Equinox

About

Equinox is a single player action game. It was developed by Open Alpha and was released on December 3, 2021. It received positive reviews from players.

The moon has shattered. Plunged into darkness, the world looks to an unlikely hero: a tiny yet tenacious bunny. Defy all odds and reach for the stars in this whimsical 2D platformer.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

86%

Audience ScoreBased on 85 reviews

story30 positive mentions

stability5 negative mentions

The game features beautiful art and a charming story that evokes a nostalgic, storybook feel.
Gameplay is simple and enjoyable, with unique mechanics for boss battles that mix platforming with combat.
It's a free game that provides a short, relaxing experience, making it accessible for casual players.

The game suffers from technical issues, including confusing mechanics, inconsistent hitboxes, and bugs that disrupt the experience.
Levels can feel repetitive and lack polish, leading to frustration during gameplay.
The lack of clear instructions and explanations for gameplay mechanics can make it difficult for players to understand how to progress.

story
65 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
46%
49%
5%
The game's story is characterized as a charming, fable-like narrative centered around a brave bunny's quest to collect moon fragments, evoking nostalgic feelings reminiscent of childhood bedtime stories. While the art and narration are praised for their beauty and effectiveness, some players noted technical issues, such as bugs in the dialogue during cutscenes, which detracted from the overall experience. Despite these flaws, the storytelling and accompanying visuals create a cozy, engaging atmosphere that many players found enjoyable.
- “The story has pleasant narration and is told in a rhyming, children's book style.”
- “Equinox is a simple and sweet 2D platforming experience revolving around a narrative poem that reads like a bedtime story for a young child.”
- “The story is told in a smooth and delicate way, accompanied by lots of cute drawings, a relaxing soundtrack, and a sweet voice narrator telling us everything from the beginning to the end. It's like we're children for a split second again, and our parents or someone we love were telling us a story to have a good night's sleep; the experience that the game provides is really great!”
- “The dialogue in the final cutscene is a mess; it only goes so far before starting to repeat and overlap itself. Both the narration and the text are affected in a big way, completely derailing the last part of the story. I thought it may be a fluke, so I replayed the final boss to get to the end again, but it still happened. Looking around a bit, apparently I'm not the only one to have this issue.”
- “Although it had a wonderful and magical story, the gameplay was often too repetitive and underdeveloped.”
- “The visuals were beautiful, as was the music, but I don't understand what the gameplay had to do with the story at all, except for the constellation 'boss fights.'”
gameplay
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
65%
12%
The gameplay of "equinox" has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the unique mechanics and charming aesthetics, while others criticize it for being repetitive, simplistic, and technically flawed. Although the combat and platforming elements can be enjoyable, many find the overall experience lacking depth and challenge, often feeling too easy due to power-ups and a forgiving lives system. The game's beautiful art and soothing soundtrack are frequently highlighted, but they do not compensate for the shortcomings in gameplay.
- “I really like the mechanic of 'fighting' the animal constellations, mixing the platforming element with a boss battle.”
- “The mechanics used for combat can take a few minutes to get a handle on, but after that, it's a unique and pleasant experience that brings you to some of the best storytelling I've ever heard.”
- “The story and gameplay are engaging and simple; the drawings are adorable and the music fits every moment perfectly.”
- “Equinox is a very mediocre 2D retro platformer with a simple narrative, some nice backgrounds, and pretty awful gameplay and technical implementation.”
- “You plod through the narrative by completing simple, minimalist, and badly done platformer levels. Now there's literally thousands of 2D retro platformers on Steam, almost all of them ignored by gamers, and in terms of pure gameplay, this is one of the worst.”
- “Although it had a wonderful and magical story, the gameplay was often too repetitive and underdeveloped.”
graphics
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
55%
31%
14%
The graphics of Equinox are widely praised for their beautiful and enchanting hand-drawn art style, evoking a nostalgic, storybook feel. While some players appreciate the soft visuals and charming aesthetics, others criticize the lack of modern 3D graphics and note that the 2D visuals can sometimes hinder gameplay, particularly during challenging sections. Overall, the game's art and music create a captivating atmosphere, enhancing the overall experience despite some gameplay issues.
- “Equinox, aesthetically speaking, is beautiful.”
- “A luminous game with a magical art style.”
- “The visuals of this game are beautiful, the story is interesting and the controls are flawless.”
- “The game features really lackluster 2D visuals (does the developer not know 3D graphics became mainstream in the mid-1990s?).”
- “Despite its charming story and cutscene visuals, the controls were a little finicky, especially during the boss battles.”
- “My only complaint is that with the addition of new powers the game becomes a little too easy, but most of the appeal is the aesthetic and calm energy anyways.”
music
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
45%
41%
14%
The music in the game is widely praised for its calming and enchanting qualities, effectively complementing the fairytale-like narrative and beautiful artwork. Many players appreciate the relaxing soundtrack and the sweet narration, which enhance the overall storytelling experience. However, some users noted that the music can become repetitive over time, potentially detracting from the enjoyment of the gameplay.
- “The music is soft and touching, and it fits the world pretty well.”
- “It has a beautiful story of a brave little bunny and his journey to collect the 8 fragments of the moon that mysteriously broke in a moonlight night, and it is accompanied by a relaxing soundtrack and a sweet narrator voice telling and explaining the whole story.”
- “The story and gameplay are engaging and simple, the drawings are adorable, and the music fits every moment perfectly.”
- “Repetitive music and just not very fun, but what did you expect from a free game.”
- “The background music, or more like the melody, is annoying after you've heard it 200 times or so because it's pretty short and repeats itself.”
- “(can't say if the music changes after each level)”
stability
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from significant stability issues, with numerous glitches affecting gameplay and overall experience. Players have expressed a strong desire for updates to address these bugs and enhance content, particularly in boss battles, which currently lack variety.
- “Overall this game needs an update to fix glitches, and add more levels (and maybe spice up the boss fights because they're all basically the same thing just progressively harder).”
- “First of all, to start with the one that affects gameplay the most is the glitches.”
- “Anyways, I really hope Open Alpha reads this and updates the game to fix glitches (make it seem less like it was made on Scratch) and to add more content and better boss battles.”
emotional
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is highlighted by its cute and wholesome story, which evokes strong feelings of warmth and nostalgia, complemented by soft and touching music that enhances the experience. However, some players express dissatisfaction with the gameplay, suggesting a disconnect between the emotional narrative and the interactive elements. Overall, the storybook vibes are a significant draw, making it a recommended experience despite gameplay shortcomings.
- “It's so cute! I loved the feeling it gave me during the story sections, but it also made me feel unsatisfied and unhappy with the gameplay. The only reason I recommend it is because of the storybook cozy vibes, and it's free.”
- “The music is soft and touching, and it fits the world pretty well.”
- “This is the most wholesome game I've ever played; I adore this so much.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find humor in the game's mechanics, particularly the amusing interaction where enemies become harmless when "hugged" or forced off the map, adding a lighthearted touch to gameplay.
- “Enemies that hit you, however, don't do anything if you 'hug' them, aka force them off the map, which is quite funny, not gonna lie.”