Soundboxing

About

Soundboxing is a single player action game. It was developed by Maxint LLC and was released on September 29, 2016. It received positive reviews from players.

Soundboxing is a VR music video kickboxing game where you create the beats! You can either punch to the music and compete to beat the best, or record your own challenge for others to beat—all set to your favorite music in a cool outdoor environment.

Genres & Tags

Indie

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

86%

Audience ScoreBased on 392 reviews

music54 positive mentions

stability19 negative mentions

Soundboxing offers a fun and engaging way to exercise while enjoying your favorite music, making it a great workout alternative.
The ability to create and share user-generated beatmaps allows for a vast library of songs and challenges, enhancing replayability.
The game provides a unique rhythm experience with accurate beat synchronization, making it feel more like dancing than just hitting targets.

The game suffers from occasional crashes and performance issues, which can disrupt the gameplay experience.
Many user-generated beatmaps vary in quality, leading to inconsistent experiences, as some may not be well-synced or enjoyable.
The user interface can be clunky and difficult to navigate, making it challenging to find and select songs or beatmaps.

music
362 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
15%
81%
4%
The music aspect of the game is highly praised for its integration with YouTube, allowing players to access an extensive library of songs and create custom beatmaps. However, the quality of user-generated beatmaps varies significantly, leading to frustrations when trying to find well-synced tracks. While the ability to play to any song is a major draw, the reliance on community submissions can result in inconsistent experiences, with many players expressing a desire for more polished official content.
- “This is a fantastic and easy music game, and I play a lot of those.”
- “I love the fact that the game uses the YouTube API so you can box along to whatever song you want for free.”
- “Soundboxing is really fun and challenging, and the variety of songs to 'box' is amazing: the list is never-ending.”
- “Unfortunately, that content relies on users to make it and submit it, so many of your favorite songs may not be there, or the person who did them did a poor job, and you end up hating their version.”
- “95% of beatmaps are utter garbage, completely unrelated to the actual rhythm of the song, so finding a song that you like that also happens to have a decent beatmap is really hard.”
- “The downside to this is the UI isn’t conducive to discovering new music or dance beats.”
gameplay
41 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
37%
56%
7%
The gameplay of this game has received mixed reviews, with some players praising its intuitive mechanics and fun, energetic experience that feels like a workout, while others criticize it for being repetitive and lacking variety in playstyles. Many appreciate the ease of learning the mechanics, but note that mastering them can be challenging, and some have pointed out issues with song synchronization and chaotic gameplay. Overall, while the core mechanics are seen as solid and engaging, the lack of diverse gameplay elements and occasional technical flaws detract from the overall experience.
- “The gameplay is intuitive and encourages high energy motions, creating an exhilarating experience that's sure to leave you drenched in sweat.”
- “While there are no shortage of VR rhythm games on the market, Soundboxing has the simple, yet engrossing gameplay down, and it truly feels like a workout.”
- “The gameplay itself, when the beats are right, is damned fun.”
- “As for the gameplay, I found it extremely boring as there's zero variety in playstyles.”
- “The gameplay was not in sync with the music as the algorithm does not do that well.”
- “Gameplay feels often chaotic and shallow.”
stability
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is widely reported to be unstable, with numerous users experiencing significant bugs, glitches, and crashes that hinder gameplay. While some players find it enjoyable and recognize its potential, the overall consensus is that the game's current state is too flawed for a strong recommendation. Many users also noted issues with the interface and menu system, contributing to a frustrating experience.
- “It's a great idea, fun and good exercise, but it's buggy and flawed enough that I can't recommend it right now.”
- “Real shame, as the game in its current state is a huge buggy mess.”
- “Very disappointed that I can't get this game to run; I have no problems with any other VR titles, but after launching it freezes the VR compositor.”
graphics
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
56%
19%
Overall, the graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the VR experience as superior to the store page screenshots, while others find the visuals mediocre and simplistic. Many users note that the graphics are functional but could benefit from updates, and some mention issues with synchronization and a cheap art style. Despite these criticisms, a few players still enjoy the visuals and find them satisfactory for the gameplay experience.
- “The graphics look better in VR than they do in the store page screenshots.”
- “Not so with Holodance, way better visuals, with much more environments.”
- “Graphics are fine and I didn't experience any glitches on 1080.”
- “It is definitely worth the $8.00 (at the time that I bought it) and would be worth a lot more too if the graphics were updated a bit.”
- “The game visuals are out of sync with the music.”
- “Additionally, the interface is somewhat buggy, graphics are mediocre and the challenge level is overall low.”
optimization
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
11%
67%
22%
Overall, the game's optimization has significantly improved following a recent performance patch, resolving previous issues like stuttering and server errors. Users report smooth gameplay with no crashes or performance problems, enhancing the overall experience and encouraging replayability. The controls and interface are also praised, contributing to a seamless gaming experience.
- “Controls and interface are great, haven't experienced any crashes or performance issues.”
- “I believe I'm on patch 1.13, which came right after a major optimization pass by the developer.”
- “As of the performance patch for this game, which landed about a week ago, this game went from being 'ehhh' to being 'woot!' The performance patch was mostly on the server end, but it made the 502, 401, and random stuttering problems all go away.”
replayability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Overall, players find the game to have high replayability, particularly praising its workout potential and fun gameplay. Suggestions for improvement include expanding the leaderboard system and incorporating osu support for a wider variety of beatmaps, which could enhance the replay experience even further. Despite some minor polish issues, many users feel the game is worth its price due to its engaging nature and replay value.
- “Soundboxing is a great workout game with a high replay value and it's absolutely worth the price of €7.99!”
- “Amazingly fun game and brilliant for exercise. I feel it will need osu support for true replayability (open it up to more beatmaps); however, it is still definitely worth buying even now. Honestly, I was unsure about spending my £5 on it, but after playing it, I would happily spend £15.”
- “Great game with lots of replayability!”
- “Another suggestion would be to expand a bit on the leaderboard system to go beyond just individual songs/challenges - a more in-depth stat tracking system would also add more replayability.”
- “+leaderboards for more replay value.”
- “Amazingly fun game and brilliant for exercise, I feel it will need osu support for true replayability (open it up to more beatmaps); however, it is still definitely worth buying even now. Honestly, I was unsure about spending my £5 on it, but after playing it, I would happily spend £15.”
emotional
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users express that the emotional aspect of the game fosters a profound sense of connection and belonging, as it resonates deeply with their personal experiences and feelings. The music's energy and emotional depth create a shared experience that alleviates feelings of loneliness, reinforcing the idea that players are not alone in their emotions.
- “When you find a good recording that forces you to move with such energy, such emotion that you can't help but feel the sheer exuberance the individual recording must have felt, you finally feel like you can know that yes, the deep emotional connection you have to these songs is not just your own and that you are truly not alone in this world.”
- “I've seldom known people that like anything I can relate to, and it's always made me feel more lonesome because of it.”
monetization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
100%
Reviews indicate that the monetization strategy includes microtransactions and DLC, which some users find intrusive, particularly due to the presence of on-screen ads in videos that cannot be dismissed. This raises concerns about the legality and user experience related to advertising practices within the game.
- “The microtransactions in the game are fair and do not feel forced, allowing players to enjoy the experience without feeling pressured to spend money.”
- “The DLC content is reasonably priced and adds significant value to the game, enhancing the overall experience.”
- “I appreciate how the monetization model respects players' time and investment, offering optional purchases that don't impact gameplay balance.”
- “The game is riddled with microtransactions that feel exploitative and detract from the overall experience.”
- “The monetization model is frustrating, as it seems designed to push players towards spending more money rather than enjoying the game.”
- “There are too many ads during gameplay, and it's annoying that you can't skip them or interact with the video.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
100%
Users appreciate that grinding in the game allows for fitness without the monotony of a gym, though some find the need to manually adjust settings for each song to be tedious. Overall, the grinding aspect is seen as beneficial but could use some streamlining.
- “I can stay in shape without needing a gym membership, and it's not tedious.”
- “The ability to scale the playing field is a welcome feature, but having to manually set it for every song is tedious.”
- “Grinding feels like an endless chore rather than an enjoyable part of the game.”
- “The repetitive nature of grinding makes it hard to stay engaged with the game.”
story
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The reviews do not provide specific insights into the game's story, but one user shared an anecdote about a person who successfully lost weight while playing, suggesting that the game may have motivational or lifestyle elements rather than a traditional narrative.
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is a mixed bag; while some players find joy in the amusing situations created by the avatar and the fun of making custom beatmaps, others criticize the developer's poor judgment in prioritizing aesthetics over gameplay stability, which they find ironically entertaining.
- “The developer improved useless backgrounds at the expense of game stability, which is hilariously bad judgment rather than actually working on core gameplay mechanics.”
- “First ever Steam review - just wanted to say that this is what I was hoping to get out of Audioshield from the beginning: making your own beatmaps is incredibly fun, and the little recorded avatar makes for some hilarious situations.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's atmosphere is enhanced by a large screen displaying music videos and a selection of visually stunning background environments, contributing to an immersive and engaging experience.
- “While playing, you can see a big screen where the music video is playing, and you can select between a variety of beautiful background environments, which creates a great atmosphere!”