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Time Flies

Time Flies Like an Arrow, But This Fly Has No Time For That
Time Flies Game Cover
86%Game Brain Score
Most mentioned positive aspects:humor, gameplay
Most mentioned negative aspects:replayability, grinding
96% User Score Based on 208 reviews
Critic Score 76%Based on 13 reviews

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Nintendo SwitchPCPlaystation 5Mac OSSteam DeckWindowsPlayStation
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Time Flies Game Cover

About Time Flies

Time Flies is a single player open world simulation game with romance and comedy themes. It was developed by Playables and was released on July 31, 2025. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and overwhelmingly positive reviews from players.

This whimsical game is part open world and part flight simulator – and you play it as a fly! You are provided with a bucket list that you can complete before you die. But the life of a fly is short – and the list is long! Go ahead and learn an instrument, become rich, read a book, go on tour, find yourself, get drunk, make someone laugh or enter the art world! And if you don’t feel like pursuing y…

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Time Flies screenshot
Time Flies screenshot
Time Flies screenshot
Time Flies screenshot
Time Flies screenshot
Time Flies screenshot
Time Flies screenshot
Time Flies screenshot
Time Flies screenshot
Time Flies screenshot
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Reviews

96%Audience ScoreBased on 208 reviews
humor35 positive mentions
replayability1 negative mentions
  • Unique and imaginative concept presenting the short lifespan of a fly to explore existential themes about life, mortality, and making the most of time.
  • Charming hand-drawn art style combined with intuitive flying controls that make exploration enjoyable and immersive.
  • Puzzles and objectives are cleverly designed for rewarding discovery and replayability, balanced with humor and emotional depth.
  • Relatively short gameplay duration, which some feel less justifies the game's price, despite its quality and creativity.
  • Certain objectives can be cryptic or require external guides, potentially causing frustration for some players.
  • Limited complexity in interactions compared to similar games; some feel the gameplay is repetitive or missing emergent mechanics.

  • humor

    35 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The humor in "Time Flies" is inventive, absurdist, and darkly comedic, blending silliness with existential reflections that evoke both laughter and contemplation. It features clever, pun-based jokes, charming gags, and funny interactions throughout, creating a lighthearted yet bittersweet tone that keeps players smiling while subtly addressing life's brevity. Overall, the humor is a central, well-executed aspect that enhances the game's engaging and unique experience.

    • “Time Flies takes the simple premise of a fly’s life and stretches it out into 4 hilarious chapters that will frustrate you, make you laugh, and appreciate the smaller things in life.”
    • “The game also has a humorous slant, from the pun-based goals to the cute ways the world changes and reacts to the fly to even the way the fly walks as it's pushing heavy objects around, all leading to a surprisingly bittersweet ending.”
    • “Funny, clever, tragic, sometimes frustrating but always surprising, Time Flies has the brilliance and audacity to make you care about the life of a fly, trying to have a good time while navigating modern society.”

  • gameplay

    22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    32% positive mentions, 54% neutral mentions, 14% negative mentions

    The gameplay offers a polished, simple, and uniquely rewarding experience centered on a short loop with a clever limited lifespan mechanic that adds challenge and reflection. Exploration, casual puzzles, and humorous interactions combine with satisfying controls and sound design to create an engaging, speedrun-inspired dynamic. While unconventional and brief, the gameplay appeals to those seeking a fresh, meaningful adventure with a distinct artistic style.

    • “The short gameplay loop made exploration fun and rewarding, and I was really impressed with the level of polish for the controls.”
    • “The futility of dying mid-challenge or in odd places, paired with the automatic urge to retry, makes for an excellent gameplay dynamic.”
    • “In terms of gameplay, I really enjoyed discovering all the little interactions with the environment and there is a real attention to detail that makes exploration fun.”
    • “Players seeking a traditional narrative or more conventional gameplay progression may find the experience unusual.”
    • “The gameplay for all 4 checklists took me roughly 2.5 hours, with that last one taking about an hour because I kept accidentally dying.”
    • “There are both artistically and gameplay-wise better games to be found on Steam.”

  • graphics

    15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    53% positive mentions, 27% neutral mentions, 20% negative mentions

    The game's distinctive hand-drawn, minimalist art style offers a unique and charming visual experience that complements its simple gameplay and immersive atmosphere. Reviewers praise its cohesive blend of fluid movement, synchronized sound effects, and nostalgic, understated graphics that create a calm and engaging environment. Overall, the graphics effectively enhance the game's quirky, humorous tone and exploration-driven design.

    • “Visually, the game embraces a distinctive hand-drawn art style that immediately sets it apart from most modern releases.”
    • “It has a beautifully-spare hand-drawn art style, and creates a startling sense of empathy for a much-maligned fellow creature of ours, who is, like us, caught in the painful web of mortality.”
    • “The simplistic art style, satisfying movement mechanics (you really feel like an erratic fly), spot-on sound effects, casual puzzles, and loads of funny interactions kept me smiling the whole way through.”
    • “The simple graphics work with the simple gameplay (and the fact you are playing a tiny dot of a fly in a big world).”
    • “It reminds me of Minit's minute-long gameplay loop and Untitled Goose Game's to-do lists, but with Playables' unique sense of humor and monochrome aesthetic.”
    • “By controlling the fly directly with the analog stick, players can easily immerse themselves in the game—synchronized sound effects and hand-drawn visuals create a cohesive experience.”

  • emotional

    8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The game elicits a range of emotions, blending humor and mystery with a deeply heartfelt and life-affirming core. Many players found it surprisingly emotional and impactful, though some were disappointed by purposeless hidden collectibles that detracted from the experience. Overall, it resonates with players on an emotional level, making them feel genuinely moved.

    • “Some are humorous, some are mysterious, and others carry surprisingly emotional undertones.”
    • “Beneath the comedy lies a surprisingly emotional core.”
    • “A little heart-breaking and a lot life-affirming.”

  • story

    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    60% positive mentions, 40% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The story is uniquely conveyed through subtle, non-traditional means without dialogue, focusing on a meaningful concept of completing a bucket list within a fly's short lifespan. It combines thoughtful design, a sweet and sentimental tone, and a lighthearted approach, making for a simple yet engaging narrative experience.

    • “There was something so sweet and sentimental about this game even with no dialogue or traditional storytelling to it.”
    • “There was a lot of thought about the elements and how to make it all come together to story the subtext.”
    • “Though all flies are destined to die, this game’s mission is to complete a pre-made bucket list within their given lifespan.”

  • music

    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The music is praised for its calming, timeless quality that complements the game's polished and cozy atmosphere. It enhances the overall experience with a restrained and lovingly crafted soundtrack that contributes to the game's satisfying and immersive vibe.

    • “The art style and the music give a calm environment to play.”
    • “A lot of love went into minutiae, the soundtrack is timeless, the game is polished on release and it's also satisfyingly gamified.”
    • “Well made game, very like the music, restrained and cozy style and vibe, short film on 2nd level was breathtaking.”

  • replayability

    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 50% neutral mentions, 50% negative mentions

    Replayability is limited, offering minimal incentive beyond completing all Steam achievements, which can be accomplished quickly.

    • “There's basically no replayability value if not trying to get all the Steam achievements, but that's easily done as well in a short time.”

  • grinding

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions

    Grinding in the game involves some backtracking, which can become a bit tedious, but overall it remains enjoyable and rewarding.

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Critic Reviews

76%Critics’ scoreBased on 13 critic reviews
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Time Flies is a open world simulation game with romance and comedy themes. Common tags for Time Flies include indie, 2d, life sim, pixel graphics, physics and others.

Time Flies is available on Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 5, Mac OS and others.

Time Flies was released on July 31, 2025.

Time Flies was developed by Playables.

Time Flies has received mostly positive reviews from players and mostly positive reviews from critics. Most players liked Time Flies for its humor but disliked it for its replayability.

Time Flies is a single player game.

Similar games include Minit, Pilgrims, Toem, ANIMAL WELL, Webbed and others.