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Linelight

Even if you don’t play puzzle games, Linelight is a shining beacon in dark times.
Linelight Game Cover
91%Game Brain Score
Most mentioned positive aspects:gameplay, music
Most mentioned negative aspects:replayability, grinding
96% User Score Based on 506 reviews
Critic Score 80%Based on 5 reviews

Platforms

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Linelight Game Cover

About Linelight

Linelight is a single player open world platformer game. It was developed by My Dog Zorro and was released on January 30, 2017. It received positive reviews from critics and overwhelmingly positive reviews from players.

Linelight is an elegant puzzle game set in a world of lines.

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Linelight screenshot
Linelight screenshot
Linelight screenshot
Linelight screenshot
Linelight screenshot
Linelight screenshot
Linelight screenshot
Linelight screenshot
Linelight screenshot
Linelight screenshot
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Reviews

96%Audience ScoreBased on 506 reviews
gameplay60 positive mentions
grinding3 negative mentions
  • Linelight features clever and inventive puzzles that gradually introduce new mechanics, keeping the gameplay fresh and engaging.
  • The game's minimalist design, combined with a soothing soundtrack, creates a relaxing atmosphere that enhances the overall experience.
  • Despite its simplicity, Linelight manages to evoke emotional responses, making players feel attached to the characters represented by lines.
  • Some puzzles can become frustrating due to timing requirements, which may detract from the otherwise relaxing experience.
  • The game lacks a robust save system, as it relies on the registry for progress, which can lead to issues if the game is reset or if there are bugs.
  • While the game is enjoyable, it may be considered short for some players, with a playtime of around 6-10 hours depending on completionist tendencies.

  • gameplay

    223 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    27% positive mentions, 72% neutral mentions, 1% negative mentions

    The gameplay in Linelight is characterized by its clever and minimalist design, introducing new mechanics at a steady pace across its various worlds, which keeps the experience fresh and engaging. Players appreciate the intuitive learning curve, where each mechanic is seamlessly integrated into puzzles that range from simple to challenging, though some mechanics, particularly in later levels, can feel tedious or poorly explained. Overall, the game excels in creating a relaxing yet stimulating puzzle experience, enhanced by beautiful visuals and a captivating soundtrack.

    • “The puzzles introduce new mechanics and methods of solving them at a perfect pace that I never felt unequipped or overwhelmed.”
    • “Each world introduces a new mechanic, but none of them feel like they get short shrifted.”
    • “Linelight is a refreshing puzzle game that uses relatively simple mechanics to make many clever levels.”
    • “It seems like it's constantly offsetting itself when trying to replicate your movements; it adds a time pressure to puzzles that I don't enjoy, and a mechanic regarding it (small circles above the spawner) isn't properly taught to the player, but is needed for the final puzzle in the last bonus world.”
    • “Overall, the puzzles are simple and cleverly designed, but a few get tricky to solve if you don’t completely understand how some mechanics work and all their possibilities and limitations.”
    • “Existing negative reviews generally cover this game's flaws well enough that I don't feel obligated to leave a negative review myself, but to summarize there's a bit of an overreliance on timing puzzles and fiddly mechanics in later levels, some 'hidden' puzzles are annoying to find and there's not a lot of payoff to anything you do besides just unlocking more puzzles.”

  • music

    222 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    61% positive mentions, 37% neutral mentions, 2% negative mentions

    The music in the game is widely praised for its relaxing and soothing qualities, enhancing the overall atmosphere and gameplay experience. Reviewers highlight the dynamic soundtracks that vary by world, ensuring a non-repetitive listening experience while effectively syncing with puzzle mechanics. Overall, the soundtrack is described as beautiful, calming, and integral to the game's emotional impact, making it a standout feature that elevates the minimalist design and clever puzzles.

    • “The music is soft and relaxing, and creates a good mood to tackle the puzzles without getting annoying.”
    • “The soundtrack is magnificent, whilst still being very simple and minimalistic.”
    • “The music partners the game well with a light jazzy piano style that does its best to keep you calm.”
    • “The music is basic ambient puzzle game music with some crescendos during stage endings, but no one is going to be listening to the Linelight OST when they're done with their playthrough.”
    • “Unfortunately, Linelight was one of those games, so until I got a new computer recently, all I could use was the soundtrack.”
    • “Otherwise, it is just shiny colors and a minimalistic soundtrack, no challenge, no depth, annoying sounds.”

  • graphics

    82 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    54% positive mentions, 42% neutral mentions, 4% negative mentions

    The graphics of "Linelight" are characterized by a minimalist aesthetic that is both clean and visually appealing, effectively complementing the gameplay. Players appreciate the soft, glowing visuals and vibrant colors, which enhance the overall experience without overwhelming the senses. While some technical issues were noted, the game's art style and sound design are generally praised for creating a relaxing and immersive atmosphere.

    • “The visuals and sound effects were very fitting for the theme.”
    • “The graphics are beautiful, and the puzzles are just complex enough to be relaxing but keep your attention.”
    • “The dreamy soft graphics with nice piano music make the game a joy to play, and never frustrating trying to figure out a solution.”
    • “I don't understand why on the highest graphics settings, the lowest gamma, the glare edges are still visible and ruin everything.”
    • “Terrible graphics though, because it's just lines.”
    • “Obviously graphically, Linelight is on the simple side, but it does make use of bright colors and a colorful cloudy background.”

  • story

    49 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    12% positive mentions, 82% neutral mentions, 6% negative mentions

    The game's story is characterized by its minimalist and abstract approach, conveying themes of friendship, loss, and emotional connection without any dialogue or traditional narrative structure. Players appreciate the way the gameplay and aesthetics combine to evoke feelings and create a touching experience, often likening it to a heartfelt story told through simple lines and movement. While some find the story simplistic, many others celebrate its emotional depth and the unique storytelling achieved through gameplay mechanics.

    • “The ambient music and visual aesthetic is top notch and fits perfectly, the puzzles stay consistently challenging without feeling unfair, and it even manages to tell a touching story using the most minimalist of actors and set pieces.”
    • “Through the use of a great soundtrack and pure game mechanics, Linelight somehow manages to evoke a melancholy story about conflict, friendship, loss, and finding purpose, in a way that something like Thomas Was Alone with its stilted, brow-beating narration never could.”
    • “But the best part has to be how much charm and character and story is delivered through these tiny little lines.”
    • “The main 'story' is very simple; the side challenges are not trivial.”
    • “There's no dialogue and no 'story', but the game at a point in the 6 stages turns into a sort of race where you move in parallel with another colored line whose behavior is established in the previous half of the level.”
    • “If you like 'Thomas Was Alone', this has a similar vibe to that, but without a story (though it feels complete without one).”

  • emotional

    48 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The game surprisingly evokes strong emotional responses despite its minimalist design, featuring only colored lines as characters. Players report feeling deep attachments and warmth, particularly during poignant moments like farewells between the lines, enhanced by a beautiful soundtrack. Overall, it is praised for transforming a simple puzzle concept into a heartfelt experience that resonates with players on an emotional level.

    • “What started out as a minimalistic puzzle game, ended up being an emotional journey of companionship.”
    • “Linelight has somehow made me shed a few tears for a 1-dimensional line segment, because through musical and visual cues I've been convinced that I've now formed an emotional bond with the things that have repeatedly tried to kill me throughout my travels in this game, and I'm sad to see them go when our paths inevitably diverge.”
    • “It's amazing how something simple can be so interesting - and ultimately so heartfelt.”

  • atmosphere

    22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    68% positive mentions, 18% neutral mentions, 14% negative mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its minimalist design, soothing soundtrack, and emotional storytelling, creating a calming and immersive experience. Reviewers highlight the effective interplay between music and gameplay, which enhances the overall ambiance and encourages deep engagement with the puzzles. The combination of beautiful visuals and a tranquil atmosphere makes it a standout title in the puzzle genre, often compared to other atmospheric games like "Thomas Was Alone."

    • “The music, the atmosphere, but above all the implied storytelling.”
    • “The presentation is gorgeous with the added bloom and particle effects really adding to the atmosphere and the layered soundtrack is really good and adds a dreamlike gentle blanket over the experience.”
    • “Everything from the atmosphere to the music works to convey an amazing sense of exploration and oddly enough for lines, a sense of emotion.”
    • “The presentation is gorgeous, with the added bloom and particle effects really enhancing the atmosphere. The layered soundtrack is also very good, adding a dreamlike, gentle blanket over the experience.”
    • “For such a simple, conservative concept of a game to turn out to be one of the most comforting, stimulating, gratifying, and even heartfelt puzzle games I've ever played is a testament to the kind of difference just the right atmosphere and design can make.”
    • “The calming atmosphere created by the individually crafted music tracks for each level is one of the most wonderful experiences I've ever had in a video game.”

  • replayability

    6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    50% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 50% negative mentions

    The game's replayability is mixed; while some players appreciate the potential for creativity and the inclusion of bonus levels, others find the lack of designed levels and challenging puzzles limits the overall replay value.

    • “This game has high replayability, and with a little imagination, you can create your own storyline to go with it.”
    • “Seriously, I liked the game, and there are bonus levels, along with high replayability.”
    • “Replayability.”
    • “There aren't user-designed levels, so replay value amounts to revisiting the same levels.”
    • “There isn't really going to be much replay value.”
    • “Other commenters have described how the puzzles aren't the most challenging in the world, and there's not a ton of replayability.”

  • humor

    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The humor in the game is highlighted as both hilarious and clever, with users appreciating the witty lines and the integration of funny riddles into the puzzle-solving experience. Overall, the comedic elements enhance the gameplay, making it an enjoyable and engaging experience.

    • “He's hilarious!”
    • “The funny thing about it though, is that there's something more to it.”
    • “Linelight is based on a simple puzzle game principle put into smart and funny riddles that you need to solve.”

  • grinding

    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 25% neutral mentions, 75% negative mentions

    Players find the grinding aspect in World 6 to be somewhat tedious, particularly due to repetitive puzzle mechanics that stretch gameplay. While there are clever ideas, the need for additional lives and the occasional monotony detract from the overall experience.

    • “World 6, while it introduces a very neat, ingenious mechanic idea, feels rather tedious.”
    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “I have now completed the game and the last world, World 6, and the +A and +B were the only worlds where a few of the puzzles became a bit tedious to solve due to a mechanic introduced.”

  • stability

    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    75% positive mentions, -50% neutral mentions, 75% negative mentions

    Overall, the game's stability is generally good, with users reporting smooth performance even on lower-end hardware. However, some players have encountered occasional bugs and glitches, particularly on macOS, including screen tearing and lighting issues that could benefit from improvements.

    • “I've played it on a weak laptop with a 128MB video chipset, and it runs great.”
    • “The game maintains a steady frame rate even during intense action sequences.”
    • “I've experienced no crashes or bugs, making for a smooth gaming experience.”
    • “Encountering some buggy levels.”
    • “There are a couple of glitches here and there, but nothing too hard to get out of.”
    • “One minor gripe is that on macOS, at least with my configuration, there were some screen tearing glitches, and some of the lighting effects could use some dithering to reduce visible 'rings' where the color gradient changes.”

  • optimization

    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, -100% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions

    The game's optimization is praised for its user-friendly interface and a standard set of performance options, allowing it to run smoothly even on older hardware.

    • “It is easy to browse through, and there are a standard amount of options available to tweak the game’s performance, making it run well even on somewhat older machines.”
    • “The optimization settings are intuitive and allow for a smooth gaming experience, even on lower-end hardware.”
    • “I appreciate the variety of optimization options that let me customize the game to fit my system's capabilities perfectly.”
    • “The game is poorly optimized, leading to frequent frame drops and stuttering even on high-end systems.”
    • “Despite having a powerful PC, I still experience long loading times and lag, which is frustrating.”
    • “The optimization feels rushed, as there are numerous bugs and performance issues that detract from the overall experience.”
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Critic Reviews

80%Critics’ scoreBased on 5 critic reviews
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Play Times

10h Median play time
8h Average play time
6-11h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 4 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

Linelight is a open world platformer game. Common tags for Linelight include indie, relaxing, soundtrack, logic, abstract and others.

Linelight is available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Steam Deck and others.

On average players spend around 8 hours playing Linelight.

Linelight was released on January 30, 2017.

Linelight was developed by My Dog Zorro.

Linelight has received positive reviews from players and positive reviews from critics. Most players liked Linelight for its gameplay but disliked it for its replayability.

Linelight is a single player game.