Strata

About

Strata is a single player casual puzzle game. It was developed by Graveck and was released on May 29, 2014. It received positive reviews from players.

"Strata is a single-player action game with stunning graphics and awesome music, offering a unique puzzle experience. The goal is to layer colored ribbons in a specific pattern, with hundreds of challenging levels to solve. Players can aim to perfect each grid by completing it without pulling a ribbon back, in this simple yet addicting game for all ages."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

86%

Audience ScoreBased on 235 reviews

music23 positive mentions

stability9 negative mentions

Strata features beautiful visuals and a calming soundtrack, creating a relaxing gaming experience.
The game offers a large number of puzzles, providing plenty of content for players to enjoy.
The gameplay is simple yet engaging, allowing players to think strategically while solving puzzles.

The game can become repetitive as the puzzles follow a similar pattern without introducing new mechanics.
There are bugs in the menu navigation and achievement system that can disrupt the gaming experience.
Some players may find the difficulty curve uneven, with later puzzles feeling less challenging than expected.

music
54 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
51%
6%
The music in the game is widely praised for its calming and soothing qualities, featuring minimalist piano melodies that respond to player actions, enhancing the overall relaxing atmosphere. While some players noted that the musical cues can become overwhelming during fast-paced gameplay, the general consensus is that the sound design beautifully complements the game's aesthetic and puzzle mechanics, creating a serene and engaging experience. Overall, the combination of ambient music and appealing visuals contributes to a zen-like mood, making it a delightful choice for puzzle enthusiasts seeking a tranquil gaming experience.
- “The music was lovely and charming, and I think it was a nice added touch that the music responded to your moves in the game.”
- “The music is very calm and suits the game very well, and every action you take introduces some small melody or sound.”
- “Everything from the graphics to the music, to the gameplay is incredibly zen and gives you peace of mind while still managing to engage you.”
- “The only element that changes by that time is the musical cues.”
- “Music: there is no constant tune.”
- “Each of the 7 sections contains a slightly different music pattern from the rest, with the latter several carrying wildly different tones than its predecessors.”
graphics
51 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
41%
53%
6%
The graphics of Strata are characterized by a minimalist aesthetic that many players find both beautiful and soothing, with clean visuals and pleasing color palettes that enhance the overall experience. However, some reviewers note that the simplicity can lead to a sense of monotony, making the game feel repetitive over time. Overall, while the visuals are appreciated for their elegance and calming effect, they may not hold players' attention for extended periods.
- “The graphics of this game are beautiful and the challenges are appropriate in difficulty and simplicity.”
- “Strata is aesthetically minimalist but still manages an elegant beauty.”
- “Everything from the graphics to the music, to the gameplay is incredibly zen and gives you peace of mind while still managing to engage you.”
- “I don't know - something about the visuals or the patterns themselves being too repetitive to the point that I can only last 5-10 minutes in this game before needing to play Cookie Clicker or something, just to take a breather from its monotony.”
- “The audiovisuals remain a bit bland and the game is repetitive.”
- “Minimalist graphics and tablet-esque gameplay put this beneath the standard for PC gaming.”
gameplay
32 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
78%
9%
The gameplay of Strata is characterized by a simple, intuitive mechanic focused on layering colored strands, which remains consistent throughout the game. While this simplicity allows for short, relaxing sessions and a soothing atmosphere enhanced by music and visuals, many players find the lack of evolving mechanics leads to repetitiveness as levels progress. Despite some minor bugs and a few complaints about the interface, the game offers a satisfying challenge with increasingly complex puzzles, making it enjoyable for those who appreciate its zen-like experience.
- “A simple mechanic, well presented, relaxing music, fine graphics.”
- “The gameplay itself is very nice.”
- “Everything from the graphics to the music, to the gameplay is incredibly zen and gives you peace of mind while still managing to engage you.”
- “The biggest problem is that the game mechanics don't change or evolve during level progress, but due to this, the game perfectly fits for short 5-10 minute sessions, when you don't need to remember a lot of rules and you can easily come back to it after even a big break.”
- “I kept hoping that in the later sets the game would throw in some new spin or twist on the mechanics, but unless it appears in the final 6x6, it never comes.”
- “Strata was fun for the first 5 minutes while I still got to know the game mechanics and figured out how it works, but then it fell into a state where the levels got bigger and bigger, but I just kept repeating what I did before, again and again.”
stability
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is significantly hampered by a buggy menu system that can freeze or glitch, often requiring players to force-quit to regain functionality. While some achievements may be awarded erroneously, the overall experience is marred by these persistent issues, making it frustrating for users. Players are advised to approach the game with caution, particularly if they are sensitive to technical problems.
- “The menu system is a bit buggy (wait a second before pressing the escape key) and overlong.”
- “Worse still, the menu is completely buggy, making it frequent that you can't move to the next sets of levels or even quit the game properly (use alt-f4 when this happens to force-quit).”
- “Navigating the menus often glitches, making the game unplayable until you force-close the window and restart.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Overall, the game's replayability is limited, as puzzles are primarily one-time challenges without significant variations. However, some players find motivation to revisit the game in order to perfect their puzzle-solving skills.
- “It's alright, not a lot of replayability since puzzles are one and done, and it doesn't twist the formula in any way, but it's still pleasant.”
- “Replayable = 4 (I have a feeling that once I finish the game, I will be done with it).”
- “Some replayability too since you'll want to go back and try to 'perfect' some of the puzzles.”
atmosphere
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
100%
The game's atmosphere is characterized by a minimalistic design that effectively highlights its core elements, complemented by beautiful music. Reviewers appreciate the competent and pleasant ambiance, which enhances the overall experience of the simple puzzle game.
- “A simple puzzle game with beautiful music and atmosphere.”
- “It has a very minimalistic atmosphere, with all the designs pointing to the core of the game, in music, graphics, and style.”
- “The atmosphere is competent and pleasant.”
- “The atmosphere feels incredibly sparse, lacking the depth and immersion that I was hoping for.”
- “Despite the minimalistic design, the atmosphere ends up feeling empty and uninspired.”
- “The overall ambiance is underwhelming, failing to create a captivating or engaging environment.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
The game is well-optimized, running smoothly on a variety of hardware with all screen resolution options available. Its low-demand nature and minimalistic visual design enhance the overall experience without unnecessary distractions.
- “Otherwise, this is a low-demand game that should run smoothly on any hardware and offers all screen resolution options.”
- “The visual aesthetic that accompanies the lovely music could not have been more perfectly placed, as there is not a single unnecessary graphic or flashy fixture to interfere with the mood already set by the relaxing musical performance.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be minimal, particularly in the easier 2x2 size, but note that it becomes more tedious and demanding as the game expands to larger sizes.
- “The game is pretty easy while playing on a 2x2 size, but it becomes more tedious and grindy with a larger size.”
story
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The story aspect of the game is appreciated for its calming and engaging nature, providing a relaxing experience through puzzle quests and soothing music. However, users have noted minor bugs related to menu navigation, such as overlapping text and interface issues, though these do not affect the overall game state.