Truberbrook / Trüberbrook

About

Truberbrook is a thrilling single-player mystery-sci-fi adventure game set in a 1960's parallel universe. As Hans Tannhauser, you'll find yourself on a lottery-winning vacation in a remote German village, where you'll be drawn into a quest to save the world. With handmade scenery and an engaging storyline, Truberbrook offers suspense, mystery, and thrills.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

71%

Audience ScoreBased on 813 reviews

story214 positive mentions

gameplay28 negative mentions

The game features beautifully rendered art and a unique hand-crafted diorama style that creates an immersive atmosphere.
The voice acting is generally well done, adding charm to the quirky characters and humorous dialogue.
The story, while simple, has interesting twists and keeps players engaged throughout the game.

The gameplay can feel tedious due to slow character movement and excessive backtracking between locations.
Many puzzles lack logical coherence, often relying on trial and error rather than thoughtful problem-solving.
The game is relatively short, with a playtime of around 5-7 hours, which may not justify the full price for some players.

story
555 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
39%
53%
9%
The story of the game is a mixed bag, with many players appreciating its intriguing sci-fi premise and unique art style, but criticizing its execution and pacing. While the initial chapters captivate with quirky characters and humor, the narrative often becomes disjointed and lacks depth, leading to a disappointing conclusion. Overall, the game offers a visually stunning experience, but the storytelling feels rushed and underdeveloped, leaving players wanting more coherence and character development.
- “The story is about alternate dimensions.”
- “The painting-like art style, clay animation-esque imagery, movie-like immersion, fairy tale-like storyline, and overall retro atmosphere, along with its distinctive characters, are captivating.”
- “The story is fun and entertaining from start to finish!”
- “The story declines: what starts as a mysterious and engaging narrative gradually devolves into something that feels disjointed and nonsensical.”
- “Unfortunately, the story gets weaker midgame, degrading more and more until the game finishes in a dull and uninspiring ending.”
- “The plot is incoherent and feels like the average ten-year-old tried to write science fiction.”
graphics
313 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
31%
2%
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their stunning, hand-crafted diorama style, which creates a unique and charming atmosphere reminiscent of stop-motion animation. Many reviewers highlight the beautiful visuals as the standout feature, often overshadowing the game's weaker story and gameplay elements. While the art style is celebrated for its creativity and detail, some players note performance issues and a lack of depth in character animations.
- “The graphics are outstanding and creative, the soundtrack is one of the best I've heard in a game of this type, and the story remains good to the end if you like sci-fi.”
- “The game’s hand-crafted diorama visuals are a true standout, creating a charming, atmospheric world that feels genuinely distinctive.”
- “The graphics are breathtakingly well done, with a great pseudo-3D effect as your character walks across the different areas.”
- “The visuals are detail-focused whereas the gameplay and story are the equivalent of going to the opticians and looking at a blurry hot air balloon.”
- “The story and pacing are all over the place, there were a few graphical bugs, and the puzzles are often tedious and absurd.”
- “If the rest of the game were as charming as the artwork, it would be a classic, but as is, it's a very pretty, very boring game.”
music
147 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
54%
44%
3%
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many praising its atmospheric qualities and ability to complement the visuals, creating an immersive experience. While some players enjoyed the soundtrack and specific musical moments, such as the concert, others criticized the repetitiveness and the inclusion of unskippable musical interludes that disrupted gameplay. Overall, the music is generally considered pleasant and fitting for the game's aesthetic, though it may not leave a lasting impression for all players.
- “The atmosphere: the sound design and ambient music complement the visuals beautifully, immersing you in the peculiar world of Trüberbrook.”
- “The music is enjoyable, with each landscape having its own accompanying tune, and the game isn’t long enough for it to become repetitive.”
- “The music perfectly recreates that jazzy, dreamy, slightly sinister Angelo Badalamenti vibe from David Lynch's oeuvre.”
- “Musically, I didn't remember anything except one song at the end of the game.”
- “The worst of these is when the game forces you to sit through 20 minutes of a band playing mediocre songs from what I guess is the game's mediocre soundtrack.”
- “There's also an unskippable musical number in the middle (which is just awful) that you have to listen to again during unskippable Kickstarter backer credits... it left me with an awful taste in my mouth.”
gameplay
124 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
59%
23%
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it tedious and lacking in depth. While some appreciate the classic point-and-click mechanics and unique graphics, others criticize the puzzles for being illogical or disconnected from the narrative, leading to a frustrating experience. Overall, the gameplay is described as slow and clunky, detracting from the otherwise appealing visual and narrative elements.
- “Brilliant graphic adventure game with classic point-and-click gameplay.”
- “Gameplay sticks to familiar point-and-click mechanics: exploring, talking to characters, and solving puzzles.”
- “Truly stunning game with light to moderate puzzles and engaging/immersive gameplay.”
- “However, the gameplay and puzzle design left me bored and frustrated, and the characters' motivations were shallowly explored, making it overall an unfulfilling experience.”
- “The gameplay was tedious and rather boring with either a lot of simple fetch quests, find a hidden object (only possible to find using the object highlight mechanic) or puzzles that had you doing very random things that did not add to the story/adventure experience.”
- “The gameplay is not only lackluster but the narrative is nonsensical; I don't know if this was my own issue with understanding tone or straight-up poor writing.”
humor
93 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
96%
4%
The humor in the game is described as quirky and often hilarious, with many players appreciating the clever references to classic point-and-click games and the unique character interactions. While some found the humor to be hit-or-miss, with occasional forced moments, others enjoyed the absurdist comedy and dry wit, noting that it added charm to the overall experience. Overall, the game is seen as a fun, light-hearted adventure that successfully incorporates humor, though opinions vary on its effectiveness and depth.
- “Lots of funny references to Twin Peaks and even a cheeky callback to one of the most famous point-and-click puzzles of all time, clearly made with love - unmissable if you are a point-and-click fan.”
- “It's a quirky, weird, funny gem of a game.”
- “The dialogues, the little details in the different scenes, the animations, the sound effects, humor, and funny situations could be seen just anywhere.”
- “On sale it's okayish - I really wonder if the bad voice acting is on purpose and supposed to be funny... which is not, in my humble opinion.”
- “Sloppy, unfunny, and confused.”
- “Not funny enough, not beautiful enough, not interesting enough.”
atmosphere
50 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
66%
28%
6%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its hand-crafted diorama visuals, charming art style, and immersive sound design, which together create a distinctive and captivating world reminiscent of 1960s small-town Germany. Players appreciate the combination of beautiful graphics, engaging music, and quirky storytelling that enhances the overall experience, making it particularly appealing to fans of artistic and atmospheric games. Despite some criticisms regarding gameplay elements, the atmosphere remains a standout feature that draws players in and keeps them engaged.
- “The game’s hand-crafted diorama visuals are a true standout, creating a charming, atmospheric world that feels genuinely distinctive.”
- “The painting-like art style, clay animation-esque imagery, movie-like immersion, fairy tale-like storyline, and overall retro atmosphere, along with its distinctive characters, are captivating.”
- “The atmosphere is immersive and lives up to its influences.”
- “Very disappointed especially since the graphics and the overall atmosphere had been promising.”
- “The story in itself isn't what grabbed my attention, but more the graphics, lights/shadows and music (also the mystical atmosphere).”
- “Unfortunately I did not yet have enough time to really enjoy it a lot, but I'm already in love with the scenery and atmosphere.”
grinding
25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12%
96%
Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, often characterized by repetitive tasks, unskippable sequences, and poorly designed puzzles that detract from the overall experience. Many reviews highlight the lack of direction and the need to backtrack frequently, leading to a sense of boredom and a desire to rush through the game. While some appreciate the artwork and initial story concept, the gameplay ultimately feels stretched and uninspired, making it a chore to complete.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “Grinding in this game is incredibly rewarding and keeps you engaged.”
- “The grind is challenging but satisfying, making every achievement feel earned.”
- “The gameplay was tedious and rather boring with either a lot of simple fetch quests, find a hidden object (only possible to find using the object highlight mechanic) or puzzles that had you doing very random things that did not add to the story/adventure experience.”
- “Nice artwork and a good story concept, but after halfway through you realize it's mostly fetch quests and tedious filler work to stretch out the length of the game.”
- “The character slowly moving back and forth while you repetitively search around feels tedious.”
stability
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is heavily criticized, with numerous reports of bugs, glitches, and performance issues such as frame drops and freezes, even on capable hardware. Players have encountered problems with the hotspot indicator, inconsistent autosave, and unresponsive dialogue options, leading to a frustrating experience. Overall, the game feels unpolished and unfinished, detracting significantly from its enjoyment.
- “The biggest problem this game has is the fact that it's buggy and unfinished.”
- “The walk system is buggy, frame rate issues (on Mac at least), it's inconsistent what dialog is skippable and what is not, inconsistent autosave, the inventory system is novel but doesn't really add anything.”
- “Buggy and unplayable: the game is unpolished/buggy even after the third update (animations glitching through objects/world, characters warping, difficult world navigation, hard to click hotspots, etc.)”
replayability
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
58%
25%
Overall, the game's replayability is generally considered low due to its short length and linear narrative, which provide minimal incentive for multiple playthroughs. While some players may return for achievements, the lack of engaging content and frustrating puzzles diminish the overall replay value.
- “Relatively short, but very replayable.”
- “I'm probably going to replay it later to gather the rest of the achievements, but it doesn't actually offer much replayability.”
- “Its replayability is limited, as the linear narrative offers little incentive for multiple playthroughs.”
- “The game is relatively short and offers limited replayability depending on how much you are interested in achievements.”
- “Replay value is nonexistent.”
emotional
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
The emotional aspect of the game receives mixed reviews, with some players noting a lack of emotional depth in character dialogue and storytelling, leading to a disconnection from the narrative. Conversely, others appreciate the game's wholesome tone and the emotional impact of its music and animation, though they also mention issues with pacing and character development. Overall, the emotional experience varies significantly among players, with many feeling underwhelmed.
- “Emotional plot, really nice graphics, astonishing music.”
- “What a wholesome game this was!”
- “The story is decently lighthearted and doesn't throw any real unexpected punches, but it feels wholesome.”
- “Strange, rushed, and boring story.”
- “Bad pacing, uninspiring characters, boring storyline, bad jokes that do not hit the mark, and so on… not worth your time unfortunately.”
- “Even without the globalist nonsense, it's a poor game at best with clunky movement and a boring storyline.”
optimization
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
22%
56%
The game's optimization has received significant criticism, particularly for poor performance on both low-end and even some high-end hardware, leading to severe frame rate issues and stuttering during gameplay. While the graphics and sound design are praised, the overall experience is marred by performance problems that detract from the enjoyment of the game. Some users noted minor bugs, such as missing subtitles, but these were not seen as game-breaking.
- “I didn't see any bugs or performance issues.”
- “With as much detail as there was in the look of the game, you would find the sound and music would have to be on par with them; though this is mostly true, there are exceptions with some of the voice acting sounding echoey and other performances less enthusiastic at times.”
- “The optimization for PC is horrible.”
- “Severe frame rate issues on even higher-end hardware (please, no macOS jokes! - these are clearly bugs that weren't caught in the QA process rather than a lack of hardware performance) get in the way of what should be a must-play title for me.”
- “Performance is intolerably bad on my potato.”
character development
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
13%
38%
Character development in the game is seen as a mixed bag; while some players appreciate the unique character design, others criticize the limited resources that lead to wooden animations and a lack of depth in storytelling. Despite these flaws, there is a consensus that a strong narrative and engaging character arcs could enhance the overall experience, suggesting that the potential for deeper character development exists but is not fully realized.
- “What can save a game at this point is the narrative and engaging character development.”
- “Provide an epic story with some funny bits, drama, action, and character development and you’ve got some saving graces even if the puzzles aren’t fantastic.”
- “I didn’t like the character design, though.”
- “Show your skills (environment & character design) and lazily slap the rest (story writing, game design, voice-over acting, etc.) on top.”
- “So much room for further storytelling and character development.”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization aspect of the game is positively received, as it enhances the immersive atmosphere reminiscent of 1960s small-town Germany, suggesting that the developers' passion for the project is reflected in the overall experience.