Garlic

About

"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 Play through the game's story or campaign solo

88%

Audience ScoreBased on 269 reviews

music42 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 a unique aesthetic that adds to the overall experience.
The game offers a variety of levels and mini-games, providing a mix of challenges that keep gameplay fresh and engaging.

The level design can be frustrating, with some sections feeling overcrowded and punishing, leading to a lack of flow in gameplay.
Achievements have been reported as broken, which detracts from the overall experience for completionists.
The game frequently prompts players to lower the difficulty after repeated deaths, which can be off-putting for those seeking a true challenge.

music
78 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
54%
42%
4%
The music in the game receives a wide range of feedback, with many praising its catchy and diverse soundtrack that enhances the overall experience. While some tracks are described as unforgettable and fitting perfectly with the game's aesthetic, others find certain pieces forgettable or repetitive. Overall, the consensus leans towards the music being a standout feature, contributing significantly to the game's charm and enjoyment.
- “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
77 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
99%
4%
The humor in the game is widely praised for its absurdity, slapstick style, and clever cutscenes, often drawing comparisons to classic anime and games like Wario. Players appreciate the integration of funny minigames and quirky animations that enhance the overall experience, although some find the crude humor may not appeal to everyone. Overall, the game successfully combines challenging platforming with a lighthearted and entertaining tone, making it a standout in its genre.
- “But just talking about the platforming would be doing a disservice; the game has a fantastic sense of humor, and if you're not afraid of the game being goofy as hell, it's a nice addition to it, a big part of what kept me going forward in fact.”
- “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 feels forced and often falls flat, making the experience more frustrating than entertaining.”
- “I expected clever jokes and witty dialogue, but instead, I was met with tired clichés that just didn't land.”
gameplay
71 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
58%
4%
The gameplay of the game is characterized by simple yet engaging mechanics, primarily focused on jumping, dashing, and wall climbing, which can be both fun and challenging. While many players appreciate the humor and visual design, criticisms arise regarding level design, control issues, and a lack of mechanical depth, leading to a mixed experience that can feel frustrating at times. Mini-games provide a refreshing break from the core gameplay, but some players find the overall execution lacking, with a need for better polish and balance in difficulty.
- “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.”
- “But it's so muddled with terrible level design and mechanics that it's hard to recommend.”
- “You'd think you'd be able to boost around levels like crazy as shown in the promotional material for the game, but most of the gameplay turns into seeing how fast you can scramble past obstacles with the short amount of invincibility you get after taking damage, again and again.”
- “This mechanic single-handedly ruined the experience for me, because it wrests control from the player and puts you at the game's mercy.”
graphics
40 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
53%
40%
8%
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their unique and polished retro art style, reminiscent of 8-bit and Game Boy aesthetics, complemented by smooth animations and a vibrant color palette. Players appreciate the humorous visuals and quirky cut scenes, which enhance the overall experience, despite the game's challenging nature. Overall, the combination of engaging graphics and a catchy soundtrack contributes significantly to the game's appeal.
- “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 humor, featuring a simple yet charming love story interspersed with ridiculous moments and engaging cutscenes. While the narrative may not be deeply complex, it complements the platforming mechanics and adds a lighthearted tone, making the overall experience enjoyable. Players appreciate the unique art style and the balance of story elements with challenging gameplay, despite the plot being somewhat secondary to the action.
- “Additionally, the cut scenes 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.”
- “The humor is great, I love the art style, the small focus on story works for me, and the mechanics are tight.”
- “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 emotional turmoil.
- “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, contributing to the game's charm and value.
- “The art and character designs are very endearing, especially the facial expressions made by Garlic.”
- “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.”
- “Character design is incredible, with easter eggs everywhere. The content is extraordinary for this price range.”
- “Ridiculous character designs and bizarre enemies.”
- “The art and character designs are very endearing, especially the facial expressions made by garlic.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
67%
The game's replayability is mixed; while some players appreciate the precision platforming and speedrun potential, others find certain mini-games frustrating and unpolished, with specific love mini-games lacking replay options and quick instructions that hinder enjoyment. Overall, the experience varies significantly based on individual preferences for gameplay mechanics.
- “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
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
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.”
- “It's one of those games that punishes poor performance, leaving you feeling inadequate.”
- “The lack of optimization leads to frequent crashes and a generally unstable experience.”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
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 frequent crashes that disrupted my gameplay experience.”
- “The game suffers from constant lag, making it nearly unplayable at times.”
- “I noticed several bugs that affected quest progression, which was quite frustrating.”
grinding
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, as it detracts from the overall experience despite the game's lack of difficulty.
- “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 invested in the game.”