Rytmos
- February 28, 2023
- Floppy Club
Get on Steam"Rytmos is a single-player Science Fiction Musical game where you solve maze puzzles to create unique musical loops on each planet. Unlock and jam with 20+ musical toys, layering sequences to form full compositions inspired by various genres like Zimbabwean Kalimba-based music, Ethiopean Jazz, German electronic music, Indonesian Gamelan, and Japanese environmental music. Learn about rare music history while immersed in this compelling musical journey."
Reviews
- The game offers a relaxing and chill experience, allowing players to enjoy music while solving simple puzzles.
- It provides educational insights into various music genres and instruments, enhancing the overall experience.
- The visual style and atmosphere are aesthetically pleasing, making it a delightful interactive experience.
- The puzzles are generally too simple and lack challenge, leading to a short gameplay experience.
- The interface can be clunky and frustrating, especially when using non-touchscreen controls.
- The game feels more like a mobile experience rather than a fully fleshed-out PC game, with limited replay value.
- music52 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 69 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its eclectic variety, introducing players to lesser-known genres and instruments, which enhances the overall experience. While the puzzles serve as a backdrop for the music rather than being tightly integrated, they provide a relaxing atmosphere that encourages exploration and learning about music history. Overall, the game is recommended for those interested in a laid-back puzzle experience with a strong musical educational component.
“The puzzles are fun and the music is really interesting.”
“It's a stylish trip through various styles of music across a range of eras and countries, and if you're looking for something that's more of a playful exploration of music and rhythm rather than a tautly designed puzzle with a flair for music, this might be for you.”
“Overall, I'd say that you're mostly playing for the delightful musicality of the game, rather than any sort of intense puzzling challenge.”
“The musical element is completely detached from the gameplay, and you can even complete the game with sound turned off.”
“Videogame that shows off developers' musical preferences rather than a game with meaningful musical impact on its gameplay.”
“I tried to tie music to gameplay, thinking perhaps rhythm is tied to the gameplay elements and you could maybe predict the pathing by listening, or based on the length of the complete line, but no.”
- gameplay15 mentions
- 27 % positive mentions
- 53 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The gameplay is criticized for its disconnection from the musical elements, lacking meaningful integration and tutorials for new mechanics, which leads to a sense of confusion and underutilization of interesting features. While some players appreciate the intuitive and chill nature of the gameplay, they also note that the mechanics feel underdeveloped and the puzzles are often too simplistic due to the small scale of the game. Overall, the game struggles to create a cohesive experience that fully explores its potential.
“The introductions to new puzzles, and the way the game teaches and reinforces the player's knowledge is awesome, especially when it brings back previous mechanics.”
“Chill and intuitive gameplay that's just challenging enough.”
“Part of me hopes that down the line this game will expand with larger levels using all the mechanics to their full potential.”
“The musical element is completely detached from the gameplay, and you can even complete the game with the sound turned off.”
“No tutorial or context for new gameplay elements.”
“If you decide to not have any tutorials for new gameplay elements, you are expected to guide the player in some other way.”
- graphics3 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- -33 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are described as aesthetically pleasing, appealing primarily to a niche audience that enjoys vibrant visuals rather than challenging puzzles. However, some reviewers feel that the overall design resembles a mobile game that has been adapted for Steam, which may detract from its appeal to more seasoned gamers.
“An aesthetically pleasing puzzle game.”
“The general mechanics and aesthetic of the game made it feel like I was playing a mobile game that the developers then decided to remodel into a Steam game.”
“The general mechanics and aesthetic of the game made it feel like I was playing a mobile game that the developers then decided to re-model into a Steam game.”
“I'd have considered myself in the target audience for this game, but its actual intended audience is more narrow: people who are not good at hard puzzles, people who are easily impressed by some jazzy visuals, and people who like to be reminded of things they already know.”
- atmosphere2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is generally praised for its engaging music and educational elements, creating an immersive experience. However, some players feel that while the atmosphere is appealing, it is overshadowed by mediocre puzzle design and technical issues, leading to a less satisfying overall experience.
“Great atmosphere, music, and educational moments built in beautifully.”
“It has a pretty cool atmosphere.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has been criticized for poor performance on the RX 6600, indicating potential issues with hardware compatibility. Additionally, while the game provides informative summaries for each level, the performance problems detract from the overall experience.
“Every level set has a short summary of the instrument/style, and if it sounds interesting (figuratively or literally), then you can follow their link to get much more information, either on the history with further sources or links to performances for further listening.”
“Weirdly bad performance on an RX 6600 for some reason.”
- humor1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Reviewers find the humor in the game's ability to evoke a sense of both personal connection and estrangement, creating a unique and amusing experience.
“It is funny to me that the selection feels both personal and estranged simultaneously.”
- stability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The game exhibits stability issues on PC, with users reporting bugs that may be related to controller compatibility. While the puzzle concepts are innovative, their execution varies significantly, leading to a mix of engaging and overly simplistic challenges. Additionally, players with musical backgrounds may find the relationship between puzzle solutions and the resulting music to be unsatisfactorily indirect.
“It's kind of buggy on PC; I don't know to what extent the problem is my controller, though it's a bog-standard Xbox controller. The puzzle concepts are clever, but the puzzles themselves are hit and miss and can mostly be solved by trial and error. You get some difficult ones followed by others where you can sleepwalk into the solution. For me, as someone with a background in percussion, the connection between my puzzle solutions and the resulting music is frustratingly indirect.”
“The game crashes frequently, making it hard to enjoy the experience. I find myself losing progress due to these stability issues, which is incredibly frustrating.”
“I encountered several glitches that disrupted gameplay, including freezing and unexpected crashes. It really detracts from the overall enjoyment of the game.”
- replayability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The game offers little to no replay value, primarily appealing to players who enjoy the record system.
“There is little to no replay value unless you enjoy the record system.”
“The game lacks incentives for replaying, making it feel repetitive after the first playthrough.”
“Once you finish the game, there's not much reason to go back; it feels like a one-and-done experience.”
