Incandescent

About

Incandescent is a single player action game. It was developed by Stephen Crabb and was released on June 30, 2015. It received neutral reviews from players.

"Incandescent" is a challenging arcade-style game where you defend your ship against unique enemies and bosses, with each playthrough tailored to your skill level. Featuring addictive gameplay, customizable controls, detailed statistics, and local leaderboards, this game offers a retro experience with 720p, 1080p, and 1440p support, scanline feature, and powerups to enhance weapons and health. Can you attain the highest score and defeat the enemy ships?

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

56%

Audience ScoreBased on 82 reviews

music5 positive mentions

story2 negative mentions

Incandescent delivers a fast-paced arcade shooter experience with responsive twin-stick controls, making it easy to pick up and play.
The game's retro aesthetic and clean visuals evoke classic arcade titles, providing a nostalgic yet fresh experience.
Power-ups add a strategic layer to the gameplay, creating moments of empowerment amidst the relentless enemy waves.

The game suffers from a lack of depth and variety, leading to repetitive gameplay that may bore players after a short time.
Several technical issues, such as broken achievements and poor enemy spawn mechanics, detract from the overall experience.
The absence of a campaign or progression system limits motivation beyond high-score chasing, making it feel too simplistic for some players.

music
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
28%
55%
17%
The music in the game is characterized by a repetitive and simplistic loop that many players find annoying and grating over time, detracting from the overall experience. While some appreciate the energetic beats that enhance the arcade atmosphere, the lack of variety leads to frustration, with several users suggesting muting the music in favor of personal playlists. Overall, the soundtrack is seen as a missed opportunity to elevate the game's appeal.
- “The soundtrack and sound effects reinforce the arcade atmosphere, providing energetic beats and sharp audio cues that help guide timing and alertness.”
- “Although it seems like a small detail to put an extra soundtrack, it seriously changes the game experience.”
- “The music (at the start) also sounds pretty okay and the visuals have a pleasant neon look.”
- “First of all, listening to the same music over and over again is really annoying.”
- “The music loop is short and simple; if this bothers you, I suggest you mute the music and put on your own.”
- “Midi soundtrack gets grating after a very simple loop.”
graphics
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
31%
19%
The graphics of the game are characterized by their modesty and simplicity, effectively maintaining clarity during fast-paced action with distinct enemy silhouettes and projectiles. While some players appreciate the nostalgic arcade aesthetic and neon visuals, others criticize the lack of high-resolution support and overall polish, suggesting that the graphics feel outdated compared to similar titles. Overall, the visuals serve their purpose but leave room for improvement to compete with more polished games in the genre.
- “The readability of its visuals is one of its greatest strengths — enemy silhouettes, bullets, and particle bursts remain distinct even when the screen becomes busy.”
- “While the graphics are undeniably modest, they serve the game’s purpose well by maintaining clarity during high-speed play.”
- “The combination of visuals and audio creates an immersive feedback loop that keeps you focused entirely on the action.”
- “Overall, I would not play this game and would rather buy Geometry Wars 3D: Evolved instead, as it has the exact same gameplay and aesthetics, but miles better.”
- “Aesthetics and dead gameplay aside, technically you should not buy this game because there's no support for high-resolution monitors.”
- “Very simplistic graphics, even for a space shooter.”
gameplay
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
46%
27%
The gameplay has been criticized for its repetitive nature and lack of evolution, with many players finding it simplistic and uninspired, primarily revolving around shooting and dodging without requiring strategic thought. While it captures some nostalgic elements of classic arcade shooters, the overall experience is deemed lackluster, with technical issues and poor graphics further detracting from enjoyment. Many reviewers suggest that there are better alternatives available, making this game feel like a low-effort, time-wasting option.
- “The gameplay loop is simple: shoot, avoid bullets, get power-ups, and kill a boss every ten waves.”
- “If I were to describe this game in simple terms, I'd say that this room captures everything great about the classic arcade shooters like Galaga and Asteroids and puts it in a sleek modern package while retaining the aesthetics of the time with interesting wave-mode gameplay that plays much like a 2D arena shooter, emphasizing constant movement and precise aiming to make the absolute best of your offense.”
- “The gameplay is fine for a low-budget space shooter.”
- “After several sessions, some players may feel the repetition settling in, particularly if they prefer games with unlockable mechanics, varied environments, or evolving challenges.”
- “The gameplay doesn't evolve and none of the enemies or bosses really require any special thought to defeat.”
- “Eh, the game is easy, boring, and somewhat buggy. I constantly kept running into ships that would suddenly spawn right in front of me. The gameplay is boring and there's almost nothing to it, even for a $2 game; it's not really more than a crappy time waster.”
story
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
25%
50%
The game lacks a traditional narrative, with no plot twists, characters, or dialogue, focusing instead on survival against increasingly aggressive enemies. This absence of a campaign or progression system leaves players primarily motivated by high-score chasing rather than a compelling story. Overall, the experience is more about personal perseverance than a structured narrative.
- “Moral of the story: you never know what life has in store for you, and if I had given up when all odds were against me, I wouldn't be where I am today.”
- “There are no plot twists or lore entries to uncover, no dialogue or characters to follow — just you, your ship, and endless waves of enemies that grow more aggressive the longer you survive.”
- “The absence of a campaign, story, or progression system means there is little motivation outside of high-score chasing.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
The game's optimization is praised for its smooth performance, with no reported frame issues or stuttering. The dynamic difficulty curve enhances gameplay depth, while the detailed performance breakdown after each run encourages players to refine their strategies.
- “The difficulty curve, which scales dynamically based on your performance, adds depth to what might otherwise be a static wave shooter.”
- “Every run ends with a detailed breakdown of your performance, encouraging self-reflection and subtle refinements in strategy.”
- “I've not had any frame issues or stuttering with this game; if you do, I recommend you try verifying the integrity of your files and restarting your computer.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
100%
The game offers strong replayability through instinctive play and long-term improvement, appealing to fans of responsive controls and score-driven mechanics. However, some players find it lacks variety, leading to a perception of blandness that diminishes its overall replay value.
- “For players who appreciate purity of design, responsive controls, and score-driven replayability, Incandescent stands out as a small but satisfying addition to the twin-stick shooter genre.”
- “Can't recommend this one though as it feels a bit bland compared to the aforementioned title with not enough variety, thus no replay value.”
- “For players who appreciate purity of design, responsive controls, and score-driven replayability, this game stands out as a small but satisfying addition to the twin-stick shooter genre.”
- “It gives the game a sense of replay value beyond simple pattern repetition, rewarding both instinctive play and long-term improvement.”
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is criticized for being buggy, with frequent issues such as ships spawning unexpectedly, which detracts from the overall experience. Players find the gameplay lacking and consider it a disappointing time-waster, even for its low price.
- “Buggy abandoned game.”
- “The game is easy, boring, and somewhat buggy. I constantly kept running into ships that would suddenly spawn right in front of me. The gameplay is boring, and there's almost nothing to it, even for a $2 game. It's not really more than a crappy time waster.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere is enhanced by an engaging soundtrack and sound effects that create an energetic arcade vibe, effectively supporting player timing and alertness through sharp audio cues.
- “The soundtrack and sound effects reinforce the arcade atmosphere, providing energetic beats and sharp audio cues that help guide timing and alertness.”