Islands of Insight

72%
Game Brain Score Based on 1,607 reviews
  • story
  • graphics
  • optimization
Islands of Insight Game Cover
With a massive scope of puzzles to solve, Islands of Insight has something for every puzzle enthusiast out there.
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"Islands of Insight is a serene shared-world puzzle game set in a floating island realm, filled with ancient wonders, natural beauty, and puzzles to solve. The Deluxe Edition offers a premium cosmetic set, desktop and mobile wallpapers, alongside the standard game. Explore, solve puzzles, and uncover secrets at your own pace in this mesmerizing world."

  • PC
  • Windows
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

72%
Audience ScoreBased on 1,607 reviews
story26 positive mentions
optimization44 negative mentions
  • The game offers a vast variety of puzzles, ranging from easy to extremely challenging, providing something for every puzzle enthusiast.
  • Beautiful graphics and a relaxing atmosphere make exploring the open world enjoyable, enhancing the overall puzzle-solving experience.
  • The game allows for casual play, letting players choose which puzzles to tackle at their own pace without the pressure of a strict progression system.
  • The game suffers from significant performance issues, including long loading times and frequent crashes, making it frustrating to play.
  • The always-online requirement feels unnecessary, as the multiplayer aspect does not add meaningful interaction or collaboration between players.
  • Many puzzles are trivial or repetitive, with a large number of hidden object challenges that detract from the overall puzzle-solving experience.
  • story175 mentions

    The game's story is largely considered forgettable and disjointed, with many players noting that it feels like an afterthought compared to the puzzle-solving mechanics. While there are snippets of lore scattered throughout the open world, they lack cohesion and fail to engage players meaningfully, leading to a focus on puzzles rather than narrative. Overall, the story is seen as optional and not a primary draw for those who enjoy the gameplay experience.

    • “The story exists through text lore, and while this certainly isn't a game I recommend because of its narrative, I do find myself really interested in the overall narrative that is slowly unraveling.”
    • “This game is a beautiful open world puzzle game with a story you figure out along the way.”
    • “The story is a pleasant, low-tension one, and it's more philosophical than engaging, but I think that's a good thing for a game that wants you to just enjoy it regardless of whether or not you want to progress the campaign.”
    • “The story is... to be frank, quite forgettable.”
    • “Unfortunately, the story feels like an afterthought, as if they decided at the last minute to stick a story into the game to appeal to roleplayers and others that like games with a good story in it.”
    • “The story exists through text lore and while this certainly isn't a game I recommend because of its narrative, I do find myself really interested in the overall narrative that is slowly unraveling.”
  • graphics150 mentions

    The graphics of the game are widely praised for their stunning visuals, vibrant colors, and immersive environments that enhance the overall experience. However, many users report significant performance issues, including stuttering, crashes, and poor optimization, which detract from the enjoyment of the beautiful graphics. While the aesthetic appeal is a strong point, the game's heavy graphical demands may require players to adjust settings, especially on lower-end systems.

    • “The art style is stunning, with vibrant colors and immersive environments that truly bring each island to life.”
    • “Incredible graphics, and very rich world design.”
    • “The graphics are beautiful, the music soothing, and the puzzles just right.”
    • “This game is truly one of a kind, but the high graphical demands and failed multiplayer have tainted my perception of the game.”
    • “God... no matter what settings, what graphics, even if it looks like it's a 3D game from the early 2000s, by the time I finish changing video settings, it runs like garbage.”
    • “Performance, even on the lowest possible settings, is inexcusably bad, and even people with better graphics cards than me are complaining about it.”
  • optimization147 mentions

    The game's optimization has been widely criticized, with many players reporting severe performance issues, including stuttering, long loading times, and high resource demands even on powerful hardware. The transition to an offline mode has not alleviated these problems, and the game's always-online requirement has further complicated performance, leading to a frustrating experience for many. Overall, while the game offers engaging puzzles, its poor optimization significantly detracts from the enjoyment.

    • “Despite the world being so large and complex, it runs smoothly on my GeForce 1080.”
    • “I hope to see this game receive lots of support going forward with bug fixes, performance improvements, content updates, and potential DLC.”
    • “After several updates, it runs smoother, finally has offline mode, and optimized a lot of the minor bugs, and therefore I will finally and honestly recommend the game :)”
    • “There are so many issues especially now with the game being left abandoned, the save files save to your hard drive causing the performance to tank the more you play the game.”
    • “Unfortunately, the game has insanely bad performance (even on high-end machines), and the decision to make the game some sort of MMO-puzzle game only seems to hinder the game rather than help.”
    • “Performance, even on the lowest possible settings, is inexcusably bad and even people with better graphics cards than me are complaining about it.”
  • gameplay139 mentions

    The gameplay is characterized by a rich variety of puzzles and engaging mechanics that encourage exploration and experimentation, providing a deeply satisfying experience for players. While the core gameplay loop is addictive and offers a beautiful open world filled with clever challenges, issues such as online connectivity problems and performance concerns have marred the experience for some. Overall, the game is praised for its innovative puzzle design and rewarding progression system, though it suffers from a lack of polish and clarity in its multiplayer aspects.

    • “From engaging mechanics to clever design, every element contributes to a deeply satisfying gameplay experience.”
    • “The gameplay itself was quite a fun and relaxing experience.”
    • “The core gameplay loop is dangerously addicting, the puzzles quickly become brain stumpers, and the world is beautiful to look at.”
    • “This game was originally an MMO, which never really made sense from a gameplay standpoint.”
    • “While the design of the actual puzzles is phenomenal and should by all means receive a recommendation from me, the gameplay experience, and the false advertising leave me rather wanting to cure my boredom by defenestrating myself.”
    • “The decision to make platforming a significant part of the game is in conflict with the gameplay experience.”
  • music77 mentions

    The music in the game is generally praised for its calming and ambient qualities, enhancing the relaxing atmosphere while solving puzzles. However, some players find the soundtrack repetitive over time, and certain music puzzles can be frustratingly difficult or poorly designed, detracting from the overall experience. Despite these criticisms, the music is often described as fitting well with the game's beautiful visuals and engaging puzzle mechanics.

    • “This is a cozy 3D puzzle game, with good atmosphere, music, and interesting puzzles.”
    • “The soundtrack and effects complemented the gameplay well; it’s calming and helps you focus on the puzzles, creating a relaxing atmosphere.”
    • “The music is calm and soothing, and the puzzles are unique and interesting.”
    • “Though the music-based puzzles were borderline impossible for me.”
    • “The notable exception of late-game music puzzles on the mosaic/music island, which I feel were made by an imagination-less robot who doesn't understand what people that enjoy music could possibly be enjoying.”
    • “Additionally, music grids have tremendous potential, but the game's designers seem to think that a high-difficulty music grid should just be a random assortment of noises played at high speed, with little actual sense of musicality required for solving them.”
  • stability39 mentions

    The game's stability is heavily criticized, with numerous reports of bugs, crashes, and server issues that significantly detract from the overall experience. Players express frustration over the game's abandonment by developers, leading to unresolved technical problems and a lack of support. While the puzzle design is appreciated, the persistent glitches and performance issues overshadow the enjoyment, making it difficult to recommend the game.

    • “I experienced no glitches in the areas I explored.”
    • “The game runs smoothly without any crashes or bugs.”
    • “I was impressed by the overall stability; everything worked as intended.”
    • “Don't buy; they took the online servers down and the offline mode is a buggy mess. The game has been abandoned.”
    • “It pains me to not recommend Islands of Insight because it is my favorite puzzle game of all time, but due to technical issues, I can't recommend it to anyone despite loving my time with the game. I could go on about the good things in the game, puzzle design, visual direction, hint system, but that's a bit beside the point when my game itself crashes every 20 minutes consistently, and I have been through troubleshooting with the help desk twice. It has come down to 'wait for future updates,' but the game is essentially abandoned at this point, unfortunately.”
    • “Game freezes and crashes on startup, making it impossible to play.”
  • grinding24 mentions

    The grinding aspect of the game is widely criticized for being tedious and repetitive, with many players feeling that the puzzles, while initially enjoyable, quickly become time-consuming and frustrating. Players note that after completing the skill tree, the focus shifts to grinding for cosmetic points in a game that lacks satisfying rewards, leading to a sense of unnecessary grind. Despite some fun moments, the overall experience is marred by a philosophy of quantity over quality, making the endgame feel like a chore rather than an engaging challenge.

    • “You can do a bunch of small quests that don't time out no matter how long you take, and you receive a small amount of rewards in exchange. They're really not grindy; they're just there in case you feel like doing them.”
    • “There is more that could be said of their constantly crashing online experience, completely unnecessary skill tree, daily missions, and a grindy cosmetic shop, but those weren't my primary concern.”
    • “Overall feels really grindy for no reason in particular.”
    • “The philosophy of this game is definitely quantity over quality and many of the areas and puzzles are just very tedious and repetitive.”
  • atmosphere24 mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its calming and beautiful environment, enhanced by soothing music and sound effects that create a relaxing experience. Players appreciate the blend of exploration and puzzle-solving, which fosters a sense of discovery while maintaining a cozy, zen-like ambiance. Despite some technical issues, the overall atmosphere is described as engaging and tranquil, making it an enjoyable backdrop for casual puzzle gaming.

    • “This is a cozy 3D puzzle game, with good atmosphere, music, and interesting puzzles.”
    • “The soundtrack and effects complemented the gameplay well; it’s calming and helps you focus on the puzzles, creating a relaxing atmosphere.”
    • “A game with a relaxing atmosphere shouldn't be frustrating.”
    • “Feels similar to The Witness and The Talos Principle in atmosphere, but plays closer to something like Guild Wars 2 if it were a puzzle game.”
    • “The world is absolutely gorgeous, the different areas of the map all have their varying themes, and overall there's a zen-like atmosphere that elevates this game from just being a collection of puzzles.”
  • replayability9 mentions

    The game boasts exceptional replayability due to its vast size, procedural generation, and a system where puzzles periodically "despawn and cycle," ensuring a fresh experience with each playthrough. Players report spending extensive hours without fully completing the game, indicating a wealth of content to explore. While the always-online requirement is a minor drawback, the overall design promises enduring replay value for puzzle enthusiasts.

    • “This procedural generation adds to the replayability and keeps the experience fresh.”
    • “I've put in over 100 hours and nowhere near collecting everything, so there is a heap of replay value.”
    • “The sheer size of this game and its replayable design make me fear that this is the last puzzle game I will ever need.”
    • “The puzzles in the main islands are reset periodically to ensure replayability.”
    • “It remains to be seen if the game has the depth and replayability it claims to have, but so far it seems extremely promising.”
  • monetization7 mentions

    The monetization aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players criticizing the presence of microtransactions and an always-online requirement, which detracts from the single-player experience. Others appreciate the lack of in-game purchases and a decent selection of cosmetics, though concerns about privacy policies and misleading advertising have left some players feeling disappointed. Overall, the monetization strategy seems to polarize opinions, with some players enjoying the game while others feel misled.

    • “No in-game purchases.”
    • “+ Seems like a decent selection of cosmetics with no microtransactions (besides deluxe edition), though I haven't even really looked at it (multiplayer too lackluster for me to care).”
    • “I think this is a perfect example of a good concept turned into modern gaming hell: always online singleplayer, microtransactions, daily quests and cosmetic currencies, and the looming threat of a giant privacy policy from the publisher that includes a lot more personal data than what should be needed for a game company.”
    • “But due to the wrong advertising that lures people into the game for coop, I'll keep this review itself as negative.”
    • “If you found one of the old advertisements, or see that there is 'coop/party' and you want a coop puzzle game, then don't bother.”
  • humor3 mentions

    The humor in the game is noted for its absurdity, with players finding amusement in the chaotic interactions and antics of others as they navigate puzzles. While some question the game's classification as an MMO, the comedic elements provide a lighthearted experience that resonates with users.

    • “It's a bit baffling to me why it is even an MMO in the first place, but it's funny seeing other people darting around doing puzzles, I guess.”
    • “Hilarious.”
    • “Funny thing, this is the first and only game I ever had to do this, and guess what?”
  • emotional2 mentions

    Users find the emotional aspect of the game to be impacted by the frustrating design of certain puzzles, particularly those requiring precise navigation through randomly placed elements. This can lead to feelings of annoyance rather than engagement, detracting from the overall emotional experience.

Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

81% average critic score

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Play time

26hMedian play time
50hAverage play time
7-108hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 15 analyzed playthroughs

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