The Joycare

About

The Joycare is a single player platformer game with a horror theme. It was developed by Deadlight Games and was released on June 21, 2025. It received negative reviews from players.

The Joycare is a psychological horror game where you investigate the abandoned facilities of a forgotten childcare company. What was once a joyful place now hides disturbing secrets, twisted experiments, and something that never left…

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

22%

Audience ScoreBased on 27 reviews

graphics2 positive mentions

grinding1 negative mentions

The game is free and serves as a decent short time-waster or alpha-style experience similar to early mascot horror games.
Graphics and sound design do a good job creating atmosphere and environment, contributing to the horror setting.
Some players found the game fun and interesting with mechanics that could be engaging if further developed.

The puzzles are very basic, overly simple, and sometimes misleading, with poor level and game design that lacks creativity.
The gameplay is clunky and buggy with issues such as unresponsive key mechanics, slow movement, awkward controls, and frequent glitches.
The horror elements, including monster design and jumpscares, are ineffective and unoriginal, making the experience neither scary nor engaging.

gameplay
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
60%
The gameplay received mixed feedback, with some players finding the mechanics uninteresting or underutilized, such as the grapple feature and leaning controls, while others appreciated its quick and enjoyable experience with some interesting mechanics.
- “Fun quick game to play, interesting mechanics.”
- “They have this grapple mechanic and don't really do anything interesting with it.”
- “In this game, Q and E are used for leaning even though it provides nothing to the gameplay.”
- “The mechanics were not that good and the ending felt half-assed.”
- “In this game, Q and E are used for leaning even though it adds nothing to the gameplay.”
- “The grapple mechanic exists but is not used in any interesting way.”
graphics
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The graphics are generally praised for creating an immersive environment, though some users feel the overall visual execution is decent but not exceptional. The sound complements the visuals well to enhance immersion.
- “Graphically the game looks good, but the mechanics were not that good and that ending was so half-azz.”
- “Graphics and sound do a good job of putting you in that environment.”
music
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The music effectively builds a sense of dread early on and shines near the end, particularly at the title screen, but the soundtrack during the yellow monster section is criticized as boring and predictable due to its premature start.
- “The entire yellow monster section is boring and predictable because the music starts before you even see the monster.”
grinding
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding in the game is considered tedious due to slow walking and running speeds, which negatively impacts the overall pacing and enjoyment.
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game appears to have optimization issues, including performance problems and visual glitches, which may affect the overall experience.
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game appears to suffer from optimization issues and occasional visual glitches, indicating stability problems that may affect the overall experience.