Mundaun

83%
Game Brain Score Based on 1,519 reviews
  • story
  • graphics
  • atmosphere
Mundaun Game Cover
Undeniably odd, yet constantly willing to be accessible, Mundaun has a lot to offer anyone fond of horror and exploration.
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A lovingly hand-pencilled horror tale set in a dark, secluded valley of the alps. Explore various areas full of secrets to discover, survive hostile encounters, drive vehicles, fill your inventory and solve a variety of hand-crafted puzzles.

  • Mac OS
  • Nintendo Switch
  • PC
  • Play​station 4
  • Play​station 5
  • Steam Deck
  • Windows
  • Xbox One
  • Xbox Series X|S
  • Play​Station
  • Xbox
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

83%
Audience ScoreBased on 1,519 reviews
story371 positive mentions
grinding24 negative mentions
  • Mundaun features a unique hand-drawn art style that creates a captivating and eerie atmosphere.
  • The game offers an engaging story rooted in Swiss folklore, with well-developed characters and multiple endings.
  • The exploration mechanics and environmental storytelling are rewarding, encouraging players to immerse themselves in the world.
  • Combat mechanics are clunky and often frustrating, making encounters with enemies feel tedious rather than tense.
  • Some puzzles can be obtuse or lack clear direction, leading to moments of confusion and backtracking.
  • The game's slow pacing and movement speed can detract from the overall experience, making it feel drawn out at times.
  • story765 mentions

    The story of *Mundaun* is a captivating blend of folklore and horror, set against a beautifully hand-drawn backdrop that enhances its eerie atmosphere. Players embark on a journey to uncover the mysterious fate of the protagonist's grandfather, with the narrative unfolding through exploration, environmental storytelling, and engaging character interactions. While some find the pacing slow and the gameplay mechanics lacking, the overall storytelling is praised for its depth, creativity, and emotional resonance, making it a compelling experience for fans of narrative-driven games.

    • “The story is engaging and surreal, and the setting is equal parts tranquil and sinister.”
    • “The story kept me gripped throughout and I spent much of my time in the game trying to find every note and picture to piece together the wider aspects of the narrative.”
    • “Mundaun is a quirky exploration/horror-lite game with an interesting story.”
    • “Unfortunately, a slow pace coupled with a story devoid of intrigue, tedious enemies that add nothing to the experience, and occasional unintuitive puzzles leads to an experience that is less than rewarding.”
    • “The characters feel like caricatures and there is not much else that got me invested in the story.”
    • “The story is okay, and it basically revolves around a 'pact with the devil'.”
  • graphics507 mentions

    The graphics of Mundaun are widely praised for their unique hand-drawn art style, which combines pencil and charcoal textures to create a captivating and immersive atmosphere. Reviewers highlight the game's striking visuals as a key element that enhances its storytelling and overall experience, despite some noting that the low-fi graphics may take time to appreciate. The art style not only contributes to the eerie and unsettling mood but also serves as a distinctive hallmark of the game, making it a memorable experience for players.

    • “Its hand-drawn visuals, steeped in tradition, expand beyond the confines of horror to create a deeply immersive, surreal journey that lingers long after the final screen fades to black.”
    • “The main draw here is the hand-drawn art, which seems to be entirely textured in charcoal and pencil for a completely unique aesthetic.”
    • “Mundaun has a lot going for it: the most apparent thing is its striking, uniquely hand-drawn graphics.”
    • “The visuals are okay, the 'hand drawn' part of it is in name only, only the textures are hand drawn, everything else is a typical low poly model and it rarely sells the feeling of the game being hand drawn.”
    • “While the art style did a lot for the atmosphere, it could be hard to look at sometimes.”
    • “Hurt only by the switch's take on its visuals, Mundaun delivers above and beyond its appearances and offers a robust, constantly compelling adventure game.”
  • atmosphere467 mentions

    The atmosphere in *Mundaun* is widely praised for its unique hand-drawn art style and immersive sound design, creating a haunting and eerie experience that resonates with players. Many reviews highlight the game's ability to evoke a sense of unease and surrealism, drawing comparisons to atmospheric films and other narrative-driven games. While some players note that the gameplay may falter, the overall atmosphere remains a standout feature, making it a memorable and engaging experience.

    • “The hand-drawn but still 3D style of the game ensures it will be a memorable experience and really helps it create a fantastic atmosphere.”
    • “Mundaun has a quiet, dark & brooding atmosphere that seeps into every detail of its hand-drawn world, playing this reminds me of films such as The Witch, The Lighthouse & Saint Maud, less about jump scares & set pieces and more about getting under your skin & leaving you unsettled.”
    • “The atmosphere is immaculate and it is incredibly unique.”
    • “I want to love the atmosphere of this game, but that pacing and writing is just dreadful.”
    • “The game creates expectation of a certain kind of storytelling, a certain kind of atmosphere, and slowly replaces it with simple scares used to fill in the space between fetching random objects for strangers.”
    • “Everything was just alright, from the puzzles, to the scares and atmosphere, to the gameplay it all felt a little underdeveloped.”
  • gameplay421 mentions

    The gameplay of *Mundaun* is a blend of exploration, puzzle-solving, and light combat, set against a richly atmospheric backdrop. While some mechanics, particularly combat and stealth, are criticized for being clunky and underdeveloped, the game compensates with its unique art style and engaging narrative. Overall, players appreciate the variety of gameplay elements, though some find the experience can feel slow-paced and occasionally frustrating.

    • “It's got a great story, it oozes atmosphere, and there's actual gameplay both in the form of combat/stealth as well as good puzzles.”
    • “Mundaun covers a whole lot of ground, but it is stubbornly immersive, with all of its varied mechanics having just enough depth to pull you into its world.”
    • “The gameplay exceeds all expectations, it's content-rich, well-rounded and satisfying as hell.”
    • “Unfortunately, the gameplay is very wooden and annoying; killing enemies is really not recommended.”
    • “The art style is the best part of the game, the story is interesting enough and the setting is certainly unique, but everything else gameplay-wise is very weak and the walk speed is painfully slow.”
    • “Honestly, anytime this game came up against actual gameplay elements, especially combat, it became all the worse for it.”
  • music106 mentions

    The music in Mundaun is widely praised for its atmospheric and haunting qualities, effectively enhancing the game's eerie tone and immersive experience. Reviewers highlight the soundtrack's ability to complement key story moments and create a sense of dread, while the sound design and voice acting further enrich the overall ambiance. Overall, the combination of beautiful, original compositions and diegetic sounds contributes significantly to the game's unique folk horror aesthetic.

    • “The music is really beautiful and haunting, one sequence particularly comes to mind, during a set piece that occurs at night, near a mountain lake.”
    • “The sound design and music are incredible and the voice acting is great.”
    • “The music sets a very creepy tone and adds to the tension while the environmental ambiance creates atmosphere.”
    • “And an ominous soundtrack that seeps into every crack.”
    • “Music is appropriately atmospheric and the art style adds to the sense of dread more than anything else.”
  • grinding26 mentions

    Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and slow, particularly due to the mechanics involving enemy encounters and backtracking. While the game boasts artistic values and an intriguing story, the pacing and some gameplay elements detract from the overall experience, making it feel less rewarding. Despite these issues, some players noted that the sparse enemy encounters and the game's atmosphere could still provide a bearable experience.

    • “It feels like a very tedious slow process to wait for the enemy to walk all the way down to where it saw you (with a very far vision range) and then walk all the way back past where you wanted to go.”
    • “However, a slow pace coupled with a story devoid of intrigue, tedious enemies that add nothing to the experience, and occasional unintuitive puzzles leads to an experience that is less than rewarding.”
    • “Tedious to play, backtracking a fair bit, sometimes objectives are just a pain to find; at one point I had to spend 10 minutes tracking back the way I came to try to find one of the three multiple quest objectives without much in the way of an indicator.”
  • humor22 mentions

    The humor in the game is characterized by a blend of dark and quirky elements, reminiscent of surreal films, with players noting the absurdity of situations and characters. The voice acting is humorously poor, adding to the charm, while unexpected occurrences are met with a lighthearted attitude, creating a unique and engaging experience. Overall, the game balances its dark narrative with moments of levity, making it both intriguing and entertaining.

    • “It is sweet and quirky, funny when it needs to be, tense.”
    • “I love how various strange occurrences are met with a humorous lack of concern, as if as soon as you step into the area of Mundaun, anything goes.”
    • “The story is dark and twisted, but also much more funny and quirky than I expected.”
  • emotional16 mentions

    The emotional aspect of the games reviewed is characterized by a blend of heartwarming and unsettling narratives, particularly focusing on themes of family and generational sin. While some players found the stories engaging and nostalgic, they noted a lack of deep emotional connection, attributing this to the brevity and simplicity of the gameplay. Overall, the experiences are described as wholesome and genuine, evoking a sense of childhood wonder despite their darker undertones.

    • “Hidden Fields has crafted a well-paced and engaging experience, somehow heartwarming and deeply unsettling at once.”
    • “It's an emotional story about family and generational sin.”
    • “This game made me feel like a kid, listening to a horror tale.”
  • stability15 mentions

    The stability of the game is mixed, with some players reporting significant bugs and glitches that can disrupt gameplay, while others experienced a smooth, bug-free experience with steady performance. Overall, there are minor issues noted, but many players found the game to be refreshingly stable compared to other recent releases.

    • “The game is buggy.”
    • “It is buggy as hell.”
    • “I only had a couple of glitches that made me reload a save.”
  • replayability14 mentions

    The game offers moderate replayability, primarily due to multiple endings and the opportunity to revisit important choices, though many players feel that the twists and mystery diminish after the first playthrough. While some enjoy the challenge of achievements and finding easter eggs, the overall consensus is that the replay value is decent but could be enhanced. Players generally find the game worth its price, especially when considering its short length of around 4 to 6 hours.

    • “Getting the achievements and finding easter eggs was fun too, and considering there are a few challenging achievements and multiple endings, I'd say the replay value is of good quality!”
    • “Several different endings, a pretty generous amount of save files, and a point-of-no-return warning give it a nice little replay value without being annoying about it.”
    • “In terms of length, the game feels really adequate to me. It's a short story, expect around 4 to 5 hours. It has some replayability potential since there are some important choices you can revisit.”
    • “I just wish there was more replay value though; after one playthrough, I feel like the twists and mystery kind of lose their value.”
    • “There's replayability too, to a small degree, not much.”
    • “In terms of length, the game feels really adequate to me. It's a short story, expect around 4 to 5 hours. It has some replayability potential since there are some important choices you can revisit, but I don't know how significant those are since I just finished my first playthrough.”
  • optimization6 mentions

    The game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with many users noting poor performance across various platforms, including stuttering and random frame drops. However, some players felt that the performance issues, attributed to the small development team and the Unity engine, did not significantly detract from their overall experience.

    • “The game seems poorly optimized, but it was made by a small team, and performance rarely pulled me out of the experience.”
    • “The game seems poorly optimized, but then, it was made by a small team and performance rarely pulled me out of the experience.”
    • “Unity engine strikes again; it wasn't the worst performing I've seen, but there were some stuttering and random drops at times.”
    • “But, it has poor performance on a lot of different platforms.”
  • monetization2 mentions

    The monetization aspect of the game is subtly integrated, with characters providing commentary on advertisements and consumer culture, which adds a layer of humor and critique to the experience. However, the reviews do not indicate any intrusive monetization practices, suggesting a more organic approach to in-game purchases or advertisements.

Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

72% average critic score

Buy Mundaun

Play time

9hMedian play time
8hAverage play time
5-12hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 8 analyzed playthroughs

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