Sandmade

About

Sandmade is a single player action game. It was developed by Manic Hyena and was released on May 16, 2018. It received positive reviews from players.

"Sandmade" is a casual, single-player puzzle game with good music and beautiful graphics. The game starts off simple and relaxing, but becomes more challenging as you progress, testing your spatial skills and more. With 100 levels, handcrafted visuals, no timers or scores, and achievements, it's just you and the puzzles in this immersive, delightful sand-shaped world. Only mouse control is needed.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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88%

Audience ScoreBased on 104 reviews

music9 positive mentions

story2 negative mentions

Sandmade offers a relaxing and minimalist puzzle experience that effectively engages players' spatial reasoning skills.
The game features 100 levels with a gradual increase in difficulty, providing a satisfying challenge without time constraints.
At a low price point, Sandmade is considered a great value for puzzle enthusiasts, especially with its replayability due to procedurally generated levels.

The game can feel repetitive, as the core mechanics do not change significantly throughout the 100 levels.
Some players may find the controls cumbersome, particularly the need to confirm selections and the lack of customization options.
The overall experience is short, typically lasting around an hour, which may leave some players wanting more depth or variety.

gameplay
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
72%
14%
The gameplay of Sandmade is centered around visual-spatial reasoning, featuring straightforward mechanics and controls that allow players to engage with 100 puzzles over approximately 75 minutes. While the game is enjoyable and offers a satisfying experience, it tends to be repetitive and lacks significant variation or complexity, with difficulty rising non-linearly. Overall, it provides a solid, albeit simplistic, puzzle experience that is accessible and reasonably priced.
- “Sandmade is the kind of puzzle game that doesn’t need elaborate storytelling, flashy effects, or mechanical gimmicks to make an impression.”
- “The gameplay is enjoyable, the sound effects are quite satisfying, and while it does become repetitive, it's short enough to not completely wear out its welcome.”
- “Gameplay is pretty solid, the spinning of the shapes provides an additional level of difficulty, the only penalty for making a mistake is restarting the level, there is no time limit, and there are 100 levels.”
- “Because Sandmade is built entirely around visual-spatial reasoning, it offers little mechanical or thematic variation beyond its core premise.”
- “The gameplay itself is minimal; it only consists of you clicking your mouse, clicking to bring up a block, or clicking and holding to drag/rotate blocks.”
- “Difficulty is rising in a non-linear way, which is sad - quite easy before the 70th level, and quite boring because of that. After the 70th, it becomes challenging, but the mechanics of the game are always the same.”
music
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
47%
37%
16%
The music in the game is generally described as ambient and relaxing, effectively complementing the gameplay without being overly intrusive. While many players appreciate its ability to create a calming atmosphere, some note that the soundtrack can become repetitive and wish for more variety or length. Overall, the music is considered a fitting and pleasant addition to the game's minimalist design.
- “The soundtrack mirrors this design, offering ambient music that encourages a state of quiet concentration rather than emotional manipulation.”
- “There's a hundred levels to go through, with varying difficulties, and a looping soundtrack in the background for easy listening.”
- “I really enjoyed this game... the music was unobtrusive but listenable, so all in all a fine little game.”
- “Wish the soundtrack was longer, as it gets repetitive fast.”
- “Decent simplistic graphics and okay generic music, even if it might get repetitive rather quickly.”
- “I did not like the music loop and turned it off very quickly.”
graphics
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
62%
19%
The graphics of the game are characterized by a minimalist and simplistic aesthetic, featuring low-polygon, untextured assets that some players find reminiscent of early 1990s 3D games. While the visuals are generally described as sufficient and effective for the gameplay, there are complaints about the lack of resolution options and graphical tweaks, which can hinder performance on older systems. Overall, opinions are mixed, with some appreciating the restrained design and others criticizing it as a sign of laziness in development.
- “Everything—from the sound design to the restrained aesthetic—seems tuned toward mental clarity.”
- “If you are looking for an easy puzzle game to take your mind off of things, Sandmade might be the perfect match for you. Not only does it look good graphically and have a nice soundtrack, it's also easy and eases you into the game while slowly getting more and more challenging. For the full dollar, it's crazy not to at least give it a shot.”
- “The graphics are very good!”
- “There's no option to change the resolution and no useful graphics tweaks.”
- “The lack of textures is a method that lazy devs often use to disguise their lack of talent or interest in doing the graphics properly, trying to disguise it under the name of 'art', or 'we made it look bad on purpose', which really isn't something gamers should have to put up with.”
- “The visuals are constrained to basic monochrome 3D shapes.”
replayability
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
14%
43%
Overall, the game offers a decent level of replayability due to its procedurally generated levels, allowing players to experience different challenges each time they play. While some users feel that the game lacks long-term satisfaction after reaching the end, the ability to retry without penalties and the randomization of shapes contribute to a solid replay experience. Players appreciate the potential for revisiting the game in the future, despite its relatively low difficulty.
- “I find this approach rather nice as, technically, the game is as replayable as you want it to be and the game doesn't punish you for getting it wrong -- it just says 'try again.'”
- “Shapes are randomly generated - both when starting any level, or when you make a mistake at any time in any level, which resets level progression - so the game offers a decent amount of replayability.”
- “All the levels seem to be procedurally generated, which provides a lot more replayability than I expected for such a cheap game.”
- “There is no replayability or satisfaction once you reach the end.”
- “Difficulty is mostly low, but there is some replayability.”
- “All the levels seem to be procedurally generated, which is a lot more replayability than I expected for such a cheap game.”
story
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
The story aspect of Sandmade is minimal, as the game focuses primarily on its puzzle mechanics rather than an elaborate narrative. It is not designed for players seeking a deep story or a traditional adventure experience, making it more suitable for those who appreciate straightforward gameplay.
- “Sandmade is the kind of puzzle game that doesn’t need elaborate storytelling, flashy effects, or mechanical gimmicks to make an impression.”
- “It doesn’t try to be a story-driven adventure or a sprawling brain-training suite.”
- “On the other hand, I don't recommend it for people who despair quickly, hate short games, don't like puzzle games, or are simply looking for something different with a deep story behind.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
The optimization of the game is generally criticized, particularly in relation to some Unity titles, which are noted for their poor performance and lack of optimization. However, the absence of timers and movement limits allows players to focus solely on the puzzles without performance pressure.
- “There are no timers, movement limits, or performance ratings—only the puzzle and the moment of understanding.”
- “I am well aware of rock-bottom performance and nonexistent optimization of some Unity games (I can easily name some).”
- “I am well aware of rock-bottom performance and nonexistent optimization of some Unity games (I can easily name some).”
monetization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players appreciate the monetization model of the game, noting the absence of intrusive ads, especially compared to mobile games, which enhances the overall experience on Steam.
- “The monetization model feels overly aggressive, pushing players to spend money to enjoy the game fully.”
- “I was disappointed to find that many features are locked behind paywalls, making it hard to progress without spending extra.”
- “While the game is fun, the constant prompts to purchase in-game currency really detract from the overall experience.”
humor
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is highlighted by its quirky achievement system, where players receive a "100 levels beat" achievement after completing level 99 and reaching level 100, despite not actually beating the final level. This playful twist adds a lighthearted touch to the gameplay experience.
- “It's hilarious how you get the 100 levels beat achievement after reaching level 100 without actually beating it.”
- “The humor in this game is top-notch, with clever jokes and unexpected twists that keep you laughing.”
- “I love the witty dialogue and absurd situations that make every playthrough a joy.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is characterized by a soundtrack that promotes a calming atmosphere, allowing players to engage intellectually without feeling emotionally overwhelmed. This design fosters a relaxing experience, making it suitable for unwinding after a long day.
- “The soundtrack mirrors this design, offering ambient music that encourages a state of quiet concentration rather than emotional manipulation.”
- “It becomes the kind of experience you can play while unwinding after a long day, fully engaged intellectually but emotionally unburdened.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere of Sandmade is generally described as relaxing, enhanced by visually appealing graphics and satisfactory music. Players appreciate the gradual increase in puzzle difficulty, though some express a desire for a more vibrant color palette to further enrich the experience.
- “Relaxing atmosphere, puzzles based on matching 3D pieces, with difficulty slowly increasing.”
- “Sandmade sets a nice atmosphere for itself; the game looks really good and the music is also pleasant. I do wish we had more colors for a more colorful and fresher palette, but that's just a minor nitpick.”