Zoonomaly
- March 6, 2024
- LIGHTS ARE OFF LLC
- 4h median play time
Get on Steam"Zoonomaly is a single-player action game with excellent visuals, offering around 4 hours of playtime. As a player, you must explore an open-world zoo overrun by monsters, solve puzzles to collect key shards, and assemble the master key to stop the monster infestation. Avoid monsters at all costs, as they can't be killed, and stay alive to complete your mission."
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game features impressive monster designs and a unique atmosphere that keeps players engaged.
- Puzzles are challenging and require creative thinking, providing a satisfying experience for puzzle enthusiasts.
- The graphics and overall aesthetic of the game are visually appealing, enhancing the horror experience.
- The gameplay can feel repetitive, with many puzzles following similar mechanics that may lead to frustration.
- There are numerous bugs and glitches, including issues with monster AI and game crashes that hinder progress.
- The lack of autosave and unclear mechanics can lead to significant loss of progress, making the game feel tedious.
- gameplay53 mentions
- 23 % positive mentions
- 55 % neutral mentions
- 23 % negative mentions
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with many players noting its repetitive nature and simplistic mechanics, which can lead to frustration, especially with puzzles that lack depth. While the game features unique mechanics and visually appealing graphics, the overall experience is often described as clunky and monotonous, detracting from its potential as an engaging horror title. Some players appreciate the creativity in monster design and certain mechanics, but overall, the gameplay feels rudimentary and in need of refinement.
“The gameplay, although simple and sometimes frustrating, gets the job done.”
“The puzzles themselves were fun to figure out, but the launch mechanic was kind of finicky and at times, frustrating.”
“I absolutely love the light bulb mechanic as it feels like you're being forced to strip the world of its natural light in order to use it as a defense mechanism.”
“I sadly don't recommend this game; it had a lot of potential for being a very good and interesting game but lost that due to the boring puzzles and plain gameplay.”
“The gameplay loop gets very repetitive.”
“The overall gameplay is just... not great.”
- graphics31 mentions
- 48 % positive mentions
- 42 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally praised for their unique art style, cute yet scary monster designs, and atmospheric visuals, with many users rating them highly. However, there are significant concerns regarding optimization, as players experience lag and graphical glitches, particularly at higher settings. Overall, while the visuals are a highlight, they are marred by technical issues that can detract from the gameplay experience.
“I honestly like the game a lot because it has great visuals and decent monster designs, and my favorite thing is that it has a huge map with lots of puzzles and mazes.”
“The graphics are really cute and scary, and the gameplay is a bit repetitive, but there's something different in every enclosure.”
“The graphics were also beautiful, especially in the aquarium; this section was awesome and definitely the highlight of the game.”
“Another issue I had was the weird bright artifacts on my screen that made the game unplayable as I couldn't see anything until I messed around with the graphics to finally be able to see.”
“The game looks great, especially for an inexperienced developer, but there's a huge graphical issue I'm facing with it: everywhere outside the tutorial area has red and green glitchy textures all over it.”
“I love the game but I have an AMD GPU and I don't know if it's because of that, but on all graphics settings except low, I get a bunch of colored lights covering my screen which makes it really hard to play the game.”
- music12 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives high praise for its variety and memorability, with many players expressing their love for the soundtrack and specific themes, particularly the intro song. However, some users note that the music can be repetitive and that the game is often silent, which detracts from the overall experience. Overall, the soundtrack contributes positively to the atmosphere, despite some criticisms regarding its frequency and variety.
“I like the variety of puzzles and the music is very good.”
“Graphics are good, atmosphere is great, soundtrack, although short, is memorable.”
“🐸 music: 10/10 (intro song is great)”
“The music is repetitive and grating, and the enemies make so much noise.”
“Music is a bop, but the game is silent music-wise 90% of the time.”
- story11 mentions
- 45 % positive mentions
- 27 % neutral mentions
- 27 % negative mentions
The game's story is described as simple and somewhat underdeveloped, with some players appreciating its unique elements and creepy monster designs, while others feel it lacks depth and coherence. Despite the mixed opinions on storytelling, many reviewers enjoyed the overall experience and expressed a desire for multiplayer features to enhance gameplay. Overall, the narrative aspect is seen as a secondary focus, with more emphasis on puzzles and atmosphere.
“It has a good story and primes, all the monster designs were great and creepy, and it has some pretty neat environments (I really liked the aquarium in particular).”
“Unique story 10/10”
“The story is a bit established, which is good.”
“There's no story; you're just dropped into an 'anomaly zoo.' The game's optimization is really bad.”
“But considering that this is apparently a fully released game, the storytelling isn't good and the horror aspect of the game is only present in the first hour or so.”
“Multiplayer: this would be a cool game to play with friends, you can play the main story with friends or there could be a PvP mode where one player is a monster.”
- grinding8 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 13 % neutral mentions
- 88 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and repetitive, with many puzzles described as frustrating and overly time-consuming. While some enjoy the monster designs and initial puzzle engagement, the overall gameplay loop becomes monotonous, detracting from the experience.
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“However, the main gameplay loop of running around and solving puzzles is very tedious.”
“Visually cool, but the tedious, awful, and frustrating puzzles clearly made it impossible to finish in under 2 hours; however, content-wise, it is like a half-hour game.”
- atmosphere7 mentions
- 86 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its engaging graphics, memorable soundtrack, and well-designed environments, creating a spooky and immersive experience. However, some players feel that the atmosphere can lose its charm over time, and there are mixed opinions on the overall gameplay experience, with some finding it lacking despite the strong atmospheric elements.
“All in all though, I really enjoyed it. It was a unique challenge, and I think the atmosphere is excellent with the spooky animal monster cries echoing and the dark foggy paths.”
“The game features a really well-done atmosphere and environments, coupled with nice monster designs that are always pretty cool to look at.”
“If played this way, you'll find that this game is a fun little atmospheric puzzle game with non-linear progression and an interesting concept.”
“I don't think people would enjoy a game that features a lot of unnecessary puzzles and lacks a scary atmosphere.”
- stability5 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game has been reported to have significant stability issues, including numerous bugs and glitches that affect gameplay, such as animals getting stuck, visual errors, and a frustrating spawn camping glitch. While these problems detract from the experience, some players still find the game enjoyable despite its instability. As it is newly released, many users acknowledge that such issues are common and may improve over time.
“A couple of problems though is that the game was quite buggy, with some animals getting stuck or clipping through things a lot.”
“Final of all, the launching puzzles were very buggy and harsh.”
“Tons of glitches including visual glitches, a spawn camping glitch where the enemies will kill you forever no matter what. Also, there aren't any control settings, so my sensitivity was way too fast.”
- optimization4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- -25 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has received criticism, with players noting significant issues such as physics bugs and overall poor performance, despite the graphics being visually appealing. While some acknowledge that this is the developer's first game, many feel that improvements in optimization are necessary for a better experience.
“The graphics are great, but they could be better optimized. However, considering this is the first game, it's nothing unexpected.”
“I believe the optimizations could be improved, as I encountered a physics bug right after blasting the first wall.”
“There's no story; you're just dropped into an 'anomaly zoo.' The game's optimization is really bad.”
“Although I do believe optimizations could be a bit better, I immediately ran into a physics bug upon blasting the first wall.”
“The game is quite interesting, but there are nuances: optimization is not very good.”
