Marrow

About

Marrow is a single player platformer game with horror, fantasy, dark fantasy and violence themes. It was developed by VincentGuff and was released on November 25, 2016. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Marrow is a 2D, Cosmic-Horror themed, action-adventure game emphasizing challenge, puzzles, platforming, combat and navigation. Leap, crawl, slash and blast your way through the cavernous bowels of a menacing mountain in a quest to find your lost friends.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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74%

Audience ScoreBased on 50 reviews

music14 positive mentions

stability1 negative mentions

Exceptional atmosphere and art design with a creepy, unique horror aesthetic that strongly evokes old-school and cosmic horror themes.
Challenging gameplay that demands skill, patience, and attention, rewarding players with a strong sense of accomplishment and immersion.
Outstanding soundtrack and sound design that complement the eerie setting and enhance the overall immersive experience.

Extreme difficulty often feels unfair due to unpredictable enemy behavior, RNG reliance, and intrusive damage that cannot be consistently avoided.
Lack of basic quality-of-life features such as a pause button, map, persistent HUD for health and mana, and sparse save points leading to frustrating backtracking and repetition.
Combat and platforming controls can feel clunky or unpolished, with wonky hitboxes, invisible or very dark enemies, and occasionally poor level design resulting in confusing progression and unfair encounters.

music
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
54%
34%
12%
The game's music is widely praised for its atmospheric, eerie, and fitting soundtrack that enhances the overall experience, with several users expressing strong appreciation and desire for an official OST release. While most find the music immersive and high-quality, a few note it can become monotonous or odd, especially when paired with the game's challenging difficulty. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a standout aspect that significantly contributes to the game's mood and ambiance.
- “I love the aesthetics and the music is way better than you would expect in a game like this.”
- “The music design fits perfectly to add a foreboding feeling to each area.”
- “Visually and musically the game is fantastic and rarely falls below that high standard.”
- “Saving all orphans is a must to properly finish Marrow and one was bugged for me; I had to use the music orb to play a song, and the hint didn't play in the place it was supposed to do so.”
- “It's an experience similar to finding out that your drink got spiked and you are spinning in circles on the worst dance floor to ever exist; you shriek for help while drowning in loud music and noises --- then someone kicks your nuts.”
- “A game designed by someone who knows nothing about game design, that isn't fun, has a monotonous soundtrack that goes on and on and on... Even if the theme of weird (almost-Lovecraftian) horror is there (in terms of art, and barely), all the other negatives I listed make it a no-buy for anyone who wants to actually stay sane and not descend into madness for real - even at deep, deep discount - do not buy!”
atmosphere
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
30%
13%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised as exceptional, with a unique, creepy, and oppressive ambiance enhanced by strong visuals, sound design, and ambient music. Many consider it the standout feature and pinnacle of atmosphere within its genre, often compensating for high difficulty or gameplay flaws. Overall, the immersive and well-crafted atmosphere significantly elevates the player experience.
- “The atmosphere in this game is absolutely amazing!”
- “If La Mulana could be considered the pinnacle of the puzzle aspects of metroidvanias, and Hollow Knight could be considered the combat pinnacle of metroidvanias, then Marrow can be considered the atmosphere and setting pinnacle of metroidvanias.”
- “The atmosphere of the game is done extremely well and I adore the aesthetic throughout.”
- “The other benefits to the oppressive atmosphere is the sound design for monsters, giving a fair share of anxiety both from their first encounter and every run-in with them.”
- “The music helps support this notion, with synthesized melodies supporting a near alien atmosphere.”
- “The atmosphere is really creepy.”
graphics
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
37%
27%
The game features exceptional visuals and a distinctive, creepy art style that effectively creates a nostalgic, atmospheric experience reminiscent of classic metroidvania and cosmic horror games. Its graphics skillfully blend horror, puzzle-platformer, and RPG elements to immerse players in a haunting, otherworldly setting. Overall, the aesthetic and visual design receive high praise for enhancing the mood and engagement throughout.
- “The visuals, sound design and setting are insanely good, doing a great job of making it feel like you are slowly descending into a location beyond human understanding, where people went too far.”
- “For all that is worth and speaking with total nostalgia, the dev absolutely nailed several aspects of those games in visuals, gameplay, progression and most important — the feeling; like you are playing an old gen Metroidvania for DOS/Master System/PC Engine.”
- “The atmosphere of the game is done extremely well and I adore the aesthetic throughout.”
- “At first it seems like a horror game, but after a while it only has an aesthetic of one.”
- “For all that is worth and speaking with total nostalgia, the developer absolutely nailed several aspects of those games in visuals, gameplay, progression and most importantly --- the feeling; like you are playing an old generation Metroidvania for DOS/Master System/PC Engine.”
- “Recommending this if you miss some unique and arthouse-esque + cosmic horror aesthetics and stories.”
gameplay
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
46%
27%
The gameplay evokes strong nostalgia with carefully crafted, intense design that creates fear and stress, appealing to fans of old-school metroidvanias. However, it is frequently criticized for relying too much on frustrating trial and error, punishing save mechanics, and lack of standard features, leading to a divisive experience where some find it captivating while others find the gameplay frustrating and unenjoyable.
- “The environment doesn't grow stale and neither does the gameplay.”
- “For all that is worth and speaking with total nostalgia, the dev absolutely nailed several aspects of those games in visuals, gameplay, progression and most important --- the feeling; like you are playing an old gen metroidvania for DOS/Master System/PC Engine.”
- “Marrow is intensely imaginative and demanding and every design decision is carefully crafted to use the gameplay to cause fear, stress, dread etc. It's one of the most laser-focused games one can try.”
- “You'll be flipping coins at the mercy of RNG and this isn't good gameplay design.”
- “The game is a bit weak in regard to gameplay, with combat being terrifying in the sense that if you die, you're sent back to a save point an hour back, becoming especially infuriating when you find a save point not too far off, something quite common later in the game.”
- “If they do get added later in the game, I wouldn't know, because the controls and gameplay are just bad, and I wasn't having any fun with the game.”
story
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The story is generally described as vague, mysterious, and largely unexplicit, often requiring players to piece together lore from environmental clues. While some appreciate the subtle, interpretive narrative approach reminiscent of FromSoftware titles, others criticize the lack of clear exposition or introduction, perceiving it as unfinished or poorly communicated. Overall, the story unfolds gradually and atmospherically but may feel confusing or underdeveloped to many players.
- “A good game with not so intense but acceptable fights with monsters, cool sound design, and a quite mysterious story.”
- “It seems like Fever Dream Gameworks wanted to go the FromSoftware route of backstory and watch from the sidelines as the player base discussed and interpreted the game's lore with each other.”
- “There's a bizarre storyline told with nothing but what you see in the backgrounds, but as you progress, you will start to see it unfold and begin to slightly understand it, especially when you hit the manor section of the game.”
- “If you ever wanted to get punished for trying to play the game, with clunky controls, piss-poor combat, metroidvania/Dark Souls checkpoint/save system without a map to navigate, HP bar that isn't visible at all times (you have to press F to see it, and then it goes on magical cooldown, which is also non-visible), zero story (like seriously - nothing, not even an obtuse introduction) - then oh boy are you in luck, because Marrow ticks all the aforementioned boxes!”
- “Unfinished, unpolished game, deadly silent devs, no story at all, bad clunky platforming, no map for heaven's sake (in metroidvania!!!)”
- “The story is vague and kinda unsettling, nothing is explained as far as I've played, but plenty is there to draw conclusions from.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users find the game emotionally intense and challenging, often causing frustration, yet they also find it highly engaging and entertaining.
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users report stability issues related to buggy coding that prevents the magical orb function from working correctly, impacting gameplay reliability.
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's optimization is flawed, with issues such as unintended game restarts triggered by right-clicking at the screen edge, frequent stuttering during camera panning, and unreliable audio cues for secret bosses and collectibles.