October 19, 2020
Chump Squad

Kine

An amazing experience from beginning to end, though there isn’t enough content to justify the $19.99 launch price. Wait for a sale, then definitely pick it up, and you won’t be sorry.

87%Game Brain Score

music, story

grinding

94% User Score Based on 106 reviews

Critic Score 72%Based on 4 reviews

Platforms

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About

Kine is a single player strategy game. It was developed by Chump Squad and was released on October 19, 2020. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and very positive reviews from players.

"Kine is a single-player musical 3D puzzle game featuring three quirky yellow robot dreamers seeking fame. Manipulate and maneuver each character using their unique abilities, and navigate a beautifully designed world filled with over 120 unique puzzles to the beat of an award-winning original soundtrack. Join Kine's musical journey and leave a review to support this tiny team."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

94%

Audience ScoreBased on 106 reviews

music42 positive mentions

grinding3 negative mentions

Kine features a unique and charming art style, with engaging characters and a delightful jazz soundtrack that enhances the overall experience.
The puzzles are well-designed, offering a good mix of challenge and creativity, allowing players to feel smart and accomplished when solving them.
The game successfully integrates a light narrative with the gameplay, making the character interactions and story progression enjoyable without overshadowing the puzzles.

The controls can be cumbersome, particularly when cycling through characters and their limbs, which can lead to frustration during gameplay.
Some players found the puzzles to lack depth, feeling more like trial and error rather than requiring strategic thinking and planning.
The music, while initially enjoyable, can become repetitive and distracting during longer puzzle sessions, detracting from the overall immersion.

music
94 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
45%
46%
9%
The music in the game is widely praised for its vibrant jazz soundtrack, which complements the quirky narrative and characters, who are anthropomorphic musical instruments. However, some players note that the music can become repetitive due to short loops, which may detract from the puzzle-solving experience over extended play sessions. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a significant highlight, enhancing the game's charm and engagement.
- “The jazzy, funky style of both the art and the music are the perfect complement for this gem of a game.”
- “The characters are super charming, the music is delightful (not to mention dynamic based on the selected character) and the puzzles have all been quite engaging in regards to spatial reasoning.”
- “Beautiful story, beautiful music, and most importantly of all, beautiful design.”
- “A minor flaw pertains to the music: as invigorating as it is, it's also repetitive due to very short loops, and so can be slightly irritating at times.”
- “When you spend over 10 minutes on a puzzle, there just isn't enough variation in the background music here to keep it from getting repetitive and grating.”
- “Whereas ambient music takes a backseat to the puzzle solving, the music in this game has too much character to let it meld into the background, but not enough character or variation to keep the same riff you hear over and over from wearing down your nerves.”
story
42 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
64%
7%
The story in the game is minimal yet charming, revolving around a rising band and conveyed through dialogue and text snippets that enhance the puzzle experience without overwhelming it. Players appreciate how well the narrative intertwines with the gameplay mechanics, making it a notable example of a puzzle game that successfully integrates story and design. While the storyline can be easily ignored, it adds a fun layer to the overall experience, with many praising its creativity and character interactions.
- “I absolutely loved how well interconnected and fitting the story is on the various level sets and also how it follows the evolution and the variations on the main puzzle mechanism.”
- “The characters and music are lots of fun, it's got a nice story, and it introduces and combines mechanics in pretty creative ways.”
- “Beautiful story, beautiful music, and most importantly of all, beautiful design.”
- “The story is just little bits of text and whatnot around the beginning/end of levels; you could easily ignore it, but it's a fun little story.”
- “If you don't care about story, it never gets in the way or anything, just speech bubbles that pop up a few times per level and you can focus all on the puzzles.”
- “I aim to finish all the main quests but really cannot; I get confused even watching a solution walkthrough.”
gameplay
34 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
35%
56%
9%
The gameplay in Kine is praised for its incredible variety and depth, featuring well-crafted puzzles that integrate unique mechanics and character interactions, creating a satisfying and engaging experience. While some players found the puzzle layouts could be cleaner and the music less suitable for a puzzle game, the overall design and narrative connection to the gameplay received high marks, making it a standout in the genre. The turn-based mechanics allow for thoughtful problem-solving, with a refreshing twist on character movement that enhances the challenge and enjoyment.
- “Incredible variety and quantity of well thought out puzzles, with tons of interesting mechanics!”
- “The way all the mechanics fit together is magical; by the halfway point, I was finishing every level with a smile on my face and in awe of the puzzle design.”
- “Gameplay is challenging; levels are brain twisters.”
- “Poor gameplay music: there are reasons why puzzle games have very ambient music and not upbeat or swing; it melts into the background and lets puzzle solving take center stage.”
- “Some of the puzzle layouts could have been cleaner, but Kine is a first-rate puzzle game that is one of the few to successfully integrate theme, story, and mechanics.”
- “I found the mechanics of each character being able to change their shape in different ways refreshing, though not groundbreaking.”
graphics
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
40%
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their impressive visuals and unique comic book art style, which contribute to a visually refreshing experience. Players appreciate the solid animations and the overall aesthetic, complemented by upbeat jazz music that enhances the game's atmosphere. While there is no voice acting, the focus on visuals and music is seen as a strength of this indie puzzle game.
- “The most impressive thing for me about this game is the visuals.”
- “The comic book art style is lovely.”
- “The artwork is visually refreshing, and the upbeat jazz music really lends itself to the world these characters live in.”
humor
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is praised for its humor, featuring self-aware writing that cleverly breaks the fourth wall, alongside funny dialogue that enhances the experience. Players find it both challenging and entertaining, complemented by a beautiful art style and engaging music-based puzzles.
- “Self-aware writing that breaks the fourth wall in funny ways.”
- “Great music-based puzzle game with beautiful art style and funny dialogue.”
- “It is a funny and challenging game.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game tedious, particularly in levels involving all three characters, and many feel they haven't fully mastered the controls by the end, leading to ongoing mistakes.
- “Grinding becomes especially tedious when playing levels where all three characters are present, and I can't even say that I fully mastered the controls by the end of the game, as I was still making plenty of mistakes towards the end.”
- “The repetitive nature of grinding makes it feel like a chore rather than an enjoyable part of the game.”
- “I found myself stuck in a loop of grinding for resources, which took away from the overall enjoyment of the game.”