Manifold Garden

About

Manifold Garden is a meditative, first-person puzzle game that explores concise geometry and manipulation of gravity. Players will wrap their head around navigating through Escher-inspired architecture, solving puzzles by changing the direction of gravity and understanding the properties of the world around them. The game features beautiful, minimalist visuals that emphasize the unique world design and a serene, atmospheric soundtrack.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

95%

Audience ScoreBased on 7,076 reviews

graphics806 positive mentions

story64 negative mentions

Stunning visuals and unique non-Euclidean architecture create a mesmerizing experience.
Puzzles are engaging and encourage creative thinking, with a good balance of challenge.
The game offers a relaxing atmosphere with a beautiful soundtrack that enhances the overall experience.

Some players may experience motion sickness due to the gravity manipulation and vast environments.
Puzzles can sometimes feel too easy or repetitive, lacking depth in later stages.
The game is relatively short, which may not justify the full price for some players.

graphics
1,406 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
42%
1%
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their stunning, minimalist aesthetic and mind-bending, non-euclidean designs that evoke comparisons to the works of M.C. Escher. Players appreciate the beautiful environments and intricate visual details, which create a captivating atmosphere that enhances the overall experience, even if some find the puzzles less challenging. The combination of impressive visuals and a soothing soundtrack contributes to a relaxing and immersive gameplay experience, making it a standout feature of the game.
- “The environment is stunning, often expanding into large gaping rooms with no foreseeable end, the puzzles are fun and enjoyable, the gravity shifting movement system and portals were really fun to mess around with, and the visuals are beautiful.”
- “The visuals are utterly beautiful and make you just want to stop, look around and take screenshots around every corner.”
- “Mind-blowing recursions, 10/10 graphics.”
- “While the graphics and environments are initially quite stunning, they quickly become bland and there is very little urge to explore as every corner looks similar.”
- “Visuals carry this game entirely; the puzzle mechanics are half-baked and annoying without proper introductions to the mechanics. The puzzles feel cheap and give no satisfaction when you solve them. Beautiful visuals, bad execution; pick it up on sale if you're into trippy visuals, otherwise I can't recommend this.”
- “The game seems to prefer visuals over gameplay, another aspect of which (besides intricate geometry) is the 'black matter', which has zero gameplay element: it’s just visuals, which obstruct your view and make exploration unnecessarily less pleasant.”
gameplay
1,298 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
32%
66%
2%
The gameplay of *Manifold Garden* is characterized by its unique gravity manipulation mechanics and visually stunning environments, which create a captivating experience. However, many players feel that the puzzles are often too simple and do not fully utilize the introduced mechanics, leading to a sense of repetitiveness and missed potential. While the game offers a visually rich and engaging journey, it lacks the depth and complexity found in other puzzle games, leaving some players wanting more challenging and varied gameplay.
- “The mechanics of this game are incredible and the soundtrack is majestic.”
- “The gameplay of Manifold Garden is a simple first-person block puzzle game with a unique set of twists.”
- “The game is gorgeous, has some pretty thought-provoking puzzles, and builds on basic game mechanics.”
- “Surprisingly bad game mechanic and puzzle-wise.”
- “But the gameplay gets stale as soon as you realize it's just about understanding the room.”
- “The game seems to prefer visuals over gameplay, another aspect of which (besides intricate geometry) is the 'black matter', which has zero gameplay element: it’s just visuals, which obstruct your view and make exploration unnecessarily less pleasant.”
music
906 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
59%
41%
The music in the game is widely praised for its beautiful, ambient quality that enhances the overall atmosphere and complements the stunning visuals. Many players noted that the soundtrack, composed by Laryssa Okada, effectively sets the mood for exploration and puzzle-solving, with some tracks being memorable enough to add to personal playlists. While some found the music occasionally subdued or repetitive, the majority agree that it significantly contributes to the immersive experience of the game.
- “The music is excellent, with different tracks shaping the atmosphere of different areas very well.”
- “The soundtrack is absolutely stunning and I found most of the puzzles solvable without having to look up the solutions.”
- “The music and sound design were fantastic, and really lend to the visual style.”
- “The soundtrack isn't anything special but it plays in the right moments so it is effective.”
- “But I disliked almost everything about this game aside from the music.”
- “The music is kept quite ambient and doesn't have much in terms of melody, but is wonderful in terms of production quality and texture.”
story
304 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
66%
21%
The game features an abstract and minimalistic approach to storytelling, with no traditional narrative, dialogue, or characters. Instead, it relies on environmental storytelling and visual cues, allowing players to interpret the experience in their own way. While some players appreciate this artistic direction, others feel the lack of a cohesive story detracts from engagement and motivation throughout the gameplay.
- “Despite it seemingly being just an abstract art piece, Manifold Garden does have a story of sorts, though not the traditional kind.”
- “The story itself is abstract, with many ways of being interpreted.”
- “Without any illustration whatsoever, the game tells a story, and if you're observant enough to appreciate it, you'll love this game.”
- “There is no story, just a constant stream of puzzles and beautiful environments.”
- “The problem I have with this game is that the story did not hook me.”
- “Things this game lacks: a tutorial or hint system, a story or really any context, diverse puzzles beyond moving cubes from A to B.”
atmosphere
220 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
63%
35%
2%
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its haunting beauty, captivating visuals, and immersive sound design, creating a serene and surreal experience. Players appreciate the combination of unique geometric aesthetics and a soothing soundtrack that enhances the overall ambiance, making it a relaxing and engaging puzzle game. Despite some minor gameplay issues, the atmosphere remains the standout feature, drawing players into its mesmerizing world.
- “The atmosphere is 10/10, loved the soundtrack and overall sound design.”
- “The geometry, the architecture, the colors, the soundscape and atmosphere: I've rarely been so immersed in a game as this one.”
- “A truly awesome experience - very clever puzzles and an awe-inspiring atmosphere.”
- “The primary atmosphere that resonates throughout the game's entirety is one of surprising simplicity yet mind-bending complexity, and it is created fantastically by allowing the player to traverse an infinite space of geometry that bends into itself.”
- “The music adds to the ethereal atmosphere created by endlessly repeating pale structures that fade off into the distance.”
- “It oozes atmosphere from its surreal liminal sandboxes, and the puzzles are just as fascinating as the solutions are devilish, creating some mind-blowing physics interactions that make use of the infinitely tessellating space.”
grinding
90 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
4%
96%
Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be quite tedious, with many puzzles requiring excessive backtracking and navigation through expansive levels that detract from the experience. While some puzzles are engaging, a significant number are criticized for being predictable and repetitive, leading to frustration rather than enjoyment. The game's beautiful visuals are often overshadowed by the laborious nature of solving puzzles, making the gameplay feel more like a chore than a challenge.
- “Having to walk on the tree's sides and find that one particular spot to climb up in order to advance felt less like a brain teaser and more like tedious busywork, even more so when you gotta bring a red cube up with you.”
- “But when the game tries to amp up the difficulty in the last quarter it becomes a mess in which many of the puzzles are hard only because the player does not see necessary parts of the puzzle or the visuals or maps are otherwise built in ways that make the progression unnecessarily tedious.”
- “This makes the gameplay tedious, repetitive, and boring.”
emotional
46 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players report a strong emotional impact from the game, often feeling moved despite the absence of characters or dialogue, with many highlighting the exceptional sound design and stunning visuals as key contributors to their emotional experiences. The puzzles are generally praised for being enjoyable and intellectually stimulating, though some players noted feelings of unease or anxiety during gameplay. Overall, the game evokes a range of emotions, from awe and joy to confusion and discomfort, leaving a lasting impression on players.
- “Despite the complete absence of characters or words, I found myself feeling quite emotional as the ending played out.”
- “Absolutely breathtaking and I feel a bit emotional that my journey with it has come to an end.”
- “This game made me cry tears of awe.”
replayability
42 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
74%
7%
Overall, the game's replayability is considered limited, typical for the puzzle genre, with most players noting a playtime of around 4-12 hours. While some achievements and different endings offer a degree of replay value, many reviewers feel that once the puzzles are solved, there isn't much incentive to replay the game. However, the stunning visuals and challenging puzzles may entice some players to revisit the experience.
- “And, wait for it, it has replay value, which I think is very rare for this genre.”
- “Puzzles are hard but not obscure, the visual style is fantastic, the soundtrack is amazing and very fitting for the locations, sound design is great, and there's even replayability in the form of a very difficult achievement as well as a completionist achievement to grind for that I can't wait to find the answer to!”
- “+ good replay value, due to the many possible different endings, rooms, and connections there are to explore and solve.”
- “Replay value seems pretty low, and will deliver around 6-12 hours of puzzle solving and exploring.”
- “Only bummer is it being only like 4 hours of gameplay with not much replay value and no extra content available.”
- “You'll be doing the same puzzles the same way; limited replayability.”
optimization
32 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
63%
28%
9%
Overall, the game's optimization is highly praised, with many users reporting smooth performance, impressive graphics, and minimal bugs. While some players noted that it could be challenging to run on lower-end systems, the majority found it well-optimized for its ambitious design, achieving a polished experience. However, a few critiques mentioned that the linearity of puzzles limited replayability and that there is still room for graphical performance improvements.
- “The game is optimized well, and I encountered few bugs, if any.”
- “It's very polished, it runs smoothly and plays amazing.”
- “Awesome graphics, runs smoothly even on an MX150.”
- “I only wish it was better optimized; I could barely run it on my laptop.”
- “It isn't very long, though, and graphical performance likely could be improved.”
- “The optimization of this game is something else.”
stability
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability has received mixed feedback, with many players reporting various glitches, including visual issues and game-breaking bugs that can disrupt gameplay. While some users noted that reloading the game often resolves these problems, others found the frequency and severity of the bugs to be a significant hindrance, detracting from an otherwise enjoyable experience. Overall, the game appears to be plagued by stability issues that may affect players' enjoyment.
- “The routes to it could've used more hints to its existence and more testing, since often I got visual glitches, like doors showing as closed at a distance while being open when I came near them or loops not working and requiring backtracking or reloading of saves.”
- “Some mechanics/areas feel very awkward and the whole game is almost inexcusably buggy; I encountered tons of game-breaking bugs in my relatively short playtime and while watching my friend play it.”
- “I would really like to play this (and the overwhelmingly positive reviews support this view); however, I seem to be in a minority in that the game is too buggy to play.”
humor
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviews indicate that while the game offers a unique experience, its humor is often overshadowed by ambient music rather than witty dialogue, reminiscent of "Portal 2." The humor-to-value ratio is noted as relatively high, but some players feel the comedic elements could be more prominent.
- “Funny-hour to money unit ratio is kinda up there, but the experience was rather unique.”