Doodle God

Doodle God is a port of a mobile game, and carries with it the same simplicity, microtransactions, and limited but continuous fun that many games of the platform boast to the PC. The game presents the most streamlined and deep version of a combo finding puzzle game to date, and overcomes some drawbacks to be a solid and playable title.

70%Game Brain Score

story, graphics

gameplay, monetization

87% User Score Based on 88,125 reviews

Critic Score 56%Based on 2 reviews

Platforms

Buy Nowfrom $1.64

Buy NowGet on Steam$14.99

About

Doodle God is an addictive puzzle game where players mix and match elements to create a universe, starting from microorganisms and working up to animals, tools, and even armies. As you successfully create new items, you'll be rewarded with quotes from famous philosophers and comedians. The "Planet" mode adds a fresh challenge to building your unique world. This game is suitable for all ages and available in 13 languages, with a player base of over 190 million people worldwide.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

87%

Audience ScoreBased on 630 reviews

story8 positive mentions

monetization10 negative mentions

The game is a fun time waster, allowing players to experiment with different combinations of elements.
The tournament mini-game offers a quicker and enjoyable experience, adding variety to the gameplay.
The nostalgic factor is strong for those who played the original Flash version, making it a charming revisit.

The game is plagued by bugs and crashes, particularly in the puzzle section, making it frustrating to play.
Many combinations feel illogical, leading to a tedious trial-and-error process rather than a satisfying puzzle experience.
The interface is clunky, especially on PC, and the game often forces players back to the menu after creating new elements, disrupting the flow.

story
63 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
83%
5%
The game's story is minimal and lacks a cohesive narrative, primarily focusing on element discovery and creation mechanics. While the main mode offers a basic storyline of creating the world, additional quests and puzzles provide thematic scenarios, such as rescuing a princess or surviving on a deserted island, which can enhance the experience. However, some players find the quests to be bloated and counter-intuitive, leading to mixed feelings about their overall contribution to the game's storytelling.
- “The quests, when done right, will tell a neat little story, such as saving a princess or getting stranded on an island and getting rescued (if you play that one right).”
- “The main quest mode features four episodes to play through.”
- “Man, I don’t think this game has a particular storyline to follow.”
- “The gameplay loop is exactly the same - pick a random thing, rub it against another random thing, hope the developers concocted some story as to how they fit together, and then rinse and repeat.”
- “Adding quests seemed a bit silly other than knowing now what could be made/almost made.”
gameplay
62 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
8%
84%
8%
The gameplay of "Doodle God" centers on combining basic elements to create more complex substances, offering a creative and engaging experience for players. However, many reviews highlight the repetitive nature of the gameplay, with some combinations feeling arbitrary and unintuitive, leading to frustration. While the game includes various modes and quests to add depth, it is often criticized for its simplistic mechanics and lack of replayability, making it more suitable for casual, mobile play rather than as a robust PC title.
- “The core gameplay revolves around combining these elements to form new substances, leading to increasingly complex creations ranging from simple organic matter to intricate technological artifacts.”
- “Additionally, the game includes several modes and quests that add layers of objectives and challenges, keeping the gameplay varied.”
- “Without microtransactions to hinder it, the main mode is quite fun to play and watch as your onscreen world develops, but the quest mode is even more interesting, bringing an entirely new perspective to the game while still using the same core mechanics.”
- “And that's not even mentioning the fact that they ruined the main gameplay by forcing you back into the dumb planet menu after pretty much every second element, completely ruining any good that there was there.”
- “The combinations of elements are often unintelligible, leaving the core gameplay more of a guessing game than an exercise in intelligent puzzle-solving.”
- “If you play it for hours you will get tired of it, because in the long run its gameplay gets repetitive – and that is Doodle God's biggest flaw.”
monetization
43 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
9%
67%
23%
The monetization aspect of the game has drawn mixed reactions from players, primarily due to the presence of microtransactions despite the game being a paid title. While some users appreciate that recent updates have removed the energy system and made hints freely available, many still criticize the initial inclusion of microtransactions as unnecessary and indicative of a cash grab mentality. Overall, the game's monetization model has led to frustration among players, particularly those who feel that essential features should not be locked behind additional payments.
- “Well, I am happy to declare that Joy Bits heard their fans' voice and removed both the energy system and all microtransactions.”
- “Without microtransactions to hinder it, the main mode is quite fun to play and watch as your onscreen world develops, but the quest mode is even more interesting, bringing an entirely new perspective to the game while still using the same core mechanics.”
- “There are no microtransactions that give you an advantage!!!!!”
- “At such a high price, though, everything becomes clear: this is just a nostalgia-fueled cash grab.”
- “The developers disgustingly put in microtransactions, asking players to pay for important functions which should be free from the get-go, and in turn stopped Doodle God from being the good game that it should be.”
- “It's a nice game, but terrible practices when it comes to microtransactions. It's not a necessity to buy them, and they never really are screaming at your face in order for you to buy them, but they're still present, and are certainly annoying.”
graphics
32 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
59%
9%
The game's graphics are characterized by a minimalist, doodle-like art style that is visually appealing and creates a relaxed atmosphere, enhancing the puzzle-solving experience. While some players appreciate the simplicity and charm of the visuals, others note issues with pixelation in fullscreen mode and limited graphical options. Overall, the graphics are well-received for their cute and friendly design, contributing positively to the gameplay experience.
- “The game is characterized by its minimalist graphics and intuitive interface, which make it easy to play but challenging to master.”
- “The doodle-like graphics create a relaxed and casual atmosphere, allowing players to focus on the puzzle-solving aspect of the game.”
- “It’s a very visually appealing art style.”
- “Doodle God was originally a mobile game and it really shows, but I will get to that later… the graphics are minimalistic but not ugly to look at.”
- “The graphics: very few options to change graphics, and for one reason, if I play fullscreen, the game is all pixellated and weird...”
- “You're paying $15 for the cartoony graphics.”
music
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
74%
13%
The music in the game is generally described as decent and relaxing, with a calming soundtrack that enhances the gameplay experience. However, many users express frustration over the lack of volume control for music, sound effects, and voiceovers, which detracts from the overall enjoyment. While the narration is praised, some find the music repetitive and potentially annoying over time.
- “Fun element matching game with a calming soundtrack and multiple mini-game side modes themed around different scenarios.”
- “The artwork for each element icon is quite striking, and the background music is very relaxing.”
- “The music is relaxing and never grates on the ears.”
- “You don't have much control over the volume of the music.”
- “You can't control the volume of sound/voice/music; only toggle them, which is a major thumbs down.”
- “A very major flaw is that the sound and music can't be reduced in volume.”
humor
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is generally well-received, with players appreciating the funny combinations and quirky quotes that emerge from merging elements. While the initial gameplay is described as amusing, some users note that it can become repetitive over time. Overall, the game successfully incorporates humor through clever moments and entertaining dialogue, enhancing the overall experience.
- “Great game, is a lot of fun to mess around with and the comments are really funny when you combine some things.”
- “I found myself surprised by how the game allowed me to sometimes combine weird elements and provided me with pleasant, often humorous results.”
- “Most of them show funny quotes and proverbs when created to add more flavor, and the intro scenes for each chapter are usually funny.”
grinding
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, particularly as the number of elements and combinations increases. While the initial gameplay is enjoyable, the trial-and-error approach and lack of clarity on which items are no longer needed lead to a repetitive and often boring experience. Despite these issues, many still appreciate the game's overall fun factor.
- “The achievement where I have to get all reactions was tedious.”
- “It's just tedious and boring.”
- “It's fun at the start where you only have a few elements to combine and experiment, but as the game progresses it gets very tedious due to the over-abundance of elements and the recipes become nonsensical.”
replayability
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
14%
43%
Overall, the game's replayability is mixed; while some players find it challenging and engaging due to its innovative mechanics and various modes, others criticize it for lacking depth and logical combinations, leading to a low incentive to replay once all combinations are explored. Despite these concerns, certain modes and the game's calming nature provide some additional enjoyment for players.
- “This is a very fun and challenging brain teaser with a calming (almost meditation style) soundtrack as a nice bonus. It features a fun concept and art style, and it is quite difficult and replayable. Some elements can take a while to find and require deep thinking and innovation. Not every combination will yield something new, so you have to use your thinking cap and experiment with different combinations and categories.”
- “Play time and replayability is pretty huge.”
- “Fortunately, there is also a 'tournament' mode and a few other game modes you can try for additional fun.”
- “No replayability, simple mechanics, works better as a free mobile/flash game.”
- “Some of the combinations are not fully logical and there are some replayability issues (when you do all the combinations - which isn't so time consuming - why play the game again?). Fortunately, there is also a tournament mode and a few other game modes you can try for additional fun.”
- “The replay value for the game is low.”
stability
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from significant stability issues, with frequent crashes and numerous bugs reported by users. Many players express frustration over the game's unreliability, particularly in tournament mode, which adds to the overall negative experience.
- “I like the premise, but this game is buggy and crashes often.”
- “I hate how the game crashes so much, and the 'God of Patience' achievement gives you no help at all by not listing how many reactions you have done so far and is buggy as well.”
- “The unfortunate part is that this game is very buggy and has crashed on me more times than I can count in the less than 45 minutes that I've tried to play it.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
100%
The game's doodle-like graphics contribute to a relaxed and casual atmosphere, enhancing the focus on puzzle-solving. Additionally, the soothing musical score is praised for its calming effect, with players expressing a desire for more similarly tranquil music.
- “I love this musical piece and would like to hear other equally peaceful atmosphere music.”
- “The doodle-like graphics create a relaxed and casual atmosphere, allowing players to focus on the puzzle-solving aspect of the game.”
- “I love this musical piece and I would like to hear other equally peaceful atmosphere music.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from poor optimization, characterized by low resolution and laggy controls, making even basic interactions feel janky.
- “It's low resolution, poorly optimized, and even just using a mouse is janky and laggy.”
- “Poor optimization.”