Familiars.io

About

Familiars.io is a multiplayer casual role playing game. It was developed by ClayLoam and was released on January 19, 2024. It received positive reviews from players.

Familiars.io is a massively multiplayer role-playing game where players catch and battle monsters in an online world. With a gameplay reminiscent of Pokemon, players can explore the world, compete with others, or simply socialize. The game is playable on desktop and mobile browsers, making it accessible from various devices. For updates and community engagement, check out the official Discord and Twitter accounts.

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89%

Audience ScoreBased on 56 reviews

graphics4 positive mentions

grinding4 negative mentions

The game features charming graphics and a unique art style that appeals to players.
Gameplay is reminiscent of Pokémon, with enjoyable creature collecting and battling mechanics.
It's free to play, making it accessible for anyone to try without financial commitment.

The game suffers from a lack of meaningful single-player content and has a very low player population, making it feel dead.
Technical issues, such as random game window closures and connection problems, detract from the overall experience.
The game is criticized for its simplistic mechanics and minimal content, leading to a short playtime and potential boredom.

gameplay
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
46%
27%
The gameplay is reminiscent of Pokémon, featuring a unique art style and a focus on multiplayer elements, making it easy to pick up and enjoy. While the mechanics are generally satisfying and streamlined for turn-based battles, some users find the UI cumbersome and the level loss mechanic frustrating. Overall, the game offers a cozy, minimalist experience with diverse creatures and playstyles, appealing to both casual and dedicated players.
- “I love the fact that this game is multiplayer while having a Pokémon-style gameplay; I love the creatures as well.”
- “The gameplay is very easy to understand, maybe uniquely so, and each monster has a unique playstyle that gets the gears in your head spinning as you train them.”
- “Familiars is a very, very simple and self-contained MMO monster-catching RPG not unlike Pokémon, but its sheer minimalism with its presentation and mechanics combined with its focus on multiplayer makes this a very cozy experience that anyone can easily pick up and play, and make a dedicated team within the span of about a half hour.”
- “Keep losing levels randomly; went from level 15 to level 10. Kind of a dumb mechanic.”
- “This artificial clutter makes gameplay more tedious: a lot of clicks and actions with the UI are needed to do anything.”
- “Familiars is a very, very simple and self-contained MMO monster-catching RPG not unlike Pokémon, but its sheer minimalism with its presentation and mechanics combined with its focus on multiplayer makes this a very cozy experience that anyone can easily pick up and play.”
graphics
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
23%
33%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some praising its unique art style and endearing visuals reminiscent of Pokémon, while others criticize the low-quality pixelation and poor aspect ratio, labeling it as one of the worst-looking games on Steam. Despite the aesthetic appeal noted by some players, there are calls for improvement in variety and smoother transitions. Overall, the graphics evoke strong opinions, ranging from creative admiration to disappointment in execution.
- “This game was amazing, super creative, love the art style.”
- “Io is a Pokémon-like featuring a multiplayer open world with some of the best and most unique aesthetics/visuals I've ever seen for the creature catcher genre.”
- “Grrrr but yeah it was an easy click to see whether I like the game as on the surface it looks aesthetically pleasing.”
- “The graphics here are particularly awful, with a crappy 1:1 aspect ratio and some of the laziest pixel art ever to insult gamers. It's so bad that it actually stands out as one of the worst looking games on Steam.”
- “The graphics are pixelated and use a very low number of colors (16?).”
- “Grrrr, but yeah it was an easy click to see whether I like the game as on the surface it looks aesthetically pleasing.”
music
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
20%
20%
The music in the game is generally upbeat and creates a positive vibe, with an enjoyable 8-bit soundtrack that enhances the overall experience. However, some players find it repetitive and suggest that more variety in ambient music could improve immersion and atmosphere across different zones. Overall, the music is considered a fun and addictive element of the game.
- “The soundtrack is great, and overall it's just a nice vibe.”
- “The music is 8-bit and upbeat, giving the game positive vibes.”
- “A really fun creature collector game with very addicting music.”
- “The music is too repetitive, and the lack of variety in ambient tracks detracts from immersion and fails to create a distinct atmosphere for different zones and areas.”
grinding
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be a mixed experience; while it can serve as a good idle game for multitasking, many feel it introduces unnecessary complexity and tedium due to excessive clicking and UI interactions. Additionally, some users caution that the game is more grind-heavy than advertised, despite claims of avoiding traditional RPG grinding.
- “This artificial clutter makes gameplay more tedious: a lot of clicks and actions with the UI are needed to do anything.”
- “I do want to warn that, despite what the store page description says, the game can be pretty grindy.”
- “Makes for a good side-screen idle game while you're needing to listen to something more tedious.”
story
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviewers feel that the game's reliance on player interactions as a substitute for traditional storytelling and level design falls short, suggesting that the inclusion of quests or in-game guidance would enhance the sense of progress and player motivation.
- “The developer gambled that other players would be an acceptable substitute for adding storytelling, level design, etc. to the game.”
- “Instead, there should be quests or pointers in the game itself to create a feeling of progress and help build player motivation.”
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's optimization is criticized for its font design, which is poorly suited for larger screens, resulting in oversized text even when maximized.
- “However, the font is optimized for absurdly tiny screen space, so even when the game is maximized, the letters just become huge.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviewers note that while the game's atmosphere has potential, it is hindered by repetitive music, suggesting that a greater variety of ambient tracks could enhance immersion and better differentiate between zones and areas.