NO THING

About

"NO THING" is a minimalistic surreal action game set in a totalitarian regime of the future, where you play as an office clerk on a mission to deliver an important message to the Queen of Ice. With its migraine-inducing gameplay, retro surrealistic 3D graphics, full voiceover and speech synthesis, and original cold wave music, this game will provide a unique and challenging experience. It's easy to play but difficult to master, with simple controls and platforms including Windows, Mac, and Linux. The year is 1994, and it is the future.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

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

90%

Audience ScoreBased on 330 reviews

music52 positive mentions

stability6 negative mentions

The game features a unique and surreal atmosphere, enhanced by a fantastic digital soundtrack that complements the gameplay.
NO THING is simple to pick up but offers a challenging experience, making it addictive and rewarding as players master the levels.
The minimalist visuals and poetic narration create a memorable experience that resonates with players, making it a standout indie title.

The gameplay can feel frustratingly repetitive, especially with the need to restart levels upon failure, which can lead to annoyance with the constant repetition of dialogue.
Level 7 is significantly harder than the rest, creating an unbalanced difficulty spike that can deter players from progressing further.
The visuals, while unique, can be overwhelming and may cause discomfort or motion sickness for some players, detracting from the overall enjoyment.

music
108 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
48%
49%
3%
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many praising its unique and captivating electronic soundtrack that enhances the overall atmosphere and gameplay experience. However, some players found the music repetitive and irritating after extended play, leading them to mute it or switch to their own playlists. Overall, while the soundtrack is often described as fantastic and fitting for the game's aesthetic, its repetitive nature can detract from the experience for some players.
- “Love the soundtrack and the way the story is told.”
- “The soundtrack is fantastic and really gets my pulse racing in specific areas.”
- “The music and visuals are unique and fit the game perfectly.”
- “The story telling through the robotic voice as you run is a great idea, but there really wasn't much story to be told or message to be sent, and after hearing the same dialogue multiple times it stopped being interesting and just became background noise (same with the music).”
- “It was frustratingly demanding, the graphics didn't seem to add anything to the exasperating mechanics, and the soundtrack seemed to be just a frustrating set of blips and bleeps.”
- “The music will get stuck in your head, and it's just a one-minute loop, so it becomes really jarring after a while.”
graphics
88 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
34%
61%
5%
The graphics of the game are polarizing, with some players appreciating the minimalist, vaporwave aesthetic and vibrant color schemes, while others find them bland and jarring, detracting from the gameplay experience. Many reviews highlight the unique retro-minimalistic visuals as a key feature, though they can also lead to visual disorientation and frustration during gameplay. Overall, the graphics are seen as a double-edged sword, enhancing the game's atmosphere for some while hindering enjoyment for others.
- “The main draws here are the aesthetic, soundtrack, and atmosphere, which are beautiful and unique.”
- “Personally, I was immediately hooked by watching the trailer, that shows what the game is - brutal minimalism, left and right at the left and right time, adrenaline, sound and finest vaporwave visuals.”
- “A great take on the endless runner game, with visuals that trip you up in what is a deceptively easy looking set of levels.”
- “The graphics didn't seem to add anything to the exasperating mechanics, and the soundtrack seemed to be just a frustrating set of blips and bleeps.”
- “Apart from gameplay, the aesthetic is pretty standard vaporwave, but done in the dullest possible manner, so if you find mainstream vaporwave just too hectic and varied, then you'll love this game.”
- “The graphic glitches and colors that they throw at you can make it hard to concentrate, which adds extra challenge but could also cause quite a headache.”
gameplay
84 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
50%
10%
The gameplay is characterized as simple and reflex-based, primarily involving left and right turns, which some players find addictive despite its repetitive nature. While the mechanics can lead to frustrating moments and a sense of artificial difficulty, many appreciate the synergy between the gameplay and the atmospheric soundtrack, making it enjoyable for those who favor a minimalist experience. However, the lack of depth and variety in gameplay elements has led to mixed feelings, with some players wishing for a more engaging and less punishing experience.
- “The simple but addicting gameplay and wonderful strange atmosphere makes this a very easy recommendation, even just to try it out and see what you think.”
- “The gameplay is simple, an endless runner with turns rather than jumps, and challenging enough to make winning satisfying.”
- “The game has a pretty addicting soundtrack and it blends with the gameplay very well, the increasing speed as you turn makes it even better, in my opinion, all of that makes this game have a good replay value and a drawback effect, I just can't get enough of it.”
- “The visuals are bland, the music and text-to-speech voice acting is grating, the precision you need to get pickups on the track (and having to make a full lap again if you miss one pickup) feels like artificial difficulty, and the constant monologue isn't anywhere near well written enough to carry the bad gameplay loop.”
- “It was frustratingly demanding, the graphics didn't seem to add anything to the exasperating mechanics, and the soundtrack seemed to be just a frustrating set of blips and bleeps.”
- “However - there is always this however - my honeymoon with it ends in less than one hour, ever since the moment all the fascinating voice-over, visuals, and soundtracks faded away in my senses, leaving nothing but the never-ending path in my tunnel vision; the moment a somehow expressive and sentimental experience took a sudden turn into a tediously hard quick-time reaction and muscle memory grind, where the difficulty does not come from well-designed challenges, but from irresponsibly clumsy mechanics.”
story
78 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
26%
64%
10%
The game's story is delivered through a robotic voice that narrates poetic hints as players navigate levels, creating a unique ambiance that some find intriguing despite its vagueness. While the narrative explores themes of alienation and confusion, many players feel it lacks depth and coherence, often becoming repetitive and background noise. Overall, the storytelling is seen as an artistic experiment that could benefit from a more structured approach, with players expressing a desire for a dedicated "story mode" to better engage with the narrative.
- “The story is super interesting even if cryptic as you try to put the pieces given to you by the disembodied voice accompanying you... added to the music it gives off a very unique ambiance that will keep you there.”
- “The vagueness of the story leaves so much to the mind, but in a good way.”
- “The gameplay and graphics also heavily complement the story: the colorful overlays switching, changing graphics and tight, difficult gameplay really give the feeling of being lost, confused and tense, matching the story of isolation and alienation.”
- “The storytelling through the robotic voice as you run is a great idea, but there really wasn't much story to be told or message to be sent, and after hearing the same dialogue multiple times it stopped being interesting and just became background noise.”
- “Tries to be 'easy to learn, hard to master' with only two things that you have to press, but ends up being just an annoyance with a couple of sentences per level that hope you'll come up with what it all means in your head, instead of actually having to bother with storytelling.”
- “The visuals are a tiny bit interesting, but also jarring; the gameplay is completely uninteresting, literally just turning with a bleep sound effect, the plot is incoherent cyberpunk dystopian garbage, and the music is incredibly repetitive.”
atmosphere
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
17%
17%
The game's atmosphere is characterized by a surreal and unique aesthetic, complemented by an impressive digital soundtrack that enhances the overall experience. Players appreciate the blend of simple mechanics with an addictive gameplay loop, which, along with the themes of confusion and alienation, creates a captivating and immersive environment. The repetitive nature of gameplay, including the inevitability of failure, further deepens the game's atmospheric appeal.
- “The main draws here are the aesthetic, soundtrack, and atmosphere, which are beautiful and unique.”
- “No thing is an atmospheric runner game where you turn left and right while a computer voice directs you and tells you about the bleak expressionist dreamscape you inhabit.”
- “However, this again adds to the atmosphere of confusion and alienation.”
- “The fact that you will die and fail and have to hear much of it again is part of the appeal for me and really cements the game's atmosphere.”
stability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game has been criticized for its stability, with users reporting frequent bugs and graphic glitches that can distract players and detract from the overall experience. These issues not only add an unintended challenge but can also lead to frustration.
- “The graphic glitches and colors that they throw at you can make it hard to concentrate, which adds extra challenge but could also cause quite a headache.”
- “Buggy.”
- “Buggy.”
grinding
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express frustration with the grinding aspect of the game, noting that what initially feels engaging quickly devolves into tedious muscle memory tasks and poorly designed mechanics. The grind is often exacerbated by clumsy controls and exploits that undermine the intended challenge, leading to a less enjoyable experience overall.
- “However, my honeymoon with it ends in less than one hour. Ever since the moment all the fascinating voice-over, visuals, and soundtracks faded away, I was left with nothing but the never-ending path in my tunnel vision. What started as a somehow expressive and sentimental experience took a sudden turn into a tediously hard quick-time reaction and muscle memory grind, where the difficulty does not come from well-designed challenges, but from irresponsibly clumsy mechanics.”
- “I've also found some exploits (level 3, turn slightly before the turned pathway and get stuck in the corner, press left/right repeatedly for a speed increase and point farming, if you want to place high in the leaderboards) and minor bugs (level 7 had me do some experimenting at the spawn point and I somehow had the character go diagonally, not straight, but this doesn't happen until you die repeatedly and respawn extremely quickly, also can make you turn with little delay).”
- “The grinding aspect of the game quickly becomes tedious, as the initial excitement fades and you're left with repetitive tasks that feel more like a chore than an engaging experience.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
The humor in the game is characterized as both amusing and surreal, providing a unique and entertaining experience for players.
- “Funny and trippy!”
- “Funny and trippy!”
- “Funny and trippy!”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players are pleasantly surprised by the emotional depth of the game, particularly noting that it evokes feelings typically not associated with the runner genre. This unexpected emotional engagement enhances the overall experience.
- “I have never expected a runner game to be this emotionally evoking.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game's optimization is criticized for relying heavily on Unity's default physics engine for its first-person controller, resulting in a lack of refinement for what should be a straightforward movement system. This oversight has led to performance issues and a less polished gameplay experience.
- “The developers used Unity’s default physics engine-based first person controller in full-scale without any optimization to handle such a simple movement mechanism of this game.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the game highly replayable due to its addictive soundtrack and engaging gameplay mechanics, particularly the increasing speed that enhances the experience. This combination creates a compelling draw that keeps players coming back for more.
- “The game has a pretty addicting soundtrack that blends well with the gameplay. The increasing speed as you turn enhances the experience, making this game have great replay value. I just can't get enough of it.”