The Entropy Centre

87%
Game Brain Score Based on 1,350 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • graphics
The Entropy Centre Game Cover
The Entropy Centre is far and away one of the best first-person puzzlers you can play. If the genre does anything for you, you should come away satisfied with what the game has in store.
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"The Entropy Centre" is a first-person puzzle game where players manipulate time and physics to solve challenging puzzles. As an employee at the titular organization, you'll uncover the mystery behind the facility's purpose and its connection to the fabric of reality. With striking art direction and a thought-provoking narrative, this game offers a unique and engaging experience.

  • Nintendo Switch
  • PC
  • Play​station 4
  • Play​station 5
  • Windows
  • Xbox One
  • Xbox Series X|S
  • Play​Station
  • Xbox
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

87%
Audience ScoreBased on 1,350 reviews
story352 positive mentions
grinding37 negative mentions
  • Engaging puzzles that require creative thinking and utilize a unique time-rewinding mechanic.
  • Charming characters and witty dialogue, particularly between the protagonist and the AI companion.
  • Visually stunning environments that enhance the overall atmosphere of the game.
  • Puzzles can become repetitive and lack complexity, leading to a sense of monotony.
  • Some gameplay mechanics, such as jumping and physics interactions, can feel inconsistent and frustrating.
  • The story's pacing is uneven, with a disappointing ending that may leave players feeling unsatisfied.
  • story761 mentions

    The story of "The Entropy Centre" has received mixed reviews, with many players appreciating its intriguing premise and character dynamics, particularly the relationship between the protagonist and the AI companion, Astra. While some found the narrative engaging and well-integrated with the puzzle mechanics, others criticized it for being predictable and lacking depth, especially towards the end. Overall, the game is seen as a compelling blend of storytelling and puzzle-solving, reminiscent of the "Portal" series, but with its own unique twists and themes.

    • “The story is engaging, the characters are charming, and the mechanics are smooth.”
    • “The story is intriguing, but leaves a bitter taste of incompleteness at the end.”
    • “The story is captivating with great visuals.”
    • “The game overall is... okay, the story is very dark and depressing, and also a cat dies.”
    • “The story was serviceable, though I feel like the premise left a lot to be desired.”
    • “The story is very lacking and predictable.”
  • gameplay460 mentions

    The gameplay of "The Entropy Centre" is characterized by its innovative time-reversal mechanic, which allows players to manipulate objects in unique ways to solve puzzles. While many reviewers noted the game's similarities to the "Portal" series, they also appreciated the distinct mechanics and engaging level design that gradually introduce new challenges. However, some players found the gameplay repetitive and criticized the clunky execution of certain mechanics, suggesting that the game could benefit from more varied and complex puzzle designs.

    • “The puzzles are fun, and I would love a Road to Gehenna type DLC where the gameplay picks up with the hardest puzzles the devs can create, using all of the mechanics to the fullest and iterating more on the story.”
    • “The gameplay is smooth, the music is great, the environment is beautiful, and the story is perfect.”
    • “The time-reversing mechanics are well developed.”
    • “The main game mechanic is the selling point, but also annoying: a good chunk of puzzles involves necessary backtracking.”
    • “The combat sections are a bit clunky; the nature of the puzzle mechanics means that enacting your solution usually involves several minutes of holding the left mouse button and waiting for objects to reverse, and if you made a mistake, you usually need to redo the entire sequence from the start.”
    • “The gameplay, however, might be the Entropy Centre's most lacking aspect.”
  • graphics147 mentions

    The graphics of the game have received widespread praise for their beauty and immersive quality, often compared to the aesthetics of Portal and Control. Many reviewers highlighted the stunning visuals, well-designed environments, and smooth performance, even on lower-end hardware. However, some noted that while the graphics are impressive, they can occasionally feel repetitive or lack variety, particularly in asset reuse throughout the game.

    • “The graphics are absolutely stunning.”
    • “The visuals, of course, are really nice and the gameplay is smooth and just generally feels really good.”
    • “The graphics are beautiful and the sound effects are well placed, the puzzles you complete are really intricately made and very well put together.”
    • “If I had to name this game something, I would say it tries hard to be Portal 2, in both setting and aesthetics, but falls short.”
    • “The early areas of the game look very believable and lived in, but as you progress through the campaign, you start to see more places where the visuals and level design were cut short.”
    • “The graphics look outdated; even Half-Life 2 and Portal have better graphics and sound effects.”
  • humor88 mentions

    The humor in the game is often described as quirky and charming, with many players enjoying the witty dialogue between characters, particularly the AI companion, Astra. While some found the humor reminiscent of Portal, others noted it lacked the same level of dark wit, offering a lighter tone instead. Overall, the humor adds depth to the gameplay and enhances the engaging story, though opinions vary on its effectiveness and originality.

    • “The dialogue is humorous and works well, and every time you think you break it or get around something, it rewards you by making you feel smart when you actually find something that was intended for you to find.”
    • “The humor of the game may not be for everyone, but I enjoyed it.”
    • “The characters are charming and hilarious.”
    • “The AI makes jokes, but they are not funny at all.”
    • “The humor falls flat and feels forced throughout the game.”
    • “I expected more clever writing, but the jokes are just cringeworthy.”
  • music83 mentions

    The music in the game is widely praised for its atmospheric quality and ability to enhance immersion, with many reviewers noting its dramatic and fitting nature. However, some players found the soundtrack to be repetitive, particularly during non-story sections, which detracted from the overall experience. Despite this, the combination of music, sound design, and visuals contributes significantly to the game's engaging atmosphere and storytelling.

    • “The soundtrack was great, very atmospheric, though somewhat repetitive during the non-story sections.”
    • “They are simply beautiful, and the world-building is outstanding; I love the aesthetic, and I have to give props to the composer of the soundtrack that made it so that everything combined takes you in and makes you feel immersed and with high stakes on the line!”
    • “The music is beautiful, the world design is perfect, the puzzles are fun and challenging without being over-the-top difficult, and the story and Astra are amazing.”
    • “So imagine Portal except the writing is cringe, the levels are poorly designed, the puzzles are almost all identical and uninspired, and the music is annoying.”
    • “The music for me was a little bit of a let down, I must say.”
    • “There are some moments when the same music plays for a few levels and it can get quite repetitive.”
  • atmosphere54 mentions

    The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its stunning visuals, immersive sound design, and engaging lore, creating a captivating and sometimes eerie environment that enhances the storytelling. Many players appreciate the atmospheric soundtrack, although some find it repetitive during non-story segments. Overall, the atmosphere successfully evokes feelings of mystery and excitement, drawing comparisons to iconic titles like Portal while maintaining its unique charm.

    • “The entropy center builds on the mind-bending puzzles of Portal, creates a realistic and believable atmosphere, and has an intricate story that truly makes you feel like part of another world.”
    • “The sound design and atmosphere really shine through; the Entropy Project isn't a horror game, but after [spoiler] the robots start trying to kill you [/spoiler], something about the situation and the lack of music when you're exploring and solving puzzles had the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.”
    • “The atmosphere is very ominous and creepy, and there is a surprisingly grim story at the center of the game.”
    • “In short, the game sets the atmosphere of mystery well; the soundtrack does a great job of amplifying that sensation, but the visual storytelling falls short.”
    • “Finally, the plot concept is interesting, but the delivery falls flat in terms of atmosphere/environmental storytelling.”
  • grinding41 mentions

    Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessively tedious, with many puzzles requiring repetitive actions and backtracking that detracts from the enjoyment. While some appreciate the cleverness of the puzzles, the lack of rewarding feedback and the frustration of resetting after mistakes lead to a consensus that the gameplay can feel laborious and unfulfilling, especially in the later stages. Despite its engaging story and mechanics, the tedious nature of the puzzles often overshadows the fun.

    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “After doing a lot of puzzles, it kind of got a little 'tedious' when you got zero reward after each puzzle (well, besides entropy).”
    • “One of the most frustrating experiences is to spend several minutes setting up a puzzle solution, only to need to make one more big jump to the exit door, and when you make the jump you fall right next to the bounce cube you were aiming for, requiring you to go back to the start and tediously set everything up again.”
    • “The story was engaging enough that I wanted to keep going and see its conclusion, but the gameplay was painfully tedious.”
  • emotional31 mentions

    The emotional aspect of the game elicits a wide range of feelings, from tears and existential dread to triumph and humor, particularly through the dynamic between the characters Astra and Aria. While some players found the emotional moments touching and well-paced, others felt certain plot points and character dynamics fell flat, leading to a mixed reception regarding emotional impact. Overall, the game is praised for its ability to create emotional investment, though some players noted a lack of satisfying emotional payoff in the ending.

    • “I cried, I felt existential dread, I felt triumph.”
    • “Genuinely made me cry.”
    • “Lovable characters, humorous dialogue, difficult puzzles, and even heartfelt moments that left me with tears in my eyes.”
  • optimization30 mentions

    Overall, the game's optimization has received mixed feedback. While many players report solid performance with no significant lag or stuttering, especially on high-end systems, some users have experienced issues such as stuttering and performance drops in specific scenarios. There is hope for future updates to address these concerns, particularly for lower-end machines.

    • “The game is pretty good-looking and sure is optimized.”
    • “Very well optimized, constant 144 fps (i7-9700k + 3080ti).”
    • “I played the majority of this game on an aging Ryzen 3200G (before updating to a gaming laptop) and it ran surprisingly well on both systems, so performance and optimization has been very well done.”
    • “Hoping for optimization in future updates, as the current state feels like a bit of a letdown from the developers.”
    • “Loading sections could have been masked a bit better as they often cause a stall in performance.”
    • “Refunding mostly due to very poor performance, game running at 90fps but stuttering constantly no matter the settings.”
  • stability24 mentions

    The stability of the game is mixed, with some players reporting a generally smooth experience and minimal bugs, while others encountered significant issues such as crashes, glitches, and inconsistent physics that could disrupt gameplay. While many found the game enjoyable despite these problems, others noted that certain sequences and puzzles were particularly prone to instability, suggesting a need for further polishing. Overall, the game is playable but may frustrate some users due to its occasional technical shortcomings.

    • “Runs great on Steam Deck.”
    • “Bug-free experience... I was afraid because some time ago I played the demo and saw quite a lot of crashes and bugs. My congratulations to the developers; I completed the game and only encountered 1 visual bug/glitch (and it didn't affect the game in any way).”
    • “Buggy at times and completely unstable at some points of the game - prone to crashing or lag when a box collides with terrain awkwardly, jump pads are uniquely frustrating in their inconsistency, and Act 12 crashed about 30 times before I could get through it.”
    • “Quite a few glitches that either instantly crash the game (such as letting an enemy projectile hit a deletion field) or soft-lock a puzzle requiring you to restart (bouncing on a jump cube as it goes through a transformer).”
    • “The entropy centre requires a lot of polishing to be done: it's easy to lose a minute or two by re-doing a puzzle because of the box being hidden in geometry, physics glitches can kill you during the intended sequences and allow you to skip the levels in unintended ways, the decorations phasing out at some angles also need fixing.”
  • replayability7 mentions

    The game's replayability is primarily driven by its custom level editor, offering players the chance to create and share new puzzles, which can enhance the experience. However, traditional replay value is limited, as once puzzles are solved, there is little incentive to revisit them, aside from collecting journal entries. Overall, while the game provides some replayability, especially for puzzle enthusiasts, it could benefit from additional features to further engage players.

    • “There is also replay value from the level editor, so it's hard to knock the game at this price point.”
    • “Technically, this game has infinite replay value.”
    • “This would be great for the puzzle-making community and provide replayability for all of the players who want to keep doing puzzles.”
    • “Not much replayability beyond the custom levels, but overall an experience I'm glad to have.”
    • “The only problem with puzzle games is once you have solved the puzzle, there is no real replayability outside of finding all the journal entries.”
    • “As it stands, there are three things the developers could do to increase replayability.”
  • character development4 mentions

    Character development in the game has received mixed feedback; while some players appreciate the unique features and engaging story that contribute to character growth, others feel it falls short compared to similar titles, particularly in depth and complexity. Overall, the narrative and character design are praised, but the development aspect is noted as less prominent than expected.

    • “This game had surprised me with its quality music, narrative, character design, and aesthetic environment.”
    • “After cracking the initial shell of the game open, I thoroughly enjoyed the unique features, story, character development, and sheer mind-boggling paradoxes of navigating time puzzles.”
    • “Absolutely love it, the game has a great story and good character development.”
    • “It takes clear inspiration from Portal, but with higher stakes, more devious puzzles, and a slight bit less character development.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

84% average critic score

Buy The Entropy Centre

Play time

10hMedian play time
11hAverage play time
8-19hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 7 analyzed playthroughs

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