Expand is a triumph of visual design and scoring that also boasts some clever design ideas.
Get on SteamExpand is a meditative video game in which you explore a circular labyrinth that constantly twists, stretches and expands underneath you.
Mac OS
PC
Playstation 4
Playstation 5
Windows
Linux
PlayStation
Xbox
Reviews
- Beautiful and immersive visuals paired with a captivating soundtrack create a unique and relaxing experience.
- The gameplay is simple yet challenging, encouraging players to think strategically while navigating through cleverly designed mazes.
- The game offers a meditative quality, with seamless transitions between levels and a satisfying flow that keeps players engaged.
- The game is quite short, lasting around 2 hours, which may leave some players wanting more content.
- Controls can feel unintuitive at first, especially when using a keyboard instead of a controller, leading to potential frustration.
- Some levels can be overly punishing with long stretches between checkpoints, making it tedious to replay sections after failing.
- music80 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 46 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The music in the game, composed by Christopher Larkin, is widely praised for its beauty and emotional depth, enhancing the gameplay experience with dynamic transitions that match the action on screen. Many players find the soundtrack calming and meditative, contributing significantly to the game's atmosphere, although some critiques mention moments where the music feels out of place or overly dramatic. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a standout feature, making the game a worthwhile experience for those who appreciate a well-crafted musical accompaniment.
“Christopher Larkin once again works his magic with music, creating an intensely beautiful soundtrack that pairs wonderfully with the gameplay.”
“The music changes dynamically based on the stage of the levels, which is always lovely to see.”
“The game is tightly interwoven with its soundtrack, which seamlessly flows between variations when you finish a 'room' -- I always appreciate games which do things like this with the music.”
“The music sounds cliched and tries to be overly dramatic and epic, which doesn't really bring excitement or intrigue to a square walking in 4 directions.”
“Sure the music is fine, but it's nothing special and there are no sound puzzles or even important sound effects.”
“Never has going around in circles to calming music been so stressful.”
- gameplay48 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 69 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by its simple yet challenging mechanics, primarily revolving around navigating mazes with a focus on timing and pattern recognition. While the experience is often described as calming and visually striking, some players find it repetitive and limited in scope, with a few mechanics feeling overused. Overall, the game offers a blend of inventive design and soothing music, creating a unique, albeit brief, puzzle experience.
“Short, simple, yet with a lot of good challenge and well-paced gameplay.”
“The mix of simple game mechanics, progressive obstacles, and beautiful music make this an easy purchase for a fantastic, if short, experience.”
“While maybe a little too short for some, Expand is a polished, crafty puzzler that boasts a solid challenge and gameplay that will require you to think a little outside the box.”
“The gameplay is rather rudimentary, just enough to sustain its short run time.”
“The mechanics are overused and don't really introduce anything more than moving in different ways, which makes the 90 minutes of time I spent playing drag on.”
“None of the sets of puzzles and their associated mechanics really feel cohesive or justified in the context of the game's world and feel quite arbitrary.”
- graphics19 mentions
- 26 % positive mentions
- 58 % neutral mentions
- 16 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their striking and unique aesthetic, characterized by a minimalist color palette of black, white, and red, which creates a visually pleasing experience. The art style, described as abstract minimalist constructivism, complements the clever gameplay mechanics, making the visuals and game design intricately linked. While some players desire more texture, the overall presentation is considered innovative and captivating, enhancing the game's charm and appeal.
“I definitely appreciate this game as an aesthetic experience.”
“Only using black, white, and red (along with your pink square), this game gives you some amazing visuals that are just so aesthetically pleasing.”
“While I wish there was more texture to the bold contrasting quality of the graphics, the meditative soundtrack more than sucks me deeper down the labyrinthine vortex.”
“Visuals: while the colors mainly consist of black and white, with a few red highlights, and your pink cube character, it manages to be a beautiful game.”
“A big part of the charm is that each new gameplay idea (and there are many) automatically implies a new kind of visual patterns, so game design and graphic design are almost one and the same.”
- emotional8 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game delivers a profoundly emotional experience, with a narrative that resonates deeply and a soundtrack that enhances the emotional journey through its levels. Players appreciate the seamless integration of gameplay and emotional storytelling, noting that the focus is on the experience rather than challenges or achievements, making it a uniquely impactful obstacle course.
“It tells a story that I found to be emotionally impactful.”
“What a phenomenal emotional trip!”
“Overall, Expand is satisfying to complete; but it's not about the challenge—there are no achievements here—it's about the experience, which is remarkably emotional given its abstraction.”
- atmosphere7 mentions
- 57 % positive mentions
- 14 % neutral mentions
- 29 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its dynamic and well-executed music, which enhances the overall experience, particularly in its atmospheric platforming elements. While some players expected a more puzzle-focused atmosphere, the combination of simplistic yet engaging gameplay and a captivating soundtrack creates a pleasant and introspective environment. However, there are mixed feelings about the balance of puzzles, with some feeling that more engaging challenges could have further enriched the atmosphere.
“This game is about two things: its atmosphere (especially the dynamic music, which is always difficult to get right but was done very well here), and 'patience, not hesitation'.”
“Combine that with the atmospheric music, and you have a masterpiece.”
“A simplistic concept, well-executed and not-so-simple at times, backed with a tremendously wonderful atmospheric soundtrack.”
“After reading another review, I saw this was from the same composer as Hollow Knight, which had an excellent soundtrack, so I'm surprised the ball was dropped so hard here in terms of atmosphere.”
“Expand would have certainly benefitted from a few more great puzzles to balance out the tedious ones, but it's an overall pleasant experience with a genuinely introspective atmosphere.”
- story5 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
The game's story is described as emotionally impactful despite the absence of a traditional narrative, relying instead on chapter names. Some players feel it resembles a brain training exercise, yet appreciate the sincerity in its music, gameplay, and design, suggesting it reflects the creators' dedication.
“It tells a story that I found to be emotionally impactful.”
“Finally, as someone else noted, it does feel like a brain training exercise, like those Lumosity ones, only with a sincerity in the music, the story, the gameplay, and general design that makes you realize this game was a labor of love to the creators.”
“By the way, the game has no story, only chapter names.”
“How do you give a story to a game without narrative?”
“On a quest to play things in my backlog, and if it doesn't hold me enough, I stop.”
- grinding2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players note that the game heavily emphasizes grinding, which can lead to a flow state enhanced by its pleasant music. While the experience is generally enjoyable, some feel that the inclusion of more engaging puzzles could alleviate the tedium associated with certain levels.
“That game, however, is all about grinding. It has short bursts that allow you to get into a flow state with the nice music, while this game is more about playing levels.”
“Expand would have certainly benefitted from a few more great puzzles to balance out the tedious ones, but it's an overall pleasant experience with a genuinely introspective atmosphere.”
- replayability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Users generally feel that the game lacks strong replayability, suggesting that once completed, it does not offer enough incentive or variety to encourage multiple playthroughs.
“The game does not feel as replayable.”
“Once you've completed the main story, there's little incentive to play again.”
“The lack of varied outcomes makes replaying the game feel tedious.”
Critic Reviews
Expand Review
A unique game that's visually distinctive and at times quite beautiful, but it suffers from a little unevenness in some levels which distract from the meditative experience it has been pitched as.
75%Expand Review
Despite falling on the shorter side of indie titles, Expand manages to stand out as a fascinating take on puzzles and mazes. By relying on a mix of patient gameplay and non-stop movement, each puzzle requires as much thought as it does technical skill. Not every puzzle is a hit, with a few standing out as little more than frustrating, but the majority of the experience is very well done thanks in large part to the colour scheme and soundtrack. Expand would have certainly benefitted from a few more great puzzles to balance out the tedious ones, but it's an overall pleasant experience with a genuinely introspective atmosphere.
70%Expand Review
While it's hard to find anything overtly enjoyable in the experience, Expand never feels like a complete waste of time. It's a tough game to explain on many levels. It's more of a platformer than anything else, or perhaps a puzzle game. It's not horrible, and it's not amazing. It's safe to say many gamers will take a different opinion of it, but it's just too hard to put into words what's missing. It feels like a constant art piece, without words telling how cool it is and how appreciative they should be for playing it. It just never feels like it lives up to its own expectations. Too often, it feels like it's trying to be so much more than it can hope to be.
50%
