Exographer

About

Exographer is a single player platformer game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by SciFunGames and was released on September 26, 2024. It received very positive reviews from players.

Exographer is an exploration game based in science. Become an explorer, stranded in an alien planetoid, and discover the secrets of an extinct civilization. Gain new powers to avoid dangers and obstacles in your journey, and use your camera to reveal particles and hidden clues. Travel to a strange planetoid Accompany InI, on a rescue mission in an alien world. Discover the remains of an extinct c…

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92%

Audience ScoreBased on 63 reviews

story15 positive mentions

grinding3 negative mentions

Unique and charming metroidvania-style puzzle platformer with no combat, focusing on exploration and science-themed puzzles.
Beautiful pixel art and atmospheric soundtrack create an engaging and relaxing game world with a strong scientific and sci-fi ambiance.
Innovative and well-integrated puzzle mechanics inspired by particle physics that provide educational value and challenge without requiring deep physics knowledge.

Puzzle variety is somewhat limited and can become repetitive, often relying heavily on pattern matching with minimal complexity.
Platforming controls and mechanics can feel finicky and sometimes frustrating, with occasional bugs and unintuitive default keybindings.
Exploration is linear with a somewhat clunky map system lacking fast travel options for later game areas, which can lead to navigation difficulties and soft-locking issues.

story
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
54%
35%
11%
The story is presented through exploration and indirect storytelling, offering a slow, rewarding uncovering of characters and scientific themes reminiscent of Outer Wilds. While some find it engaging and well-integrated with gameplay and worldbuilding, others feel it is simple, occasionally confusing, or not particularly gripping. Overall, it complements the game’s atmosphere and puzzles, providing a thoughtful, low-stakes narrative that appeals especially to fans of science and physics.
- “It also has an Outer Wilds-like quality to it where you discover the story through exploration, which makes exploration truly enjoyable.”
- “The inspired art direction, original visual identity and pleasing music make the exploration quite engaging, and the overall story and worldbuilding feel like a genuine love letter to the scientific community.”
- “The story is quite fun and you do get a feeling for the personalities of these different alien physicists whose machines you're repairing and whose experiments you're reproducing.”
- “The story is not the focus, but it is confusing and is very much a straight line.”
- “Many of the scientific words have been changed out to keep you from being pulled out of the game's story, but it kind of had the opposite effect on me, and it gets in the way of actually teaching some real life science.”
- “The story is not really anything special.”
gameplay
25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
32%
56%
12%
The gameplay centers on puzzle-platforming with mechanics based on particle interactions, offering unique mobility upgrades and synergistic abilities that tie into the story. While the puzzles are generally simple match-type challenges with thoughtful integration of physics themes, some found them repetitive or disjointed, and occasional issues like unintuitive level design and bugs affect the experience. Overall, the gameplay is distinctive and innovative but could benefit from deeper puzzle complexity and more polish.
- “Very good metroidvania with lots of interesting game mechanics and a nice pace alternating platforming and puzzles.”
- “Nice art and story, quite informative physics and science facts that go nicely with the well thought out and innovative puzzle mechanics.”
- “The gameplay mechanics revolve around particle interactions, and it makes room for nice power-up ideas.”
- “But it lacks so much polish (bugs, unintuitive level design, basic gameplay, tedious puzzles...), better educational content and more flavor.”
- “Maybe the puzzle mechanic of matching the energy rays of the different pixules could have been explored a bit more - it gets expanded upon by introducing new types of filters and lenses to look at these energy rays, but at their core, these puzzles are still mostly match-type puzzles where you have to match the given patterns to what you see on the screen.”
- “I found the particle puzzles a little simplistic and disjointed from the rest of the gameplay, but the elementary particle theming and references to famous physicists was neat.”
music
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
81%
19%
The music in the game is generally praised for its pleasant, chill, and atmospheric qualities that complement the art and overall mood, creating a relaxing sci-fi experience. While some find the soundtrack fantastic and fitting, others note it is enjoyable but not particularly standout or memorable. Overall, the music effectively enhances the game's calm and engaging atmosphere.
- “The inspired art direction, original visual identity, and pleasing music make the exploration quite engaging, and the overall story and worldbuilding feel like a genuine love letter to the scientific community.”
- “Puzzles are interesting and the soundtrack is fantastic.”
- “Music is atmospheric, but doesn't particularly stand out.”
- “The music was made by Stray's composer, and it created an eerie yet relaxing sci-fi mood that I really enjoyed personally.”
- “Let's make it clear, it's not a bad game: the music and general art direction is great, it's chill, fairly interesting...”
atmosphere
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
43%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for being calm, soothing, and original, enhanced by a fitting and excellent soundtrack. Its chill vibe supports exploration and storytelling, creating an engaging and immersive experience.
- “It’s a very chill game, and its calm atmosphere is supported by an excellent soundtrack.”
- “A game I recommend for its original and fascinating lore and atmosphere.”
- “Excellent atmosphere with a low-stakes but slow-dripped story.”
graphics
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The graphics are praised for their unique and original art style, blending art-deco aesthetics with realistic laboratory and observatory visuals. The lush, well-chosen color palette and combination of pixel art with vector graphics create a soothing, welcoming atmosphere that enhances the game's distinctive charm.
- “Art-deco aesthetics mixed with visualizations of real laboratories and observatories.”
- “Presentation is very nice - a well-selected color palette and art style evoke a sense of the alien, while also feeling homely and welcoming.”
- “The art direction, a mix of pixel art and vector graphics, totally deserves some praise.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding in the game can be tedious and may result in lost progress if checkpoints are missed, making repetitive tasks feel frustrating. The experience is further hindered by bugs, unintuitive level design, and basic gameplay, contributing to a lack of polish and engagement during grinding.
- “You can snapshot at any time for a free checkpoint, but if you forget to do it several times in a row, you may lose 5 minutes of tedious progress (some snapshots are recorded and necessary for progress).”
- “It lacks polish, featuring bugs, unintuitive level design, basic gameplay, and tedious puzzles, which contribute to a grinding experience.”
- “Grinding feels tedious due to repetitive tasks and slow progress without sufficient rewards or variation.”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is somewhat buggy, with occasional physics glitches such as bouncing through walls, but overall it shows more polish and content than anticipated.