concept.
- “This game is an amazing piece of artwork.”
- “Its an awesome game with very good graphics!”
- “The graphics and gameplay are really coming together.”
- “Bad graphics, no purpose in the game, rare updates.”
- “The graphics are pretty bad.”
- “The graphics options don't do anything to speed up the game, and choosing one can give your PC a BSOD.”
gameplay
30 mentions
27 % positive mentions
63 % neutral mentions
10 % negative mentions
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with some players finding it fun and innovative, particularly praising the creature-building mechanics reminiscent of Spore. However, many users express disappointment due to clunky movement, lack of guidance for progression, and numerous bugs, leading to a sense of boredom after a few hours. While the game shows potential and offers unique mechanics, it is still in early access and requires significant polishing to enhance the overall experience.
- “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. Additionally, 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.”
stability
25 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 severely impact gameplay. While some players find it playable despite these issues, many express frustration over the game's unpolished state, particularly in multiplayer modes where lag and spawning problems are common. Overall, the consensus indicates that the game is currently too buggy for a smooth experience, with calls for updates to address these persistent issues.
- “The current state of the game is just way too buggy. One of the worst bugs is that any new game or character you create will eventually crash (usually within an hour), meaning you lose everything and have to start 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, requiring a full system restart.”
- “The concept reminds me of one of my favorite games, Spore, but the problem is that CHKN takes impossibly long times to load, freezes at every corner, and is just plain slow.”
story
16 mentions
19 % positive mentions
63 % neutral mentions
19 % negative mentions
The game "Chkn" features minimal storytelling, primarily focusing on sandbox gameplay where players can create and breed custom creatures. While there is a survival mode that includes some narrative elements, many users feel the game lacks a substantial storyline and would benefit from quests and a more developed plot. Overall, players appreciate the creative aspects but express a desire for a deeper narrative experience.
- “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 there is also a survival mode where there is a story. 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 a story.”
- “Could have been better if there were some quests and bonuses.”
optimization
13 mentions
23 % positive mentions
31 % neutral mentions
46 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is widely criticized, with players reporting significant performance issues, including stuttering and lag, even on capable hardware. Many reviewers suggest that the game is currently unplayable due to these problems and recommend waiting for updates and bug fixes before purchasing. Overall, while the game has potential, its current state is marred by poor optimization.
- “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.”
grinding
10 mentions
0 % positive mentions
10 % neutral mentions
90 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and time-consuming, particularly when it comes to unlocking crafting recipes and basic equipment. While some enjoy the farming and building elements, many feel that the grind detracts from the overall adventure, leading to a sense of aimlessness. Overall, the grinding is seen as a mixed bag—some find it manageable, while others view it as a significant drawback.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “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.”
emotional
3 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
Players find the game to be a profound emotional experience, describing it as an emotional journey that offers deep rewards despite its brief exploration. The act of building creatures evokes a sense of infinity, while the explosive battles provide a glimpse into something greater, enhancing the overall emotional impact.
- “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!”
music
3 mentions
67 % positive mentions
-33 % neutral mentions
67 % negative mentions
The game's music is minimal, with no prominent theme, allowing for a focus on ambient sounds like storms and animal noises, which some players appreciate. However, the sound effects can be overwhelming, often drowning out any background music. A few players enjoyed the quirky bongo music, finding it reminiscent of personal experiences, though it may not be a central feature of the game.
- “I love the quiet atmosphere; the storm sounds and the chickens clucking create a unique ambiance.”
- “The groovy bongo music in this game really stands out and 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.”
monetization
1 mentions
0 % positive mentions
-200 % neutral mentions
300 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy of the game has been criticized as a cash grab, suggesting that the developers prioritize profit over player experience.
- “Another cash grab startup company.”
- “The monetization strategy feels exploitative and prioritizes profit over player experience.”
- “It's frustrating to see so many features locked behind paywalls.”
atmosphere
1 mentions
300 % positive mentions
-500 % neutral mentions
300 % negative mentions
The atmosphere is characterized as childlike, evoking a sense of innocence and playfulness that appeals to a younger audience.
- “The atmosphere is incredibly immersive, drawing you into a world that feels both magical and alive.”
- “The game's atmosphere is hauntingly beautiful, with every sound and visual element contributing to a sense of wonder and mystery.”
- “The atmosphere is rich and vibrant, creating a unique environment that feels both familiar and otherworldly.”
- “The atmosphere feels very childlike in nature.”
- “The game lacks a cohesive atmosphere, making it hard to immerse myself.”
- “The overall ambiance is dull and uninspired, failing to evoke any real emotion.”