FRACT OSC

About

FRACT OSC is a musical exploration game where you decipher an abandoned world built on sound. By solving puzzles and shaping sound, you restore the world and unlock tools to create your own music in the FRACT studio, which can be saved, exported, and shared. The game features stunning visuals and an evolving score.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

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

+11

87%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,024 reviews

music265 positive mentions

optimization10 negative mentions

FRACT OSC offers a unique blend of exploration, puzzles, and music creation, immersing players in a beautifully designed world.
The game's audiovisual experience is stunning, with vibrant neon visuals and a dynamic soundtrack that evolves as players solve puzzles.
Completing puzzles unlocks features in a music studio, allowing players to create their own tracks, adding a rewarding layer to the gameplay.

The lack of guidance and clear objectives can lead to confusion and frustration, making it easy for players to get lost.
Some puzzles may feel overly simplistic or repetitive, lacking the depth that some players might expect from a puzzle game.
Performance issues, particularly on lower-end systems, can detract from the overall experience, with reports of audio glitches and frame rate drops.

music
1,095 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24%
75%
1%
The music in "Fract osc" is a standout feature, intricately woven into the gameplay as players solve puzzles that progressively build a dynamic soundtrack. The game offers a unique experience where each puzzle completion enhances the musical landscape, rewarding players with a sense of accomplishment and creativity. Additionally, it includes a music creation studio that allows players to experiment with their own compositions, making it a must-play for fans of electronic music and puzzle-solving alike.
- “The music is wonderful, I love how it adapts and changes as I solve the puzzles.”
- “There's a big novelty in solving a puzzle, hearing the final music and going 'I made that!'.”
- “The music builds gradually as you solve a puzzle and seeing the area that you just traversed light up and make a great song continues to be rewarding every time.”
- “However, I cannot recommend this game either as a puzzle game nor as a game based on music.”
- “1 - the puzzles have nothing to do with music per se and it could be finished muted.”
- “Music has nothing to do with the puzzles, it just plays nearly-random noise based on your input.”
graphics
216 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
55%
42%
3%
The graphics of "Fract osc" are characterized by a minimalist, Tron-inspired aesthetic featuring simple, untextured polygons and vibrant neon colors that create an immersive atmosphere. While many players praise the stunning visuals and their integration with the game's music, some report graphical glitches and inconsistencies that detract from the experience. Overall, the combination of beautiful art style and engaging sound design is frequently highlighted as a standout feature, making the game visually captivating despite its occasional technical issues.
- “The visuals, puzzles, and music are well designed and together they make a great and immersive game.”
- “Jaw dropping visuals, mind blowing music, all of that stuff.”
- “The game looks beautiful with its minimalist, Tron-inspired style, and the graphical animations and reactions are outstanding.”
- “Ambitious, but boring and potentially buggy - I got graphical glitches and audio crackles.”
- “Despite the minimalistic visuals, it's easy to find yourself in areas that place a strain on the game, bringing the smooth framerate to a choppy crawl.”
- “It's not unplayable but did experience stuttering graphics, which can be a bit troublesome when traversing areas with narrow ledges.”
gameplay
96 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
76%
3%
The gameplay of Fract osc is a unique blend of music, puzzles, and exploration, offering a fresh sound-based experience that can be both challenging and rewarding. While some players find the initial learning curve steep and the lack of guidance frustrating, others appreciate the opportunity to discover mechanics independently and enjoy the seamless integration of sound and gameplay. Overall, the game is praised for its originality and aesthetic appeal, though some critiques mention a need for more variety in puzzle mechanics and a relatively short playtime.
- “Fract osc is pretty niche-based and can have a moderate learning curve in the beginning, but should you stick through, you are in for a fresh kind of sound-based gameplay experience.”
- “The most important/interesting thing about this game is the seamless connection of sound and gameplay.”
- “Gameplay: the game has a very unique and well-executed blend of music, puzzles, and exploration.”
- “It is slow-paced, often quite hard to figure out the puzzle mechanics, what to do, and where to continue in general.”
- “As for gameplay, utterly non-existent.”
- “Tl;dr: gameplay and exploration are bland and repetitive, game is ridiculously short.”
atmosphere
80 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
65%
30%
5%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its surreal and immersive qualities, enhanced by stunning visuals and a dynamic soundtrack that evolves as players progress through puzzles. Many reviewers highlight the enchanting, Tron-like aesthetic and the engaging sound design, which together create a captivating exploration experience. However, some players note that repetitive audio loops can detract from the overall enjoyment, despite the atmosphere being a standout feature of the game.
- “The game's surreal atmosphere does a great job of enticing you to go forward and explore as you solve one puzzle after another.”
- “On top of the fantastic puzzle design, the atmosphere is amazing and the visuals are gorgeous.”
- “The atmosphere it creates is one that enchanted me from the beginning to the end.”
- “But what's the point in exploring and sucking up the atmosphere of this strange landscape when everything looks the same?”
- “Rather, the puzzles of the game are overshadowed by the overall atmosphere.”
- “You are seemingly teleported into a tron-esque world with neon colors amid a gloomy atmosphere.”
story
60 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
7%
86%
7%
The game's story is largely abstract and minimal, lacking a traditional narrative or backstory, which some players find disappointing given the beautiful environment. Instead, the experience revolves around exploration and puzzle-solving, with the landscape itself serving as a silent narrative that rewards patience and curiosity. While many appreciate the unique storytelling approach, others wish for a more defined plot to complement the immersive world.
- “However, if you manage to slow down, become patient, and accept the fact that figuring out the visual language is part of the game, you become rewarded with a story whose plot is the landscape you unexplainably exist in.”
- “There isn't any grand backstory, plot, or anything like that to discover, and yet it was a pleasure to be there in this place.”
- “The puzzles are challenging and beautifully done musical scores that bring a deep sense of story to a wordless world.”
- “There is no story.”
- “If I had to say there was something lacking, it would be the loss of (at least I don't think there is) a story or underlying message.”
- “Everything is highly abstract: there is no backstory, no characters to meet, no text to read, just a completely desolate alien landscape to explore and try to make sense of.”
optimization
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12%
50%
38%
The game's optimization has received mixed feedback, with some players experiencing significant performance issues, including stuttering and frame drops, particularly on lower-end systems. While the developers have made efforts to optimize the game, it still struggles with loading times and graphical performance in certain areas. However, many players find that the puzzles are not heavily reliant on high framerates, making the performance shortcomings less detrimental to the overall experience.
- “It looks very nice, though I have to say it might not run very well on low-end systems (the devs have done a lot of optimization though); the audio and music fit the atmosphere perfectly, and completing a puzzle feels very rewarding because of the interaction between sound and world.”
- “Minor performance issues do exist, such as the occasional sudden chugging as it loads an area of the world in the distance, though considering the high system requirements of the synthesizer, I'm surprised it runs smoothly on my ancient Intel Core 2 Duo.”
- “Everything culminates together in one big arresting performance that you yourself created in just playing the game.”
- “I'm running it on a new gaming PC that runs all the 2016 blockbuster games at silky smooth 60fps - yet I can't figure out how to fix the performance issues in this game!”
- “I had to set drawing distance to minimum to avoid a heavy drop in fps and stuttering (read forum posts about detailed requirements).”
- “It's not unplayable but I did experience stuttering graphics, which can be a bit troublesome when traversing areas with narrow ledges.”
stability
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from significant stability issues, including frequent bugs, graphical glitches, and audio crackles that can disrupt gameplay and immersion. Users report crashes during startup and exit, as well as freezes during loading, making the experience frustrating and potentially game-breaking for some players. Caution is advised for those considering a purchase, as these issues may vary in severity.
- “Freezes on loads, hangs up on startups, crashes on exits.”
- “However, the game is plagued by audio glitches and crackling sounds.”
- “Ambitious, but boring and potentially buggy - I got graphical glitches and audio crackles.”
replayability
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
50%
30%
The game's replayability is generally considered low for completion, with most players finding it satisfying for a single playthrough and mildly enjoyable for a second. However, the in-game music maker offers some unique replay value, appealing to those who enjoy experimenting with it, though overall, the game lacks significant replay incentives beyond this feature.
- “The game has some replay value - in fact, I'm feeling the urge to go and replay after posting this review - keep in mind it's been a few months since I played last.”
- “Replay value: low for completion, high to infinite for the studio.”
- “This quirky puzzle game is pretty satisfying the first time, and mildly amusing a second time, but beyond that it has little if any replay value.”
- “It doesn't have much replayability other than to mess with the in-game music maker.”
- “Also, there isn't much replayability outside of the synth, but the synth does kind of make up for that by itself.”
emotional
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players describe the emotional experience of the game as profound and immersive, highlighting a sense of freedom and aliveness that resonates deeply. The exploration mechanics, while initially confusing, contribute to a personal and emotional journey, making the gameplay feel meaningful and impactful. Overall, the game evokes strong feelings and a sense of connection that enhances the player's experience.
- “Playing Fract made me feel alive in a way I haven’t experienced in a very long time.”
- “For me, it was a very deep and emotional experience, and that was only the beginning!”
- “The exploration is really nicely done; it felt like that nicer type 'do it yourself, we're not giving you a map or anything.' While it was confusing at first until you realize how pathing works, it made me feel a lot more free and immersed within the game.”
humor
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the humor in the game to be a significant draw, often returning to it despite frustrations. The comedic elements, including nonsensical sounds, contribute to a lighthearted experience that resonates with users, making it enjoyable even in challenging moments.
- “But it's funny, no matter how furious I get at the game, eventually, I always come back.”
- “C - just making funny noises which were nothing to do with the game at all.”
- “Keep in mind that I don't just say this because I want to be a funny little troll and hate on a game just because lots of other people like it.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and uninspired, detracting from the overall experience despite the impressive visuals.

53%Critics’ scoreBased on 4 critic reviews

Buy FRACT OSC

3h Median play time

3h Average play time

1-4h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 4 analyzed playthroughs

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Fract OSC Review

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