FrostRunner

FrostRunner is a first-person platformer “speedrunning” game, where the player rapidly completes platforming challenges before the timer runs out. Using their tether tool, players compete to finish each of the 36 unique levels as quickly as possible and earn a place at the top of the leaderboards.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

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

Reviews

95%

Audience ScoreBased on 2,168 reviews

gameplay158 positive mentions

stability13 negative mentions

The parkour mechanics are incredibly fun and engaging, making the gameplay very enjoyable.
The game is free and offers a good amount of content for its short playtime, with collectibles and challenge levels to unlock.
The graphics and overall design are impressive for a student project, providing a visually appealing experience.

The game is very short, typically completed in under an hour, leaving players wanting more content.
There are issues with mouse sensitivity settings, which can make the controls feel unresponsive or overly sensitive.
Some players have reported bugs and crashes, which can disrupt the gameplay experience.

gameplay
263 mentions
60 % positive mentions
39 % neutral mentions
1 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game is characterized by its fast-paced, enjoyable mechanics that are easy to learn, making it accessible for both casual players and speedrunners. While the game features a variety of mechanics, such as parkour, grappling, and ice sliding, many players feel that the level design is lacking, with a desire for more levels that effectively combine these mechanics. Overall, the gameplay is praised for its smooth controls and fun experience, despite its short duration and some minor technical issues.
- “The mechanics are easy to learn, the gameplay is fast-paced and enjoyable, and the overall experience is quite fun.”
- “Incredible mechanics, fun, and addicting.”
- “The gameplay is smooth, moving around is easy and the mechanics are very easy to learn and pick up on, and the collectibles add an extra layer of challenge which makes finding them feel rewarding.”
- “The levels are super short, the level design itself is unimpressive, the movement feels okay but not great, the air control is bad, some of the mechanics feel clunky, and the look speed is atrocious even when cranking the mouse sensitivity setting all the way down and lowering the DPI of my mouse extremely low.”
- “Levels are very repetitive, and they never try to combine multiple game mechanics together to create more complex paths (e.g., ice with moving platforms, or sling); also, every level is much too short.”
- “The mechanics are a tad rough around the edges, at times not behaving as I would have expected, and I can imagine ways in which this could be smoothed out in order to create an even more versatile sense of speed.”
graphics
120 mentions
48 % positive mentions
49 % neutral mentions
3 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received generally positive feedback, with many users praising the beautiful art style and smooth visuals that run well even on mid-range PCs. However, there are notable criticisms regarding the lack of customizable graphics settings, which can lead to crashes and issues with motion blur. Overall, while the graphics are considered impressive for a free game, the limited control over settings detracts from the experience for some players.
- “The graphics are amazing and I really enjoyed this.”
- “Absolutely incredible game, surprisingly amazing graphics, the controls feel fantastic, level design is superb.”
- “Frostrunner is a short but sweet game with amazing graphics and fun gameplay.”
- “I don't know what is going on, I have a pretty high-end computer and I can run the game perfectly fine on high settings, I even tried on low graphics, but when I get in and start running, about 1 minute in, the game crashes every time without fail.”
- “This game doesn't allow any specific graphics settings to be changed at all. You can only change graphics presets to low, medium, and high. This means that things like motion blur cannot be turned off without other graphical compromises bundled along with it.”
- “The game also has motion blur on by default, and because most of the graphics options (everything except for resolution and fullscreen type) are tied together, you can't disable it without making the game look terrible.”
story
58 mentions
12 % positive mentions
79 % neutral mentions
9 % negative mentions
The game is largely criticized for lacking a substantial story, with many reviewers noting that it focuses primarily on gameplay rather than narrative. While some players appreciate the fun and engaging mechanics reminiscent of other titles like "A Story About My Uncle," they express a desire for a more developed storyline or context to enhance replayability. Overall, the consensus is that the game is enjoyable but should not be approached with expectations of a meaningful story.
- “Interesting combination of genres, unique art style, cute story, and great music.”
- “The only thing I could suggest for this game is more levels, and maybe a potential story/campaign mode to really bring it to life, but even without these things, this is a fun time and definitely worth playing.”
- “It's a well-made student project made by a small group of passionate people. They released this for free for all of us to have some fun. While it's short, you can finish it in a half an hour or so. I ended up playing it for another hour to finish it 100%. It's like a story about my uncle, a little platformer where you can slide around, use a laser rope to swing around, and move through fast-moving platforms. It's a little experiment of a game and while it can provide you at max an hour or two of fun, it's worth checking out.”
- “This game has no story.”
- “The game has no story mode, so I can't really rate this.”
- “It's basically a story about my uncle, if a story about my uncle didn't have a story.”
music
50 mentions
26 % positive mentions
56 % neutral mentions
18 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many players noting its repetitive nature and lack of variety, often describing it as generic or forgettable. While some appreciate the upbeat and fitting soundtrack for the game's fast-paced action, others suggest it can become annoying over time, leading them to mute it in favor of their own music. Overall, there is a consensus that the game would benefit from a more diverse and engaging soundtrack.
- “Interesting combination of genres, unique art style, cute story, and great music.”
- “Short and very great, music was amazing, mechanics felt great, overall I had a blast playing!”
- “This game is so fun and the music is very relaxing; the devs really outdid themselves here.”
- “The soundtrack is about 20 seconds long and repeats all the time... a bit more variety would be highly appreciated!”
- “I will admit, the music in this game could use work; it's not memorable, sounds fairly generic, and it kinda just loses its presence as you hear it multiple times.”
- “What I didn't like that much is the music (way too repetitive, only one piece) and the general pace of the game.”
replayability
40 mentions
30 % positive mentions
63 % neutral mentions
8 % negative mentions
The game's replayability is generally viewed as strong despite its short length, with many players appreciating the inclusion of leaderboards, hidden collectibles, and achievements that encourage repeated play. While some reviews note a lack of content leading to limited replay value, others highlight the fun mechanics and competitive elements that make it enjoyable to revisit. Overall, players find it a fun experience worth replaying, especially for those who enjoy beating their own or others' records.
- “The movement is fluid and all the collectibles add some great replay value.”
- “This game is an endlessly replayable wonder.”
- “All of this contributes to a game with a surprising amount of replayability for how short it is, and you'll be left wishing there was more content when you finish.”
- “Fun for a few hours, but little to no replay value.”
- “The only big problem here is that there are so few levels that you can finish it under an hour and a big replay value isn't there.”
- “Very short game, little replayability, near perfect mechanics (sometimes buffering a jump doesn't work) and showers you with useless achievements.”
stability
18 mentions
17 % positive mentions
11 % neutral mentions
72 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's stability is mixed, with users reporting various glitches and bugs, particularly with achievements and movement mechanics. While some players found the issues humorous and manageable, others experienced frustrating inconsistencies that affected gameplay. Despite these problems, many noted that the game runs well on platforms like the Steam Deck and remains enjoyable overall.
- “Runs great on Steam Deck.”
- “I beat the major part of the game in 27 minutes, but there's still tons more content to play with the insanity levels. It's a very clean game with no glitches that I've found.”
- “Didn't really encounter any issues, and it runs great.”
- “Lowest sensitivity is way too high, inconsistent movement and glitches that stop me from jumping plague this game.”
- “The game itself seems to have potential, but it could use some tune-ups considering it seems to be rather buggy with what it is.”
- “The mechanics and parkour were clever and well made, aside from a couple minor glitches like the 'you died' text remaining on screen and moving platforms occasionally freaking out and launching you across the level.”
humor
11 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is widely appreciated, with players finding the character's exaggerated reactions and glitches amusing rather than frustrating. Many reviews highlight the game's comedic elements, describing it as a fun and funny experience, though some note its short length. Overall, the humor contributes significantly to the game's charm and enjoyment.
- “Personally, I find the character's screams when dying super funny XD.”
- “It did have a few glitches, but these glitches just made for more humor than frustration.”
- “Overall, such a funny speedgame.”
grinding
6 mentions
0 % positive mentions
50 % neutral mentions
50 % negative mentions
Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be extensive, often requiring significant time investment to achieve 100% completion. However, many appreciate that the grinding is not overly tedious and is balanced by enjoyable gameplay elements, making it feel rewarding rather than frustrating.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “Not as hard as I expected, so you end up grinding for that 100%.”
- “That being said, it's a fun speedrunning, collectible adventure that's immediately accessible and never felt unfair or grindy.”
optimization
5 mentions
80 % positive mentions
-40 % neutral mentions
60 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's optimization is mixed; while some players report smooth performance and good graphics, others experience significant issues, including poor optimization and settings not saving upon relaunch.
- “It runs smoothly and can give you around 2 hours of gameplay.”
- “Really good looking and really well optimized.”
- “Graphics are good and run smoothly.”
- “The game suffers from bad optimization, leading to frequent frame drops.”
- “Poor optimization makes it nearly unplayable on lower-end systems.”
- “I experienced constant stuttering and lag due to the lack of proper optimization.”
atmosphere
5 mentions
60 % positive mentions
-20 % neutral mentions
60 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is characterized by an icy ambiance that enhances the overall experience, contributing to a calm and relaxed gameplay despite its fast pace. While players appreciate the unique first-person perspective and the atmospheric elements, some feel that the variety of obstacles and abilities could be improved to enrich the experience further.
- “This game has an icy atmosphere, and the gameplay is pretty fun.”
- “It is fast-paced, yet at the same time, the atmosphere plays a huge role in making the player calm and relaxed.”
- “I appreciate the overall concept and atmosphere.”
- “What I'm disappointed by isn't the length of the game, but the fact that I'm not a speedrunner and didn't find anything new brought to the table aside from a first-person perspective and the usage of ice to create a different atmosphere.”
- “There could have been more abilities and obstacles, but in the end, there simply was not a large variety of obstacle concepts, though I do appreciate the overall concept and atmosphere.”
- “It is fast-paced yet at the same time the atmosphere plays a huge role in making the player calm and relaxed.”
monetization
3 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The game is praised for its completely free model, lacking ads and in-game purchases, which enhances the overall experience. Players appreciate the absence of pay-to-win mechanics, making it a genuinely enjoyable and competitive parkour game.
- “However, great little game, and it's completely free too with no ads or anything.”
- “No ads, no pay-to-win nonsense.”
- “I'm genuinely shocked to see a free game that's actually fun, has no pay-to-win advantages, no in-game purchases, has scoreboards for those that are competitive, looks nice, and runs without a hitch too.”
character development
1 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
Reviewers express disappointment with the character development, noting that while the character design appears impressive in concept art, players only experience limited visual representation, primarily seeing just the character's arm throughout the game.
emotional
1 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
Players report a strong sense of satisfaction and joy upon completing all achievements in a short time, highlighting the emotional reward and fulfillment that the game provides.