Ministry of Broadcast

An odd combination of George Orwell's 1984, puzzle platforming and comedy, which doesn't blend as well as you'd hope. As good as the setting is, it doesn't make up for the rigid platforming or out of place jokes.

79%Game Brain Score

story, gameplay

grinding, monetization

79% User Score Based on 122 reviews

Critic Score 72%Based on 10 reviews

Platforms

Buy Nowfrom $4.99

Buy NowGet on Steam$14.99

About

"Ministry of Broadcast" is a single-player cinematic platformer set in a dystopian world. You play as a contestant on a reality TV show, forced to compete in dangerous challenges for a chance to reunite with your family. The game features narrative-driven gameplay, political satire, and challenging puzzles.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

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

79%

Audience ScoreBased on 122 reviews

story25 positive mentions

grinding3 negative mentions

The game features great pixel art graphics and a captivating soundtrack that enhances the overall atmosphere.
The narrative is engaging, filled with dark humor and clever writing that keeps players entertained throughout.
Puzzles are well-designed and provide a satisfying challenge, encouraging players to think creatively to progress.

The controls are clunky and unresponsive, making platforming frustrating and leading to frequent deaths due to imprecise movements.
The game suffers from unskippable dialogue and cutscenes, which can disrupt the flow of gameplay and become tedious after repeated failures.
Some players may find the overall difficulty to be punishing, with trial-and-error gameplay that can feel more frustrating than rewarding.

story
67 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
37%
51%
12%
The story of the game draws inspiration from Orwell's "1984," presenting a dystopian narrative filled with dark humor and social commentary. While some players appreciate the intriguing premise and witty writing, many criticize the storytelling for being convoluted, lacking coherence, and failing to engage them as the game progresses. Overall, the narrative is seen as a mixed bag, with potential that is often undermined by poor execution and gameplay mechanics.
- “The storytelling is so good.”
- “The story is really incredible, maybe not 100% original but well orchestrated.”
- “It balanced a story that never tells all but tells enough to make you really care about the main character, while being peppered with a lot of fun and dark humor.”
- “By the time I got to the end, I was completely uninvested in the story or its characters and just wanted salvation from my suffering, which shouldn't be how you want your players to feel after playing your game.”
- “The story was all over the place in terms of focus with references to 1984, Twin Peaks, and Monkey Island, but leading to no larger point or revelation.”
- “A narratively bankrupt game, with terrible controls and a horribly executed storyline that fails to capture any of the actual interesting elements or themes from Orwell's 1984.”
gameplay
51 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12%
80%
8%
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players criticizing its clunky controls and unresponsive mechanics, which detract from the platforming experience. While some appreciate the creative puzzle design and thematic elements reminiscent of classic titles like "Prince of Persia," others find the overall execution lacking, leading to a frustrating and unsatisfying experience. Despite its artistic merits, the gameplay often feels sluggish and fails to deliver the engaging action expected from a platformer.
- “The gameplay is made up strictly of difficult platforming and fairly complex puzzle solving that requires outside-the-box thinking.”
- “The gameplay does feel very versatile, and it isn't strictly a puzzle game as there is action and some 'finger shooting' on behalf of the protagonist.”
- “Art style, gameplay, story, sounds... everything is on the spot.”
- “It's janky and unsatisfying to play... and any experienced gamer will tell you, the handling, responsiveness and general gameplay feel of the control scheme must be well polished for this kind of game to succeed.”
- “Firstly, the movement mechanics make the puzzle platforming part of this game (which is most of the game) a miserable grind.”
- “But the gameplay is incredibly boring and the dialogue/story is bland and uninteresting.”
humor
42 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
93%
7%
The humor in the game is a mixed bag, with some players appreciating its dark and clever wit, while others find it falls flat or feels forced. Many reviews highlight the effective use of dark humor within a dystopian setting, complemented by engaging puzzles and unique pixel art. Overall, while some enjoy the comedic elements and find them entertaining, others criticize the humor as unfunny or inconsistent, leading to a polarized reception.
- “Humorous, dark, and fun platformer with light puzzle elements.”
- “The dark humor was right up my alley.”
- “Not only is 'Ministry of Broadcast' an excellent platformer with smooth controls, great pixel art and animations, it is also utterly hilarious.”
- “The platforming is super unfunny and the jokes are just bad.”
- “I reset so many times trying to pause; it was not funny.”
- “Sluggish platforming, unfunny humor, and just not very enjoyable all in all.”
graphics
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
47%
43%
10%
The graphics of the game are characterized by a retro pixel art style that evokes nostalgia, with many players appreciating its aesthetic despite some limitations in resolution and customization options. While some reviews highlight the visuals as beautiful and well-executed, others criticize the reliance on outdated graphics, calling it "pixelcrap." Overall, the pixel art is generally well-received, contributing positively to the game's atmosphere and gameplay experience.
- “The graphics are so beautiful and the game is unnervingly calming to play despite the themes.”
- “Stunning pixel graphics, an outstanding (and very complimentary soundtrack), along with a highly intriguing dystopian, Orwellian-esque setting.”
- “I really enjoyed this game - slick graphics, catchy storyline, and a big portion of good humor.”
- “A choice was made to use obsolete, decades-old retro pixel art as a substitute for contemporary PC graphics.”
- “There's no option to change the resolution and no useful graphics tweaks.”
- “Graphically it's simplistic, with pixel art, and very few options.”
music
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
50%
14%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many praising its beautiful and immersive qualities that complement the visuals and atmosphere, particularly in the synthwave genre. However, some players criticize the inability to separate music from other audio elements, leading to issues with volume balance, and others find the repetitive nature of the soundtrack to be grating and uninspired. Overall, while the music enhances the experience for some, it detracts from it for others, highlighting a divide in player satisfaction.
- “Brilliant sound design and music.”
- “The soundtrack adds in just enough retro-futurism to make the setting feel both old and futuristic, which is one of the great wonders of what the synthwave genre can accomplish.”
- “The music completes the package, with some disturbing melodies as well as jaunty tunes when needed... and for added sprinkles - the writing is very tongue in cheek, with some sly comedy throughout.”
- “Which brings me to the one issue - you cannot separate the music from the rest of the audio.”
- “And here it’s been filled with hours upon hours of melodic boring music that keeps repeating the same 10-second segment over and over and starts working on your nerves and it’s by far the worst part of this game.”
- “The music adds absolutely nothing to what is happening onscreen and feels a lot like the backing track to a 20 minute YouTube video essay, totally bland and useless.”
atmosphere
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
64%
14%
21%
The game's atmosphere is heavily praised for its immersive audio and detailed pixel art, effectively creating a dystopian, Orwellian vibe reminiscent of a totalitarian state. While some players appreciate the blend of humor and dark themes, others feel that the writing detracts from the overall experience. Overall, the combination of engaging puzzles, a unique setting, and a mix of lighthearted and serious elements contributes to a compelling atmosphere that resonates with fans of the genre.
- “The audio really enhances the atmosphere of the game, and if you turn it off, you can really notice the difference.”
- “There's also a good amount of atmosphere present, and the world truly does feel dystopian and under totalitarian control; the snow effects also add a great touch, bringing a bit of a USSR vibe to the whole game.”
- “The pixel art is beautiful and really sets a nice atmosphere, with some great attention to detail.”
- “Just with these elements, the game has lost its principal value; the oppressive atmosphere (which '1984' has).”
- “If you are looking for a serious Orwellian type game, you will have to look elsewhere. This game is basically just a giant joke fest and only has seriousness you would expect from this type of game towards the end, and even by then, the horrible writing, which feels like it has been done by a child, just kills the atmosphere.”
- “The whole point of conversation in the game will always be on the bright side of life to build up a dark atmosphere in gameplay.”
emotional
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of "Ministry of Broadcast" is described as a mixed experience, with moments of dark humor and potential emotional depth overshadowed by repetitive gameplay and a lack of development. While some players find fleeting moments of connection, the overall journey is seen as emotionally exhausting and indicative of a novice effort.
- “It's possible that another audience might receive the game differently than I did, but after you stop grinning at the story, you begin a new and emotionally exhausting journey through casual manslaughter - and I think the devs still believe that you're smiling along with them.”
- “"Ministry of Broadcast" is overlong, underdeveloped, and both bloated through repetition while also being emotionally draining.”
- “There were some really okay/great moments that made me feel for a second that, okay, now it's going to start to be something more... but sadly you can see it everywhere that this is a novice attempt at a game.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessively tedious and frustrating, as it forces them to repeat slow tasks before progressing to more challenging ones. The delayed controls and poor checkpointing further exacerbate the experience, leading to significant player frustration and a sense of wasted time.
- “Game design-wise, they make you repeat very slow, very tedious tasks before the fast, harder tasks that you might fail, just to make you do the very slow, very tedious task a bunch, which makes the entire game feel like a very slow, very tedious waste of time.”
- “Trying to avoid a rabid dog or a trigger-happy soldier, or trying to make a precise jump becomes tedious when there's an entire second of delay between pressing a button and having the character finally react on-screen.”
- “The controls are excruciating and the checkpointing is teeth-grindingly, controller-smashingly rage-inducing.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The optimization of *Ministry of Broadcast* is praised, with users reporting no performance issues and indicating that the game runs smoothly on various systems.
- “I ran into no issues with performance in *Ministry of Broadcast*, and you should not have any problems running the game either.”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviews indicate that Gamemaker Studio is often associated with the creation of low-effort, retro-style games that are perceived as cash grabs, suggesting a negative view of its monetization practices.
- “Gamemaker Studio is most commonly used to create retro pixel shovelware and cash grabs.”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Reviewers feel that the game's replayability is lacking, as it misses opportunities for a more engaging new game+ mode or creative twists that could enhance the experience.
- “I think the replay value could have been there if there was some sort of twist for a New Game+ mode, maybe involving his wife or something, but sadly there is nothing creative in that department.”
- “After finishing the game, I felt no urge to play it again. The story doesn't change, and the side quests are repetitive.”
- “The lack of meaningful choices and consequences makes replaying the game feel pointless.”