Skip to main content

The Girl and the Robot

The Girl and the Robot has a lot of heart, which is why the myriad of issues are so upsetting. Rough movement, clunky combat, frustrating puzzles, and unresponsive controls make this a tough sell. It's sad, because there's a lot of potential here hidden under all the rough patches.
The Girl and the Robot Game Cover
46%Game Brain Score
story, music
gameplay, stability
56% User Score Based on 39 reviews
Critic Score 40%Based on 4 reviews

Platforms

LinuxPCWii UMac OSPlaystation 4WiiWindowsPlayStation
The Girl and the Robot Game Cover

About

The Girl and the Robot is a single player role playing game with fantasy and science fiction themes. It was developed by Flying Carpets Games and was released on August 17, 2016. It received negative reviews from critics and neutral reviews from players.

"The Girl and the Robot" is a third-person action-adventure game where you control a girl and a robot, switching between them to solve puzzles, defeat enemies, and explore a fairy tale world with a dark backstory. The game features unique hand-painted art reminds of old fairy tales.

Skip User Reviews

56%
Audience ScoreBased on 39 reviews
story6 positive mentions
stability4 negative mentions

  • The game features charming art and animation reminiscent of classic PS1 games, creating a nostalgic experience.
  • The puzzle mechanics, which require collaboration between the girl and the robot, are engaging and promote teamwork.
  • The emotional core of the story, conveyed through visual storytelling and the bond between the characters, resonates well with players.
  • The combat system is clunky and unresponsive, often leading to frustrating encounters and game overs.
  • The game ends on a cliffhanger without clear indications that it is only the first act, leaving players feeling unsatisfied.
  • Controls can be problematic, especially for keyboard users, making the gameplay experience less enjoyable.
  • story
    32 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's story is characterized by its humble and sincere presentation, primarily conveyed through visual storytelling via paintings, which adds a fairytale vibe. However, many players express disappointment over the abrupt cliffhanger ending, indicating that the narrative feels incomplete and leaves them uncertain about a potential sequel. While the story is intriguing and charming, its brevity and lack of resolution have led to mixed feelings about recommending the game until the continuation is confirmed.

    • “It's a humble story, told with sincerity.”
    • “The story itself, told dialogue-free, is quite interesting and has a nice fairytale vibe to it.”
    • “I'm mostly impressed with the game's emphasis on visual storytelling, which sets up several mysterious plot points quite effortlessly.”
    • “However, I was disappointed to find out the story ends on a cliffhanger - and although there are clear signs a sequel was intended, I have seen no sign of the continuation, which makes me uncertain regarding the future of the project.”
    • “There is just about zero story in the game and nothing to come back to for any replay.”
    • “Unfortunately, one issue I have with the story is that it just abruptly ends on a major cliffhanger, leaving me in shock just asking myself 'is that really it' for about 5 minutes straight.”
  • music
    20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some praising its emotional depth and suitability for the gameplay, while others criticize its lack of memorability and frequent absence during gameplay, which can create a sense of emptiness. The soundtrack is described as lovely and atmospheric, though there are moments where the fast-paced tracks feel out of place. Overall, while the music has its highlights, many players feel it could be more consistently integrated into the experience.

    • “I thought I’d be bored because there are no rocket launchers, but then the music hit and I got feelings!”
    • “If I could feel my heartbeat again, I think it’d sound like this soundtrack.”
    • “I also think the soundtrack is really nice and suits the gameplay well; it's something I would happily have on in the background while I'm doing something else.”
    • “The most striking one is that there is almost no music throughout the game, which makes it feel more empty than it should.”
    • “The music is not memorable.”
    • “What's quite unfortunate is that about half of the time no music is played at all, although I can't really say whether the silence enhances or hinders the overall atmosphere.”
  • gameplay
    20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay is centered around a unique partnership mechanic where players switch between controlling a girl and a robot to solve puzzles and navigate challenges, emphasizing collaboration and trust. While the core mechanics are praised for their creativity and charm, some players find the gameplay experience short and occasionally frustrating, with criticisms aimed at animations and sound effects. Overall, the game offers a delightful yet brief experience that may be best enjoyed on sale.

    • “The game’s mechanics are built on partnership — you play as both the girl and the robot, switching perspectives to solve puzzles and protect each other.”
    • “The mechanics convey well the idea of collaboration, and it shows a dependency between both protagonists.”
    • “I also thought that the gameplay mechanics of the girl and the robot working together to complete various puzzles to be very creative as well.”
    • “I feel a lot like an old PS1 game both graphically and gameplay-wise.”
    • “The playtime also includes a lot of sanity breaks and just me screwing around on the internet because the gameplay here was so boring and/or frustrating.”
    • “Which brings us on to the gameplay... animations and sound effects are almost laughably bad.”
  • graphics
    18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of the game evoke a charming, hand-painted art style reminiscent of early PS1 and PS2 titles, which some players appreciate for its nostalgic appeal. While the visuals are described as rough around the edges and lacking in modern graphical options, they contribute to a unique atmosphere that some find enchanting, despite others noting a lack of depth and ambiance. Overall, the graphics are seen as decent but not groundbreaking, with a mix of charm and limitations.

    • “Yes… the art style evokes a hand-painted world, like a dream frozen in time.”
    • “Good things first, the art style is so charming.”
    • “Gorgeous aesthetics and haunting atmosphere.”
    • “I feels a lot like an old PS1 game both graphically and gameplay-wise.”
    • “The graphics look like an early PS2 game.”
    • “The game fails to build up any kind of memorable atmosphere with its lackluster art style and lack of ambiance.”
  • atmosphere
    8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's atmosphere receives mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its charming art style and beautiful aesthetics that evoke a zen-like feeling, while others criticize the lack of consistent music and ambiance, which detracts from immersion. Overall, the environment is noted for its haunting qualities, but the inconsistency in atmospheric elements leaves some players feeling disconnected.

    • “The atmosphere and the art style have a lot of charm and remind me a little bit of ICO mixed with The Legend of Zelda.”
    • “It's got a nice atmosphere: the music is lovely and the world—a place filled with violent robots and devoid (for the most part) of human life—is passably nice to look at.”
    • “Gorgeous aesthetics and haunting atmosphere.”
    • “What's quite unfortunate is that about half of the time no music is played at all, although I can't really say whether the silence enhances or hinders the overall atmosphere.”
    • “Similar to what I said for atmosphere, it gives me a zen-like feeling when I'm walking around the plaza for the first time, but there were times when I found it difficult to believe in certain parts of the game. For example, I arrived at the labyrinth, scouted ahead with the robot, and cleared out all the enemies in that section of the maze.”
    • “I love the game's environment and atmosphere.”
  • emotional
    7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The emotional aspect of the game is highlighted by its wholesome themes and the connection between characters, particularly the bond between a girl and a robot, which evokes strong feelings. However, some players felt that the story, while interesting, was clichéd and left them wanting more depth and length, resulting in a sense of unfulfillment by the end. Overall, the game successfully elicits emotions but may fall short for those seeking a more developed narrative experience.

    • “It's so wholesome!”
    • “This thing's basically emotional mech combat without the combat.”
    • “Instead, buy this game and experience: an emotional core, an armor upgrade that's basically a hug, and 90% more crying from major hugs!”
  • stability
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Overall, the game's stability is mixed, with players reporting minor glitches and occasional framerate issues, particularly on Mac. While the experience is generally enjoyable, some users have noted unresponsive controls and a frustrating boss fight that ends on a cliffhanger.

    • “There is no ending; it just ends on a huge cliffhanger after a frustrating and buggy boss fight.”
    • “The textures of any character or object that has animations will be buggy.”
    • “I encountered two glitches, but nothing game-breaking. The framerate is not very stable at times, and the controls sometimes feel unresponsive.”
  • monetization
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game features no microtransactions, providing a straightforward purchasing model without additional in-game purchases.

    • “There are no microtransactions, which makes the experience much more enjoyable.”
    • “I appreciate that the game doesn't rely on microtransactions to progress.”
    • “The absence of microtransactions allows for a fair and balanced gameplay experience.”
  • grinding
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious rather than challenging, particularly due to puzzles that require frequent character switching and slow transitional animations, which can disrupt the flow of gameplay.

    • “The grinding in this game feels more tedious than challenging, especially with puzzles that require constant character switching and slow transitional animations.”
    • “The repetitive nature of grinding makes it feel like a chore rather than an engaging part of the game.”
    • “I found the grinding mechanics to be frustrating, as they often interrupt the flow of gameplay and make progress feel artificially prolonged.”
  • optimization
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's optimization has received criticism, particularly for its controller-centric design, which makes keyboard gameplay frustrating. Players have noted significant lag in various locations and abrupt transitions during cutscenes, indicating overall roughness in performance.

    • “But it seems to be optimized for controllers... wasn't fun mashing buttons on my keyboard trying to figure out what was what.”
    • “The roughness of the game is obvious even in how every single transition in every single cutscene is a sudden gray screen for a few seconds and how several locations lag horribly due to optimization issues.”
  • character development
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Reviewers praise the character development for its charming designs and engaging non-traditional storytelling methods, which enhance the overall experience alongside the entertaining platforming and puzzle elements.

    • “I absolutely love the character designs!”
    • “The platforming and puzzle elements are entertaining, and the non-traditional storytelling method is intriguing, complemented by charming character designs.”
Skip Critic Reviews
Skip Game Offers

Buy The Girl and the Robot

10h Median play time
8h Average play time
5-11h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 2 analyzed playthroughs
Skip Videos

Videos

Skip Games Like The Girl and the Robot

Games Like The Girl and the Robot

Europa Image
Scrap Garden Image
Woolfe: The Red Hood Diaries Image
Silence Image
Owlboy Image
Skip FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

The Girl and the Robot is a role playing game with fantasy and science fiction themes.

The Girl and the Robot is available on PC, Mac OS, PlayStation 4, Windows and others.

On average players spend around 8 hours playing The Girl and the Robot.

The Girl and the Robot was released on August 17, 2016.

The Girl and the Robot was developed by Flying Carpets Games.

The Girl and the Robot has received negative reviews from players and negative reviews from critics. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its gameplay.

The Girl and the Robot is a single player game.

Similar games include Europa, Scrap Garden, Woolfe: The Red Hood Diaries, Silence, Owlboy and others.