Morphopolis
- August 14, 2014
- Dan Walters
- 2h median play time
A loading screen that hopes you'll stick around and an underdeveloped hint system may prove troublesome. But it's not enough to pull down such a marvellous and emotionally engaging experience.
Get on SteamMorphopolis is a single-player Fantasy Adventure game with phenomenal hand-drawn graphics and a great soundtrack. As an aphid grub, you'll journey through an insect world, solving puzzles and discovering secrets. However, expect lots of grinding and bugs, and be aware of its low replayability.
PC
Reviews
- Beautifully made simple game with interesting puzzles.
- Beautiful art, relaxing and fun.
- A visually stunning game with a unique art style and calming music.
- Controls are very poorly communicated and movement is painfully slow.
- The hint system is very obtuse and some puzzles lack direction.
- No mid-level saving, forcing players to restart levels if they exit.
- music500 mentions
- 53 % positive mentions
- 42 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The music in "Morphopolis" is widely praised for its calming and atmospheric qualities, enhancing the game's beautiful visuals and creating a relaxing experience. Many players appreciate the soothing soundtrack, which complements the gameplay, although some note that it can become repetitive over time. Overall, the combination of tranquil music and stunning art contributes significantly to the game's appeal, making it a pleasant choice for those seeking a meditative gaming experience.
“The music is soothing, giving off a unique sense of ambiance in the world.”
“Morphopolis is a beautifully made little puzzle & hidden object game featuring relaxing music, hand-drawn art, and a lot of insects.”
“The music is very tranquil, and the scenery created for each scene makes this a game that one can easily play before bed or when needing to relax.”
“The music is very quiet and slips into the background.”
“The music tries to provide some calm but by this point it's a lost cause; hog rage has set in.”
“The music is nauseating, and I'm pretty sure it's designed to make you hate nature in general.”
- graphics492 mentions
- 64 % positive mentions
- 35 % neutral mentions
- 1 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their stunning, hand-drawn artwork and vibrant colors, creating a unique and immersive aesthetic reminiscent of a children's picture book. Many reviewers highlight the visuals as the game's strongest aspect, often overshadowing its gameplay, which is described as frustrating or lacking. Overall, the beautiful graphics and soothing music contribute to a relaxing experience, making it a worthwhile choice for those who appreciate artistic visuals.
“The art style is amazing, to say the least!”
“The graphics are stunning and I found the gameplay interesting; later levels are pretty challenging.”
“The artwork is vibrant and lush.”
“There are many similar games that have better graphics and much better puzzles to solve than this one.”
“The artwork is pretty but it's extremely poor at highlighting the objects you're supposed to click - so poor that the game has to throw up giant flashing click here next arrows, which render the 'game' portion completely pointless.”
“Despite the vibrant art style which drew me to Morphopolis, I really can't recommend the game at any price since it has so much difficulty actually providing gameplay.”
- gameplay304 mentions
- 18 % positive mentions
- 70 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Morphopolis" is characterized by its slow pace and lack of clear direction, leading to frustration as players often resort to trial and error to solve puzzles. While the game features beautiful artwork and a relaxing soundtrack, the mechanics are clunky and the gameplay is primarily focused on hidden object searching with minimal guidance, resulting in a repetitive and sometimes tedious experience. Overall, while it offers a visually appealing environment, the gameplay is often criticized for being simplistic and poorly executed.
“The tranquil audio, and just an all-round chilled gameplay, combined with an outstanding art style, is without a doubt one to pick up!”
“The gameplay is easy and leisurely, the music is very nice, even meditative, and the whole piece is invaluable when you just want to relax after a hard day's work.”
“Beautiful hand-drawn art, combined with melancholic music and atmosphere, and a mix of hidden object and point & click gameplay with a little bit of puzzle games, creates one great game.”
“None of them are difficult puzzles mechanically, but the lack of clear direction makes them nearly impossible to understand without trial and error or simply searching for solutions.”
“The movement is odd, sometimes doesn't work very well, so you'll have to click very close to the character in order to let it track where you want to go. The most frustrating thing about this game is that there isn't a single word or hint about the puzzles and their mechanics, with little to no feedback in many of them.”
“The gameplay is very slow, because of the animations. I don't want to wait for the animations; I want to play.”
- story137 mentions
- 15 % positive mentions
- 68 % neutral mentions
- 18 % negative mentions
The story in "Morphopolis" is minimal and often described as non-existent, primarily consisting of a series of fetch quests involving insects. While some players appreciate the charming visuals and the abstract narrative that allows for personal interpretation, many find the lack of a coherent plot and character development disappointing. Overall, the game is more focused on aesthetics and exploration than on delivering a compelling story.
“The game is beautiful, the music is nice, and overall, the game is quite interesting to play, but in my opinion, it could do better with a few explanations or some sort of story that you could follow.”
“It is a stunning story about nature and biology which is well complemented by the illustration style.”
“The story is very cute and inspiring.”
“There really is no story in Morphopolis.”
“The storyline is non-existent, but I feel this game does not need a storyline.”
“There is no real story, but rather a sequence of scenes that more-or-less overlap with an insect's life.”
- atmosphere104 mentions
- 55 % positive mentions
- 42 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of "Morphopolis" is widely praised for its beautiful hand-drawn art, calming soundtrack, and immersive ambient sounds, creating a relaxing and meditative experience. Reviewers highlight the game's vibrant visuals and soothing music, which enhance the overall aesthetic and contribute to a peaceful environment, despite some criticisms regarding gameplay mechanics. Overall, the game is recommended for those seeking a short, atmospheric adventure that prioritizes artistic expression over complex gameplay.
“A tapestry of chirping crickets and tweeting birds puts the finishing touches on Morphopolis' atmosphere.”
“The music complements the rest of the game's atmosphere with quietly soothing loops that fade to the background and don't distract from the rest of the game.”
“The atmosphere created by the visuals and music gives this game a unique feel to it.”
“Simplistic clicker disguised as a puzzle game, with calm and relaxing atmosphere for some, boredom and stalling for others, myself included.”
“The atmosphere is right and some hint of a story is there but gameplay is a little uncomfortable (example: having to hold the mouse button to move the insect) and the ending is anticlimactic.”
“Rediculously boringly slow in an attempt to create atmosphere.”
- replayability36 mentions
- 6 % positive mentions
- 61 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
Overall, the game has been widely criticized for its lack of replayability, with many reviewers noting that it can be completed in a short time (around 1-2 hours) and offers little incentive to play again. While some players appreciate the art and music enough to revisit the game occasionally, the consensus is that it lacks substantial content or challenges to warrant multiple playthroughs.
“Probably doesn't have a huge replay value as such (aside from listening to the music and enjoying the art), but personally I don't mind pulling it back out of my library to have a laid-back moment after a hectic day.”
“While this game does not possess a lot of replay value, it is worth it for the single playthrough.”
“Aside from the atmosphere, the game is very minimalist, controls are clunky, and it will take you around 90 minutes to clear it 100% with no replay value.”
“There is zero replayability to boot.”
“The game is short (I beat it in about 2 hours) and does not really have any replay value, but I still say buy it if you have a couple of extra dollars available.”
- grinding35 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 3 % neutral mentions
- 97 % negative mentions
The reviews consistently highlight that the grinding aspect of the game is excessively tedious, primarily due to slow movement and repetitive backtracking between screens. Players express frustration with the controls, which are cumbersome when using a mouse, and the simplistic puzzles that contribute to a monotonous experience. While some appreciate the visuals and variety in puzzles, the overall sentiment leans towards the game being overly tedious and not enjoyable.
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“Honestly, it's pretty bad; did not enjoy, very tedious and not fun or relaxing.”
“I do have reservations though, as the game can become very tedious, as it basically consists of navigating very slow-moving insects between various screens as you look for hidden objects and solving small puzzles.”
- stability27 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's stability is a significant concern for many users, with frequent reports of buggy controls, slow movement, and occasional crashes. While some players appreciate the artistic elements and core gameplay, the persistent issues with character movement and input responsiveness detract from the overall experience, leading to frustration. Many reviewers express that the game feels unfinished and recommend improvements to enhance stability.
“I really like the idea of this game but still can't recommend it as it still feels too buggy.”
“This game is meant to be an experience with beautiful graphics and music, but all of that is thrown out the window with the fact that it is so buggy with the controls and too slow movement speed.”
“I enjoyed the core gameplay and setting, immersing myself in the world and the journey of the aphid, but there are way too many omissions of features that would have reduced the amount of times I was simply jarred out of the game by frustration at its minimal interface and sometimes buggy mechanics.”
- emotional8 mentions
- 88 % positive mentions
- -25 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is polarizing; while some players find it a soothing experience that allows them to escape their troubles through its vibrant atmosphere and touching music, others are frustrated by challenging puzzles that can evoke strong feelings, including anger and sadness. Overall, the game offers a mix of heartwarming immersion and emotional challenges that resonate differently with each player.
“This game is a soothing emotional experience.”
“It's about forgetting all your troubles and letting yourself immerse in the colors, in the heart-warming atmosphere.”
“Touching music combined with the 4th stage puzzle creates a beautifully designed, abstract indie game that is definitely worth trying.”
“The story is incredibly boring; there is hardly any emotional depth to it. It's just a series of riddles and crawling inside a giant insect, repeated over and over.”
“I felt no connection to the characters or their struggles. The emotional aspect was completely lacking.”
“The game fails to evoke any real emotions; it feels more like a chore than an engaging experience.”
- optimization5 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has been criticized for its unresponsive gameplay mechanics, particularly when using a mouse, which detracts from the overall experience. Additionally, the user interface lacks adequate feedback, leading to confusion in gameplay. Overall, players feel that improvements in optimization could significantly enhance usability and performance.
“An optimization of the user interface would probably have made things easier because, due to the lack of feedback, there were one or two situations in which I didn't know what to do or how to do it.”
“Beautiful art, but gameplay is poorly optimized for play on PC, with puzzles and objects being extremely unresponsive when clicked with a mouse.”
“[graphics/performance: (with a 970, 4790k, 16GB of RAM, SSD)]”
- humor4 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The humor in the game receives mixed reviews; while some players find it short and amusing, others feel it lacks comedic impact and fails to resonate. Overall, it is described as slightly humorous but not consistently funny for all players.
“Short but funny.”
“Very colorful, very detailed, relatively easy, short, relaxing, and slightly humorous.”
“It's not bad, but it's not funny for me...”
“The jokes fell flat and didn't land as intended.”
“I expected more laughs, but the humor just didn't resonate.”
- character development2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is notably lacking, with users criticizing the absence of plot and depth in character arcs. The focus appears to be primarily on visual elements rather than meaningful storytelling, leading to a recommendation for only casual play or discounted purchases.
“This is what happens when only the visual department works in a game (i.e. background art, character designs, setting in general...)”
“Considering the extremely short game time, and the complete lack of plot and character development, I would only recommend this game if you find it on sale or have a coupon.”
