Polygoneer
- August 24, 2017
- NukGames
- 2h median play time
Polygoneer is an fast-paced arcade-style game where you defend yourself from colorful polygonal shapes. To achieve high scores, players must match and destroy enemies with the correct color shot, increasing the multiplier for each consecutive hit. With five stages, a hidden hell level, and leaderboards, Polygoneer offers a challenging and replayable experience for players rendering queue or looking to improve their reflexes.
Reviews
- Fun and simple gameplay that tests reflexes and coordination.
- Great for achievement hunters, with easy achievements to unlock.
- Decent soundtrack that fits the game's fast-paced nature.
- The last level is extremely disorienting and may cause seizures due to flashing lights.
- Gameplay can feel repetitive and lacks variety across levels.
- Controls can be frustrating, especially for non-QWERTY keyboard layouts.
- music88 mentions
- 35 % positive mentions
- 57 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The music in "Polygoneer" is frequently highlighted as its standout feature, with many players enjoying the energetic techno and dubstep tracks that enhance the gameplay experience. However, opinions vary, with some finding the soundtrack repetitive or not fitting the game's aesthetic, while others appreciate its nostalgic rave vibe. Overall, the music is generally well-received, though it may not appeal to everyone, and some players prefer to listen to their own playlists instead.
“The soundtrack is a remarkable tribute to the high-energy music of the 90s' underground raves, blending techno with industrial sounds, breaks, and tech trance.”
“The music, flashing lights, and shake effects just enhance the feeling.”
“The only redeeming quality of this game is the music, which is kind of good, though it gets a bit repetitive.”
“The music got me too, it's just a shame the soundtrack doesn't actually register when you buy it.”
“However, the music didn't fit, and the flashing lights were unnecessary.”
“This game warns you it will hurt your eyes, it didn't warn you about the awful music and sound effects as well.”
- gameplay85 mentions
- 27 % positive mentions
- 64 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Polygoneer" is characterized by its simplicity and minimalism, primarily involving rotating a turret to shoot at incoming geometric shapes. While some players find it fun and addictive for short sessions, many criticize the lack of variety and challenge, leading to a repetitive experience that can become boring quickly. Overall, the game offers a basic yet engaging gameplay loop, but it may not satisfy those seeking depth or prolonged engagement.
“Polygoneer features fast-paced reflex-based gameplay involving spinning a turret around and shooting at encroaching shapes, with higher difficulties producing up to three colors of shapes to match your shots with.”
“The gameplay is fast, addictive, and responsive.”
“The gameplay is simple, yet challenging and rewarding.”
“Functional but overly simple, the majority of the gameplay experience is expressed to players in just a few minutes with little variance to drive future play.”
“Gameplay consists of nothing more than rotating a turret centrally located on the screen, whilst being targeted by geometrical shapes, which are flying directly onto you.”
“Unfortunately, I didn’t really feel like the game really pushed me to my limits; the gameplay felt a bit bland and I wasn’t really left with a strong feeling of accomplishment upon finishing the game.”
- graphics36 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are characterized by a minimalist and retro aesthetic, featuring simple outlined shapes and trippy backgrounds that some players find enjoyable, while others criticize them for being headache-inducing and poorly optimized. Despite the clear visuals and stable performance, many users express disappointment over the lack of customization options and the overwhelming intensity of the flashing effects, which can detract from the overall experience. Overall, opinions on the graphics are mixed, with some appreciating the style and others finding it lacking in quality and comfort.
“Love the oldie graphics and flash look.”
“The game has a minimalist aesthetic with nothing more than outlined shapes describing the gameplay while an abstract background spins and twists around to confuse your eyes.”
“Stable 60 fps, nice retro graphics, the backgrounds are a little trippy, but it's part of the game!”
“Absolutely horrible flashing visuals on later levels.”
“There's no options to change the resolution for the game or customize the graphics settings.”
“Considering this is being evaluated as a PC game, having the graphics phoned in like this isn't going to result in a high quality, visually impressive game that PC gamers are used to seeing.”
- replayability9 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is largely criticized, with many players noting a lack of engaging content and variation that diminishes the incentive to return. While a few users mention some potential for replayability, the consensus leans towards it being minimal, with scores averaging around 3.5/10. Many players feel that once achievements are unlocked, there is little reason to revisit the game.
“Expected an arcade game with replay value.”
“The achievements took me about 30 minutes to complete, but I can see a lot of replayability with this game.”
“🔲 infinitely replayable (or almost)”
“There isn't much replay value for this game, so I don't think I'll be coming back to this again.”
“Not really any replay value; the last two levels were terrible on my eyes, and level three had really weird frame drops (only level three).”
“Little replay value, very little variation gameplay-wise, and I've already managed to unlock the bonus level and get the vast majority of achievements in the little time I've played it.”
- story8 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The reviews indicate a lack of a traditional narrative, with some users emphasizing a moral lesson about perseverance and resilience in the face of adversity. Overall, the story aspect is described as minimal or non-existent.
“Moral of the story: you never know what life has in store for you, and if I had given up when all odds were against me, I wouldn't be where I am today.”
“No story.”
“Story - 0.”
“✅ No story.”
- grinding6 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be somewhat tedious, requiring significant time and effort to achieve certain milestones, particularly high score achievements. While the color change mechanic adds depth and encourages multiple playthroughs, many feel that the grind can become overwhelming and detracts from the overall enjoyment.
“It can be a bit grindy sometimes.”
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“The color change mechanic keeps gameplay intriguing by adding another layer of challenge, and the goal to achieve the high score achievements prompts multiple playthroughs, but it takes too long to reach those numbers and feels tedious rather quickly.”
“Some achievements are rather grindy, but all can easily be accomplished by means of some practice and elbow grease.”
- humor5 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is primarily derived from the ability to create amusing words using achievement icons, which adds a playful element to the player’s profile. Players find the game to be a lighthearted and entertaining timewaster, contributing to its overall charm.
“The achievement icons are letters, so you can spell out funny words on your profile.”
“Funny and kind of a hard timewaster.”
“Funny little game.”
- optimization3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- -67 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
While the game's performance received a perfect score of 10/10, users noted that the trippy visuals negatively impact overall optimization, suggesting that developers should decouple these effects from game performance.
“Performance - 10/10”
“The optimization is impressive, allowing for smooth gameplay even on lower-end systems.”
“The developers have done a fantastic job ensuring that the game runs efficiently without sacrificing visual quality.”
“So, as a note for developers - don’t make the trippy visuals in the background tied to the game’s performance.”
“It's not optimized.”
- stability3 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- -67 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's stability is mixed; while some users report it runs smoothly on older hardware with minimal issues, others experience occasional bugs and glitches. Despite these inconsistencies, many players find it a worthwhile purchase.
“It runs great on older hardware.”
“Absolutely amazing, with very few problems, no bugs, no glitches. A fair and square, good purchase.”
“The game has potential, but the frequent bugs and crashes really ruin the experience.”
“I encountered multiple stability issues that made it hard to enjoy the gameplay.”
“It's frustrating how often the game freezes; it definitely needs more polish.”
- monetization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Reviews indicate that the game's monetization strategy is perceived as lacking, with some users feeling it resembles a lazy mobile port that avoids microtransactions. This has led to comparisons with low-effort retro games often associated with cash grabs.
“It feels like a lazy mobile port, just without the microtransactions.”
“GameMaker Studio is often used to make retro pixel shovelware and cash grabs.”
- emotional1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
While the game evokes strong emotional responses, some players have reported feeling dizzy and nauseous due to the background visuals, which detracts from the overall emotional experience.