Through Abandoned: The Refuge

About

Through Abandoned: The Refuge is a single player action game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by Igor Krutov and was released on March 25, 2019. It received neutral reviews from players.

"Through Abandoned: The Refuge" is a classic point-and-click adventure, taking players to the mysterious Refuge, a location nestled between parallel worlds. Investigate the events that transpired, solve puzzles, and play mini-games to uncover the story and find your escape in this third installment of the series.

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Play Modes

Single-Player

Through Abandoned: The Refuge screenshot

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51%

Audience ScoreBased on 104 reviews

story4 positive mentions

stability21 negative mentions

The game features a novel concept with unique minigames and puzzles that are not commonly found elsewhere.
The hand-drawn backgrounds are beautiful and add personality to the game, enhancing the overall atmosphere.
Despite its challenges, the game can be fun and engaging for puzzle enthusiasts who enjoy a good challenge.

The game is plagued by numerous bugs, including frequent soft-locks and crashes after solving puzzles, making it frustrating to play.
Many puzzles lack clear guidance or hints, leading to confusion and reliance on walkthroughs to progress.
The story feels incomplete and ends on a cliffhanger, with the developer seemingly abandoning the series, leaving players without resolution.

story
36 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
11%
81%
8%
The story aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players expressing disappointment over its lack of resolution and coherence, especially given the abandonment of a planned sequel. While some found the narrative engaging and atmospheric, others criticized it for being anticlimactic, poorly developed, and riddled with translation errors. Overall, the story seems to be a secondary focus, overshadowed by gameplay issues and a lack of meaningful plot progression compared to earlier installments in the series.
- “Thought this would be the culmination of the story but it ends up setting a bigger picture by the end.”
- “In the story, we explore a mysterious place in which any door can lead you to a parallel world where space bends and new passages appear.”
- “This game and its plot are so immersive for some reason and I bought it 2 years ago and finally decided to play it and I love it.”
- “And finally, the sequel (#4 in the series) has been abandoned, so you will never have a resolution to this story.”
- “A bit anticlimactic and felt unrewarding after years of wondering about the plot only to play it and be disappointed.”
- “The lack of plot development really makes it feel like a cash-in, and like Igor Krutov doesn't know how to write a story if it's not copied point-by-point from Submachine.”
stability
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from significant stability issues, with frequent glitches, crashes, and freezes, particularly after completing puzzles. Many users report that these bugs severely hinder gameplay enjoyment, leading to frustration and the need for multiple restarts. Overall, the game's stability is a major drawback, overshadowing its otherwise decent elements.
- “There are glitches and crashes and freezes frequently.”
- “This entry is very buggy with the game freezing several times after completing a puzzle.”
- “I cannot overstate how buggy and frustrating this game is.”
music
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
46%
23%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players finding it unnerving and overly repetitive, while others appreciate its cohesion with the game's atmosphere and overall design. Critics note that certain music puzzles can be frustrating and time-consuming, detracting from the experience, yet some players enjoy the relaxing quality of the soundtrack during gameplay. Overall, while the music is not universally praised, it contributes positively to the game's ambiance for many.
- “The art was decent for most of it, and the music was cohesive and consistent with the atmosphere.”
- “I loved this title, it has great music, well designed puzzles and mini games, and it's all set in a very mysterious world.”
- “The art is awesome, the music is awesome, and the puzzles have all been organically inserted for the most part.”
- “And no puzzle game needs a music, melody, or pitch riddle - this sort of thing adds nothing but a pointless obstacle.”
- “I avoided and rushed through whole rooms because the music unnerved me so much.”
- “But the environmental music plays a track with a similar melody the whole time, and the mechanism for programming the piano makes you pause to listen to every single note you put the cursor on, making it a painstaking process to try and get it right as you individually move the note one space at a time among dozens of possible notes.”
gameplay
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
34%
33%
Gameplay in this title is criticized for its lack of clarity, particularly for new players who may struggle with mechanics and puzzle-solving if they don't start from the beginning. The game features repetitive quests that require backtracking, which detracts from the overall experience, while the puzzle design is noted to be more complex than previous entries in the series, appealing to fans of traditional point-and-click gameplay despite some localization issues.
- “Both puzzle design and the basic gameplay arc were far more sensible than in 'Through Abandoned: The Forest'.”
- “This is a fairly traditional scheme for this series of games, which is somewhat similar to the gameplay in the Rusty Lake series, although it is worth saying right away that the puzzles here are incomparably more complicated.”
- “If you are a fan of hand-drawn art, confusing puzzles, and classic point-and-click gameplay, then this is for you!”
- “If you don't start playing from the first episode, you don't immediately understand the mechanics of the game and how to solve puzzles.”
- “The gameplay is only as long as it is because of so many asinine quests where you have to go back to the other end of the map to an area you've been to 3 times already to press one button, and not much plot really happens.”
- “Gameplay is again identical to the previous two games.”
graphics
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
24%
38%
The graphics in the games received mixed reviews; while some players appreciated the polished and detailed art style compared to previous installments, others criticized the overall visual presentation as mediocre and lacking in resolution options and graphical tweaks. Despite some positive aspects, such as easy-on-the-eye visuals and well-designed levels, the graphics were often described as simplistic and reminiscent of older games.
- “The art style of the game feels very polished and detailed compared to the last parts, which is cool.”
- “The graphics have improved in comparison with the previous series.”
- “The graphics were easy on the eyes, the different levels were well-intertwined, and the overall presentation was enjoyable.”
- “There's no option to change the resolution and no useful graphics tweaks.”
- “While the artwork itself might be considered passable, the visual presentation here is negligible; it might as well be a slideshow or a YouTube video.”
- “Pac-Man, Space Invaders, and Asteroids had more advanced animation and visuals than this game does.”
atmosphere
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
80%
20%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for being immersive and engaging, with a blend of decent art and cohesive music that enhances the experience. While the quest is described as interesting and complex, it also has notable flaws. Overall, players find the atmosphere to be a key factor in the game's addictive quality.
- “The game is atmospheric and addictive.”
- “The art was decent for most of it, and the music was cohesive and consistent with the atmosphere.”
- “Art and audio are both decent, creating a nice atmosphere.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game offers an enjoyable experience during the initial playthrough, but players note that it lacks significant replayability, making it less appealing for multiple sessions.
- “Fun on the first playthrough, but it has very little replayability.”
- “Once you've completed the game, there's not much incentive to go back.”
- “The lack of varied outcomes makes replaying feel tedious.”
humor
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is perceived as lacking, with players feeling frustrated by poorly explained riddles that seem to mock their confusion rather than provide genuine amusement.
- “I found myself stuck in front of a riddle with no idea what to do, so I went to a walkthrough to check that I hadn't missed anything. When I saw the solution and the lame explanation, I really thought they were laughing at me.”
- “The humor in this game is spot on; it had me laughing out loud at the clever puns and witty dialogue.”
- “I love how the game doesn't take itself too seriously, with hilarious character interactions that keep the mood light.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization of "Abandoned: The Refuge" is criticized as a cash grab, with a $10 price tag that users feel is unjustified given its quality, comparing it unfavorably to free or low-cost Java/web browser games. Many reviewers believe that for the same price, players could access superior AAA titles.
- “It's on par with Java/web browser-based point and click games, yet is being sold for money here on Steam as a cash grab.”
- “Through Abandoned: The Refuge has the greedy, cash grab price of $10 USD, for which you could easily get any number of older AAA games.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and obnoxious rather than challenging, as it often requires repetitive back-and-forth travel between multiple locations to complete tasks. This excessive need for item retrieval can lead to frustration, detracting from the overall enjoyment of exploration.
- “The creators of this game need to learn that 'obnoxious' and 'tedious' are not the same thing as 'challenging'.”
- “The exploration works the same way, as in you scroll your screen left, right, up and down; however, there's even more exploration since this is by far the largest abandoned game. It could get tedious a lot of the time considering you sometimes need to do something in one location, run to a different place to get another item, and then return later. You don't do this once or twice; you do this upwards of 5 different times per two locations, and since there are more locations now, it gets tedious pretty quickly.”

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