Graceful Explosion Machine

About

Graceful Explosion Machine is a single player arcade shooter game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by Vertex Pop and was released on August 8, 2017. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and positive reviews from players.

"Skillfully pilot the advanced Graceful Explosion Machine (GEM) fighter while blasting swarms of crystalline enemies with your ludicrously overpowered quad-weapon array! Lost in deep space, you'll shoot, dash and combo your way through jewel-hued alien worlds, fighting to find a way home."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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82%

Audience ScoreBased on 34 reviews

gameplay10 positive mentions

grinding2 negative mentions

Fast-paced, fluid, and addictive gameplay with tight and responsive controls.
Innovative and strategic four-weapon system requiring resource management and combo chaining.
Bright, colorful, and stylish visuals paired with excellent music and sound design.

Levels and enemy variety can feel repetitive and bland over time.
Lack of weapon upgrades, extra hit points, and meta-game elements may limit long-term engagement.
Some players find the controls fiddly or awkward, and difficulty spikes can be punishing.

gameplay
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
45%
41%
14%
The gameplay is praised for its clean, fast-paced, and addictive arcade shooter mechanics, combining tight controls with innovative weapon systems and fluid movement. Its simplistic yet engaging design appeals to both casual players and shmup enthusiasts, delivering a modern, respectful take on classic twitch gaming. While lacking depth in story, its precision, replayability, and stylish visuals make for a compelling, enjoyable experience.
- “A criminally underrated arcade shooter with great feeling weapon mechanics and unusual movement system.”
- “Its fantastic gameplay mechanics, interesting enemies and situations, great music, and tight controls make this one a real gem of a shmup.”
- “After playing Graceful Explosion Machine for long enough and getting into the flow, the experience is fast, manic, and fluid - the sort of gameplay that harkens back to the pure and simplistic joy that was the core of arcade shooters of the '90s.”
- “Designy looking shmup with tedious gameplay?”
- “Checking out some gameplay videos, nothing major seems to happen as the levels progress.”
- “A strong visual style is alluring but the simplistic gameplay and somewhat finicky controls makes for a more mediocre than graceful time.”
graphics
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
46%
23%
The game features aesthetically pleasing, minimalistic, and colorful graphics that complement its fast-paced, action-focused gameplay. While visuals are generally sharp and eye-catching, some users report occasional issues with graphics tearing and performance on integrated graphics, which can cause overheating. Overall, the flashy yet clean art style enhances the engaging and addictive experience, especially for fans of shmups and score-based challenges.
- “The playful, angular graphics are a treat.”
- “It's fluid, addictive gameplay and flashy yet minimal visuals pair well with a variety of challenging enemies, and it’s great for sessions lasting for a few minutes or a couple hours.”
- “Eye-catching visuals and extremely fine-tuned gameplay combine to make this a memorable and compelling experience for anybody looking to get into a faster paced, action focused game.”
- “According to the developer, the game always runs with vsync on, yet the frame rate caps at 120 instead of 60 on my 60Hz laptop, and occasionally the graphics tear up a little while the game loses the ability to recognize my control for like half a second.”
- “The game defaults to integrated graphics which made my laptop 10°C hotter than it should be; forcing discrete graphics with NVIDIA control panel solves the problem, but I think the problem deserves to be mentioned and should be avoided by the developers in the first place.”
- “The game defaults to integrated graphics which made my laptop 10°C hotter than it should be; forcing discrete graphics with NVIDIA control panel solves the problem, but I think the problem deserves to be mentioned and should be avoided by the developers in the first place.”
music
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
83%
17%
The music is consistently praised as lovely, great, and well-integrated, enhancing the gameplay experience with vibrant and fitting soundtracks. Users appreciate how it complements the game's mechanics and atmosphere, contributing to its overall appeal.
- “Its fantastic gameplay mechanics, interesting enemies and situations, great music, and tight controls make this one a real gem of a shmup.”
- “The vibrant colors and the background music, along with the simplistic yet deep controls, make for a fun experience on and off the road.”
- “Great music and HD rumble implementation, intense 2D shooting action.”
replayability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
The game offers strong replayability through its innovative mechanics, fluid controls, and engaging leaderboard rankings. Players are encouraged to perfect levels and achieve high scores, with bonus levels and score attacks adding further incentive. Overall, it provides a fun arcade shooter experience that remains compelling well beyond the initial playthrough.
- “There's the replayability factor as well if you're interested in perfecting the levels and getting high scores.”
- “That being said, the real draw of the game is the replayable rankings and leaderboards, and attempting to get those perfect runs on each stage.”
- “All in all, Graceful Explosion Machine does what it advertises, offering a fun arcade shooter experience with a significant amount of replay value after you finish your first go around with the game.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding in this shmup is described as highly repetitive and tedious, relying on the same limited weapons and techniques throughout. Progression offers minimal enemy variety, making the gameplay feel monotonous and excessively grindy.
- “You will use the same 4 weapons the entire time, using the same techniques to clear those waves. As you progress, some small variety in types or quantity of enemies can be noticed. This is the most grindy and boring shmup I have ever played, and I would be okay with that if it was a student project sold for a few bucks on Steam.”
- “Designy looking shmup with tedious gameplay?”
story
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
50%
The story is minimal and lacks depth or character development, reflecting the game's focus on fast-paced arcade gameplay rather than narrative. Players encounter repetitive missions with little variation in setting or plot.
- “Those looking for a deep storyline and rich characterization will have to look elsewhere, but to expect that from Graceful Explosion Machine would be missing the point; this is a respectful modern take on the twitch arcade gaming of yesteryear, and in concentrating purely on its gameplay it offers a tight and addictive experience.”
- “You got 10 missions based on the level with the same objective, then a new 'map' which is the same one but a different color.”
- “You got 10 missions based on the level with the same objective, then a new map which is the same one but a different color.”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game demonstrates excellent stability, running smoothly without issues while maintaining high performance and responsiveness.

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79%Critics’ scoreBased on 17 critic reviews

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3h Median play time

3h Average play time

3-3h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 1 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

Graceful Explosion Machine is a arcade shooter game with science fiction theme.

Graceful Explosion Machine is available on Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 and others.

On average players spend around 3 hours playing Graceful Explosion Machine.

Graceful Explosion Machine was released on August 8, 2017.

Graceful Explosion Machine was developed by Vertex Pop.

Graceful Explosion Machine has received mostly positive reviews from players and mostly positive reviews from critics. Most players liked this game for its gameplay but disliked it for its grinding.

Graceful Explosion Machine is a single player game.

Similar games include Nex Machina, Assault Android Cactus, PixelJunk Shooter, Hell is Other Demons, XenoRaptor and others.

Graceful Explosion Machine

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A shooting star to break the mold: Graceful Explosion Machine review

"Without a solid hook, it's likely to leave your mind as quickly as it arrived"