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About

InFlux is a single-player platformer puzzle game with excellent mechanics, stunning visuals, and a memorable original soundtrack. As a mysterious metal sphere, you'll explore and solve cubic puzzle structures within beautiful, naturalistic environments, while discovering secrets and interacting with a majestic humpback whale. Ideal for relaxation, InFlux supports keyboard and mouse or Xbox 360 controller.

InFlux screenshot
InFlux screenshot
InFlux screenshot
InFlux screenshot
InFlux screenshot
InFlux screenshot
InFlux screenshot
InFlux screenshot
InFlux screenshot
InFlux screenshot
InFlux screenshot

69%
Audience ScoreBased on 312 reviews
graphics40 positive mentions
story8 negative mentions

  • Beautiful graphics and serene environments create a calming atmosphere.
  • Puzzles are engaging and provide a decent challenge without being overly difficult.
  • The game offers a unique blend of exploration and puzzle-solving, making it a relaxing experience.
  • Controls are often sluggish and imprecise, making gameplay frustrating at times.
  • The game suffers from performance issues, including stuttering and bugs that can hinder progress.
  • Lack of a clear story or direction leaves players feeling unfulfilled and confused about their objectives.
  • graphics
    84 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many players praising the beautiful visuals and atmospheric design, while others criticize performance issues and graphical bugs. Some users note that the graphics are appealing but not cutting-edge, often comparing them to mid-era console games, and express concerns about the game's performance on lower-end hardware. Overall, while the visuals are generally well-received, they are marred by technical issues that detract from the experience.

    • “Thankfully, the soundscapes and visuals are exceedingly pleasing to the eyes and ears, and the landscapes are a joy to roll through in a zen-like way.”
    • “The graphics are amazing, the puzzles are inventive and challenging, and with an open world environment, you truly get a feeling of freedom from the enclosed spaces of puzzles.”
    • “Very nice game, great graphics, and the sound gives the game a good vibe, nice to chill out to.”
    • “I encountered graphical bugs from the start, and alt-tabbing seemed to cause the ground to turn invisible.”
    • “The game tries to focus itself around visuals and fails.”
    • “The explore sections are clearly supposed to be 'ooo look at the visuals' but it’s more like 'oo look at the visuals that look like they are from a game 4 years ago and half-assed'.”
  • gameplay
    64 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay features a mix of innovative mechanics, such as an attract/repel system and rotating rooms, but suffers from a lack of depth and responsiveness, leading to a frustrating experience for some players. While the puzzles are generally well-designed and the atmosphere is calming, issues like slow controls, bugs, and linear exploration detract from the overall enjoyment. Despite these shortcomings, the game offers a unique charm and a smooth, casual gameplay experience that can be engaging, especially for puzzle enthusiasts.

    • “The gameplay is smooth, simple, and solid, though it keeps along a similar theme.”
    • “This game is so much fun, it has great gameplay and it really gets you thinking!”
    • “It has an incredibly calm atmosphere, lush graphics, ridiculously smooth gameplay, and aims to bring a new light to problem-solving and virtual puzzles.”
    • “A huge sour point in the game both in and out of puzzles is a lifting fan mechanic (fan on the ground, blows your ball upwards).”
    • “Controls are slow and unresponsive; backgrounds are sad, gameplay is sad and pathetic.”
    • “But ultimately it became clear that there was no one thing that was so abhorrent as to destroy the game, but a long list of mediocre mechanics, frustrating moments, and missed potential stacked upon each other to create a game that is not fun to play.”
  • music
    60 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game has received widespread praise for its beautiful, relaxing, and ambient qualities, enhancing the overall serene atmosphere and gameplay experience. Many players noted that the soundtrack evolves alongside the game, becoming more engaging as they progress, and contributes significantly to the enjoyment of exploring the visually stunning environments. Overall, the combination of melodic music and calming soundscapes creates a peaceful and immersive experience that players found highly enjoyable.

    • “Another point of praise goes to the soundtrack, which was beautiful, relaxing and fitting to the game.”
    • “Influx offers a serene ambience with melodic music that produces a peaceful environment that is calming.”
    • “The music is wonderful and the overworld is breathtaking.”
    • “Some people claim 'the music makes everything!' uh... have you listened to the music?”
    • “Speaking of the audio, the background music is faint and pleasant, even in the glasshouses where it changes, it only serves to set a mood, and it does very well.”
    • “The rhythmic music and simplicity of Influx creates at times a very peaceful experience.”
  • story
    42 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's story is largely criticized for being vague and uninteresting, with many players noting a lack of clear narrative or motivation behind the gameplay. While some appreciate the bizarre and passive storytelling elements, others feel that the absence of a substantial plot detracts from the experience. Overall, the game offers a minimalistic story that leaves players questioning their purpose and the world around them, though some find enjoyment in the exploration and puzzle-solving aspects despite the narrative shortcomings.

    • “Influx is the story of a small ball and its adventure to complete mazes, explore an island, and collect orbs.”
    • “It has a small story being told organically through the world, and it's just a really satisfying time.”
    • “There's just enough story to keep you going.”
    • “If you want a story about why you're a ball, what your goal is, and why these puzzle places are around, I'm afraid the game gives nothing on that front, which is too bad.”
    • “Unfortunately, this game lacks a story, which I was hoping would eventually show up but didn't.”
    • “Regardless, it is never made clear exactly what the story or plot really is; you roll around the level, entering puzzles that seem to take you to another dimension, finish them, and eventually leave the entire location.”
  • atmosphere
    28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its beautiful graphics, calming music, and immersive environments, reminiscent of the Myst series. Players appreciate the seamless integration of art and gameplay, creating a dream-like experience that enhances problem-solving elements. However, some critiques mention a lack of narrative explanation, which can detract from the overall atmospheric experience.

    • “The art and settings are nice, gameplay is fairly smooth, and the music fits the mood into a nicely relaxed atmosphere.”
    • “At the end of the day, this is a fantastic game with an amazing atmosphere that keeps you coming back for more; and honestly, that is the kind of result you want from a problem-solving game of this caliber.”
    • “Without spoiling anything (or too much anyways), at first glance you would figure this combination to clash with the original atmosphere of the game, but it's quite the opposite; the transfers are done so seamlessly that the player remains undisturbed, and continues to flow through the calm, dream-like gameplay that is in flux.”
    • “It has an incredibly calm atmosphere, lush graphics, ridiculously smooth gameplay, and aims to bring a new light to problem-solving and virtual puzzles.”
    • “This is a very 'artsy' game, and the atmosphere has to be (and is definitely) executed beautifully.”
  • optimization
    22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's optimization has received significant criticism, with many players experiencing severe performance issues such as lag, stuttering, and frame drops, even on high-end systems and at low settings. While some users noted minor bugs and occasional smooth performance, the overall consensus is that poor optimization detracts from the gaming experience, making it difficult to enjoy.

    • “It has a couple of minor performance issues here and there but nothing to seriously detract from a very good game.”
    • “The game is beautiful, runs smoothly and works fine at first.”
    • “The other main issue is performance.”
    • “I like marble games, but this is just so poorly optimized that I can barely play it on low settings with my RTX 2060.”
    • “The game forgets resolution and drops a lot of frames; it seems poorly optimized even on good gaming rigs.”
    • “Running this on a machine on the higher end of their recommended specs (with which I can play a lot of AAA games just fine), and even at the lowest possible graphics settings, I'm having serious performance issues.”
  • stability
    14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's stability is generally criticized, with players reporting various glitches, including screen tearing, frame stutters, and issues with character controls that can lead to frustrating gameplay experiences. While it runs well on most computers, the presence of bugs—such as phasing through objects and floating elements—detracts from the overall enjoyment, making it a mixed experience for many. Despite these issues, some players still found the game enjoyable and memorable.

    • “This original game runs great on most computers these days.”
    • “Buggy and not very fluent gameplay.”
    • “I really liked the idea of this game, but it started to punch me in the face as soon as I discovered how many glitches there are.”
    • “The controls are loopy (e.g. forward + left should result in the ball rolling left, but instead it feels like an invisible force is pushing the ball diagonally). The game is buggy, especially with the boost feature; I found myself going through walls and other solid objects, dropping outside the world or in a place I could not get out of (like inside the model of a tree).”
  • grinding
    10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Reviews highlight that the grinding aspect of the game is largely unfulfilling, with many players finding the content thin and the puzzles tedious and monotonous. While some appreciate the challenge of the puzzles, the overall sentiment leans towards frustration with poor design choices that detract from the experience.

    • “I felt it was tedious, boring, and pointless.”
    • “The puzzles themselves are tedious and monotonous.”
    • “What appears to be an average, but solid physics-based ball puzzle game is instead an amalgamation of poor design decisions and tedious level designs.”
  • replayability
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game has been criticized for its lack of replayability, with users noting that it offers minimal content and is not worth the price, especially for those seeking a longer or more engaging experience. Overall, it seems to provide limited incentive for players to return after completing it.

    • “It was fun, and I did enjoy it, but to pay anything at all for a game that doesn't even have enough content to last one hour, and offers zero replayability for anyone that doesn't have dementia is not something I can recommend.”
    • “Not too much replay value though.”
  • humor
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is generally appreciated, with players finding it funny and enjoyable, though some feel it lacks depth and complexity. The physics may contribute to the comedic elements, but they are not consistently effective, leading to a mixed reception regarding the overall humor.

    • “A good puzzle game, playable and funny, but a bit too simple.”
  • emotional
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Players express a deep emotional investment in the game's characters and elements, particularly highlighting their connection to a ball and a whale, which suggests that the narrative and gameplay evoke strong feelings and attachment.

    • “I got so emotionally invested in a ball (and a whale).”

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