Endling: Extinction is Forever

About

Endling: Extinction is Forever is a single player open world simulation game with a drama theme. It was developed by Herobeat Studios and was released on September 10, 2021. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and overwhelmingly positive reviews from players.

Will a mother fox manage to keep its little cubs alive?

Endling: Extinction is Forever screenshot

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95%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,793 reviews

story324 positive mentions

replayability5 negative mentions

Beautiful and emotional storytelling without words, conveying a powerful environmental message.
Stunning visual art style and captivating soundtrack enhancing the immersive experience.
Engaging gameplay loop centered around survival, caring for cubs, and exploration in a changing world.

Short playtime with limited replayability for the full price, recommended to buy on sale.
Repetitive gameplay with some frustrating controls and inconsistent tutorial guidance.
Ending is emotionally heavy and considered by some to be abrupt, forced, or unsatisfying.

story
745 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
55%
2%
The story is widely praised for its beautiful, emotional, and heart-wrenching storytelling, told almost entirely without dialogue through environmental cues and gameplay. Players connect deeply with the mother fox's struggle to protect her cubs in a dystopian, deteriorating world, with themes of survival, loss, and the impact of human cruelty on nature. While the narrative is somewhat short and linear, and some find parts rushed or predictable, its powerful message, immersive worldbuilding, and bittersweet ending leave a lasting emotional impact.
- “The story unfolds gradually through wordless encounters and visual storytelling, culminating in moments of profound sorrow that feel neither manipulative nor forced, but earned through the intimacy of the experience.”
- “Without speaking a word, the story manages to be moving, raw, and deeply philosophical, exploring the story of human brutality, desperation, and loss, all through the eyes of a fox mother caught in the crossfire.”
- “The environmental storytelling is perfect, telling a detailed story and setting an atmosphere of despair and impending doom without any dialogue.”
- “After going through hours of piecing together a story between your family and the scavenger and his daughter, picking up environmental hints about what was going on in the world and killing people/the planet, it felt incredibly lazy and like it was trying to rely more on shock value than anything else.”
- “Now for the actual death, I feel like there were so many better ways it could deliver a devastating loss like that where realism and story could both coexist without just being like 'the mom dies, the end.'”
- “The story is marketed as the game's main selling point, but it is also where my greatest disappointment lies. The ending was where the story took a turn for the worst though. The decision to 'kill' a character twice in such a manner seemed unnecessary and felt like an attempt to artificially create a sad story.”
emotional
546 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Endling – Extinction is Forever delivers an intensely emotional experience, centered on the heart-wrenching story of a mother fox struggling to protect her cubs in a dying world. Players overwhelmingly report deep emotional engagement marked by moments of sadness, empathy, and tears, amplified by the game’s poignant narrative, evocative art, and haunting soundtrack. While the gameplay is simple and somewhat limited, the powerful environmental message and intimate storytelling create a memorable and often overwhelming emotional journey that many find both beautiful and devastating.
- “Endling – extinction is forever stands as one of the most emotionally stirring experiences in modern gaming, a work of quiet conviction that transforms survival into poetry.”
- “Endling is a beautiful and very melancholy game that made me cry.”
- “Playing as a mother fox trying to protect her cubs in a dying world is heart-wrenching, and the game does a good job of creating moments of tension and empathy.”
gameplay
324 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
59%
8%
The gameplay in Endling: Extinction is Forever is generally described as simple, straightforward, and engaging, centered on a core loop of exploration, feeding, and protecting cubs. While praised for its emotional depth, seamless integration with the story, and polished mechanics, it is often criticized for repetitiveness, limited complexity, and lack of meaningful player agency or replayability. The mechanics effectively support the narrative but may feel shallow or underdeveloped to players seeking more sophisticated or varied gameplay.
- “The simplicity of it all created a pretty good gameplay loop of leaving the den, exploring the environment in order to feed and care for the kits while avoiding danger, and returning to the den as the rest of the world wakes up in order to return to safety and rest.”
- “Endling’s genius lies in how it transforms a familiar gameplay loop into a haunting reflection on extinction and survival, forcing you to confront the human cost of environmental neglect through the eyes of a creature just trying to keep her family alive.”
- “While the nightly cycle of scavenging, feeding, and returning to safety forms the backbone of the gameplay, it is the evolving relationship between the mother and her cubs that provides its soul.”
- “After 7 hours of playing, I realized I was growing bored of what seemed like the same repeating gameplay loop stretched out, and I began to wonder if I'd seen all that the game had to show.”
- “The core gameplay loop is repetitive and lacks depth.”
- “Unfortunately, when Endling transitioned into the open-world section (99% of the game), it was littered with repetitive gameplay and a lack of conflict.”
graphics
266 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
70%
29%
1%
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their beautiful, cute, and cartoony art style reminiscent of games like Firewatch, with detailed, expressive animations and atmospheric environments that enhance the emotional storytelling. The visuals, combined with an excellent soundtrack and sound design, create an immersive, painterly experience that resonates deeply with players. While some note the simplicity of the graphics and minor technical issues, overall the stunning, stylish, and heartwarming art style is a major highlight and integral to the game's impact.
- “The art style is striking: lush forests, polluted wastelands, and the quiet ruins of human activity are all presented in a way that feels painterly but raw.”
- “The artwork is stunning down to the smallest details, the animation, cut scenes, and the way they portray emotion despite having zero dialogue is outstanding.”
- “The visuals are bloody gorgeous, each vista is worth framing as the colours and shape of the landscape create playable paintings.”
- “The price is ridiculously high and it is not that impressive graphically to forgive it: it's neat and atmospheric but not breathtaking.”
- “The graphics are simple but effective and honestly I don't see much of a difference when playing it on medium graphical settings or higher.”
- “Not compatible with Intel graphics! There is a known and recognized unavoidable crash with Intel graphics after the intro, affecting also Arc graphics (A750) despite exceeding recommended GPU specs.”
music
176 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
31%
2%
The game's music is widely praised for its emotional depth, haunting beauty, and perfect alignment with the game's somber, immersive atmosphere. Composed by Manel Gil-Inglada, the soundtrack features gentle piano and mournful strings that enhance the storytelling without overwhelming it, effectively conveying the game's poignant environmental and emotional themes. Overall, the music is considered a standout element that deeply enriches the player's experience.
- “The soundtrack by Manel Gil-Inglada weaves gentle piano motifs and mournful strings that heighten the emotional tension without overwhelming the quiet melancholy of the world.”
- “The entire story is wordless, only through music, sounds and animation does Endling - Extinction is Forever tell its tale.”
- “The music is so beautiful it should come with a warning label.”
- “ Just filling noises/no music.”
- “So you make this heartbreaking game meant to depict real-world horrors we’re supposed to take totally seriously, then you make the antagonists pyro from TF2 holding a sniper rifle, and a lanky-legged man chasing after you with an axe while obnoxious punk rock music plays.”
- “There isn’t much music in the game, but it’s pretty neat.”
atmosphere
40 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
63%
29%
8%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its immersive, somber, and haunting qualities, effectively conveying a sense of despair and environmental decay through stunning visuals, evocative music, and detailed worldbuilding. Players often highlight the seamless blend of art, sound design, and storytelling that creates a deeply emotional and thought-provoking experience. Despite some minor design critiques, the atmosphere consistently stands out as a core strength and a key factor in the game's impact.
- “The sound design complements the visuals perfectly: wind rushing through dead trees, distant industrial drones, and the whimpers of hungry cubs combine to create an atmosphere that is both immersive and suffocating.”
- “The environmental storytelling is perfect, telling a detailed story and setting an atmosphere of despair and impending doom without any dialogue.”
- “Incredibly atmospheric and the deterioration of the natural habitat really brings home what deforestation and pollution is doing to our wildlife.”
- “Oppressive atmosphere a la Inside.”
- “A modest visual component sets its own charming style, since the picture conveys all those present and the environment itself quite well, and all this charm is complemented by a very melodic accompaniment that plays very well on the general atmosphere.”
- “You play as a mother fox trying to keep her 4 baby cubs alive in a very real and nasty world much like our own; what stood out to me the most were the environments and scary dystopian atmospheres the game created.”
replayability
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
62%
24%
Endling: Extinction is Forever offers a short, linear narrative experience with limited replayability, primarily appealing to achievement hunters. The gameplay lacks variety and meaningful replay incentives, making it best suited for a single playthrough. Overall, its replay value is low, and it is recommended to purchase on sale due to its brief duration and limited content beyond the main story.
- “Infinitely replayable (or almost).”
- “Endling is a very fun game and replayable if you are an achievement hunter!”
- “This game is more realistic (though you can't tell from the graphics) and also more replayable.”
- “Once the credits roll, there’s little reason to return, as the gameplay doesn’t offer much replayability.”
- “Overall, Endling: Extinction is Forever is a game with a powerful message and stunning visuals, but it’s let down by repetitive gameplay, a lack of meaningful player interaction, and limited replay value.”
- “Gameplay is limited to around 3 hours and the game is unfortunately unreplayable because of its same ending, but despite this I do highly recommend this game if you want a story with intense gameplay full of desperate moments.”
grinding
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
7%
93%
Grinding in the game is frequently described as tedious and slow, often requiring repetitive backtracking and replaying of the same segments, which can frustrate players seeking faster progression. However, some find the gradual rewards and strong storytelling help mitigate the monotony, especially for those interested in the game's environmental and social themes. Overall, the grinding may appeal more to players willing to invest significant time despite its repetitiveness.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “This can be especially tedious when you’re eager to advance and find yourself retracing steps repeatedly.”
- “It needs better closure, and the way it restricts you from making progress is absolutely tedious.”
stability
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
86%
The game generally runs smoothly with beautiful animations and a touching story, though it contains some minor glitches such as enemies getting stuck and occasional tracking sequence issues. These bugs are relatively few and do not significantly impact overall enjoyment, but some fixes are still needed.
- “For the glitches that I've had: some enemies get stuck in walk cycles, I got stuck when trying to steal the fish from the badger (I was in a continuous fight with it), and some later scent tracking moments played before the current tracking moment (for me it was the 4th tracking moment played before the 3rd).”
- “There are a few glitches, but that's expected when it's released on its initial date.”
- “While the game does have a few weird bugs or glitches here and there, it just adds to the fun of trying to get out of glitching on a ledge.”
humor
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is a mix of witty moments and emotional depth, successfully evoking laughs alongside heartfelt reactions. While some animal sounds, like the fox, are not entirely authentic, they add a quirky and amusing touch that complements the game's overall tone.
- “It's made me laugh, made me scowl, made me jump out of my seat from fear, made me smile & made me cry.”
- “Heartwrenching and heartwarming all at the same time, this game will have you laughing and crying at different times.”
- “Fox sounds are not totally authentic but at least they picked the most comfortable ones (most devs don't dare to use fox sounds, because foxes just do funny noises).”
character development
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Character development is praised for its beautiful and succinct character designs, supported by an incredible art style and stunning animations. The visuals and colors enhance the overall appeal, making the characters visually engaging throughout the game.
- “The character designs are beautiful and very succinct, and the art style is incredible.”
- “I've finished the game and it's not for the faint-hearted, but the animations are beautiful and I love the character designs.”
- “This game has very pretty visuals, colors, and character designs.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Optimization is inconsistent, with notable performance issues such as stuttering on devices like the Steam Deck despite meeting or exceeding recommended GPU specifications. Users report poor performance even on relatively powerful hardware.
- “Performance is pretty poor on Steam Deck for what it is.”
- “The most recent ticket was from a user with Iris Xe graphics, but I am getting the same type of error with Arc graphics (A750), which exceed the recommended GPU specs in terms of power and performance.”
- “There were some minor performance issues here and there in the form of stutter, but that could just be because I was playing on the Deck.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users criticize the game's monetization for its excessively high price, expressing skepticism about whether funds support charitable causes, and feel the purchase is a cash grab that disappoints given the game's promotional hype.

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80%Critics’ scoreBased on 2 critic reviews

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6h Median play time

20h Average play time

4-7h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 21 analyzed playthroughs

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Endling: Extinction is Forever is a open world simulation game with drama theme.

Endling: Extinction is Forever is available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Steam Deck and others.

On average players spend around 20 hours playing Endling: Extinction is Forever.

Endling: Extinction is Forever was released on September 10, 2021.

Endling: Extinction is Forever was developed by Herobeat Studios.

Endling: Extinction is Forever has received mostly positive reviews from players and mostly positive reviews from critics. Most players liked Endling: Extinction is Forever for its story but disliked it for its replayability.

Endling: Extinction is Forever is a single player game.

Similar games include Shelter 2, Shelter, The First Tree, Paws, RiME and others.

Endling: Extinction is Forever

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