The White Laboratory

About

The White Laboratory is a single player strategy game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by Laboratory Systems and was released on March 28, 2019. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

In "The White Laboratory," players build and command robotic structures in a physics-based tower defense and real-time strategy game set in a gas planet's atmosphere. Using modular geometry components, players adapt to combat situations, consider physical phenomena for strategic decision-making, and navigate crazy physics-based gameplay where 99% of the elements are physically simulated. The game is about completing a maintenance task by cleaning up unwanted elements.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

78%

Audience ScoreBased on 171 reviews

gameplay12 positive mentions

story3 negative mentions

The game features a unique blend of tower defense and RTS mechanics, allowing for creative building and strategy.
Great graphics and a fun gameplay experience, especially for those who enjoy strategy and evolving abilities.
The core concept of salvaging enemy parts to build defenses is innovative and adds depth to the gameplay.

The game suffers from significant bugs, including crashes and white screens, particularly when selecting flying units.
Physics mechanics can be frustrating, leading to unstable structures and tedious building processes.
The game is quite short, with limited content and a lack of user-generated content options, leaving players wanting more.

gameplay
42 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
59%
12%
The gameplay is a mixed bag, featuring a blend of RTS and tower defense mechanics that encourage creativity in design, but it suffers from issues like tedious rebuilding, inconsistent physics, and a lack of content that limits replayability. While the core mechanics are innovative and enjoyable, many players feel that the game doesn't fully explore its potential, leading to frustration with bugs and gameplay limitations. Overall, the experience is fun but marred by significant design flaws and a desire for more content.
- “While the gameplay itself is incredibly fun and encourages creativity in design and strategy throughout, the actual content of the game, being its 4 main campaign stages and 2 survival stages, do not provide enough content for the player to truly experience all the possibilities through one playthrough.”
- “I love this game; it is such an amazing concept of tower defense, and it is really fun to build crazy towers and gunships, with all of these amazing mechanics that make this game worth buying.”
- “It's packed with a lot of fun mechanics and modes and also very good replayability value, so it's totally worth it.”
- “The gameplay quickly boils down to building the same airship every level.”
- “Moment-to-moment gameplay is incredibly tedious, either because you're constantly rebuilding towers by hand as they take chip damage, or because you're waiting for the main platform to regenerate enough energy to advance or change locations.”
- “I don't understand how a game can screw up something as simple as click and drag mechanics, but somehow this game does.”
graphics
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
55%
27%
18%
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their sleek, minimalist art style and impressive aesthetics, contributing to an engaging gameplay experience. Players appreciate the clean visuals and innovative design, although some have reported technical issues, such as framerate locking that can lead to overheating of graphics cards. Overall, the combination of artistic elements and functional design enhances the game's appeal.
- “Secondly, the aesthetics of the game are just amazing.”
- “I like this game quite a lot for its robotic 'portal-esque' aesthetic, with everything being precise and the colors white, gray, and black.”
- “Can't lock framerate, caused my graphics card to go up to 100 degrees Celsius.”
- “Slick, minimalist art style.”
story
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
49%
38%
The game's story is brief, consisting of only three main missions and a tutorial, which some players found too short and lacking in depth. While the missions are challenging and require strategic thinking, the wobbly physics and glitches can lead to frustrating gameplay experiences. Overall, players enjoyed the campaign but expressed disappointment at its limited length and abrupt conclusion.
- “There are only 3 missions, but all three of them are hard and take quite a while to complete, which is not because it is extremely long and tedious, but because it requires some thinking and strategy.”
- “The campaign of the game consists of only 4 levels, 1 of which is the tutorial mission.”
- “The game is awesome, but kind of short... there are 3 levels in the 'story' and 2 'survival' levels.”
- “However, despite the frustrations caused by the physics engine, I very much enjoyed this game and was a bit disappointed when after the last mission, when you were able to take control of a whole factory, the credits came, promising no more levels after that one.”
music
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
63%
12%
25%
The music in the game is widely praised for its quality and ability to complement the gameplay, featuring a cool soundtrack that enhances the overall experience. Reviewers appreciate its non-intrusive nature, which allows for a relaxed atmosphere, while also noting the innovative style and clean visuals that accompany the sound design.
- “The music is also pretty good and definitely fits the game quite nicely.”
- “Cool soundtrack, clean minimal visuals, innovative style, tasty sound, challenging gameplay, and a funny feeling.”
- “Has a top quality soundtrack, great gameplay, and a good difficulty curve.”
- “The music is simple and non-intrusive, allowing for relaxed gameplay.”
- “From UI to music, gameplay, and physics, the overall experience feels lacking.”
grinding
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be largely tedious, involving repetitive tasks like resource gathering and repairing components, which can test patience. While some appreciate the strategic depth and rewarding moments that arise from overcoming challenges, many feel that the overall experience is hindered by the excessive micromanagement and slow progression, suggesting that the game would benefit from reducing these grind-heavy elements.
- “Moment-to-moment gameplay is incredibly tedious, either because you're constantly rebuilding towers by hand as they take chip damage, or because you're waiting for the main platform to regenerate enough energy to advance or change locations.”
- “A lot of it can get incredibly tedious and the game would benefit heavily without it.”
- “Tedious and tests patience, rather than an enjoyable experience.”
humor
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is characterized by its occasional funny physics and a lighthearted, amusing atmosphere that elicits laughter, though some players feel it ultimately creates more problems than it solves. The combination of a cool soundtrack and minimal visuals contributes to its quirky charm, making it an entertaining experience despite its challenges.
- “Funny block combat game.”
- “Cool soundtrack, clean minimal visuals, innovative style, tasty sound, challenging gameplay, and a funny feeling.”
- “Occasionally funny physics - got a few 'pfft's out of me.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
100%
The game's replayability is mixed; while some players find it enjoyable with fun mechanics and modes that enhance replay value, others feel it lacks depth and becomes uninteresting after a few hours of play.
- “It's packed with a lot of fun mechanics and modes and also has very good replayability value, so it's totally worth it.”
- “That would help the game a lot and add to it in terms of replayability a great deal.”
- “Good concept, but lacks replayability and it's just not fun after 8 hours or less.”
- “Once you finish the game, there's little incentive to go back and play again.”
- “The game feels repetitive after the first playthrough, making it hard to stay engaged.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
100%
While some users found the game visually appealing, many expressed frustration with its bugs, which hindered their enjoyment of the content. However, others reported that the game runs smoothly without issues.
- “Runs great!”
- “The game maintains a smooth performance without any crashes.”
- “I've experienced no bugs or glitches, making for a seamless gaming experience.”
- “It looked funky from Let's Plays and reviews, but I just found myself getting frustrated with it being buggy and unable to enjoy the content.”
- “The game crashes frequently, making it impossible to progress without losing hours of gameplay.”
- “I encountered numerous glitches that broke my immersion and made the experience frustrating.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from significant optimization issues, with players reporting severe stuttering and poor physics performance, particularly in later levels. These problems hinder gameplay, making it nearly unplayable for some users.
- “Good game, but sadly it is unplayable due to stuttering.”
- “I've also had trouble completing many of the latter levels due to poor physics performance, the biggest suspect being 'reflective relations', which somehow manages to bring my game to an absolute crawl when it was already struggling to keep up.”