Rumu

89%
Game Brain Score Based on 465 reviews
  • story
  • emotional
  • gameplay
Rumu Game Cover
Rumu is slightly held back by easy puzzles, but the fantastic story, wonderful character development, and lovely audio video package do a lot to make this robot's journey of self-discovery worth it.
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"Rumu" is a single-player adventure game where you play as a sentient robot vacuum cleaner in a smart home, with an intriguing story, good mechanics, and a dark secret to uncover. The game features stunning visuals, outstanding music, and a talented voice cast including Allegra Clark and Larissa Gallagher. Despite some bugs, "Rumu" delivers a heart-wrenching narrative and amazing atmosphere that will make you laugh and cry.

  • PC
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

89%
Audience ScoreBased on 465 reviews
story147 positive mentions
stability14 negative mentions
  • Rumu features a charming narrative that explores themes of love, loss, and artificial intelligence, making it emotionally impactful.
  • The game has beautiful visuals and excellent voice acting, enhancing the overall experience.
  • Despite its short length, the game is engaging and keeps players invested in the story from start to finish.
  • The game is quite short, typically taking only 2-4 hours to complete, which some players feel does not justify the price.
  • There are numerous bugs and technical issues, including broken achievements and occasional crashes, which can hinder the gameplay experience.
  • The controls can be clunky and unintuitive, leading to frustration during navigation and interaction with the environment.
  • story368 mentions

    The story of "Rumu" is widely praised for its emotional depth and engaging narrative, exploring themes of love, loss, and artificial intelligence through the perspective of a robot vacuum cleaner. While the game is relatively short, lasting around 2-4 hours, many players appreciate its well-crafted storytelling and voice acting, despite some noting predictability and linearity in the plot. Overall, the narrative is considered a standout feature, making the game worth experiencing for fans of story-driven titles, even if gameplay mechanics are simplistic.

    • “The story is captivating - the more you sleuth out, the more you want to know!”
    • “Rumu is a great little game with a beautiful look, emotional story and delightful characters.”
    • “The story is surprisingly meaningful with tidbits of information located throughout the house you'll be exploring in the form of notes, posters, books, and other objects.”
    • “Overall the story is okay, Rumu is cute, but I can't recommend a game that the dev has seemingly abandoned with several bugs.”
    • “Relies heavily on story but fails by contradicting itself, breaking immersion, and having a secret obvious from day one so the reveal at the end has little impact.”
    • “The story went from okay to this doesn't make any sense.”
  • emotional107 mentions

    The emotional aspect of the game "Rumu" is widely praised for its surprising depth and ability to evoke strong feelings, with many players expressing unexpected emotional connections to the protagonist, a robot vacuum cleaner. Reviewers highlight the game's touching narrative, well-executed voice acting, and the emotional rollercoaster it provides, often leading to tears and heartfelt reactions. Despite its simple premise, the game effectively explores themes of AI, emotional awareness, and personal connections, making it a memorable and impactful experience.

    • “The emotional balance here was so thoughtful and the narrative was executed beautifully.”
    • “Never did I think I would find an emotional connection with a game about a vacuum cleaner, but that is just what Rumu delivered.”
    • “It's got a beautiful aesthetic, some really wonderful voice acting, and a fantastic, touching narrative.”
  • gameplay94 mentions

    The gameplay in "Rumu" is generally described as simplistic and primarily point-and-click, with easy puzzles and a focus on exploration rather than challenge. While some players appreciate the narrative and emotional depth, many criticize the controls and mechanics as awkward or lacking engagement, leading to a mixed reception overall. The game is recommended for those who prioritize story over gameplay complexity, but may disappoint players seeking a more robust gameplay experience.

    • “A short, thoughtful and evocative game, Rumu has a strong story to tell with a deceptively simple gameplay loop.”
    • “Fun, simple, charming gameplay with a much deeper story than you would anticipate.”
    • “Overall I am truly loving this game and cannot offer more praise for the story, the gameplay mechanics and the way the game prompts you to want to progress and explore.”
    • “Yet, its linearity, the boring gameplay with its childish puzzles and the awkward controls don't let it shine.”
    • “Sadly it's hard to recommend when the isometric gameplay and vacuuming minigames look like they were shoehorned forcefully into a story rather than giving consideration to the gameplay potential.”
    • “The gameplay is nothing to write home about, some very basic puzzles and a lot of moving around and hoovering with questionable controls.”
  • graphics66 mentions

    The graphics of the game are widely praised for their beautiful, clean art style and captivating aesthetics, which enhance the overall narrative experience. Many reviewers highlight the game's charming visuals, often described as minimalistic yet polished, complemented by excellent voice acting and a fitting soundtrack. However, some players have reported technical issues, noting that the graphics can be taxing on hardware despite their simplicity.

    • “The visuals are nice: minimalistic and captivating.”
    • “If you like narrative-driven games with beautiful graphics, then this is definitely the game for you.”
    • “The graphics and special effects are excellent, as well as the level designs.”
    • “It’s a shame that a game that has visuals and sound that are so polished would also be host to technical issues like these.”
    • “I have a decent video card, and these are simple graphics, but they put a significant drain on my system causing multiple crashes even after disabling and turning down most, if not all, graphics options.”
    • “My 7 year old laptop kind of had trouble with the graphics even on the lowest settings; it got a little laggy sometimes when clicking on things.”
  • music52 mentions

    The music in the game has received widespread acclaim for its ability to enhance the overall atmosphere and storytelling, with many reviewers noting its calming and fitting nature. The soundtrack is described as excellent, complementing the visuals and narrative effectively, and some players even use it as soothing background noise. Overall, the music is considered a standout feature that significantly contributes to the game's charm and emotional impact.

    • “Gotta say, this is a fantastic narrative adventure game with excellent writing, voice acting, and music, plus a delightful diorama style to its visuals that you've presumably noticed.”
    • “The puzzles are relatively easy, but the storytelling is great, and the atmospheric music enhances the whole experience.”
    • “The music fits perfectly.”
    • “I will get the first user warning about seizures and after that I get a blank screen with music playing.”
    • “The closest thing was a part of the soundtrack that sounded eerily similar to 'Ghost of Rattmann...'”
    • “The soundtrack I cannot even remember - that's how well it fitted in with everything!”
  • atmosphere15 mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its haunting yet touching quality, enhanced by a beautiful soundtrack and imaginative storytelling. Reviewers highlight the game's unique art style and well-crafted levels, which contribute to a clean, sci-fi aesthetic. Overall, the combination of great music, voice acting, and emotional depth creates a deeply immersive experience, despite the simplicity of its puzzles and action elements.

    • “Amazing story, very atmospheric, and told both beautifully and imaginatively.”
    • “The game affects a unique touching yet haunting atmosphere, especially aurally, and tells its story in an original way through the sweetest protagonist you'll play.”
    • “Overall, Rumu is a fantastic experience, deeply atmospheric and emotional, and beautifully crafted.”
    • “Levels are well crafted even if simplistic in nature; the atmosphere is very sci-fi and minimalistic at the same time, which overall gives the game a unique clean look that I pretty much enjoyed.”
    • “Some neat mechanics, but the writing and atmosphere is what stands out.”
  • stability14 mentions

    The game's stability is notably problematic, with frequent bugs affecting save data, achievements, and quest progression, leading to frustrating gameplay experiences. Users report issues such as freezing during gameplay, UI glitches, and dialogue skipping that can halt progress. While the overall gameplay is enjoyable, the persistent technical issues detract significantly from the experience, making it difficult for players to recommend the game in its current state.

    • “Wiping save data allows me to play again but only up to the same point, where it freezes again and fails to load.”
    • “The most frustrating for me was the fact that a number of the achievements were buggy or just plain broken.”
    • “Unfortunately, there are still three achievements that are buggy and yet to be fixed.”
  • optimization14 mentions

    The game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with some players experiencing performance issues such as stuttering and black screens, despite the game's polished controls and aesthetic graphics. While the technical aspects are generally sound, there are notable optimization problems, particularly in the initial version, which may detract from the overall experience. Overall, the game's emotional voice acting, particularly by Allegra Clark, stands out amidst these technical challenges.

    • “The soundtrack is excellent and the graphics are aesthetically driven, with a somehow unusually high performance draw for such a simple design.”
    • “Since I have played for such a short amount of time, I still have a long journey ahead, but the polished performance of the game and easy-to-use controls.”
    • “The game works fine from a technical perspective (I played it on Linux using Wine, where it did have some performance problems).”
    • “I closed the game, started it back up and after the epilepsy warning it went to a black screen with the same stuttering, trailing, mirrored mouse.”
    • “Poorly optimized.”
    • “There may be some optimization issues in v1.0.0.”
  • replayability10 mentions

    The game offers minimal replayability, with most players noting that it provides only a single playthrough experience lasting between 2 to 4 hours. While the emotional story is appreciated, the linearity and lack of additional content or challenges lead to concerns about its value for the price. Overall, it seems best suited for those who enjoy completing achievements rather than those seeking multiple playthroughs.

    • “Replay value depends entirely on whether or not you’re the kind of person who likes to get all the achievements and/or re-experience the story.”
    • “Not a ton of replay value, but you definitely get your money's worth for this short game.”
    • “The game price is a sticking point, for 3 hours of play with questionable replayability.”
    • “You will get between 2.5 and 3.5 hours of gameplay, and there is not any replayability.”
    • “With the linearity of the story and the easy difficulty, there is no replayability for a 4-hour game.”
    • “Clocking in at a hair over 2 hours, $20 is a bit pricey for a very linear story game with no replayability.”
  • humor9 mentions

    The humor in the game is highly praised, featuring witty dialogue, quirky characters, and a blend of heartwarming and comedic moments. Players find the protagonist, Rumu, endearing and amusing, with clever sound effects and a narrative that balances humor with deeper themes. Overall, the game's comedic elements contribute significantly to its charm and enjoyment.

    • “The humor in the game is top-notch, with witty one-liners and quirky characters 🤣”
    • “Rumu's dialogue is gold, and I'm laughing like I've found the funniest stand-up act in the world.”
    • “I actually find it funny that I picked up Rumu thinking it was a puzzle game, but it's actually a science fiction story touching on a lot of themes all the while you play the game as a vacuum cleaner.”
  • character development2 mentions

    Character development in the game is praised for its excellent narrative and pacing, particularly highlighting the charm of the character Rumu. The storytelling effectively unfolds the world and experiences of the characters, enhanced by strong voice acting.

    • “But the story narrative, character development, and voice acting were excellent.”
    • “Rumu is adorable, and the narrative and character development flow at a very well-paced rhythm, telling the story of Rumu's world beautifully.”
  • grinding2 mentions

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game tedious and repetitive, with many elements feeling predictable and unnecessarily prolonged, such as unskippable dialogues. The overall gameplay experience is considered short, lasting only 2-5 hours, which contributes to the sense of monotony.

    • “In summary, the game is tedious, too short (only around 2-5 hours of gameplay), and too predictable.”
    • “Lots of parts in this game are just tedious, like how I couldn't skip the coffee machine dialogue after accidentally pressing it for the tenth time.”
  • monetization1 mentions

    The monetization model of this game is praised for avoiding the pitfalls of many AAA titles that rely heavily on loot boxes and microtransactions, providing a more straightforward and enjoyable experience for players.

    • “Games like this one are precisely why I am not worried about gaming as a hobby at a time when many AAA games are trying to sell you a shell game filled with loot boxes and microtransactions.”
    • “The monetization in this game feels exploitative, as it constantly pushes players to spend more money to enjoy basic features.”
    • “It's frustrating to see a game that could be great but is bogged down by aggressive monetization tactics that ruin the overall experience.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

77% average critic score

Buy Rumu

Play time

5hMedian play time
24hAverage play time
5-8hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 8 analyzed playthroughs

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