JoY

About

JoY is a single player survival simulation game with horror and violence themes. It was developed by Edco Games and was released on September 16, 2024. It received neutral reviews from players.

Joy is a unique 2D horror game that blends unsettling mini-games with chilling cutscenes. What begins as an innocent experience quickly turns sinister, drawing you into a dark, unpredictable journey filled with unexpected scares. Immerse yourself in an atmosphere of tension and suspense that keeps you on edge from start to finish. Are you ready to face the fear and discover the hidden terrors with…

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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59%

Audience ScoreBased on 27 reviews

replayability2 positive mentions

story2 negative mentions

Distinctive and appealing art style with a striking black, white, gray, and yellow color scheme that enhances the horror atmosphere.
Unique mix of horror and challenging mini games that create a tense and engaging experience for fans of rage and endurance games.
Short gameplay length with replay value through multiple endings and attempts to master the mini games, making it suitable for quick play sessions.

Gameplay is frustratingly difficult and unforgiving, often feeling unfair due to 1-hit deaths and inconsistent mechanics, which can deter casual players.
Lack of clear instructions, story introduction, or in-game explanations leaves players confused about objectives and game mechanics.
Limited variety and content in mini games causing repetitiveness, along with poor balancing and lack of incentives for replaying completed mini games.

graphics
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
24%
38%
The game's graphics receive consistent praise for their charming and appealing art style, which many find to be a standout feature. While visuals are noted as excellent and well-executed, some reviewers suggest exploring alternative art styles or improving gameplay to match the graphics' quality. Overall, the artwork is a key positive aspect despite mixed feelings about the gameplay.
- “This game, as a positive, nails every single thing right with its aesthetics!”
- “I love the artstyle of the game, and again - do believe it would enable interesting opportunities to explore as a game.”
- “Really loved the simplistic graphics; they are super cute.”
- “Try some alternative artstyles.”
- “5/10 - mid; excellent visuals but actual gameplay suffers greatly”
- “There's two solid points to the game in my opinion the artwork is quite neat and is what got me to try the game in the first place, and I think the idea is fine, just terrible execution on the mini games.”
gameplay
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
24%
38%
The gameplay is widely criticized for being simplistic, poorly explained, and frustrating due to one-hit kills and disruptive low-effort jumpscares that break flow. Mechanics like maze navigation with time limits and mouse-based enemy control are clunky and lack clear purpose, leading to a generally unsatisfying experience despite decent visuals.
- “Imagine a maze where you follow the path without touching the borders, with a time limit that you can refill by grabbing balls Pacman-style, combined with a 'one hit kill' mechanic and low-effort jumpscares that interrupt gameplay flow.”
- “There is a mechanic where you use the mouse to keep enemies at bay or stop traps by hovering your mouse over them; your sprite moves and the screen moves, so you need to move the mouse to control what you want to stop or keep at bay.”
- “Even the free mindwave demo offers similar gameplay with more replay opportunity due to a high score system, despite not being a finished game.”
- “Nothing about any of the mechanics is shown to the player, nor is the storyline or the objectives clearly explained.”
- “Imagine a maze where you must follow the path without touching the borders, with a time limit you can refill by grabbing balls Pacman-style, combined with 'everything is one-hit KO' mechanics and low-effort jumpscares. These jumpscares stop the gameplay and break any flow, seemingly to stall players from refunding.”
- “There is a mechanic where you use the mouse to keep enemies at bay or stop traps by hovering over them, but since your sprite and screen move, you must constantly move the mouse to maintain control, which can be frustrating.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game offers moderate replayability, especially when playing at lower difficulty for faster, varied runs with increasing challenges. Its short length is balanced by the incentive to achieve multiple endings and complete all mini-games.
- “Leave the difficulty low to allow replayability with faster, infinitely playable, and ramping difficulty variations within the same game.”
- “It's a short experience that offers some replayability value if you're aiming to get both endings and complete all mini games.”
story
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The story is unclear and poorly presented, leaving players confused about the plot and their objectives. There is little to no narrative guidance or explanation of the game's mechanics within the storyline.
- “Nothing about any of the mechanics is even shown to the player regarding the storyline or what we are supposed to do.”
- “Story?”
music
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The music effectively enhances the game's atmosphere, though the audio settings are limited, only allowing adjustments to music volume.
- “Visually, this game looks great, and the sound/music really adds to the atmosphere of the game.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding in the game can become tedious due to repetitive mini-games and seemingly endless challenges, though it generally doesn't feel unfair. The engaging elements, like the Russian roulette ending, help offset some of the monotony.
- “The ending itself was fun (Russian roulette), but it did start to get tedious as the gun seemed to have a magical barrel with a seemingly endless supply of bullets.”
- “Largely, I wouldn't call it unfair, although there are some seriously tedious mini-games.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is dark and chaotic, often eliciting intense laughter even in frustrating moments. Players appreciate how the absurdity and insanity of the gameplay turn typical rage into amusement.
- “Instead of getting enraged as I would normally feel from dying again and again, I found myself laughing at the absolute insanity that the game throws you into.”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game features distinctive character design that gives it a unique identity, which is positively received by players.
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game features impressive visuals complemented by sound and music that effectively enhance its overall atmosphere.
- “Visually, this game looks great, and the sound/music really adds to the atmosphere of the game.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users find the emotional experience frustrating and disruptive, as the combination of one-hit knockouts, time limits, and low-effort jumpscares interrupts gameplay flow and feels manipulative rather than engaging.