Dawn

About

Dawn is a single player action game. It was developed by Brave Rabbit Games and was released on March 31, 2017. It received positive reviews from players.

Dawn is an atmospheric 3D platformer in which players guide a druidic creature named Ash through a beautiful environment to bring life and light back to a dead tree at the center of the world.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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89%

Audience ScoreBased on 458 reviews

music62 positive mentions

optimization3 negative mentions

Beautiful and relaxing art style with stunning graphics and a soothing soundtrack that enhances the serene atmosphere.
Simple and intuitive platforming mechanics that make it accessible for players of all skill levels, including children and casual gamers.
Free to play with achievements that encourage exploration and replayability, providing additional enjoyment despite the short main story.

Very short gameplay duration, typically around 15-20 minutes for the main run, which may leave players wanting more content.
Technical issues including long loading times, occasional crashes especially when alt-tabbing, and some bugs affecting gameplay and controls.
Limited narrative depth and minimal story development, which might not satisfy players looking for a rich or engaging plot.

music
103 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
36%
4%
The music in the game is widely praised for its calming, soothing, and relaxing qualities, perfectly complementing the peaceful, nature-themed atmosphere and visuals. Many reviewers highlight the beautiful, fitting soundtrack as a standout feature, though some note minor issues like repetitiveness or volume balancing. Overall, the soundtrack significantly enhances the serene and immersive experience.
- “Soundtrack gets a 100/10.”
- “The music and sound design fit perfectly and create a very relaxing feeling.”
- “Dawn is an absolutely beautiful game with a really nice soundtrack.”
- “The music had some unnecessarily sharp tunes that hurt my ears, and when I tried to turn it down using the volume sliders, it made no immediate change.”
- “Shame the music was awfully soft to the ear, even with headphones on.”
- “The music got kind of repetitive and uninteresting after a bit of playing.”
graphics
90 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
68%
29%
3%
The game features beautiful, soothing, and painterly graphics that are widely praised for their calming atmosphere and charming art style, often enhanced by a fitting soundtrack. While not always technically advanced or top-tier, the visuals effectively complement the simple, relaxing gameplay, making the overall aesthetic a standout aspect despite the game's short length.
- “Beautiful art style and amazing character design, especially considering it's a free game that took me only a few minutes to beat on first time through.”
- “A very stunning game with relaxing, bright, colourful visuals.”
- “The graphics and animations are beautiful, the audio and atmosphere are spot on, and the story is visually pleasing.”
- “The graphics in this game are passable, but could be better.”
- “Graphics in the game were average, but could have been made better.”
- “980ti i7 etc etc very strong PC, tried even with my stream off and it lagged at 400 resolution minimum graphics.”
gameplay
66 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
59%
5%
The gameplay is simple, straightforward, and relaxing, featuring basic platforming and intuitive controls that complement the game's beautiful visuals and soothing atmosphere. While some find it repetitive and lacking depth or polish, others appreciate its solid mechanics and bite-sized experience suited for casual play. Overall, it works well as a short, calming adventure but may leave players seeking more variety or complexity wanting.
- “This makes for a short and simple, but very solid gameplay experience that I would absolutely recommend!”
- “The playable character is adorable and the art style is lovely, the gameplay is simple but fun and it has a nice soundtrack.”
- “The idea is excellent and the gameplay is great, so I would love to see a bigger version of this game, with a story and a lot more stuff to do.”
- “The atmosphere looks promising at first, yet the gameplay quickly becomes repetitive and clunky.”
- “I hate how the death mechanic works, specifically how long it takes for the character to be lifted up and returned to their spot.”
- “Clearly not much testing has happened other than just the gameplay.”
story
61 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
26%
66%
8%
The story in "Dawn" is minimal and primarily conveyed through visuals, offering a simple, straightforward plot about reviving a tree. While some appreciate its charming, relaxed tone and room for personal interpretation, many find it underdeveloped, short, and lacking depth or narrative engagement. Overall, the game provides a light, atmospheric experience but is not recommended for those seeking a rich or immersive story.
- “The most beautiful game design I've ever seen and the silent story is absolutely adorable.”
- “The story is simple, yet beautifully told through images alone.”
- “The plot is simple, gets the point across what is important to your character (the tree is like your character's momma) and works with the level design to guide the player to the objective (follow the path to the tree, bringing life along with you).”
- “The story doesn't do much to keep you engaged either - it feels underdeveloped and easy to ignore.”
- “There's barely even a story here, and the entire game can be finished within a few minutes.”
- “This game is a bad game: the game is short, the platforming is boring, the graphics are nice but there's no story, so 5/10.”
atmosphere
25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
72%
16%
12%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its calming, relaxing, and beautifully crafted visuals and music, creating a soothing and immersive experience. While gameplay may be simple or repetitive, the strong focus on exploration, art style, and melodic background music makes it an ideal casual and stress-free platformer. Overall, the atmosphere stands out as the game's most compelling and enjoyable aspect.
- “The graphics and animations are beautiful, the audio and atmosphere are spot on and the story is visually pleasing.”
- “A really cute short 3D platformer, with beautiful artstyle and atmosphere, nice soundtrack and overall a relaxing casual experience.”
- “A short, highly atmospheric and very much adorable little game, perfect for short periods of disconnect from the hustle-and-bustle of daily life.”
- “The atmosphere looks promising at first, yet the gameplay quickly becomes repetitive and clunky.”
- “Too much reused textures ruined the atmosphere a bit, but it's bearable as the game is only sixteen minutes long.”
- “The game has great graphics and a really relaxing atmosphere, but it is a bit lacking on the gameplay side.”
replayability
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
54%
23%
The game is quite short, around 15-20 minutes, but offers moderate replayability primarily through achievements, collectibles, and a New Game+ mode that eases replay by retaining progress. While not extensive, these incentives provide value for completionists and casual players seeking relaxation or to collect all items.
- “The game is quite short, being probably only around 15 minutes, but there's lots of replayability with the achievements, and flowers to find if you're into that.”
- “It offers a few extra incentives for replayability such as collectibles and a speedrun challenge.”
- “Replayable for missed achievements (with a sort of game+ mode no less, so you don't have to start collecting from scratch each play) but also just to unwind for a few minutes.”
- “Even though it's short, I don't think it has the replayability factor it thinks it does.”
- “There's some replayability in the achievements and there's a New Game+ that does nothing except let you choose a different skin (this isn't Dark Souls after all), and after you get all the achievements, that's about all the game can offer.”
- “Not much replayability as the story is only about 20 minutes, but it's easy and enjoyable.”
emotional
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game evokes strong nostalgic and wholesome emotions, with its soothing music and unique, kind main character creating a warm, heartfelt experience. While some players felt deeply moved, even to tears, certain technical issues like camera movement slightly detracted from the overall emotional impact.
- “Really made me feel nostalgic for the games of my childhood.”
- “The main (well, only) character is kind of atypical, which is a nice change from the usual, the music is so soothing, and overall, the game is so wholesome.”
- “I mean, the ending just made me feel all warm and light inside (pun not intended).”
optimization
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
60%
Optimization is a significant issue, with performance problems, bugs, and high RAM usage detracting from the experience. Loading times are notably slow at startup, though in-game performance is generally smooth once loaded.
- “Loading is also very slow when you start, but other than that, the game runs smoothly from what I can tell.”
- “Performance/loading needs to be optimized more.”
- “Performance issues and bugs further break immersion, making already rough moments even more annoying.”
- “It is really badly optimized and takes so much RAM.”
- “Bugs and performance problems.”
character development
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
40%
Players consistently praise the game's character design, highlighting its appealing and charming style, especially given the game's short length and free availability. The character's movements and unique abilities, like the twirly double jump, are also well-received, enhancing the overall fun experience.
- “The character design and her movements are beautifully done, and the music is quite lovely.”
- “Beautiful art style and amazing character design, especially considering it's a free game that took me only a few minutes to beat on my first try.”
- “Overall, a fun <5 min game, awesome character design, and even more awesome soundtrack!”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
Users find the game generally stable during core gameplay, with helpful mechanics like floating back after falls, but it still contains bugs and glitches, especially outside main gameplay areas. Lowering mouse sensitivity can help reduce issues.
- “On the plus side, when you inevitably fall off somewhere due to the aforementioned glitches and janky controls, you magically float back up, so you can do it all over again.”
- “1) Lower your mouse sensitivity to second lowest (to avoid any glitches).”
- “The game is still buggy outside of the main gameplay, but it's enjoyable till the end.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
Grinding in the game is somewhat demanding, often requiring multiple playthroughs, but it remains enjoyable and doesn't feel overly repetitive or tedious.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game features a quirky sense of humor that complements its unique world, adding charm to the overall experience.
- “Dawn is a nice looking free platformer with its own quirky world and sense of humor.”