Mango
- November 23, 2021
- Sad Mask Party
- 2h median play time
Get on Steam"Mango" is a single-player adventure/puzzle game with striking visuals and a playtime of approximately 2 hours, although the game's description suggests it contains around 10 hours of gameplay. The game delves into surrealist and psychological themes, exploring the idea of a deteriorating grasp on reality. Expect fragmented storytelling, experimental horror elements, and a unique blend of dadaist and hyper-realist design, as well as a range of emotional tones from chill to frightening.
Mac OS
PC
Windows
Linux
Reviews
- Mango offers a unique and immersive experience with stunning visuals and a captivating soundtrack that enhances the surreal atmosphere.
- The game effectively explores deep themes such as mental health and personal trauma, providing players with emotional highs and lows throughout the journey.
- Players appreciate the clever puzzles and the engaging narrative that unfolds as they progress, making it a memorable and thought-provoking adventure.
- Some players find the puzzles to be overly challenging or confusing, which can disrupt the flow of the game and lead to frustration.
- The game can feel overly long and repetitive, with certain mechanics and sequences becoming tedious over time.
- Technical issues such as bugs and inconsistent hit detection can detract from the overall experience, making navigation and interaction frustrating at times.
- story36 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 58 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The story is initially confusing but becomes engaging as players piece together its dark and surreal narrative, which explores themes of mental illness and familial drama. While some found the pacing uneven and the puzzles basic, many appreciated the unique storytelling and atmospheric elements that enhance the overall experience. Overall, the game is recommended for those who enjoy intricate, story-driven adventures with psychological depth.
“This game is absolutely incredible, a crazy surreal experience with deep and dark undertones. I would 100% recommend this to anyone who loves weird story-based experiences.”
“I also loved that multiple themes made recurring appearances throughout the dreams, making each dream connected to the previous and weaving together a story.”
“The story was super interesting too; I eagerly waited for each and every journal entry as I pieced together what had happened.”
“The puzzles are basic and uninteresting; there's no story; and nothing challenging or interesting to do besides look at the environments.”
“Mango is yet another entry in the infamous pseudo-genre of 'arty' walking simulators, based around exploring a broadly linear sequence of bizarre and varied environments with some light puzzling thrown in for good measure, all in the service of a rather opaque plot dealing with themes of mental illness and familial drama.”
“I came in thinking this was going to be a chill walking sim with crazy visuals, a few spooks, and no real story.”
- graphics36 mentions
- 44 % positive mentions
- 47 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The game's graphics are widely praised for their unique and trippy art style, effectively creating a dreamlike atmosphere that enhances the overall experience. Players appreciate the surreal visuals and intricate animations that contribute to a sense of nostalgia and immersion, making it stand out among other titles. However, the intense aesthetic may not appeal to all gamers, as it challenges conventional perceptions of reality.
“The aesthetics are phenomenal; it captured the dreamlike experience very well!”
“In its weird low-res aesthetic of elusive intentness, the wandering exhibition also goes vaporwave when it feels like it, and excels at inducing a strong sense of semi-artificial nostalgia, successfully selling its players the author's dreamscapes.”
“Stunning visuals, clever puzzles, prominent atmospheric horror, and a story about the journey of a man going through an episode of mania and madness.”
“As you can see from the screenshots, this game has some weird visuals.”
“Graphic arts and animations are scattered everywhere, often covering surfaces entirely like the walls, floors, and ceilings from top to bottom, thereby obscuring the perception of reality.”
“As it may be a very intense experience, it is not for every gamer who may not capture the aesthetic and the absolute nuisance.”
- music26 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received widespread acclaim, with many reviewers praising its ability to evoke nostalgia and dread while also being described as "incredibly boppin'" and featuring some of the best tracks in recent video games. The soundtrack is noted for its unique and dreamy qualities, enhancing the overall artistic experience of the game. Overall, it stands out as a highlight, with many players expressing a desire for the soundtrack to be available on platforms like Spotify.
“The soundtrack has 5/5 hands down few of the best bangers in recent video games I've heard.”
“Unique aesthetics, dreamy music, and a mysterious plot complete this journey of mind.”
“The only remarkable thing about mango is the soundtrack.”
“The music and ambient noise is crafted to elicit nostalgia and dread in equal measure.”
“Unique aesthetics, dreamy music and a mysterious plot complete this journey of mind.”
- gameplay14 mentions
- 21 % positive mentions
- 57 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The gameplay is primarily focused on exploration and puzzle-solving within surreal and confusing environments, often leading to moments of intrigue and humor as players navigate through bizarre landscapes. While the storytelling is compelling and thematically rich, the mechanics can be frustrating due to unclear objectives and floaty movement controls. Overall, the experience feels more like an artistic journey than a traditional game, with a mix of engaging visuals and audio.
“The gameplay takes you through a bunch of strange places that make no sense but also somehow do make sense. It's just walking around and sometimes solving puzzles while you take in the weird landscapes. I highly recommend it because of the absurdity of the areas you explore.”
“Mango gameplay consists of walking through many weird and surreal areas.”
“It explores several themes such as perception, imagination, loneliness, self-esteem, personality development, mental health, and art. It does so through intriguing gameplay that includes riddles, a witty and at times humorous script, and interesting visual and audio content.”
“It isn't without its technical and mechanical problems.”
“Overall feels a lot more like an art piece as the parts where you actually have to play can be pretty frustrating given there aren't any clear indicators on what to do, so you end up playing with the floaty movement mechanics.”
“Mango gameplay consists of walking through most weird and surreal areas.”
- humor8 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game is praised for its clever and varied humor, seamlessly blending wit with deeper themes such as mental health and personal development. Players appreciate the balance of funny, quirky moments alongside more serious topics, creating a unique and engaging experience. Overall, the humor contributes significantly to the game's charm and depth.
“Mango is alternately a beautiful, funny, creepy, quirky, artsy, and sad game.”
“It explores several themes; perception, imagination, loneliness, self-esteem, personality development, mental health, art... and it does so through an intriguing gameplay which has riddles, a witty - and at times humorous - script and interesting visual and audio content.”
“I would genuinely recommend this game to anyone who is into long walking puzzle games, exploring games deeply to find a lot of hidden moments, games that handle mental health topics, games that can spit out numerous genres of games like humor/horror/sad topics into one big masterpiece, and is looking for a unique, trippy experience of game.”
- atmosphere6 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its stunning visuals and clever puzzles, effectively immersing players in a prominent sense of horror. It captures the unsettling journey of a man experiencing mania and madness, creating a compelling feeling of losing touch with reality. Overall, the atmosphere is described as amazing and deeply engaging.
“The atmosphere of the game is amazing and it totally gave me the feeling of someone losing his connection with reality.”
“I loved the atmosphere of this game.”
“Stunning visuals, clever puzzles, prominent atmospheric horror, and a story about the journey of a man going through an episode of mania and madness.”
- emotional4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players report experiencing intense emotional whiplash while playing the game, indicating that it elicits strong feelings but ultimately leaves them feeling unsatisfied or unhappy.
“This game will give you emotional whiplash.”
- grinding2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find certain platforming sections tedious, particularly one involving floating hearts that can lead to frustrating falls off the map, necessitating level restarts. This aspect of grinding detracts from the overall experience, as it can feel repetitive and punishing.
“Some platforming can be very tedious. One section involving floating hearts that spawn from the ground caused me to fall off the map and endlessly fall. I had to restart the level, sadly.”
