The Joycare

About The Joycare

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

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Reviews

20%Audience ScoreBased on 30 reviews

graphics2 positive mentions

grinding1 negative mentions

Graphics and sound effectively create an immersive environment.
The swinging/grapple mechanics add some fun to the gameplay.
It's a free, short experience with some interesting ideas and potential.

Enemy AI and chase mechanics are poorly designed and frustrating.
Controls are confusing, clunky, and unintuitive, making gameplay difficult.
Puzzles are overly simple or misleading, and level design is basic and uninspired.

gameplay
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 50% negative mentions
The gameplay features enjoyable swinging and grapple mechanics, though they are underutilized and add little depth. Some controls, like leaning with Q and E, feel unnecessary, leading to a less engaging overall experience despite decent graphics.
- “The swinging mechanics are the only positive aspect here.”
- “The game features a grapple mechanic, but it is underutilized and doesn't add much to the gameplay.”
- “Fun, quick game to play with interesting mechanics.”
- “Graphically the game looks good, but the mechanics were not that good and that ending was so half-azz.”
- “In this game, Q and E are used for leaning even though it provides nothing to the gameplay.”
- “They have this grapple mechanic and don't really do anything interesting with it.”
graphics
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
The graphics are well-executed and effectively immerse players in the game environment, though some users felt the overall experience was let down by other aspects like mechanics and the ending.
- “Graphically the game looks good.”
- “Graphics and sound do a good job of putting you in that environment.”
music
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 50% negative mentions
The music effectively creates a sense of dread, particularly at the title screen and near the end, but its early start before the yellow monster appears makes the corresponding section feel predictable and dull.
- “The entire yellow monster section sucks; it's boring and expected because the music starts before you even see the monster.”
grinding
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions
Grinding in the game is considered tedious due to slow walking and running speeds, leading to a repetitive and time-consuming experience.
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions
The game appears to suffer from poor optimization, causing performance issues and graphical glitches, such as white artifacts. Addressing these could improve the overall experience.
- “I feel like the game might be poorly optimized, you might want to check that and those white glitches out.”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions
Users report stability issues including poor optimization and occasional white screen glitches, indicating the game may need technical improvements for smoother performance.