Vinyl

About

Vinyl is a single player action game. It was developed by Manipulation Machine and was released on July 1, 2016. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Vinyl is a dynamic indie music game created by graduate students at the University of Utah EAE program, that experiments with the aesthetic distance between gameplay and music.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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60%

Audience ScoreBased on 230 reviews

music27 positive mentions

stability9 negative mentions

The game allows players to upload their own music, creating a personalized experience and enhancing replayability.
Despite its flaws, the game offers a unique concept of generating levels based on the player's music, which can be fun and engaging.
For a free game made by students, it showcases ambition and creativity, providing a decent time-waster for casual play.

The visuals can be overwhelming and disorienting, with bright colors and effects that may cause discomfort or hinder gameplay.
Gameplay can feel repetitive and lacks polish, with clunky controls and poorly designed obstacle placements that lead to frustration.
The music distortion effects when hitting obstacles can ruin the enjoyment of the player's chosen tracks, detracting from the overall experience.

music
214 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
79%
8%
The music aspect of the game is a mixed bag, with many players appreciating the ability to upload their own tracks, which allows for a personalized experience. However, the execution often falls short, as the game frequently distorts the music and fails to synchronize obstacles with the beat effectively, leading to frustration. While some users find the concept engaging and fun, others criticize the overall quality of the pre-loaded songs and the lack of polish in the game's audio mechanics.
- “A creative indie rhythm game where you play along with your own music, an interesting concept.”
- “The game manages quite well to generate obstacles based on the beat of the music, making some songs more challenging to 'surf' than others.”
- “It's great to play your favorite music and have the game create levels based on it.”
- “The music doesn't really tie into the game, so that's where it loses me.”
- “It is nearly impossible to avoid most obstacles, probably totally impossible in some songs and every time you hit one the music slows down to a near halt and gradually speeds back up, ruining your enjoyment of the music.”
- “The filters that can be picked up during gameplay usually alter the music in a bad way, in my opinion, but are necessary to get higher scores.”
gameplay
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
67%
13%
The gameplay is a mixed bag, with some players appreciating its unique mechanics and local music upload feature, while others find it repetitive and awkward. The procedural levels and rewind mechanic are interesting, but the frequent changes in visual style can disrupt the flow and enjoyment. Overall, while the game has potential, many feel it lacks polish and depth, leading to a less engaging experience.
- “It's an experimental fever dream that plays around with different aesthetics, which changes the music played in certain ways, but keeps the gameplay flow consistent.”
- “This is a free-to-play game that clearly works correctly, there's no bugs in the game, the art style is really nice and the gameplay is super fun.”
- “Gameplay consists of surfing down the track avoiding static balls to a song of your choice.”
- “It's ambitious, but some of the art style changing power-ups can change the whole visual vibe so dramatically that it can throw you off the gameplay completely.”
- “The gameplay mechanics also leave much to be desired.”
- “I can forgive it not looking great since you can have decent gameplay and terrible graphics, but as you play, the game adds this horrendous blurring effect that obscures the track and makes it a headache to play.”
graphics
29 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24%
59%
17%
The graphics of the game are highly polarizing, with many users describing them as low quality, inconsistent, and at times disorienting, detracting from the overall experience. While some appreciate the experimental and psychedelic aesthetic, others find it distracting and detrimental to gameplay, with complaints about blurring effects and poor visual design. Overall, the visuals are seen as a significant drawback, overshadowing the game's potential fun and mechanics.
- “It's an experimental fever dream that plays around with different aesthetics, which changes the music played in certain ways, but keeps the gameplay flow consistent.”
- “And as the song goes on and the higher your streak goes, the aesthetics get a bit hazy and psychedelic, adding a little bit of difficulty as you battle the camera and your surroundings.”
- “I like how how good you are affects the visuals - the more obstacles you hit, the greyer/scratchier everything gets.”
- “The aesthetic choices sometimes clash, creating a dissonance that distracts from the thematic focus on music.”
- “I can forgive it not looking great since you can have decent gameplay and terrible graphics, but as you play the game adds this horrendous blurring effect that obscures the track and makes it a headache to play.”
- “Camera is aimed at the ground behind you and can't see anything, jittery camera, blinding visuals and the noise filters are horrible.”
stability
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is a significant issue, with users reporting frequent crashes, character freezing, and various bugs that hinder gameplay. While some players still find the game enjoyable, the overall consensus is that it requires urgent updates to address these stability problems.
- “Basically non-functional; the game is super buggy.”
- “It's not just badly optimized, it's unstable. I had it crash twice, and it freezes all the time.”
- “My character freezes when I hold down left/right, and when I let go, they shoot into the damn exosphere.”
story
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
62%
38%
The story aspect of the game is criticized for being disjointed and lacking emotional depth, with many users expressing a desire for a more coherent and engaging narrative. While some find the gameplay entertaining, particularly for music lovers, the overall consensus is that the story is minimal and does not enhance the experience.
- “Instead of building a coherent story, it feels like a series of disjointed moments that lack depth and emotional impact.”
- “Graphics are low quality and there's no story to it, just enter, add song, play.”
- “I'd love to see something larger, with a story and original music, somewhere down the line, but for now, vinyl is probably one of the most entertaining free titles available to anyone who loves music.”
emotional
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is criticized for lacking coherence and depth, resulting in disjointed moments that fail to resonate with players. While some users appreciate the control it offers over challenging song parts, the overall emotional impact is seen as a missed opportunity in a genre that typically excels in creativity and emotional engagement.
- “This is one of the several aspects that set this game above my expectations, but more so, made me feel like I was able to have more control over parts of songs I had difficulty with in order to better my score at the end.”
- “Zanarkand from Final Fantasy X (you know that lovely heart-breaking piano that greets you) was a 1-star mission, that makes sense.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players indicate that grinding in the game can be quite demanding, often requiring significant time investment or additional lives to progress effectively.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “The grinding feels endless and tedious.”
- “I spent hours grinding, and it felt like I made no progress.”
humor
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is generally well-received, with players finding it amusing, particularly in how crashing into obstacles disrupts the music, adding a comedic twist to the gameplay. It appeals especially to those who enjoy music-themed experiences.
- “Pretty funny!”
- “A funny little game that can interest people who like music.”
- “I find it quite hilarious when I crash into something and it ruins the music.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
100%
The game offers high replay value for players who enjoy customizing music, but overall, its replayability is considered low due to standard Unity-based models.
- “High replay value.”
- “The models are what you'd expect from most Unity-based games, and the replayability is low unless you enjoy playing the game with custom music.”
- “After completing the game once, there’s little incentive to go back; the lack of varied content really hampers replayability.”
- “The game feels repetitive after the first playthrough, and I found myself losing interest quickly due to the limited replayability options.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
100%
The game's optimization is a mixed bag; while some players find it worth trying, others report significant issues such as instability, frequent crashes, and freezing. Overall, it is not fully optimized and may require improvements to enhance the user experience.
- “Not 100% optimized, but definitely worth giving it a go!”
- “The optimization in this game enhances the overall experience, making it smoother and more enjoyable.”
- “I appreciate the effort put into optimization; it really makes a difference in gameplay performance.”
- “It's not just badly optimized, it's unstable; I had it crash twice, it freezes all the time, and so on.”
- “Not 100% optimized, but worth giving it a go!”
- “Now these other reviews I've read were like 'it's badly optimized, Audiosurf ripoff,' but that's not true.”
monetization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
100%
The monetization model is praised for its transparency, as there are no extra payments, microtransactions, or hidden fees involved, ensuring a straightforward gaming experience.
- “I appreciate that the game doesn't pressure me into spending more money.”
- “The monetization model is fair and transparent, making it enjoyable without any hidden costs.”
- “There are no extra payments, microtransactions, or hidden fees.”
- “The monetization model is frustrating and feels exploitative.”
- “I feel pressured to spend money to enjoy the game fully.”