Still There

About

"Still There" is a narrative-driven psychological thriller game set in a remote lighthouse base. As a lone operator, you'll handle a variety of intriguing missions and deal with unexpected events that challenge your sanity and perception of reality. The game features a rich, immersive story, with branching dialogue that explores themes of isolation, melancholy, and cosmic horror.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

86%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,590 reviews

story604 positive mentions

grinding32 negative mentions

The game features a beautifully crafted story that explores themes of grief and acceptance, leaving a lasting emotional impact.
Puzzles are challenging yet rewarding, requiring players to think critically and engage with the in-game manual for solutions.
The art style and soundtrack create an immersive atmosphere that enhances the overall experience.

Some puzzles can be overly complex and frustrating, leading to confusion and reliance on guides.
The dialogue can feel forced at times, detracting from the emotional weight of the story.
The game is relatively short, which may leave some players wanting more content for the price.

story
1,310 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
46%
51%
3%
The story of the game is widely praised for its emotional depth, exploring themes of grief, loss, and personal redemption, often leaving players moved to tears. While some found the narrative engaging and well-written, others felt it was occasionally overshadowed by overly complex puzzles or lacked clarity in certain areas. Overall, the heartfelt storytelling, combined with a unique sci-fi setting, makes it a compelling experience for those who appreciate narrative-driven games.
- “This was a heartfelt story about a dad learning to forgive himself and meeting a daughter surrogate in space.”
- “The story of this game is incredibly well written and it deserves to be played for that reason alone.”
- “The story is lovely, touching, and full of emotion, tension, and humor.”
- “I found myself growing tired of trying to understand the in-game manual to figure out which switches and knobs to flip and turn just so I could progress the story I was invested in.”
- “The story bounces from being absurd to depressing and didn't leave me impressed, while the gameplay is pretty much all tasks that are either tedious, obtuse, or incredibly anal, and I don't feel smarter coming out of them.”
- “The story is just kind of unfortunately rushed and that sort of sucks because the setting is actually quite interesting for the concept, there's a lot of care given to the notes and features of your small cabin, it's just the run time of the story is so short.”
emotional
374 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is widely praised for its deeply emotional narrative, exploring themes of grief, loss, and forgiveness, which resonates strongly with players, often leading to tears and heartfelt reflections. While some found the puzzles frustrating, the emotional weight of the story and its characters made the experience worthwhile, creating a poignant journey that many recommend for those seeking a touching and immersive adventure. Overall, it is described as a beautiful, atmospheric game that successfully combines challenging gameplay with a powerful emotional core.
- “A heartbreaking puzzle game with themes of grief and depression.”
- “This was a heartfelt story about a dad learning to forgive himself and meeting a daughter surrogate in space.”
- “The story is very touching and immersive with all the sounds and visual elements.”
music
226 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
37%
3%
The music in the game has received widespread praise for its ability to enhance the emotional depth and atmosphere, with many reviewers describing it as beautiful, haunting, and fittingly somber. While some found the soundtrack repetitive or grating at times, the overall consensus highlights its effectiveness in complementing the narrative and immersive experience. The combination of music, art, and storytelling creates a memorable and emotional journey for players.
- “The music is haunting.”
- “It's an emotional journey with gorgeous graphics and beautiful music.”
- “The music to this game is also phenomenal and they know that because it is available on Spotify.”
- “Music: very repetitive.”
- “The only complaint I could possibly make is that the music gets stale by the 3rd or 4th section of the game.”
- “Background 'music' was ripping my ears so I had to remove it.”
graphics
162 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
38%
2%
The graphics of the game have received a mixed reception, with many praising its beautiful art style and detailed visuals that enhance the overall experience. While some players found the graphics charming and well-executed, others criticized them as simplistic or reminiscent of low-effort flash games. Overall, the art style is frequently highlighted as a standout feature, contributing significantly to the game's emotional narrative and atmosphere.
- “The art style and overall look are fabulous.”
- “The individual objects are smooth, crisp, and have an impressive amount of detail, such as the circuit boards, which is true for the entire space station and most of the game's visuals.”
- “It's an emotional journey with gorgeous graphics and beautiful music.”
- “The game features somewhat lazy, simplistic 2D graphics, of the type you normally expect to see in low-effort flash/browser games and mobile apps.”
- “Considering this is being evaluated as a PC game, having the graphics phoned in like this isn't going to result in a high quality, visually impressive game that PC gamers are used to seeing.”
- “The cons far outweigh the pros, no matter how much I like the side characters, puzzles, and art style.”
gameplay
136 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
28%
60%
12%
The gameplay of "Still There" is characterized by a mix of intricate puzzles and a narrative-driven experience, with many players appreciating the mechanical complexity and immersive atmosphere. However, the game has been criticized for its frustrating mechanics, lack of clear instructions, and sometimes tedious tasks, leading to a reliance on walkthroughs. While the emotional depth of the story is often highlighted as a redeeming factor, the overall gameplay experience can be polarizing, with some finding it engaging and others deeming it overly complicated and clunky.
- “The art and music are lovely, the interior of the little space lighthouse on the galaxy frontier is detailed and mechanically complex, which both makes it feel real and lived in, and provides nicely immersive puzzles.”
- “Still There has such a good gameplay idea of fixing and managing a space lighthouse; it gives you some objectives, a manual, and a large panel of buttons and switches and lets you try and figure it out without much hand-holding.”
- “Really amazing puzzles keep your brain buzzing and the story just complements the gameplay perfectly.”
- “The narrative is quite good, but often gets let down by frustrating gameplay with no easy 'default action' or means of diagnosing a problem.”
- “I'm still trying to decide if the promise of the story is worth suffering through the clunky and primitive gameplay seemingly designed by cavemen with no experience interacting with modern entertainment software.”
- “While I spent solid time on each one, many were so confusing and left with little to no proper explanation, that I was forced to ruin my own gameplay experience by looking up some sort of guide, just so I could get the story to continue.”
humor
102 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
98%
2%
The humor in the game is described as a blend of dark, sarcastic, and quirky elements, often intertwined with emotional and philosophical themes. While many players appreciate the witty dialogue and funny details, some find the humor inconsistent, with certain jokes falling flat or feeling inappropriate. Overall, the game balances humor with deeper, sometimes melancholic storytelling, creating a unique experience that resonates with a wide range of emotions.
- “Thanks for such a hilarious, heartfelt, rewarding game.”
- “The story, humor, and characters are beautiful.”
- “Hilarious and heartbreaking in equal parts, something that needs to be experienced.”
- “Abundant masturbation jokes are not funny, nor do they add anything to the story.”
atmosphere
82 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
68%
27%
5%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its immersive and emotional qualities, enhanced by a captivating soundtrack and strong storytelling. Players describe it as a unique blend of cozy and melancholic, effectively evoking feelings of cosmic loneliness and longing. Despite some minor criticisms regarding certain elements, the overall atmosphere is considered a standout feature that significantly enriches the gaming experience.
- “Fantastic game with an atmosphere that sucks you inside and makes you actually feel and live the story.”
- “It does an incredible job of creating an atmosphere, through some great storytelling, good art design, and a really solid soundtrack.”
- “The ideal atmosphere of cosmic loneliness, feelings of one’s own imperfection in front of the impassive thousands of shining starry eyes, tearing oneself away from mother earth into infinite space.”
- “The atmosphere is lonely and longing.”
- “Sometimes they even destroyed the atmosphere a little bit for me, but other than that, no critic from my side.”
- “It feels like there's time pressure, but there never really appears to be, which speaks to the atmosphere of the game as much as anything else.”
grinding
32 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The grinding aspect of the game is heavily criticized for being tedious and repetitive, with many players finding the tasks overly complex and frustrating. While some elements of the gameplay are justified within the story, the overall experience is marred by slow dialogue and monotonous actions, leading to a lack of engagement. Despite these issues, a few players suggest that the narrative may redeem the experience if one perseveres through the grind.
- “Maybe the game gets better, but the first hour was so incredibly tedious.”
- “Performing every little action feels unbearably tedious, and it's one of those point & click games where you have to try to combine everything with everything else.”
- “Although an emotional and story-driven game, it was too full of tedious tasks and a lack of initial play guide that prevented me from continuing with it.”
replayability
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
58%
21%
The game has generally low replayability, primarily designed for a one-time, emotional experience, with a playtime of around five hours. While some elements are randomized and there are opportunities to hunt for secrets and achievements, most players find limited incentive to replay the game. Overall, it offers a decent experience but lacks substantial replay value.
- “Some solutions will also be randomized for replayability.”
- “It has decent replay value; it's pretty fun to hunt for secrets and achievements.”
- “Not a ton of replay value, and you can finish pretty quick, but I still consider it money well spent.”
- “Overall replay value is low; it seems more meant for a one-time, heartfelt experience.”
- “Be aware this is around a 5-hour game with little replay value.”
- “I don't think there is any replayability value besides that, though.”
optimization
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
33%
50%
The game's optimization has received mixed feedback, with players expressing frustration over limited interactivity and missed opportunities for engagement. While the developers are praised for crafting a heartfelt narrative, many features, such as in-game purchases and interactions, feel underutilized or inaccessible, detracting from the overall experience.
- “Finally, while I must commend the game developers' performance in creating their short, heartfelt story, I was left even more annoyed at how many things that I wanted to do, but couldn't - such as attempting to write more personal logs to my in-game boss, trying to interact with things like the pet animal or the enormous amount of fake post-it notes. The only fun thing about the reptile is when it dies; you can shoot it out of the space station's mailbox. I also failed to find alternate ways to enjoy myself: there's a shop where you can purchase things, but half of them can't be used because the game is long over before you get the chance to even think about buying something.”
- “Finally, while I must commend the game developers for their performance in creating a short, heartfelt story, I was left even more annoyed at how many things I wanted to do but couldn't. For instance, I wanted to write more personal logs to my in-game boss and interact with things like the pet animal or the enormous amount of fake post-it notes. The only fun thing about the reptile is when it dies; you can shoot it out of the space station's mailbox. I also failed to find alternate ways to enjoy myself. There's a shop where you can purchase items, but half of them can't be used because the game is long over before you even get the chance to think about buying something.”
- “I was left even more annoyed at how many things I wanted to do but couldn't, such as attempting to write more personal logs to my in-game boss and trying to interact with things like the pet animal or the enormous amount of fake post-it notes.”
- “There's a shop where you can purchase things, but half of them can't be used because the game is long over before you get the chance to even think about buying something.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization aspect of the game has received mixed feedback, with some users expressing surprise that the advertising elements do not integrate organically into the story, which is designed to be direct. This disconnect may affect players' overall experience and immersion.
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game has been reported to have significant stability issues, with users highlighting numerous bugs that obstruct gameplay.
- “The right arrangement was the least problem; two other things were really obstructive: first, the game was buggy.”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players praise the game for its strong character development, which is intricately woven into a compelling story plot, enhancing the overall narrative experience. The combination of well-crafted characters and engaging artwork further elevates the game's appeal.
- “The advantages of this game are its great story plot, character development, fantastic artworks, and, oh god, their puzzles.”

0%Critics’ scoreBased on 2 critic reviews

Buy Still There

6h Median play time

5h Average play time

5-7h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 8 analyzed playthroughs

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Still There

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Still There Indie Video Game Review - Geeky Hobbies

Still There Indie Video Game Review - Geeky Hobbies

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Still There (PC) - Steam Gift - EUROPE

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