NO THING
- April 6, 2016
- Evil Indie Games
- 3h median play time
Get on Steam
Get on itch.io Store"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.
Reviews
- The game features a unique and surreal atmosphere, enhanced by a captivating digital soundtrack and interesting narration.
- Gameplay is simple yet challenging, requiring precise timing and reflexes, which can be very rewarding once mastered.
- The minimalist visuals and aesthetic appeal resonate well with fans of vaporwave and retro-futuristic themes.
- The game suffers from frustrating difficulty spikes, particularly in later levels, which can lead to repetitive gameplay and player fatigue.
- The narrative, while intriguing, can become tedious due to its repetitive nature, making it less engaging over time.
- Some players experience motion sickness or eye strain due to the intense color schemes and fast-paced gameplay.
- music54 mentions
- 48 % positive mentions
- 46 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives high praise for its captivating and unique soundtrack, which enhances the overall atmosphere and gameplay experience. While some players find it repetitive and irritating after extended play, many appreciate its ability to create a surreal ambiance that complements the visuals and narrative. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a standout feature, contributing significantly to the game's aesthetic appeal.
“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 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.”
“I switched the music off after a while because it became repetitive and was too chilled out, and I wasn't.”
- graphics44 mentions
- 34 % positive mentions
- 59 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game evoke a strong vaporwave aesthetic, characterized by minimalist designs and vibrant colors, which some players find appealing while others consider them jarring and simplistic. While the visuals are praised for their unique retro style and ability to enhance the game's atmosphere, they are also criticized for contributing to gameplay frustration and a lack of depth. Overall, opinions are divided, with some players enjoying the aesthetic experience and others feeling it detracts from the overall enjoyment of the game.
“The main draws here are the aesthetic, soundtrack, and atmosphere, which are beautiful and unique.”
“Personally, I was immediately hooked by watching the trailer, which shows what the game is - brutal minimalism, left and right at the left and right time, adrenaline, sound, and the finest vaporwave visuals.”
“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 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.”
“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.”
- gameplay42 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by its simplicity, primarily involving left and right turns in an endless runner format, which some players find addictively rewarding despite its repetitive nature. While the mechanics can lead to frustrating moments and artificial difficulty, the integration of a captivating soundtrack and surreal visuals creates a unique atmosphere that appeals to fans of vaporwave aesthetics. Overall, the gameplay offers a mixed experience, with some praising its addictive qualities and others criticizing its lack of depth and coherence.
“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 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 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, visual 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.”
- story39 mentions
- 26 % positive mentions
- 64 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The game's story is presented through a robotic voice that narrates poetic hints, creating a unique ambiance that some players find intriguing, while others feel it lacks depth and coherence. Many reviewers appreciate the artistic style and the themes of alienation and confusion, but criticize the repetitive nature of the dialogue and gameplay, which can detract from the overall experience. Overall, the narrative is seen as cryptic and open to interpretation, leaving players to piece together the story themselves amidst challenging gameplay.
“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 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.”
“Absolutely wonderful endless runner with an interesting story on 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.”
“The plot is incoherent cyberpunk dystopian garbage, and the music is incredibly repetitive.”
“If you fail at the end of a level, you aren't going to want to go through the same five to six minutes of running again, hearing the same bits of 'story' repeated over and over again.”
- atmosphere6 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is characterized by a surreal and unique aesthetic, complemented by an impressive digital soundtrack that enhances the 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 the gameplay, including the inevitability of failure, further deepens the game's atmospheric appeal.
“Surreal atmosphere, awesome digital soundtrack, simple mechanics.”
“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 main draws here are the aesthetic, soundtrack, and atmosphere, which are beautiful and unique.”
“However, this 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.”
- stability3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game has been criticized for its stability, with users reporting numerous 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.”
- grinding2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players express frustration with the grinding aspect of the game, noting that initial enjoyment quickly diminishes as the experience devolves into tedious mechanics and repetitive quicktime events. The challenges are perceived as poorly designed, leading to a reliance on muscle memory rather than skill, and some users have discovered exploits and bugs that further detract from the gameplay experience.
“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, 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).”
- humor1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is characterized as both funny and trippy, suggesting a blend of comedic elements with surreal or psychedelic themes that enhance the overall experience.
“Funny and trippy!”
“The humor in this game is absolutely hilarious and keeps you engaged!”
“I couldn't stop laughing at the witty dialogue and absurd situations!”
- emotional1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players are pleasantly surprised by the emotional depth of the runner game, finding it to be unexpectedly moving and impactful.
“I have never expected a runner game to be this emotionally evocative.”
“The story left me in tears; it was so beautifully crafted.”
“Every character's journey resonated with me on a personal level.”
- optimization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has been criticized for relying on Unity's default physics engine without any enhancements, resulting in inefficient handling of basic movement mechanics.
“The developers used Unity's default physics engine for the first-person controller without any optimization, making even simple movement feel clunky.”
“The game suffers from severe performance issues, indicating a lack of proper optimization throughout its development.”
“I experienced frequent frame drops and stuttering, which suggests that the optimization was not a priority for the developers.”
- replayability1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
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.”
“The variety of challenges and different paths to explore keeps me coming back for more. Each playthrough feels fresh and exciting.”
“With multiple endings and character choices, every run feels unique, encouraging me to replay the game to see all the possibilities.”
