Garlic

Garlic is a retro-inspired 2D platformer that is full of crazy humour and personality. It is challenging but incredibly rewarding when you make progress; Garlic definitely makes your palms sweat!

84%Game Brain Score

music, humor

story, replayability

88% User Score Based on 288 reviews

Critic Score 77%Based on 5 reviews

Platforms

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About

Garlic is a single player arcade platformer game with a comedy theme. It was developed by Sylph and was released on June 15, 2021. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and positive reviews from players.

"Garlic" is a single-player comedy platformer game featuring amazing gameplay and awesome visuals and music. As the onion-headed boy Garlic, players aim to climb the Sacred Tower and meet the Cyber Goddess, using wall jumps, dashes, and combos to navigate one-screen and large stages filled with traps and enemies. However, the Cyber Goddess may not be all she seems, adding an unexpected twist to the simple and fun mechanics.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

88%

Audience ScoreBased on 288 reviews

music44 positive mentions

optimization3 negative mentions

The game features tight controls and satisfying movement mechanics, making it enjoyable for fans of precision platformers.
The art style and humor are charming, with references to classic anime and retro games that add personality to the experience.
The pacing of the game is well-balanced, with a mix of challenging levels and fun mini-games that provide a break from the platforming.

The level design can be frustrating, with some sections feeling overly difficult or poorly designed, leading to a sense of unfairness.
Achievements are currently bugged, which detracts from the overall experience for players who enjoy completing challenges.
The game frequently prompts players to lower the difficulty after repeated deaths, which can be off-putting for those seeking a true challenge.

music
80 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
55%
41%
4%
The music in the game receives a largely positive reception, with many players praising its catchy and diverse soundtrack that enhances the overall experience. While some reviews mention a few forgettable tracks, the majority highlight the music's ability to complement the game's art style and humor, making it a standout feature. Overall, the soundtrack is described as a mix of chiptune and synthesized elements, with many players expressing a desire to purchase the original soundtrack due to its quality.
- “The music in particular is amazing and chances are you'll get at least one song stuck in your head for weeks.”
- “With awesome pixel art in a really fun style and a bomb ass soundtrack rounding out the presentation, I'd recommend this to anyone who likes platformers even a wee bit!”
- “The soundtrack fits the game perfectly.”
- “The soundtrack is a huge mixed bag.”
- “Then there's the sound design, for some reason any song with lyrics is just loud like a crying baby on an airplane compared to everything else.”
- “The bad: insanely high knockback, repetitive soundtrack, some repetitive level segments drag on longer than they should, fireball pipes are super jank & have weird hitboxes.”
humor
78 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
99%
4%
The humor in the game is widely praised for its absurdity, slapstick style, and clever integration into gameplay, with many players highlighting the hilarious cutscenes, funny minigames, and quirky character expressions. While the humor may lean towards crude and bizarre, it resonates well with those who appreciate a lighthearted and goofy tone, making it a significant draw for players. Overall, the combination of engaging mechanics and a strong comedic element contributes to a fun and memorable gaming experience.
- “The game has a fantastic sense of humor, and if you're not afraid of it being goofy as hell, it's a nice addition to it, a big part of what kept me going forward.”
- “The humor is a bizarre, dry, slapstick Japanese style humor similar to that of Wario, all the way down to the silly but fun minigames that are sparsely sprinkled throughout the game.”
- “Tight controls, awesome visuals, and engaging (and wonderfully frustrating) level design, all packaged in a very funny adventure that doesn't take itself too seriously.”
- “I enjoy a challenge, but I don't appreciate when the game forces me into unfunny situations that lead to my demise.”
- “The humor in this game falls flat and often feels forced, detracting from the overall experience.”
- “I expected clever jokes, but instead, I was met with awkward attempts at humor that just didn't land.”
gameplay
73 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
37%
59%
4%
The gameplay of the game is characterized by a mix of simple mechanics like jumping, wall jumping, and dashing, which can be both engaging and frustrating due to inconsistent controls and level design. While the introduction of unique mechanics such as the pogo stick and mini-games adds variety, many players find the overall experience marred by unfair design choices and a lack of polish. Despite these issues, the game is praised for its humor, visual style, and potential for speedrunning, making it appealing to fans of challenging platformers.
- “Great humor, great mechanics, and interesting visual design.”
- “The gameplay is fast, controls are tight, and there are a ton of movement techs to learn and try.”
- “An excellent and engaging retro platformer, with some great mechanics and incredibly satisfying timing puzzles.”
- “Be careful though: you may be frustrated by some issues of the gameplay (especially in the very end of the game), such as the fact you cannot always jump from descending platforms (because the character 'falls behind it').”
- “The game fancies itself a Celeste clone, you have very simple movement mechanics that take the form of your basic jump, wall jumping and sliding, as well as a dash.”
- “Guess what they did: dashing too close to a wall makes you do a pathetic little Celeste climb instead of the big super dash hyper movement you wanted, which kills you frequently, because this is a kaizo/rage game, so you are midair or above spikes when it happens usually.”
graphics
41 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
56%
37%
7%
The graphics of the game have received widespread acclaim for their unique and polished retro art style, reminiscent of classic 8-bit and Game Boy aesthetics. Reviewers highlight the fluid animations, vibrant color palettes, and engaging visuals that complement the gameplay, making it visually appealing and entertaining. Overall, the combination of charming character designs and a quirky presentation enhances the game's appeal, despite its challenging nature.
- “The graphics and presentation are some of the most unique, quirky, and well polished I've ever seen, and the animation is weirdly fluid all the time.”
- “This game is baller as hell, the visuals are extremely well done (which you don't really see in pixel games anymore), the music slaps, and it's really funny.”
- “I really like the retro graphics in this game; they remind me of the old Game Boy, with a few more colors, and it is definitely one of the big pluses in this game.”
- “The aesthetic here is very much 'retro' and '8-bit'.”
- “I don't want to be too harsh on garlic, because it does feature some kickass music and some humorous visuals.”
- “The art style and gameplay would fit an open collectathon much better than a precision platformer.”
story
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
60%
20%
The game's story is characterized by its absurdity and charm, featuring a simple yet sweet love narrative interspersed with humorous and ridiculous moments. While the plot may not be deeply engaging, the cutscenes and unique mini-games add a delightful touch that enhances the overall experience. Players appreciate the lighthearted tone and the art style, which complement the platforming mechanics despite the story's lack of seriousness.
- “Additionally, the cutscenes are pretty charming; the silly love story presented here is simple yet sweet.”
- “The story moments sprinkled throughout are the perfect amount of ridiculous and silly.”
- “It does not take the story seriously, which is a good thing, creating some very memorable moments.”
- “Be sure to play those arcade games; they give you more money, and this will be important for reasons that are obvious if you think about the plot for more than a handful of seconds.”
- “Crazy plot that must be the result of eating some out-of-date garlic powder.”
- “It looks unique, makes you swear a lot, and hardly has a storyline.”
emotional
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is characterized by intense feelings of anxiety, frustration, and even physical pain, reminiscent of classic rage games. Players report a deeply immersive experience that can lead to tears, highlighting the game's challenging levels and the emotional toll they take. Overall, it evokes a powerful mix of addictive rage and vulnerability.
- “It made me feel what Meat Boy made me feel back in the day.”
- “An intense, unwholesomely addictive rage game whose barely beatable Mario Maker levels will have you in tears by the end.”
- “It hurt me, physically, mentally, and emotionally... 10/10”
character development
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
50%
Character development in the game is highlighted by its endearing art and character designs, particularly the expressive features of characters like garlic. Reviewers appreciate the unique and bizarre character designs, along with the vibrant colors and music that enhance the overall experience, making it a standout aspect of the game.
- “The art and character designs are very endearing, especially the facial expressions made by Garlic.”
- “There's a lot of character to this game in its colors, character design, and music that I really should give credit to; it's what convinced me to buy it to begin with.”
- “Character design is incredible, easter eggs are everywhere, and the content is extraordinary for this price range.”
- “Ridiculous character designs and bizarre enemies.”
- “07/20/21 - Going back to amend my original review after tying it with the updates since I originally finished it after the first patch. To be fair, there's a lot of character to this game in its colors, character design, and music that I really should give credit to; it's what convinced me to buy it to begin with.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
67%
The game's replayability is mixed; while some players appreciate the precision platforming and unique mechanics that enhance speedrun potential, others find certain mini-games frustrating and lacking polish, with specific love mini-games being non-replayable and poorly explained. Overall, the experience varies significantly based on individual preferences for gameplay style.
- “Super great precision platformer with a good flow. As a big Mario/DK Country player, I loved the unique dash and combo dash abilities that add lots of replay value and amazing speedrun opportunities.”
- “You can easily tell that when you look at the minigames that are playable throughout the game.”
- “Most of the mini games are frustrating, and the gimmicks feel very unpolished (ahem, pogo section?). I was also irked that the love mini games are not replayable, and the instructions go by so quickly that by the time you understand what to do, you've already lost a significant chunk of time.”
- “You can easily tell that the minigames are not designed for replayability throughout the game.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's optimization is criticized for being punishing and unforgiving, leading to a frustrating experience that can negatively impact players' enjoyment and self-esteem.
- “The game is riddled with optimization issues that make it frustrating to play.”
- “Performance drops are frequent, and it feels like the developers didn't prioritize optimization.”
- “It's disappointing to see such a lack of attention to optimization, which detracts from the overall experience.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Overall, users report that while there are occasional glitches in local mechanics in certain zones, these issues are minor and do not significantly impact the overall stability of the game.
- “I encountered occasional glitches in two zones' local mechanics, but nothing too significant.”
- “The game crashes frequently, making it frustrating to progress.”
- “I experienced several instances of lag that disrupted gameplay.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, as it detracts from the overall experience, especially since the game is not particularly challenging otherwise.
- “The result is a rather tedious experience, despite the game not being terribly difficult otherwise.”
- “Grinding feels like a chore rather than an engaging part of the game.”
- “The repetitive nature of grinding makes it hard to stay motivated to continue playing.”