Fancy Skulls
- June 16, 2014
- tequibo
- 13h median play time
Get on Steam"Fancy Skulls" is a first-person shooter with procedural generation and permanent death, offering intense and tactical combat. Enemies have unique behaviors, such as teleporting or leaving homing bombs. Weapons each have distinct characteristics and mod options, like walk backward for ammo or shoot lightning bolts with a shotgun, and usable items add strategic depth to gameplay.
Mac OS
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game features a unique art style and atmosphere that many players find appealing.
- Gameplay is fast-paced and challenging, rewarding precision and skill in combat.
- There is a variety of weapons and upgrades that enhance replayability and keep the gameplay interesting.
- The game has been abandoned in early access since 2016, leading to a lack of content and updates.
- Many players report performance issues, including stuttering and lag during gameplay.
- The overall experience feels incomplete, with repetitive levels and limited enemy variety.
- gameplay55 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 56 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game is characterized by a mix of procedural generation and tactical elements, but many players find it simplistic and lacking in depth, with limited content and low replay value. While some appreciate the smooth mechanics and unique art style, others criticize the repetitive nature and lack of challenge, leading to a perception of the game as generic and overpriced. Overall, the gameplay offers a blend of enjoyable mechanics and strategic elements, but it struggles to maintain engagement over time.
“The gameplay is smooth and rhythmic, making it relaxing to play, but everything still moves at a fairly fast pace, meaning you won't get bored.”
“Fancy Skulls offers an interesting and unique experience, with gameplay that significantly modifies mechanics, forcing a more tactical approach and making every bullet count.”
“Gameplay is easy, has only 9 stages, few enemies, few level layouts, few unlockables (4 to be exact) and a few weapons, so replay value is low.”
“The gameplay is extremely solid, movement is fluid and the gunplay is very well done.”
“Gameplay though is not interesting at all, and it feels pretty generic & boring.”
- graphics53 mentions
- 34 % positive mentions
- 58 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the unique and interesting art style that enhances the atmosphere, while others criticize it for being overly simplistic or confusing. Many note that the visuals can be polarizing, with some finding them beautiful and fitting for the gameplay, while others describe them as bare-bones or even painful to look at. Overall, the art style is seen as a defining feature, though opinions vary widely on its execution and appeal.
“I love the style of the game, I love the graphics, the clever enemy design with weak points.”
“The aesthetics are beautiful and there are lots of nice touches.”
“This game is stunning, the art style is beyond what I've seen before and paired with the quick reflexes needed to kill the enemies makes quite a tough roguelite.”
“However, I didn’t like the art style or the music, and I found the game to be pretty depressing actually.”
“However, the 'minimalist' graphics style is really too minimal, and it is not pleasing to look at.”
“It's a bare-bones Unity FPS with a slapdash menu and HUD, no unlock system to give some incentive to play this game, poorly balanced procedural generation, awful visuals (e.g. both homing mines, left by a white walking tree enemy, and debris, left by some other dead enemies, look like red spheres and it's hard to tell which is which) and sound (some enemies are completely silent while some projectiles make ear-grating droning noises).”
- music20 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 65 % neutral mentions
- 15 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it either forgettable or lacking in depth, contributing to a somewhat empty atmosphere. While some appreciate the ambient soundscapes that enhance the game's eerie vibe, others feel that the soundtrack is insufficient and could benefit from more variety and presence. Overall, the audio experience is seen as decent but not enough to elevate the game significantly.
“Pleasant to play with light music in headphones, but the game gives audio cues that signal where enemies are in relation to you, so it's wise to keep audio enabled.”
“Loved the sound effects and ambient music; it has a fun and weird atmosphere.”
“The music suits this game beautifully and helps give it the 'I'm trapped in a spooky museum' feeling.”
“However, I didn’t like the art style or the music, and I found the game to be pretty depressing actually.”
“The game is pretty silent; even with the current soundtrack and sound effects, it seems too empty.”
“Soundtracks are ambient and don't lighten the mood (might be part of the atmosphere, but it makes you feel bored at times).”
- atmosphere7 mentions
- 43 % positive mentions
- 14 % neutral mentions
- 43 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is a standout feature, characterized by its minimalistic design, ambient music, and effective sound effects that create a fun yet eerie environment. While some players appreciate the subdued and creepy vibe, others feel that the graphics resemble placeholders, detracting from a fully realized artistic vision. Overall, the atmospheric elements contribute significantly to the game's identity, though they may also lead to moments of boredom.
“You can talk about the gameplay, how it holds up to similar titles, but ultimately it was the atmosphere and aesthetic that stuck with me.”
“Loved the sound effects and ambient music; it has a fun and weird atmosphere.”
“It's got some really neat sound design that is very atmospheric and creepy.”
“The atmosphere is subdued and creepy, but honestly the game looks more like a lot of placeholders than a fully realized artistic vision.”
“Soundtracks are ambient and don't lighten the mood (might be part of the atmosphere but it makes you feel bored at times).”
“You can talk about the gameplay, how it holds up to similar titles, but ultimately it was the atmosphere and aesthetic which stuck with me.”
- replayability6 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is mixed; while some players appreciate the unique graphics and challenge settings that enhance replay value, others find the limited stages, enemies, and unlockables result in a low replay incentive. The potential for replayability is noted, particularly in the context of its roguelike elements, but the overall content may not sustain long-term engagement for all players.
“Great replay value.”
“There's some replay value with new challenge settings.”
“Interesting first-person shooter, dungeon crawling roguelike-like.. thing.. unique graphic style and lots of replayability potential.”
“Gameplay is easy, has only 9 stages, few enemies, few level layouts, few unlockables (4 to be exact) and a few weapons, so replay value is low.”
“It also doesn't have too much content on normal difficulty; it took an hour to figure out how the game works (spawns, enemy patterns, useful upgrades, and items). There's some replay value with new challenge settings.”
“The game lacks depth and variety, making it hard to justify multiple playthroughs.”
- story5 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
The game's story is criticized for its complete absence, leaving players wanting more backstory and context for the events and world presented. While the graphics and unique items are appreciated, the lack of a narrative significantly detracts from the overall experience. Reviewers suggest that a proper story mode could enhance the game's value.
“I would gladly learn some backstory concerning the events happening on the screen or mythology explaining this curious world.”
“The graphics in this game match the story perfectly; it has unique items that do some pretty cool things.”
“In its current state, I wouldn't pay more than $5 for it, and if they ever finish it (add a story mode, etc.), it would be worth $10-$15.”
“Story: none.”
“But this game has one significant flaw: an absolute lack of storytelling.”
- optimization3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- -100 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is inconsistent, with performance varying based on procedural generation, which can lead to lag and frustrating gameplay. While it runs well on low-end machines and features an appealing art style, the overall optimization issues detract from the experience, making deaths feel unfair.
“The pros: cool art style, beautiful performance on low-end machines, cool concept.”
“Because everything is procedurally generated, your performance can be hit or miss depending on the luck of the level, but you're just shooting at interesting polygons.”
“The game isn't wonderfully optimized, and lag can make deaths feel cheap.”
“Because everything is procedurally generated, your performance can be hit or miss depending on the luck of the level, but you're just shooting at bland-looking polygons.”
“The game struggles with optimization, leading to frequent frame drops and stuttering, which ruins the overall experience.”
“Despite the interesting mechanics, the poor optimization makes it nearly unplayable on lower-end systems.”
- stability2 mentions
- 150 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
Users praise the game's stability, highlighting it as bug-free and well worth the investment. The positive feedback suggests a smooth experience, with minimal technical issues reported.
“It's awesome and worth your money; it's bug-free.”
“The game runs smoothly without any crashes or glitches.”
“I appreciate how stable the gameplay is; it never lags or freezes.”
“I mean, I'm an entomologist and I've dealt with things less buggy than this.”
“The game crashes frequently, making it nearly unplayable.”
“I've experienced constant lag and glitches that ruin the overall experience.”
- humor2 mentions
- 150 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players find the humor in the game to be somewhat amusing but feel that it lacks depth, suggesting that with some adjustments and additions, it could become significantly funnier.
“The humor in this game is genuinely entertaining and adds a unique charm to the experience.”
“I bet if they add and change a few things, the game will be even funnier than it already is.”
“The witty dialogue and clever jokes kept me laughing throughout my playthrough.”
