FlowScape

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FlowScape is a single-player, violence-free game that allows players to create their own nature scenes by painting with over 300 models and 20 landscapes. With advanced paint options, physics, and the ability to import custom models, players can build their own private paradise and add life to their landscape. However, it has been noted for its grinding gameplay and occasional bugs.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Reviews

83%

Audience ScoreBased on 639 reviews

graphics38 positive mentions

stability19 negative mentions

FlowScape is a relaxing and easy-to-use tool for creating beautiful landscapes and scenes, making it accessible for users with little artistic skill.
The program offers a wide variety of assets, including trees, buildings, and animals, allowing for diverse and creative scene-building.
The developer is actively engaged with the community, regularly updating the software and responding to user feedback, which enhances the overall experience.

The user interface can be clunky and unintuitive, making it difficult for new users to navigate and fully utilize the program's features.
There are significant performance issues, with reports of crashes and lag, especially when handling larger scenes or numerous assets.
The lack of an undo feature for certain actions, such as terrain sculpting, can lead to frustrating experiences when mistakes are made.

graphics
62 mentions
61 % positive mentions
34 % neutral mentions
5 % negative mentions
The graphics in the game receive mixed reviews, with many users praising their beauty and high quality, particularly for creating digital art and landscapes. However, some players criticize the graphics for being inconsistent with promotional images and report issues like lag and crashes, even on high-end systems. Overall, while the visuals are generally regarded as stunning and a strong point of the game, there are notable concerns regarding performance and optimization.
- “The amazing, almost life-like graphics are so beautiful, and it provides you with boundless tools for creativity.”
- “Intuitive controls and the graphics are just gorgeous.”
- “Flowscape is very easy to use and has beautiful graphics.”
- “Its graphics are horrendous and it looks nothing like it does in the pictures, not to mention the scale of things is so stupid.”
- “Lags and crashes all the time, even on low quality graphics settings.”
- “I made a different review before saying that it crashes a lot but I reviewed that on my basic computer, but sadly getting a new PC with a GTX 1660 Ti graphics card for this game doesn't make a difference.”
music
47 mentions
34 % positive mentions
60 % neutral mentions
6 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its relaxing and beautiful qualities, enhancing the overall calming experience of creating landscapes. However, many users express frustration over the lack of options to adjust or disable the music, as well as the need to reset volume settings each time the game is launched. Overall, while the soundtrack contributes positively to the atmosphere, players desire more control and a broader selection of music.
- “The game is beautiful, the music and the objects.”
- “It's one of the most calming games I've ever played, the music is so beautiful and the stuff you can make with this is astounding.”
- “Flowscape allows you to create atmospheric and picturesque scenes easily as you listen to relaxing music; I find it all a very zen-like experience.”
- “For example, I set the sound and music to mute, but some sound effects were still playing in certain areas, but not others; every button wouldn't make sound when clicked, except one that would play at full volume.”
- “The biggest problems for me were the annoying music which I could not figure out how to turn off.”
- “Some things, like music volume, are not persistent... so if you turn it down, you have to turn it down every time.”
stability
20 mentions
15 % positive mentions
-10 % neutral mentions
95 % negative mentions
The game suffers from significant stability issues, with numerous users reporting frequent crashes, glitches, and buggy features that hinder gameplay. Many players express frustration over the unreliable controls and autosave functions, while some note that the game's potential is overshadowed by its technical problems. Although a few users experienced smooth gameplay, the overall consensus is that the game's stability is a major concern that detracts from the experience.
- “The game runs smoothly with no glitches; at least I did not encounter any.”
- “I appreciate the stability of the game; it enhances the overall experience.”
- “The performance is solid, providing a stable environment for gameplay.”
- “This game is so buggy; after over an hour of playing, I became so frustrated I quit and will likely never play it again.”
- “It frequently crashes and is buggy as hell.”
- “Sadly, it is buggy to the point of distraction.”
story
13 mentions
23 % positive mentions
54 % neutral mentions
23 % negative mentions
The game's story aspect is polarizing; while some users appreciate the creative freedom it offers for storytelling and world-building, others note the lack of a structured narrative or end goal. It serves primarily as a sandbox for creativity rather than a traditional story-driven experience, leading to mixed feelings about its execution in terms of storytelling potential.
- “After a mostly sleepless night a few weeks ago, lying in bed I had this relentless story going on in my head set in the Warhammer world where there is an old grey wizard that lives in a small keep out in an almost inaccessible swamp.”
- “Every night I would build the place up in my mind and have an ever-expanding story going on in the meantime (it involves gnomes).”
- “Creating an area like this helps me flesh out describing it in the story.”
- “✅ This game has no story.”
- “There's no actual story or end goal, by the way; it's just a wholesome sandbox of creativity.”
- “It really was a neat idea and would have been amazing for storytelling, but it was badly executed.”
optimization
12 mentions
25 % positive mentions
50 % neutral mentions
25 % negative mentions
Overall, the optimization of the game is a mixed bag; while some users appreciate improvements in terrain tools and a well-optimized graphic engine, many report significant performance issues, poor default models, and a lack of customizable settings. The absence of a Steam Workshop and limited asset variety further detracts from the experience, leading to a dated feel. Users express a desire for better optimization to enhance gameplay and visual quality.
- “Good to see I can terrain sculpt manually, big improvements to the terrain tools and painting system, and it's well optimized so I haven't had any crashes.”
- “The models and graphic engine are well optimized.”
- “It boils down to how you use your static and animated resources on each project, how much of it you use, how big your terrains are, and your performance settings.”
- “Fun to toy around with, but lack of assets, absence of Steam Workshop, and poor optimization makes this fairly dated.”
- “The main problem is the performance and look of the scenes you make.”
- “There's not many performance settings, and the models provided by the game by default don't even look that great; the animals look really fake and robotic.”
grinding
6 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
Users find the grinding aspect of the game tedious, particularly due to the cumbersome process of importing assets and the limited selection available. The lack of integration with platforms like Steam Workshop exacerbates the issue, making it difficult for players without 3D knowledge to access desired models, leading to frustration during gameplay. Overall, the repetitive scrolling and searching for specific objects detracts from the experience.
- “Importing assets is tricky and tedious.”
- “The asset selection is very limited, which could be offset by integrating the Steam Workshop for custom models, but instead you have to download assets from the internet and import them manually (if you're not a 3D/texture artist able to create your own), which can be a tedious process and destroys the 'easy & accessible without needing 3D knowledge' promise.”
- “As each category contains dozens of objects, finding the object you want or even knowing if it exists in a category is tedious.”
gameplay
5 mentions
60 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
40 % negative mentions
The gameplay is described as relaxing and enjoyable once players familiarize themselves with the mechanics, although the controls can feel janky and complicated. While the terrain forming mechanic has potential, it is currently limited, impacting the overall experience. The ability to create battle maps and switch to first-person view for immersive character perspectives adds a unique layer to the gameplay, particularly for tabletop RPG enthusiasts.
- “It is a very relaxing and chill game once you get to know the mechanics.”
- “A much better terrain forming mechanic.”
- “At first, you can build a beautiful battlemap, but after that you can go first person and get first person screenshots that you can use as character POV images so your players can see how their characters see without losing the grid style gameplay in a lot of D&D.”
- “The controls and mechanics are janky and need a wrench or something in the works.”
- “Mechanics are very complicated and, on the other hand, very limited.”
atmosphere
4 mentions
75 % positive mentions
25 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
Flowscape is praised for its ability to create serene and picturesque scenes, enhanced by relaxing music and beautiful graphics. Users appreciate the extensive props, special effects, and intuitive lighting controls that contribute to a zen-like experience, making it a valuable tool for enhancing atmosphere in tabletop RPG mapping.
- “Flowscape allows you to create atmospheric and picturesque scenes easily as you listen to relaxing music; I find it all a very zen-like experience.”
- “There's tons of props and special effects and full control over lighting and atmosphere, very beautiful graphics.”
- “I've moved to this for a lot of my tabletop RPG mapping needs as it really helps build atmosphere.”
emotional
3 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is characterized by a strong sense of wholesomeness and creativity, fostering a nurturing environment that players find endearing. Despite the absence of a traditional narrative or end goal, the game promotes a unique blend of care and community, leaving a lasting impression on players.
- “Everyone is wholesome.”
- “There's no actual story or end goal, but it's just a wholesome sandbox of creativity.”
- “Our wholesome dictatorship of genuine care will be shared and instilled into bunnies for generations to follow out of fear, patriotism, and sheer admiration.”
replayability
2 mentions
50 % positive mentions
50 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
Users highlight that the game's numerous features and user-friendly design significantly enhance its replayability, making it a valuable experience that justifies its cost.
- “The number of features, ease of use, and replayability make this worth more than it costs, in my opinion.”
humor
1 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
Users find the humor in the game's promotion of its "relaxing" nature, contrasting it with the clunky and overcomplicated controls and UI, which lack customization options. This irony highlights a disconnect between the game's marketing and the actual player experience.