Creature Lab

57%
Game Brain Score Based on 111 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • grinding
Creature Lab Game Cover
Starting at $5.79Buy now
Get on Steam

Conduct crazy experiments in the Creature Lab! Mix mutagens, analyze their properties, grow bodyparts, and attach them to your test subjects. Manage your inventory, expand your lab, and make sure your hideout is safe. Send your creations into the city to obtain necessary salvage and test subjects!

Play Modes

Reviews

57%
Audience ScoreBased on 111 reviews
gameplay9 positive mentions
grinding16 negative mentions
  • The game has a unique and intriguing premise of being a mad scientist creating monsters.
  • The lab layout is well designed, and there are interesting potion ingredients to experiment with.
  • The game offers a genuine sense of discovery as players create different formulas and understand mutagens.
  • The game suffers from poor execution, with repetitive gameplay and a lack of meaningful interactions.
  • There are numerous bugs and technical issues, including crashes and save file problems, which detract from the experience.
  • The combat and mission systems are lackluster, with no visual representation of creatures in action and minimal rewards for effort.
  • story56 mentions

    The story in the game is described as intriguing but ultimately underwhelming, with players expressing frustration over the lack of engaging mission content and visual feedback. Many reviewers noted that the missions feel repetitive and lack tactical depth, leading to a sense of monotony and minimal achievement. Additionally, the cluttered inventory system and numerous bugs detract from the overall narrative experience, suggesting that the game would benefit from more variety and polish in its storytelling elements.

    • “The story is intriguing from what I can tell.”
    • “This game has me hooked; it's the very first horror genre game I've played, and I have over 12 years on Steam.”
    • “A few things that I would suggest regarding future improvements would be fleshing out the story, adding variety to the experiments you can perform, and just generally fixing bugs.”
    • “The actual missions and what should be the core gameplay is extremely lackluster.”
    • “Nothing really happens; you get a failed screen or success screen when you send monsters on missions, but you never really feel any sense of achievement.”
    • “This game would massively benefit from some procedural generation on the creatures and animated cut-scenes for the missions.”
  • gameplay31 mentions

    The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it repetitive and tedious, primarily revolving around mixing substances and managing a laboratory. While some appreciate the unique mechanics and the satisfaction of creating and upgrading monsters, others criticize the lack of engaging content and the presence of bugs that disrupt the experience. Overall, the game shows potential but requires further polish and expansion to maintain long-term interest.

    • “The gameplay loop is centered around mixing substances from ingredients and elixirs to achieve better and better creatures and limbs for creatures.”
    • “The mutagen brewing mechanics are extremely satisfying, especially with the liquid physics.”
    • “Every fan of mad scientists should play it; the mechanics and the whole gameplay are very interesting.”
    • “I played this game for an hour and watched another hour of gameplay video to see if there was anything more to the game, and unfortunately there wasn't.”
    • “The actual missions and what should be the core gameplay is extremely lackluster.”
    • “The actual gameplay part of running back and forth to pick up beakers of substances became tedious quite quickly.”
  • grinding16 mentions

    The grinding aspect of the game is widely criticized for being excessively tedious and repetitive, leading to a sense of chore-like gameplay that detracts from the overall experience. Players express frustration with the lack of variety in tasks, particularly in potion management and ingredient collection, which can become monotonous and confusing. While some improvements, like the introduction of a basket for carrying items, offer slight relief, the overall sentiment remains that the grinding elements are more frustrating than enjoyable.

    • “The game feels like a chore, tedious.”
    • “However, despite all of this, the fact that it's tedious and boring is the biggest reason for a negative review.”
    • “Unfortunately for something the game requires you to do at great length, the actual process of combining ingredients into mutagens is incredibly tedious.”
  • stability8 mentions

    The game suffers from significant stability issues, with frequent bugs and glitches that often require players to restart, leading to a frustrating experience. Many users report game crashes and save file losses, indicating a lack of polish that is more commonly found in early access titles rather than a full release. Overall, the stability problems severely detract from the gameplay experience.

    • “Bugs and glitches that force you to restart are very common and take away from the experience.”
    • “I have played early access games less buggy and more user-friendly than this game by a mile.”
    • “Hmm, honestly if this was an early access game I could understand why this game is so unpolished and buggy...but it's not, it's a 'full' release...despite being lacking in many ways.”
  • music8 mentions

    The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its alignment with the b-movie horror theme, while others criticize the limited selection, noting that only two tracks lead to repetitive listening. Additionally, the lack of interactivity and innovation in the music experience detracts from the overall creativity of the game. Overall, while the thematic execution is solid, the music's repetitiveness and minimal variety leave much to be desired.

    • “Fairly solid execution of the B-movie horror theme from visuals to music.”
    • “A fun premise for a game, the art and music fit the theme they were going for perfectly.”
    • “It's not even that the game is completely fubar as music is still playing, mouse cursor still works.”
    • “There's no interactivity whatsoever like tune-in radio music that you can use to celebrate with when creating your perfect creature, no cooking, and no way to feed your monsters, leaving you with a lack of creativity and innovation.”
    • “Some are cosmetic, such as parts of models not loading, or loading a few meters to the side, music switching too rapidly (and I truly believe that having one good track over the entire game would be much better than having free tunes everyone has heard a thousand times from YouTube); others are gameplay bugs, such as creatures you made in your previous session resetting and losing all their improvements or disappearing altogether.”
    • “There are only two music tracks in this game, so after a few minutes you will have heard all the tunes, and you will hear them again and again for all the hours you decide to play.”
  • graphics7 mentions

    The graphics in the game are generally well-executed, effectively capturing the b-movie horror theme and contributing to an engaging visual experience. While players may not prioritize graphics as the main draw, they appreciate the decent quality and potential for future enhancements, such as expanded models and creature animations. Overall, the visuals are considered beautiful and add to the game's addictive nature.

    • “Fairly solid execution of the B-movie horror theme from visuals to music.”
    • “I think the game is very addictive; we are able to create a lot of interesting-looking creatures, and graphically, the game is very beautiful.”
    • “The graphics are excellent.”
    • “You don't play this game for the graphics first, but they do the job.”
    • “I hope to eventually see expanded models, creature action scenes/graphics, new limb types, mutagen effects and battle animations, as well as (hopefully) wild-stitching, where various creature appendages (like giant bat wings, stalk eyes, jaguar legs, orangutan arms, etc.) are gathered in the city, treated with compatible mutagens/DNA sequences, and attached to form super-mutants worthy of a true Frankenstein monster title.”
    • “Fascinating concept, and decent graphics.”
  • optimization3 mentions

    The game shows significant potential but suffers from severe bugs and poor optimization, with some users reporting performance issues, particularly with ultrawide displays. However, a patch is expected to address these ultrawide problems. Overall, optimization remains a major concern for players.

    • “I have no performance issues; there are issues with ultrawide, but that's getting fixed in the upcoming patch.”
    • “Unfortunately, the game has a lot of potential, yet fails due to horrible bugs and poor optimization.”
    • “Terribly optimized, possibly entirely built using store-bought packages.”
  • replayability2 mentions

    The game offers a mix of replayability; while some players enjoy endless replayability due to the introduction of new substances in each playthrough, others feel it lacks depth, as it primarily revolves around its central mechanics, limiting the overall replay value.

    • “Endless replayability with new substances every time you play.”
    • “The game isn't very replayable, as it begins and ends with its central mechanics.”
    • “There is a lack of variety that diminishes the replayability factor.”
  • emotional1 mentions

    Users express that the game evokes a sense of emotional clutter, detracting from their overall enjoyment. While there is potential for improvement with future updates, current sentiments suggest a lack of emotional engagement.

  • humor1 mentions

    The humor in the game is characterized as both bizarre and amusing, providing a unique comedic experience that stands out to players.

    • “Weird and funny.”
    • “The humor is quirky and keeps you laughing throughout the game.”
    • “I love the clever jokes and puns sprinkled throughout the gameplay.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Buy Creature Lab

Play time

2hMedian play time
2hAverage play time
2-2hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 1 analyzed playthroughs

Videos

Similar Games

Game News