Insurmountable

70%
Game Brain Score Based on 365 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • replayability
Insurmountable Game Cover
Cerebral and engrossing, Insurmountable succeeds at making a tactical mountain-climbing rogue-lite. No frostbite required.
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"Insurmountable is a permadeath roguelike adventure game with a procedurally generated mountain climbing environment, dynamic weather system, and tough decisions that impact your climber's survival. Choose from three characters, each with unique skills and backgrounds, and scavenge for equipment while dealing with randomly generated events. As time passes, your climber will grow stronger through a sophisticated skill system, but one mistake could lead to your last."

  • Nintendo Switch
  • PC
  • Play​station 4
  • Windows
  • Xbox One
  • Play​Station
  • Xbox
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

70%
Audience ScoreBased on 365 reviews
story22 positive mentions
grinding9 negative mentions
  • The game offers a unique blend of strategy and resource management, making each climb feel engaging and rewarding.
  • The atmosphere and visuals are stunning, creating an immersive experience that captures the essence of mountaineering.
  • The character progression and skill trees add depth to gameplay, allowing players to experiment with different strategies.
  • The game can become repetitive quickly, with many events and scenarios feeling similar after a few playthroughs.
  • Camera controls can be frustrating, making it difficult to navigate and plan routes effectively.
  • There is a lack of variety in the mountains and events, which can diminish replayability and overall excitement.
  • story128 mentions

    The game's story is described as a mix of bizarre sci-fi elements and a functional plot that lacks depth, often feeling repetitive and disconnected from the gameplay. While some players appreciate the strategic gameplay and character development, many find the narrative unengaging, with limited variety in missions and a tendency for events to repeat. Overall, the story serves more as a backdrop to the climbing mechanics rather than a compelling narrative experience.

    • “They completely revamped how the game evolves, put in the story (writing is excellent) and re-balanced perks, skills, and equipment... all in all, it's a must buy (probably one of the top 3 adventures ever made).”
    • “At first I thought it was just a mountain climbing game, but once you get into it, the story makes it much more interesting than just a thrilling climb to the top of a mountain for bragging rights; it's a fight for your life and your freedom.”
    • “The update is amazing; it has given a solid story for the game.”
    • “The story is somewhat lacking.”
    • “The main plot progresses each time you finish a capstone mission, and it feels heavily contrived to fit the gameplay.”
    • “The story falls flat, as others say, eluding to a grand mystery, only for the game to shrug and say, 'actually I guess nothing really interesting happened up here.' This makes the game feel unfinished and unsatisfying.”
  • gameplay86 mentions

    The gameplay of the title is characterized by solid mechanics that are easy to learn, offering a mix of casual strategy and resource management, though it can become repetitive over time. While the climbing mechanics and risk/reward elements are engaging, many players feel that the game lacks depth and variety, leading to a sense of tedium after extended play. Overall, the game presents a unique concept with enjoyable mechanics, but it requires further development to enhance its replayability and challenge.

    • “Great title, great art, great interface, really satisfying mechanics.”
    • “Interesting and thrilling gameplay with high replay value.”
    • “The mechanics are easy to grasp and fun as hell, and the variety of tools and skills is very engaging.”
    • “If you're expecting in-depth mountaineering or deeply strategic roguelike gameplay, this is not for you.”
    • “The gameplay loop is far too repetitive and simply just tedious at some point.”
    • “Gameplay sucks any, and all, enjoyment from progressing in the game...only buy if you'd like to climb mountain 1 (1 of 3 mountains) over...and over...and over again.”
  • replayability29 mentions

    Overall, the game's replayability is a mixed bag; while some players appreciate the unique character abilities and procedural generation that offer varied experiences, many express disappointment with the limited content and repetitive events. Some reviewers suggest that additional features, such as more diverse environments and interactive NPCs, could enhance replay value, while others feel satisfied with their initial experience despite the lack of long-term engagement. Ultimately, the potential for replayability exists, but it currently falls short for many players.

    • “This is a wonderful update to an already enjoyable game that focuses on making the replayability more enjoyable and builds a deeper connection to your character, through a more hands-on skill progression tree to a deeper backstory and plot.”
    • “The different characters, starting paths, and difficulties make for enjoyable variety and what I imagine will be plenty of replayability, and I can see opportunities for DLC or simply expanded updates in the future to boost that longevity even further.”
    • “This title offers a very high replay value, since the mountains are procedurally created with ever-changing environments from terrain, weather, and randomly generated events.”
    • “There is not so much content, though, so replayability is not that big.”
    • “If once you beat the game you beat it, case closed, then I'm not sure how replayable this game will be.”
    • “Replayability is quite limited at the moment.”
  • graphics25 mentions

    The game's graphics are generally praised for their unique and stunning visuals, crisp animations, and high-quality UI, creating a beautiful and atmospheric experience. While some players note that the art style is simplistic and may not meet expectations for realism, many find it immersive and fitting for the game's theme. Overall, the graphics contribute positively to the gameplay, making it visually appealing despite not being a "visual feast."

    • “It has decent animations and UI, gorgeous and unique graphics, effective sounds, and beautiful music.”
    • “This game has some pretty stunning visuals.”
    • “The visuals and atmosphere are wonderful, haunting, and at times breathtaking.”
    • “So while not a visual feast, the graphics are decent enough especially if you love mountains like I do.”
    • “I personally had no issue 'immersing' myself into the game, however if you are expecting a Skyrim-type graphical experience, you need to watch the videos provided and the images a bit more before purchasing.”
    • “But if there was a sequel, think Frostpunk-like snow and realism graphics, then that would be a huge title to play again and again.”
  • atmosphere19 mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its immersive and calming qualities, with many players highlighting the beautiful graphics and realistic mountaineering experience. Reviewers appreciate the unique blend of awe-inspiring and foreboding elements, creating a relaxing yet engaging environment that enhances the gameplay. Overall, the game successfully captures the essence of a dangerous climb while providing a serene and atmospheric adventure.

    • “I like it, it has good atmosphere, graphics are cool, and the mountaineering somehow feels real.”
    • “The visuals and atmosphere are wonderful, haunting and at times breathtaking.”
    • “Overall, I think I would recommend Insurmountable to any of my fellow mountaineers out there or to people who are looking for a very atmospheric and relaxing mountain experience.”
    • “They try to create atmosphere, but in the end all that remains is the question, 'Was that it?'”
    • “The atmosphere of the game is slow and relaxing.”
    • “The gameplay and atmosphere are both awe-inspiring yet foreboding.”
  • music13 mentions

    The music in the game is generally described as calming and atmospheric, enhancing the overall experience, though it is often muted and understated, serving more as background noise than a focal point. While some players appreciate its soothing qualities, others find it repetitive and lacking in intensity, suggesting that more dynamic music and ambient sounds could better reflect the game's harsh environment. Overall, the soundtrack complements the game well, but it may not stand out as a highlight for all players.

    • “It has decent animations and UI, gorgeous and unique graphics, effective sounds, and beautiful music.”
    • “I enjoyed the music and the environmental design, and I liked the integration of sanity, body temperature, energy, oxygen, and health and the subtle ways that they all influenced each other.”
    • “The music is very calming and soothing and adds a lot of polish to what the devs were going for.”
    • “There's barely any music; the climbing animations take frustratingly long even at max speed.”
    • “The music is very muted; after turning it up some 200%, it's essentially just background mountain noises, which is fine, I guess.”
    • “The music and sound effects are rather understated and perhaps the least interesting part of the game, being rather quiet and unobtrusive, but they are by no means bad.”
  • grinding10 mentions

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessively repetitive and tedious, often requiring significant time investment without sufficient rewards. The frequent need to swap equipment adds to the frustration, detracting from the overall enjoyment and making it hard to recommend the game despite some initial fun.

    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “The gameplay loop is far too repetitive and simply just tedious at some point.”
    • “I guess I had enough fun playing it once to not feel ripped off, but it's a tedious slog and I can't recommend it due to that.”
    • “Swapping out equipment, especially shoes and hand tools, every few tiles to minimize stamina/energy cost got a bit tedious.”
  • stability3 mentions

    Players report significant stability issues, including frequent freezes and bugs that disrupt gameplay. The game often becomes unresponsive, particularly when using specific shortcuts, leading to a frustrating experience. Overall, the stability of the game appears to be a major concern among users.

    • “But the feeling I get as a player is buggy behavior instead of clear implemented design restrictions.”
    • “For me, it freezes after some time and can't be properly closed.”
    • “Every time I use the 'V' shortcut for the camera, it breaks the game as the screen freezes eternally.”
  • monetization2 mentions

    The monetization strategy includes in-game advertisements, which some users find ironic as they often receive ads for games they already own on Steam.

    • “The irony is, I get ads for games I already own on Steam.”
    • “There are ads in the game.”
  • optimization2 mentions

    The game's optimization is generally praised for its excellent performance, running smoothly even on lower-end hardware. However, the gameplay design requires frequent inventory management and gear switching, which may become cumbersome and feel mandatory at higher difficulty levels, detracting from the overall experience.

    • “Performance-wise, it's excellent. I'm running it on 'high' settings on a low-end gaming laptop (1050m/3550h/16GB RAM) and having a very smooth time with this game.”
    • “So, instead of queueing a long move order and waiting for it to finish, the actual gameplay consists of taking 2 steps, opening the inventory, switching two pieces of gear, closing the inventory, taking 2 steps, opening the inventory, switching two pieces of gear. Admittedly, that optimization probably wouldn't be necessary to beat the game on normal difficulty, but this is bad design that will probably hit hard during higher difficulties.”
    • “The gameplay consists of taking two steps, opening the inventory, switching two pieces of gear, closing the inventory, and repeating this process. While this optimization might not be necessary to beat the game on normal difficulty, it highlights poor design that could become mandatory at higher difficulties.”
    • “The optimization mechanics feel tedious and disrupt the flow of gameplay, making it more about inventory management than actual strategy.”
    • “The game forces players into a repetitive cycle of gear management that detracts from the overall experience, especially when it could have been streamlined for better engagement.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

80% average critic score

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Play time

5hMedian play time
7hAverage play time
3-12hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 3 analyzed playthroughs

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