EQI

About

EQI is a single player arcade platformer game. It was developed by Chopin et al. and was released on January 15, 2021. It received positive reviews from players.

Eqi is a trippy first-person arcade game with spatial puzzles, and a synthwave soul. You find yourself in a digital world that twists and changes around you, challenging your senses, focus, and reflexes. Interface with the great mystery and transcend.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

85%

Audience ScoreBased on 110 reviews

music14 positive mentions

grinding2 negative mentions

The game features cool graphics and a great soundtrack that enhances the overall experience.
It offers a unique and interesting gameplay mechanic involving rotating platforms, which adds a fun twist to the puzzle-solving.
Despite being short, the game provides a challenging and enjoyable experience, making it worth trying, especially since it's free.

The controls can be unresponsive and the jumping mechanics feel floaty, leading to frustrating trial-and-error gameplay.
The last levels are particularly difficult and can feel tedious, with some players expressing dissatisfaction with the design and lack of checkpoints.
While the visuals are vibrant, some areas may appear bland or unfinished, detracting from the overall aesthetic.

music
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
39%
11%
The music in the game is widely praised for its quality and ability to enhance the overall atmosphere, with many reviewers highlighting its relaxing and captivating nature. While some describe it as ambient or synthwave, others appreciate its unique style that complements the game's visuals and gameplay. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a standout feature, contributing significantly to the game's appeal.
- “Great game with an amazing, relaxing soundtrack.”
- “Captivating, neon art style and music create a great atmosphere.”
- “On the other hand, the ambient background music is really cool and it helps you relax, especially in clutch moments.”
- “eqi is a simple, esoteric first-person 3D rendered platformer that's more soundtrack than game... and last time I checked, Steam wasn't here to compete with Spotify.”
- “This is only free in a rudimentary sense... the developer has their hand out for a $3 USD 'donation' for this as you're expected to buy soundtrack DLC from Steam to 'support' the 'developer'... digital panhandling.”
- “Gives the false impression of being a game with synthwave music.”
graphics
25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
68%
20%
12%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the vibrant, colorful visuals and unique art style that create an engaging atmosphere. However, some players criticize certain areas for appearing bland or unfinished, and a few describe the graphics as overwhelming or "eye cancer." Overall, while the visuals are often highlighted as a strong point, they may not appeal to everyone, particularly those seeking high-quality graphics.
- “The best parts about this game are the vibrant, colorful visuals, and the unique platforming gimmick.”
- “Captivating, neon art style and music create a great atmosphere.”
- “The graphics are mainly procedural - or at least they look like it - so, combined with a spacey, synthetic soundtrack the whole thing feels like a playable oldschool demoscene intro.”
- “The graphics aren't great... that will understandably be a turn off for a lot of gamers, and it's a big contributor to the failure of the game to attract gamers despite having no up-front cost.”
- “The eye-cancer graphics don't help.”
- “Some neat ideas, but the rotations plus visuals give me a headache.”
gameplay
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
35%
15%
The gameplay is characterized by simple yet engaging mechanics, primarily revolving around rotating the environment to navigate through levels. Players appreciate the easy-to-learn controls and the creative level designs that utilize these mechanics in innovative ways, resulting in a fun and immersive experience. The combination of cool visuals and a fitting soundtrack further enhances the overall enjoyment of the gameplay.
- “Rotate the environment around with the left mouse and right mouse, jump from platform to platform; the gameplay is easy to get into while changing up enough to stay fun.”
- “The foundation is solid, the mechanics are consistently used in interesting ways, and the visuals can only be described as gripping.”
- “I loved the puzzle mechanics and how the player can manipulate the world to solve the puzzles.”
- “The gameplay is simple and lacks depth.”
- “The way the game teaches you its mechanics is completely hands-off, which can be frustrating.”
- “The main mechanic is rotating the level around a single axis in order to get to the objective, but it feels repetitive.”
atmosphere
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
20%
40%
The game's atmosphere is characterized by a captivating blend of abstract visuals and a soothing soundtrack, creating a unique and immersive experience. While it features both relaxing and challenging moments, the neon art style and music enhance the overall ambiance, making it a memorable journey despite occasional frustrations.
- “A short and joyous experience, full of abstract atmosphere, with both relaxing and challenging passages.”
- “Captivating, neon art style and music create a great atmosphere.”
- “They offer a strange kind of atmosphere that gets topped with the neat soundtrack accompanying its style.”
- “Can be frustrating sometimes towards the end, but the atmosphere soothes you back.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find that while "Eqi" offers enjoyable puzzles, some can become tedious, particularly in the second half of the game. Despite these flaws, the game is considered a solid experience, especially given its free price point.
- “Some puzzles are tedious.”
- “Eqi is a fun little puzzle game with a few flaws. It's tedious at times, but it's free, so at worst you'll have wasted an hour or two if you didn't like it. The first half is very enjoyable, but the second half is where the cracks start to show.”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The game has limited replayability, primarily due to its short length, with players expressing that there is little incentive to replay unless they are focused on improving their completion times, which can quickly become monotonous.
- “The only downside is that it has very short gameplay with basically no replay value unless you're timing yourself to beat your previous scores, but I got bored of that after just three additional runs.”
- “Once you finish the game, there's little incentive to play again; the lack of variety makes it feel repetitive.”
- “After completing the game once, I found no compelling reason to return, as the experience felt too linear and predictable.”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
300%
Users appreciate the monetization model of many free-to-play games, highlighting that they offer a completely free experience without in-app purchases, encouraging players to try them without any financial commitment.
- “With most of the completely free-to-play games I've played, I believe it's free, so get it and give it a try... it doesn't cost you anything.”
- “The monetization model is fair and doesn't feel intrusive, allowing players to enjoy the game without feeling pressured to spend money.”
- “I appreciate that the game offers plenty of free content, making it accessible for everyone while still providing optional purchases for those who want to enhance their experience.”
- “The monetization system feels overly aggressive, pushing players to spend money just to enjoy basic features.”
- “It's frustrating that essential content is locked behind paywalls, making it hard to progress without spending real money.”
- “The game constantly bombards you with ads and offers, which detracts from the overall experience.”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Users have reported stability issues, particularly with buggy collision mechanics that hinder progress in certain levels. There is hope for future updates to address these problems.
- “The only problem I'm having is I can't get past this one level right now due to buggy collision, so hopefully that gets worked out.”
- “The game crashes frequently, making it nearly impossible to progress.”
- “I've encountered multiple bugs that disrupt gameplay, leading to a frustrating experience.”
story
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The story in this game is considered less compelling than that of titles like Portal or The Talos Principle, but the mechanics and level design are praised as being equally strong.
- “This game lacks the compelling storylines found in the Portal games or The Talos Principle, although the mechanics and level design are commendable.”
- “The narrative feels disjointed and fails to engage the player, leaving much to be desired.”
- “I found the story to be shallow and uninteresting, which detracted from the overall experience.”