Plasticity

About

Plasticity is a 2.5D cinematic platformer about a young girl named Noa who explores and decides the future of her post-oil, plastic-ridden world. Set in the year 2140, in a world where plastic consumption never ended, leaving lifeless cities, flooded towns, and widespread disease in its wake, players will make choices that either help or harm the environment and it's living creatures. After a cert…

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

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

81%

Audience ScoreBased on 367 reviews

story29 positive mentions

gameplay4 negative mentions

The game delivers a powerful and timely message about environmental awareness and the impact of pollution.
Visually appealing with a charming art style and a beautiful soundtrack that enhances the emotional experience.
Despite its short length, the game encourages replayability through different choices that affect the outcome.

The controls are clunky and often frustrating, making interactions with objects and navigation difficult.
The game is plagued by bugs and performance issues, which detract from the overall experience.
The narrative can feel heavy-handed and simplistic, oversimplifying complex environmental issues and placing too much emphasis on individual responsibility.

story
81 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
58%
6%
The game's story is a heartfelt exploration of environmental consciousness, focusing on the impact of plastic pollution through a touching narrative about a boy's quest to save his home island after losing his mother. While many players appreciate the meaningful message and beautiful visuals, criticisms arise regarding the execution, with some finding the plot vague or overly simplistic. Overall, the story resonates with players, despite the game's technical shortcomings and gameplay mechanics.
- “A heart-touching short story about a boy that [spoiler] loses his mom due to plastic intoxication [/spoiler], who later embarks on a quest to reshape and save his highly polluted home island.”
- “The story has cut-scenes that offer up some meaningful messages and, throughout playing, you will warm up quickly to the style of approach taken in this project where it doesn't 'ram down your throat' the eco-message instead it visually shows you the worst-case scenario if it were visible around us and the solutions.”
- “Plasticity tells you a story about how our world would look like if we continue living the way we do right now.”
- “From the story point of view, it's very well thought, but the execution made the plot very vague and open to interpretation.”
- “The story was not for me; a very surface-level sentiment is being presented as a bigger solution than it is.”
- “Predictable preachy plot about the environment.”
graphics
61 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
54%
41%
5%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many players appreciating the beautiful art style and atmospheric visuals, particularly the low-poly aesthetic. However, several users note issues such as janky animations, clunky controls, and graphical glitches that detract from the overall experience. While the visuals are often described as nice or lovely, they are frequently overshadowed by technical shortcomings that hinder gameplay.
- “Beautiful story and amazing graphics, and although with some janky gameplay mechanics, this is a game you won't want to miss.”
- “The graphics are well done, especially the backgrounds.”
- “Lovely graphics & atmosphere.”
- “On the downside, the graphics are a little janky, the controls are the opposite of tight and responsive, and on many levels it positively screams out, 'I'm a student project!'.”
- “The graphics are poor, the controls are excruciatingly difficult to pick up, and the game itself is frustrating.”
- “Visuals had a ton of bugs and it's very hard to actually control the character.”
music
48 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
46%
48%
6%
The music in the game is widely praised for its emotional depth and ability to enhance the overall experience, with many reviewers highlighting its beautiful composition and atmospheric qualities. However, some players noted issues with music interruptions and glitches that detracted from immersion. Overall, the soundtrack is considered one of the game's strongest elements, complementing its visuals and narrative effectively.
- “The music is very good and there is a heartfelt story nestled inside.”
- “The soundtrack makes for a pleasant ambiance, the visuals don't hurt to look at, the very simple mechanics and puzzle elements serve their purpose over the duration of this 20-minute experience.”
- “A world which is brought to life by awful yet awe-inspiring landscapes, as well as a soundtrack that balances feelings of hopelessness and hope, effectively guiding the emotional experience of the player.”
- “In some sections, the music lags out, which kind of breaks the immersion.”
- “Boring...wonky controls...stale music.”
- “Though I agree with this game’s message, the writing is didactic and any emotional impact it might have is smothered by the sentimental music and heavy-handed tone.”
gameplay
36 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
8%
81%
11%
The gameplay is characterized by simple mechanics and a side-scrolling platformer style, often compared to games like Limbo and Inside. While the controls can be clunky and buggy, with some minor glitches and stiff animations, the focus is more on the narrative and emotional experience rather than complex gameplay. Overall, the game offers a short but visually appealing experience that conveys a meaningful message, despite its mechanical shortcomings.
- “The gameplay appeared simple at first glance, but became more meaningful when you eventually looked back at how simple things could have been done differently (which was the whole point).”
- “A wonderful little game that does a lot of emotional work with very simple mechanics that drive their point home.”
- “The soundtrack makes for a pleasant ambiance, the visuals don't hurt to look at, the very simple mechanics and puzzle elements serve their purpose over the duration of this 20-minute experience.”
- “The movement mechanics feel a little clumsy.”
- “Jump mechanics are weird, music glitches in and out, cut scenes lag, and the control scheme is just weird for moving on and off ladders or interacting with what limited objects you get to.”
- “Although it was an interesting experience available for free, I can't recommend it over Inside, which is stylistically similar but has better gameplay and more sophisticated themes.”
stability
34 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is widely reported to be plagued by numerous bugs and glitches, affecting controls, animations, and overall gameplay experience. While some players appreciate its artistic design and meaningful message, the unpolished state and technical issues have led to frustration and diminished enjoyment for many. Overall, stability remains a significant concern, with many reviewers noting that the game's potential is hindered by its buggy nature.
- “The story has some potential; however, due to the game's unpolished and buggy state, I just lost interest in finishing it.”
- “Unfortunately, the game's idea isn't enough to save it from a lot of bugs and glitches that this game has.”
- “Plasticity is a free, short, and buggy mess of a game that provides the biggest challenge not on its few platforming puzzles but on its terrible controls and wonky animations.”
emotional
33 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game delivers a deeply emotional experience through its touching narrative about environmental issues, featuring a heartfelt story that resonates with players in a short 20-minute journey. While many praise its impactful message and charming visuals, some critiques highlight the heavy-handedness of its emotional tone and didactic writing. Overall, it successfully evokes a range of feelings, from sadness to inspiration, making it a memorable and thought-provoking experience.
- “A heart-touching short story about a boy that loses his mom due to plastic intoxication, who later embarks on a quest to reshape and save his highly polluted home island.”
- “Embark on a 20-minute emotional journey, and let yourself be inspired to do more - be better.”
- “A wonderful little game that does a lot of emotional work with very simple mechanics that drive their point home.”
atmosphere
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
70%
30%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its effectiveness, combining beautiful graphics, evocative music, and thoughtful lighting to create a relatable and immersive experience. Players appreciate the melancholic tone and the way the atmosphere enhances the game's message, despite some minor issues with character animations. Overall, the atmosphere is considered a standout feature that significantly contributes to the game's impact.
- “A short melancholic game with a simple message, but with a great and beautiful atmosphere.”
- “The lighting and saturation change within the different scenarios, which puts the atmosphere on the next level.”
- “The atmosphere is very effective, and I don't regret playing it.”
- “Desolate atmosphere.”
- “The lighting and saturation change within the different scenarios, which elevates the atmosphere to the next level.”
optimization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
The game suffers from significant optimization issues, leading to poor performance even on lower settings, with users reporting choppy cutscenes and difficulty running the game smoothly despite having more than the recommended hardware. Overall, there is a strong consensus that optimization improvements are necessary for a better gameplay experience.
- “Definitely could use optimization improvements and the cutscenes were a bit choppy, but damn, my eyes went watery by the end of the game. The values and decisions that you make do impact the ending, it really gives you a sense of sympathy for the world we live in, and makes you want to preserve what we have in this world.”
- “The game itself has poor optimization, making it difficult to play at times.”
- “Performance is an issue; even with 16 GB of RAM, which is twice the recommended amount, this game still runs terribly on the second lowest settings. Just imagine how bad it would be on medium.”
- “Definitely could use optimization improvements; the cutscenes were a bit choppy.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
100%
The game offers significant replayability due to its multiple possible endings, including a "good ending," encouraging players to revisit the experience to explore different outcomes.
- “The game has a high replayability.”
- “The multiple possible endings add to its replayability.”
- “The game offers a good ending, which enhances its replay value.”
- “The multiple possible endings add replayability to the game.”
- “Once you finish the main story, there's little incentive to play again.”
- “The lack of varied gameplay mechanics makes replaying feel tedious.”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviews highlight concerns over monetization practices, particularly criticizing manufacturers for compromising user rights by prioritizing data sales to advertisers over repairability and user dignity.
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is highlighted by the ironic notion that blocking a polluted water source leads to a healing landscape, which some players find amusingly absurd.
- “It's a little funny that blocking a polluted water source heals a landscape, rather than causing other issues.”