Topic

Glitch Game Review

First, thank you to the developers for letting me try the game for free.  It takes tremendous effort and hard work to create a game, let alone an entire world and it takes courage to share it with others and invite criticism, reviews and opinions.  I really appreciate this, and that's why i'm taking the time to write my thoughts down.

Second, for those that are interested, here are my current character stats: Reached level 10, Currently 3,500 Currants in my wallet, earned 54 achievements and learned 23 skills.  Total play time of around 12 hours.

I'm very sorry to say that, despite a lot of effort on my part, I simply can't seem to find much to like about this game .  I have played many, many games throughout the years.  First person shooters, RPGs, Strategy Games, MMORPGs, Puzzle Games, Action Games, "Casual Games" and "Hardcore Games."  In short, I don't want people to think that I don't like this game because I play "other" games and this one just doesn't fit my play style or preferences.  I play such a large variety of games, that it's pretty hard to find something that doesn't fit with what I enjoy.  That being said, the biggest problem with Glitch is that it doesn't fit any style of gaming well.  It does a few things well, and some things OK, but it ultimately fails at being anything of substance.

It's not an action game. Besides running and jumping, there's not much to do except point and click.

It's not a game of skill.  Everything in the game is very easy to do and the only "effort" that is required is spending time.  As long as a player is willing to travel to different parts of the world, they can get the resources required to create what is needed or complete any quest. 

It's not a game of rich storytelling.  After 12 hours in the game, I know almost nothing about the game world, the Gods that created it, the mythology or history behind it, the stories of the people and inhabitants in it, or much of anything else.  I just know that the world has a lot of pigs, butterflies and chickens.  Some with great names.

It's not a game of challenging puzzles.  I have not been able to find anything in the game that challenges me to think in creative and out of the box ways.  No puzzles to solve at all.  No hidden secrets or riddles or anything.  The closest the game comes to being an interesting puzzle is trying to figure out all of the menus and items required to make a particularly large salad.  More tiresome than challenging from a creative thought perspective.

It's not a game of imagination.  The environments looks very similar.  There are very few differences in the flora and fauna.  I traveled street after street after street.  Everywhere i went, i met the same animals and trees.  Each one allowed me only a few simple interactions, which, must be admitted are actually all the same.  If you "pet" something or "nibble" it or "massage" it, the result is almost identical...just a green bar that slowly fills as you complete the action.  Despite imaginative names for interactions, the interactions themselves are rather repetitive and dull.  I petted hundreds of pigs, collected over 500 grain from chickens, watered over 100 trees, and completed many, many more actions, but after a while it became more of a repetitive grind than an imaginative interaction with a creative world.   

It's not a game of social interaction.  To be fair, it tries very hard to be, but it also fails in many respects.  There are very few reasons to talk to people except to complete a few specific quests.  Talking with people makes it hard to navigate the world, so that you always have to choose between talking and playing.  There are only 4 buttons for emotions (1,2,3 and 4) and those "emotions" are just a few facial expressions.  Players are left to typing out things like "LOL" and "OMG" and "THANKS!" instead of being able to make their avatars actually perform actions that show off these emotions.  Interestingly enough, a game like World of Warcraft (which is focused on combat and killing and looting) actually has a better system for social interactions, helping players express feelings through commands, creating large city hubs that bring people together, having a robust marketplace and auction house, creating large guilds and rewarding people for joining them and creating difficult challenges that can only be overcome in groups and even helping to place you in a group if you are too lazy to look for one.  I really thought that Glitch would be a game where one could form great social friendships and have amazing interactions, all without swords and axes and fighting...unfortunately, Glitch simply doesn't have the tools for this to happen.

It's not a game of visual variety or excitement.  Although sporting a very attractive visual style, the game world itself is ultimately rather dull.  With hundreds of streets to traverse, I had expected to see a large variety of...well...variety.  Instead, it was the same items, textures and visuals recycled over and over again.  That makes the long walk necessary to get from region to region quite daunting.  I found myself on auto-pilot much of the time as the dull scenery blurred right by me.

I am, ultimately, very sad to say all of these things.  I had been swept off of my feet by Glitch.  The trailer made the game seem so fresh and so different and so exciting and innovative.  After signing up, I couldn't wait to start playing.  The demand was so high that I had to spend a whole day waiting, and I kept checking my e-mail every 30 min to see if the invitation had arrived.  I eagerly jumped into the game world and began exploring, hoping to find a new, entertaining and amazing gaming experience.  After a few hours, a little voice in my head started saying that things were getting somewhat repetitive and boring.  I simply ignored it and kept playing.  I downloaded the special iPhone app and even learned skills while away from the game.  I kept growing my character, kept getting achievements, kept learning new skills and most importantly I wandered from street to street to street.   Still, that little voice kept getting louder.  No matter how much I did in the game, very little changed.  The same actions and gameplay I experienced at level 1, I was doing at level 10 (just faster).  Today, I decided to travel half way across the game world in search of variety.  I thought, "surely across the sea there will be different towns and buildings and animals and plants."  Unfortunately I was completely wrong.  The same pigs and butterflies I had left in one region, greeted me in the next.  They were very polite.  They were also very dull and repetitive.  And ultimately, I am very sad to say that Glitch likewise a dull experience.  

I have one hope left for this game - maybe someone here can tell me something I have missed.  Something I did not try.  Some fun activity or game or challenge or puzzle that I entirely missed.  Maybe at level 30 you finally get a flying carpet, and get to ride it to a space station and meet martians who take you on a safari hunt where you have to catch shiny insects.  Or maybe at level 30 you still water the same trees and milk the same butterflies.  I have a feeling that it's the latter, but you can let me know if i'm wrong.

And again, thank you to the developers for letting me try this experience completely free of charge.  I appreciate the chance to spend time in your world.  You did say that the world will always grow and expand and change.  For the sake of the idea that is Glitch, I really hope it does. 

Posted 15 months ago by Winter the Ocelot Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • Did you find the Tower at Jethimadh and complete the quest?
    Posted 15 months ago by WindBorn Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Winter, thanks for having the courage to say this (and in such a polite way.)

    I've been having similar feelings...and I've been around Glitch since the second time they alpha tested (where there were basically 3 or 4 streets and the main thing you could do was avoid getting stuck in the ground!)

    I really feel like Glitch is "one to watch." The devs, especially Stoot, never seem to sleep, and they're open to improving the world. Still, I completely agree with your assessment--as Glitch stands today, it's rather "empty" after your first few levels. Some of the quests are mind-numbingly boring (water a tree 100 times? Sheesh.)

    Even the tower at Jethimadh, which I ran through a couple days ago, was fun--but only for about 30 minutes. Then it was back to the same old grind.

    The devs are focused on "nerfing" (new word for me...learned here in the forums) anything that will allow a player to have an advantage. Though I appreciate that they are listening to us, it tends to slowly suck the fun out of the game. 

    I'm tempted to just keep learning skills and keep Glitch bookmarked for a year or so from now, when surely there will be more exciting quests and skills. Glitch shows promise, but you couldn't have said it better...it doesn't really fit into any category. Angry Birds is great because you can pick it up for 5 minutes and play it while in line at the store. WoW, et.al. serve the other end nicely: play a game where your character becomes an extension of yourself and you are completely absorbed in the community. Is there room for something in the middle? Glitch has potential, but needs to allow our characters more freedom and flexibility.

    I'll keep watching and learning skills, but I'm not likely to continue to be a subscriber at this point in time. I hope Glitch continues to improve over the years to come.
    Posted 15 months ago by Mackenzie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Please bear in mind that whatever else this game is, it's still a baby game.  The game has only just been released, The devs are working on making (what I think is) an awesome game even better.  
    Posted 15 months ago by Daffy Lurksalot Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Daffy: Well, yes and no. I received my invite on March 24, 2010. And I suspect the team had been working on it quite a bit before that. Two years should be enough to at least figure out where you're going. Though I know they are constantly releasing new options, quests, skills, etc., so that's a major reason I stick around.
    Posted 15 months ago by Mackenzie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Off-topic, why are so many people these days starting their posts with "First, thank you to the developers for letting me try the game for free"? Beta is over. I some website out there giving them the impression this is a paid game? I need to knooow!!
    Posted 15 months ago by Victoria Subscriber! | Permalink
  • "It's not a game of rich storytelling. After 12 hours in the game, I know almost nothing about the game world, the Gods that created it, the mythology or history behind it, the stories of the people and inhabitants in it, or much of anything else. I just know that the world has a lot of pigs, butterflies and chickens. Some with great names." -----

    I wouldn't say it has "rich" storytelling, but it certainly gives me just enough to tease me about what might be revealed later. Did you know that the Rook has its own language/system of writing? That there were other societies of glitches before our own, but somehow they didn't survive? That there is a "boss ju-ju" behind all the others? I get little hints of the past, and recently little hints of the giant's personalities when I donate to them, now that the devs have instituted giant-specific dialogues for the shrines.

    People are saying "beta is over, the game is live," but I in no way believe that this means the game is "complete" in any way. I think it will continue to grow, develop, expand, and the history will continue to get richer and richer. I want to be a part of it as it does, and make my own little seylah-shaped mark on the world of glitch. Even if nobody but me notices that it is there :)
    Posted 15 months ago by Seylah Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Very thoughtful critique – kudos to you.

    What I will say, however, is that 10 hours of game play will certainly not equip you with the skills and resources you’ll need further down the line. Community projects and street building is yet to come; this requires a lot of social interaction, organisation, planning the resource gathering to be even considered a success.

    Secondly, do you think the Rooks are going to stay in Aranna forever? There will soon come a time where imagination itself is going to be constantly under threat and you’ll be required to work with others in order to fend off these attacks on the very fabric of Ur.

    The developers are giving you some breathing space. They’re giving you some time to get some skills developed, find your niche in the game, and start gathering the necessary resources available to you in order to keep the world together and eventually expand upon it.
    Posted 15 months ago by Papa Vodou Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I appreciate the suggestion about the backstory and history - I was a little disappointed to see that the Encyclopaedia didn't add anything that wasn't already in-game through the Magic Rock. I too would have loved more information on the world and how it works. The Jetimadh Tower quest is a good start as far as backstory goes, and the Balaqa one is promising but the posts are always down by the time I get to them (so I get booted out with hardly an opportunity to advance).

    What I would like to see are more opportunities for the social games that come up - The Amazing Race, Game of Crowns, the one with the pig hogtie - those are social but right now it's up to someone who has a game ticket to be in the right place at the right time. More side quests like the thing with the hairball - random but so visually different and interesting! And more community involvement - even Neopets had quite a thing going.

    Thanks :)
    Posted 15 months ago by Creatrix Subscriber! | Permalink
  • glitch seems like a multiplayer version of http://progresswars.com/
    Posted 14 months ago by teutates Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I agree with this review for the most part. So far, when it comes down to it, gameplay feels like a repeating binge-and-purge process. Hoard stuff, dump it into street projects. Repeat repeat repeat, while passively learning skills in the background. The one time that I tried Game of Crowns was pretty fun, though. There does need to be more stuff like that. 

    The key here, I hope, is that this is what it is like so far. I do get the feeling that this is a work in progress. Sometimes I just wish that certain aspects of the game would, well, progress a little faster.
    Posted 14 months ago by Nuance Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Completely agree with the review. The game doesn't live up to the hype and jive that went with the release. I expected something like Little Big Planet but ended up with a farmville with less customization options. Unless devs come through with a gameplay overhaul, people will not be staying on. Sometimes I wonder if this isn't some sort of social experiment to find out just how long people can be cajoled into repeating pointless, mindless, joyless tasks in return for nothing more than some badge graphic on the screen.
    Posted 14 months ago by 白豚Hakuton Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Hi Winter the Ocelot,

    I think I see a reason for some of your lack of positives in this game, It appears you have only two firends on you friends list and have yet to join a group, there are many here and the majority are very social and within those groups much fun and imaginative game play occurs.

    In the group I belong to yesterday we celebrated a freinds birthday with a surprise party in her street, a few days earlier we had an improptu gathering in the newest seam street and spent a few happy hours sharing news and generally having fun there.  A week ago it was an attempt by 20 of us to get the train conga badge. Sometimes we just help each other with achievements, we offer support to friends who have real life issues, we laugh we cry, we most often have a heap of fun.

    This is very much an open ended sandbox game, and yes it is very new, but as with any game what you put into it matters, if as you say you are doing the same grind, well change it, do something else, Glitch allows you to do that.

    If you are by nature a social person then be social get involved in groups or make your own. Glitch is not about structuring you to play in a certain way, it is about giving you a place to play your way, that is the difference between this game and so many many others including those you mention.

    Not every person who comes here will fall in love with it as many here have, but before you go take one more look, what is it you wish Glitch to be for you? If you know then I believe you have the chance here for it to happen.
    Posted 14 months ago by Faereluth Subscriber! | Permalink