Wanda: A Beautiful Apocalypse

While the linear experience harms replayability, Wanda is overall one of the most beautiful, poetic, compelling, and masterful examples of the narrative potential of video games.

66%Game Brain Score

story, music

grinding, stability

61% User Score Based on 106 reviews

Critic Score 80%Based on 2 reviews

Platforms

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About

Wanda: A Beautiful Apocalypse is a single player casual role playing game with a post-apocalyptic theme. It was developed by Kodots games and was released on May 13, 2016. It received mostly positive reviews from both critics and players.

Wanda is a minimalist story-rich puzzle about two robotic lifeforms finding happiness, companionship and hope in a lonely post-apocalyptic world.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Wanda: A Beautiful Apocalypse screenshot

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61%

Audience ScoreBased on 106 reviews

story31 positive mentions

grinding4 negative mentions

Beautiful hand-drawn graphics and atmospheric soundtrack that enhance the emotional storytelling.
Touching and heartwarming story about companionship, love, and hope in a desolate post-apocalyptic world.
Unique and well-designed puzzles that are challenging yet skippable, providing a satisfying experience.

Excessive unskippable and slow-paced cutscenes that disrupt gameplay flow and player control.
Lack of proper game interface features such as save options, menus, and resolution settings.
Gameplay and puzzles are limited and sometimes frustrating due to strict timing or energy constraints, affecting engagement.

story
101 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
64%
5%
The story of "Wanda" is a touching, minimalist narrative about two robots navigating a post-apocalyptic world, conveyed through expressive visual storytelling, evocative art, and an atmospheric soundtrack without spoken dialogue. While many praise its emotional depth and unique "show, don’t tell" approach, some players find the heavy reliance on long, unskippable cutscenes and limited interactive storytelling slows pacing and reduces engagement. Overall, it is appreciated for its heartfelt, poetic charm though its storytelling style may not suit everyone’s preference.
- “Without any spoken dialogue, the game tells its touching story through the subtle interactions between the robots and their environment in a 'show, don’t tell' style.”
- “You solve mini-puzzles and uncover bits of the past, while the art—evocative of a children’s storybook—and the atmospheric soundtrack amplify the emotional resonance of this short but poetic experience.”
- “The story is quite immersive and very emotional (to the extreme at the end).”
- “The story sequences are not interactive, long, and unskippable, which may not be for everyone.”
- “While you can put together the gist of the story and background lore by watching the cutscenes, having all the dialogue in the robot language keeps you somewhat disengaged and confused throughout the slow and unskippable cutscenes.”
- “The story is just not compelling and the puzzles boring!”
music
36 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
64%
28%
8%
The game's music is widely praised for being beautiful, atmospheric, and emotionally resonant, perfectly complementing the handcrafted art and storytelling. Many reviewers highlight the soundtrack as a standout feature that enhances immersion and emotional impact, with some noting it is so captivating they rarely mute it. Overall, the music is considered a major strength that deeply enriches the poetic and artistic experience.
- “You solve mini-puzzles and uncover bits of the past, while the art—evocative of a children’s storybook—and the atmospheric soundtrack amplify the emotional resonance of this short but poetic experience.”
- “Soundtrack and BGM are well executed and blend with the virtual world to the point that they can't be separated from the game.”
- “Which was a real shame because this title has a really good emotionally driven story, with an amazing musical score.”
- “The music and storytelling are very well done.”
- “Usually I turn off the music for video games and listen to my own, but this game isn't really one you're supposed to do that with.”
- “The strongest points of this game are the music and the atmosphere of a post-apocalyptic world.”
emotional
27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game delivers a poignant and heartwarming emotional experience through its expressive characters, subtle storytelling, and atmospheric soundtrack, evoking a range of feelings from joy to bittersweet sadness. Its minimalist style and silent narrative invite players to deeply connect with the touching journey of two robots in a desolate world, making it a memorable and immersive emotional adventure despite its simplicity.
- “Without any spoken dialogue, the game tells its touching story through the subtle interactions between the robots and their environment in a “show, don’t tell” style.”
- “You solve mini-puzzles and uncover bits of the past, while the art—evocative of a children’s storybook—and the atmospheric soundtrack amplify the emotional resonance of this short but poetic experience.”
- “Wanda is an emotional feel trip owing to its wasteland setting and hidden cryptic language spoken by robot duo leaving the player to interpret each rich meaning behind defining moments.”
graphics
27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
45%
11%
The graphics are generally praised for their simple, hand-drawn, and retro-inspired art style that creates a charming and atmospheric world, complementing the story and soundtrack well. While some find the visuals aesthetically pleasing and emotionally engaging, a few note issues like fixed resolution and basic interface design. Overall, the visuals contribute significantly to the game's mood and storytelling, though opinions on quality vary.
- “The hand-drawn art style of the post-apocalyptic world is beautiful.”
- “Beautiful hand-drawn graphics, amazing soundtracks, and an interesting story.”
- “The beautiful artwork accentuates the feeling of sadness, leaving you to wonder what really happened in that world.”
- “The interface is rubbish, resolution is fixed, art style seems to be a kind of attempt at retro pixel, or maybe it's just badly done, it's hard to tell.”
- “I don't really want to mention graphics with the game made of RPG making tool, but I strongly recommend you play a masterpiece like 'To the Moon' instead of this piece of crap; it is a far better game made with the same tool, with great heart-warming stories and interesting gameplay.”
- “The idea and graphics, along with the story, made me interested but I won't see myself finishing this game.”
gameplay
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
59%
14%
The gameplay in Wanda is minimal and largely overshadowed by frequent, unskippable cutscenes, resulting in a slow and limited interactive experience centered on basic puzzle-solving. While some players appreciate the peaceful and charming mechanics, many find the ratio of cutscenes to gameplay frustrating, with overall playtime being short and the lack of skip options detracting from enjoyment.
- “Back to the game, the RPG elements and the story tell us of two robots in a post-apocalyptic world, and they will be your two protagonists - you'll need both to get over puzzles and such.”
- “And this thing comes out with the skip function, available only in the puzzles, so even the hardest ones after some tries can be skippable - the puzzle element remains the most important for gameplay.”
- “Gameplay isn't very long, but it's part of what makes Wanda so peaceful and chill - until it gives you all the feels, that is.”
- “Gameplay is constantly interrupted by pointless unskippable cutscenes.”
- “In fact, there are more cutscenes than gameplay itself (solving puzzles and searching for collectible data shards).”
- “There isn't a whole lot of gameplay in this game.”
atmosphere
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
63%
37%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its evocative, storybook-like art, charming characters, and a deeply atmospheric soundtrack that enhances its emotional and narrative depth. Despite technical shortcomings and occasional slowness, the immersive post-apocalyptic setting and touching story create a compelling and heartfelt experience.
- “You solve mini-puzzles and uncover bits of the past, while the art—evocative of a children’s storybook—and the atmospheric soundtrack amplify the emotional resonance of this short but poetic experience.”
- “The strongest points to this game are the music and the atmosphere of a post-apocalyptic world.”
- “Did not expect much from it but I was pleasantly surprised by how atmospheric the background music is and how charming the little robots are!”
grinding
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The grinding in the game is characterized by tedious and unforgiving puzzles, coupled with slow-paced, exploratory segments that may feel monotonous. Additionally, there is a heavy emphasis on repetitive experience grinding and loot farming for character progression.
- “Kingdom of grinding EXP and farming loots for your character.”
- “It is a bit tedious to do but at least the dialogue and signs can be understood.”
- “Beside the puzzles, the other half of the game is more an interactive movie (sometimes really slow-paced to the point of being tedious) where you watch the robots wandering around the devastated world and talking to each other in an unknown language (which actually makes sense and the alphabet can be deciphered, if you are willing to take the time).”
humor
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's humor is a blend of lighthearted and touching moments, enhanced by its use of hieroglyphic language and sound effects instead of dialogue, which adds a unique and amusing charm. Players experience a mix of laughter and emotional depth throughout the game.
- “Nice hieroglyphic language and sounds instead of dialogues make this game funny and touching.”
- “It's had me laughing and made me feel sad at times.”
- “Sometimes there are sad moments, sometimes funny ones.”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users report stability issues, particularly frequent freezes after lengthy cutscenes, resulting in lost progress due to lack of recent saves.
- “It's pretty annoying when you sit through a 10-minute cutscene and then the game freezes afterward with no saves since before the last puzzle.”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The character development is praised for its unique and engaging designs, effectively conveying emotions through the expressive little robots despite the lack of understandable dialogue.
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Despite its linear structure limiting replayability, Wanda offers a highly compelling and masterful narrative experience that stands out for its beauty and poetic storytelling.

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80%Critics’ scoreBased on 2 critic reviews

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6h Median play time

5h Average play time

2-7h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 2 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

Wanda: A Beautiful Apocalypse is a casual role playing game with post-apocalyptic theme.

Wanda: A Beautiful Apocalypse is available on PC, Windows and Xbox.

On average players spend around 5 hours playing Wanda: A Beautiful Apocalypse.

Wanda: A Beautiful Apocalypse was released on May 13, 2016.

Wanda: A Beautiful Apocalypse was developed by Kodots games.

Wanda: A Beautiful Apocalypse has received mostly positive reviews from both players and critics. Most players liked Wanda: A Beautiful Apocalypse for its story but disliked it for its grinding.

Wanda: A Beautiful Apocalypse is a single player game.

Similar games include Spirit of the North, Gomo, My Brother Rabbit, Belladonna, LUNA The Shadow Dust and others.

Wanda: A Beautiful Apocalypse

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