Smoke and Sacrifice

74%
Game Brain Score Based on 219 reviews
  • story
  • graphics
  • gameplay
Smoke and Sacrifice Game Cover
A sometimes grotesque, always engrossing take on the survival game, woven together with a twisted tale, weird weapons, and giant, charging porcupine pigs.
Starting at $1.99Buy now
Get on Steam

In "Smoke and Sacrifice," play as Sachi, a mother seeking the truth about her sacrificed child in a open-world, hand-painted, gothic RPG. Survive harsh environments, fight strange creatures, and uncover dark secrets concealed by a seemingly benevolent religious community, as you navigate a world teetering on the brink of destruction. Can you save your child and the world from the deadly smoke that threatens to consume all in its path?

  • Nintendo Switch
  • PC
  • Play​station 4
  • Windows
  • Xbox One
  • Play​Station
  • Xbox
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

74%
Audience ScoreBased on 219 reviews
story68 positive mentions
grinding25 negative mentions
  • The game features beautiful hand-drawn graphics and a unique art style that enhances the overall atmosphere.
  • The crafting system is extensive, allowing players to create a wide variety of items and gear, which adds depth to the gameplay.
  • The story is engaging and intriguing, with a compelling narrative that keeps players invested in the protagonist's journey.
  • Combat mechanics are clunky and can feel unresponsive, making battles frustrating at times.
  • The inventory management system is cumbersome, with limited space and no sorting options, leading to frequent backtracking.
  • The game lacks a proper save system, requiring players to save at specific terminals, which can result in losing significant progress upon death.
  • story223 mentions

    The story in "Smoke and Sacrifice" is often described as intriguing and engaging, featuring a mother’s quest to find her lost child in a beautifully crafted world. However, many players feel that the narrative is hampered by repetitive fetch quests and clunky gameplay mechanics, which detract from the overall storytelling experience. While some appreciate the unique art style and the potential of the plot, others criticize it for being linear and lacking depth, leading to a mixed reception regarding its narrative quality.

    • “The story gets you hooked, the characters are intriguing, and it has a very creative and interesting world to explore.”
    • “The story is captivating with interesting and entertaining characters, and the art style is beautiful to look at throughout the game.”
    • “A wonderful game with a beautiful art style, tremendous story and highly enjoyable gameplay.”
    • “The story is forgettable.”
    • “The narrative in this 'narrative-driven' game dissipates as soon as you get out of the prologue; it turns into a fetch quest and grind/crafting simulator.”
    • “Overall, this game is just a crafting/fetch quest simulator that fails at telling a decent story and wastes the charm that it had via the art and atmosphere.”
  • graphics85 mentions

    The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many praising its unique and colorful art style, which is often described as beautiful and painterly. However, some players criticize the overall visual quality as lacking depth and sophistication, feeling it falls short of contemporary gaming standards. While the art style may appeal to some, others find it simplistic and not immersive enough, leading to a divide in player satisfaction regarding the game's visual presentation.

    • “The graphics are very nice, but the style can suit the player or may not (I personally don't really like it, but I appreciate the effort that was put into it).”
    • “The art style is really unique.”
    • “The beautiful art style actually reminded me of Reiner Knizia's Blue Moon, a traditional card game, and another PC game called Darkest Dungeon.”
    • “While I wasn't put into some unviewable settings for this particular game, I am always thrown when the player is not given a chance to view/change graphics and controls before being thrown into a cutscene on launch.”
    • “Regardless, the overall visual quality of the game is very low, beneath what PC gamers have come to expect in this era of cutting-edge photorealistic 3D graphics.”
    • “Without any other substantial graphics tweaks, it's not possible for gamers to improve the lackluster 2D visuals.”
  • gameplay84 mentions

    The gameplay of "Smoke and Sacrifice" has drawn mixed reviews, with many players noting its similarities to "Don't Starve" but criticizing its lack of depth and polish. While the crafting and exploration elements are appreciated, the combat mechanics feel clunky and unresponsive, leading to a frustrating experience that detracts from the story. Overall, the game offers a repetitive loop of gathering and crafting, which can become tedious without the rewarding progression typically found in survival games.

    • “The gameplay loop revolves around gathering resources and using them to craft gear that enables you to defeat enemies, which in turn drop other resources to help you create better gear.”
    • “The gameplay was easy, but enjoyably so.”
    • “A wonderful game with a beautiful art style, tremendous story, and highly enjoyable gameplay.”
    • “Gameplay consists almost entirely of wandering around, fighting stuff, talking to an NPC, then going off and gathering/crafting a bunch of junk for them so you can move onto the next NPC who'll ask the same thing from you.”
    • “It's janky and unsatisfying to play... and any experienced gamer will tell you, the handling, responsiveness, and general gameplay feel of the control scheme must be well polished for this kind of game to succeed.”
    • “Unfortunately, this is something the developer seems to have phoned in, with little to no apparent gameplay testing.”
  • grinding26 mentions

    The grinding aspect of the game is widely criticized for being tedious and repetitive, often detracting from the overall enjoyment. While some players appreciate the crafting and exploration elements, many find the constant need to gather resources and complete fetch quests to be a significant flaw. Overall, the game is described as grindy, with varying degrees of tolerance among players, but it lacks a satisfying sense of progression to make the grinding feel rewarding.

    • “I felt like I was making progress the entire time; there was no grinding in my experience.”
    • “The grind was rewarding and kept me engaged throughout the game.”
    • “I enjoyed the grind because it allowed me to develop my character and skills.”
    • “Combat is the worst aspect in this game by far, just tedious and annoying.”
    • “It suffers from a lot of grinding as you run around and collect the ingredients for different quests and to create various items.”
    • “But the biggest flaw is that the game is unimaginatively nothing more than an endless, mind-numbingly tedious string of fetch-craft requests, relieved only by giant or swarm enemies.”
  • music21 mentions

    The music in the game is widely praised for its beautiful, minimalistic, and ambient soundscapes that enhance the overall atmosphere. Reviewers appreciate the well-fitting soundtracks and sound effects, noting their ability to create an immersive experience, although some mention the repetitiveness and lack of voice acting. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a strong point, complementing the game's artistic visuals and unique environment.

    • “Music consists of mostly minimalistic, ambient sounds that complement the whole atmosphere.”
    • “The introduction immediately gripped me in (what a freaking opener btw), the art style was very creative and I loved the palette, the music was very fitting and well done (I'm a huge sucker for a good soundtrack).”
    • “Its gorgeous artwork and relaxing soundtrack are a real bonus.”
    • “The music is repetitive and there is no voice acting at all.”
    • “The graphics, the music, and the concept of the game are all pretty cool, but the gameplay itself almost seems to have been a second thought.”
    • “Only downside to the game is limited menu options for tweaking buttons and graphics, and there is no ability to turn off sounds; it's either everything is on or off, with no separation between music and sound.”
  • atmosphere12 mentions

    The game's atmosphere is frequently praised for its charming art style, ambient sound design, and unique character design, creating an engaging and immersive experience. However, some players feel that the atmosphere is undermined by clumsy gameplay and a lackluster story, leading to a mixed overall impression. Despite these criticisms, many appreciate the quirky elements and atmospheric moments that evoke a sense of curiosity and exploration.

    • “Music consists of mostly minimalistic, ambient sounds that complement the whole atmosphere.”
    • “Character design and graphics are beautiful and the atmosphere is set really well.”
    • “I'm greatly enjoying the atmosphere, the critters, and especially the quirky NPCs with their heartfelt requests.”
    • “I can't recommend this game despite the charm of the art, atmosphere, and sound design.”
    • “Overall, this game is just a crafting/fetch quest simulator that fails at telling a decent story and wastes the charm that it had via the art and atmosphere.”
    • “The atmosphere is just right, but the game ultimately falls short.”
  • stability3 mentions

    The game's stability is mixed, with reports of freezing on a black screen and lag during attacks, leading to occasional crashes. However, many users note that it runs smoothly overall, with only a few minor glitches.

    • “Freezes on a black screen, and alt+tab doesn't work, nor does ctrl+alt+delete.”
    • “It's buggy in some places; every time I attack, it lags, and sometimes it even crashes.”
    • “It's smoothly delivered too, with very few annoying glitches or bugs.”
  • optimization2 mentions

    The game suffers from poor optimization, leading to a subpar user interface and performance issues that detract from the overall experience.

    • “The poor optimization and user interface.”
    • “The performance is lacking significantly.”
    • “The game suffers from severe optimization issues.”
  • emotional2 mentions

    Players express a mix of frustration and emotional engagement, noting that the rapid deterioration of equipment can evoke feelings of despair. Additionally, the narrative elements, particularly the impactful sacrifices made by the player, contribute to a deeper emotional connection to the story.

    • “At the beginning, it was a little emotional for me because of the story, but I like that you get a chance to find out that one sacrifice you made saved a lot of people.”
    • “Even though you'll have a very limited time window to actually do things to your advantage, your equipment will break so fast that you'll want to cry.”
  • replayability2 mentions

    The game has limited replay value, with many users expressing uncertainty about its overall replayability.

    • “Limited replay value.”
    • “I'm not sure there is much replayability.”
  • character development2 mentions

    Reviewers praise the character development in "Smoke and Sacrifice" for its beautiful character design and unique visual style, which effectively enhances the game's atmosphere.

    • “Character design and graphics are beautiful, and the atmosphere is set really well.”
    • “[b]Smoke and Sacrifice[/b] has a very unique visual style with great character design.”
  • humor1 mentions

    The humor in the game is highlighted by its clever title and engaging premise, which resonated with players from the very beginning, even during its beta phase. Overall, the game's comedic elements contribute to its appeal and enjoyment.

    • “I was there literally day one, pre-Steam for the Don't Starve beta, because it looked so cool and the name made me laugh.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

69% average critic score

Buy Smoke and Sacrifice

Play time

13hMedian play time
10hAverage play time
2-18hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 4 analyzed playthroughs

Videos

Similar Games

Game News