Haunting, beautiful
I was so excited to find this on Steam for my sister, and then came to check back in on the app. To my horror, my star rating for an older, broken version had never updated. Allow me to resolve this by reviewing in both places, because Penrose is one of my favorite games in the world.
I’m about to sound really pretentious, so I have to emphasize upfront that Penrose has something for anyone who loves stories. It’s very accessible without being shallow.
This game deserves to be so much more widely known. For a very simple, largely text-based interface, the graphic design is immaculate, allowing for quiet immersion in the story and excellent sound design. This might sound silly, but as a person with ADHD sensory issues, I have to point out the actually-for-once perfect dark mode color choices. On that same note, this is the only game I will never play without the background music on. It’s mournful and mysterious and never grating, setting a perfect ambience to the story.
The writing is clean and economical while remaining engaging and lovely. Purpose-driven yet immersive. Some may respond negatively to the mystery and the requisite imagination the story demands, but in the age of Content, Penrose is a work of artisanal craft and a standout journey. Exploration is so hard to blend with narrative even in a fully rendered 3D environment, and yet this interactive novella manages to inspire a sense of cohesion and discovery with an elegance one almost never encounters in interactive media. It’s an experience that has stayed with me for years and always will.
I’m about to sound really pretentious, so I have to emphasize upfront that Penrose has something for anyone who loves stories. It’s very accessible without being shallow.
This game deserves to be so much more widely known. For a very simple, largely text-based interface, the graphic design is immaculate, allowing for quiet immersion in the story and excellent sound design. This might sound silly, but as a person with ADHD sensory issues, I have to point out the actually-for-once perfect dark mode color choices. On that same note, this is the only game I will never play without the background music on. It’s mournful and mysterious and never grating, setting a perfect ambience to the story.
The writing is clean and economical while remaining engaging and lovely. Purpose-driven yet immersive. Some may respond negatively to the mystery and the requisite imagination the story demands, but in the age of Content, Penrose is a work of artisanal craft and a standout journey. Exploration is so hard to blend with narrative even in a fully rendered 3D environment, and yet this interactive novella manages to inspire a sense of cohesion and discovery with an elegance one almost never encounters in interactive media. It’s an experience that has stayed with me for years and always will.
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Response from developer
Ouf, still crashing on iOS15 after the 1.1.0 update? Grrr... I'm also pretty shocked about the text cutting off: it definitely shouldn't do that. I'm gonna fix it, I promise! Edit: Try it now! Hopefully 1.1.1 actually fixes the problem. Edit 2: I think I fixed the text cutoff in 1.1.2. Sorry for all the nonsense, and thanks for your help 😅
It's perfect
This is my prime example of video games being used as an artform. This game is, and I will absolutely not exaggerate this, beautiful.
Doublespeak, I first found you playing stacklands online. Please, never stop creating your games; they're incredible.
Doublespeak, I first found you playing stacklands online. Please, never stop creating your games; they're incredible.
I had a spiritual experience playing this game
I genuinely cannot think of a game that has affected me this deeply in a long time. It is an experience that can only exist as a game and I think that makes it even more beautiful and profound. It had me feeling at times like a genius and at other times a monster.
Obsessed
The writing, the characters, the story 😫😫😫 If you like character driven puzzle stories TRY THIS
Amazing interactive story
If you love reading and wish to feel more engaged in the story , this game is perfect for you! The game mechanics are unique and weird and allow you to navigate the different timelines of the characters. I loved getting to know each character more and more as the story progressed and the end of the game is mind blowing! Truly a work of art ! Good job Townsend! ❤️
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Incredible hidden gem
Made by the genius who created “a dark room” and the genre busting “Gridland”, this is peak narrative storytelling. Honestly I was blown away, is there anything this dev doesn’t bring to the next level. Astonishing game!
Good, some odd grammatical choices
The writing is overall great, the story is captivating and the puzzles are fun to solve. My only issue is at some points the grammar of the writing feels as though I'm reading something that has been directly translated from another language. I continued assuming it was a style choice that I was missing, but after thinking it through I really don't think it is. The errors are small but they shine out in a story with verbose vocabulary and correct usage of semicolons. I'm more puzzled than upset by it.
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this game is just. wow
I was a little annoyed that the browser version was just the demo but you know what. If it wasn’t for that I might’ve never played this game. The mechanics are extremely simple but the writing is incredible. It’s a bit of a hidden gem but I’d honestly be willing to pay more than I did for that experience.
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Almost the Perfect Game
I started playing on my browser without realizing it was just a demo, but didn’t hesitate to get the app because the story had sucked me in. The only
drawback is that once you “finish” the game, it locks you into the title screen and you can’t go back to read the story or see which paths you missed. Would 100% be 5+ stars if you didn’t get locked out of a game you paid for :\
drawback is that once you “finish” the game, it locks you into the title screen and you can’t go back to read the story or see which paths you missed. Would 100% be 5+ stars if you didn’t get locked out of a game you paid for :\
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Best played with headphones, reading in the dark
This is a game I’ve spent more time than I’d usually admit thinking about. Best played slowly, thoroughly, and defiantly more than one.
The music really makes it, and left me staring into space more as I realized what it was telling me.
You’ll want to be a part of it
The music really makes it, and left me staring into space more as I realized what it was telling me.
You’ll want to be a part of it
Fantastic Story and Developer
I stumbled on this after playing A Dark Room for the first time. Really a fantastic developer. This is an exceptionally gripping story. The kind that will leave you processing for days. If you finish and want more of an explanation. Search for Continuities on Reddit.
Criminally underrated
This game is incredibly well done and put together. It honestly makes me sad how little recognition there is for it. Legitimately one of the best games I’ve ever played, though it even makes me question what is even considered a game. I can only hope that one day this game gets the recognition and praise it deserves.
10/10 flawless. A masterpiece
10/10 flawless. A masterpiece
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Wow
I am quite honestly blown away. I’ve played most of the other games made by Doublespeak and they were a lot of fun; seeing the price on this one and the fact that it was an app and not a website gave me high expectations, and the game delivered.
The story is presented at just the right pace, unraveling itself slowly and keeping the reader guessing. The interactivity is super original and super unique; I found myself putting off an hour of my time to just keep going. The music is really nice and sets the mood and theme of the story.
I did not expect the complexity and intricacy put into this game. This was worth the dollar I spent and much more.
The story is presented at just the right pace, unraveling itself slowly and keeping the reader guessing. The interactivity is super original and super unique; I found myself putting off an hour of my time to just keep going. The music is really nice and sets the mood and theme of the story.
I did not expect the complexity and intricacy put into this game. This was worth the dollar I spent and much more.
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Perfect on web but… (UPDATE)
Tested it again, app works perfectly!
Updated review as promised… now I’m off to continue this wild story 😆
<previous review, issue now fully resolved>
Great story, can’t wait to pick up where I left off from the web demo, but I’m still having the same issues the other reviewers are getting. It looks as if the last line of every paragraph has been erased and left an open space. To the dev: I appreciate the story and the work you’ve put into this. If you want to see screenshots of what it looks like, reach back out to me. I’m on iOS 15.2, iPhone XR. Once this is fixed I’ll be happy to update the review! Thanks again
Updated review as promised… now I’m off to continue this wild story 😆
<previous review, issue now fully resolved>
Great story, can’t wait to pick up where I left off from the web demo, but I’m still having the same issues the other reviewers are getting. It looks as if the last line of every paragraph has been erased and left an open space. To the dev: I appreciate the story and the work you’ve put into this. If you want to see screenshots of what it looks like, reach back out to me. I’m on iOS 15.2, iPhone XR. Once this is fixed I’ll be happy to update the review! Thanks again
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Response from developer
Hey, at least it's not crashing instantly on iOS15 now! Progress! 😅 Edit: I think I fixed the text cut-off in 1.1.2. Thanks for your patience!
Halfway there
Update 2: The good news is, it runs on the iPhone 12 Pro Max! Good job!
The other good news is, I can tell you more specifically where the text is cutting off. The bad news is, obviously, the text is still cutting off. (Do you need QA help with these models? I’m starting to feel bad updating this, finicky as Apple can be. You can email okayadelaide at everyone’s favorite Google service if you do, honestly.)
Wrapping only seems to break on the last line of a paragraph and on single-sentence paragraphs. Line wrap works fine so long as there’s another sentence following the period.
Easiest example, since we can’t post screenshots:
Small font size, portrait mode: “The radio bursting with static, Cat’s voice barely”
Small font size, landscape mode: “The radio bursting with static, Cat’s voice barely distinguishable in the sibilance.”
Medium, portrait: “The radio bursting with static, Cat’s [break] voice barely distinguishable in the”
Medium, landscape: “The radio bursting with static, Cat’s voice barely distinguishable in the sibilance.”
Large, portrait: “The radio bursting with [break] static, Cat’s voice barely [break] distinguishable in the”
Large, landscape: “The radio bursting with static, Cat’s voice barely distinguishable in the”
The other good news is, I can tell you more specifically where the text is cutting off. The bad news is, obviously, the text is still cutting off. (Do you need QA help with these models? I’m starting to feel bad updating this, finicky as Apple can be. You can email okayadelaide at everyone’s favorite Google service if you do, honestly.)
Wrapping only seems to break on the last line of a paragraph and on single-sentence paragraphs. Line wrap works fine so long as there’s another sentence following the period.
Easiest example, since we can’t post screenshots:
Small font size, portrait mode: “The radio bursting with static, Cat’s voice barely”
Small font size, landscape mode: “The radio bursting with static, Cat’s voice barely distinguishable in the sibilance.”
Medium, portrait: “The radio bursting with static, Cat’s [break] voice barely distinguishable in the”
Medium, landscape: “The radio bursting with static, Cat’s voice barely distinguishable in the sibilance.”
Large, portrait: “The radio bursting with [break] static, Cat’s voice barely [break] distinguishable in the”
Large, landscape: “The radio bursting with static, Cat’s voice barely distinguishable in the”
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Response from developer
Ouf, still crashing on iOS15 after the 1.1.0 update? Grrr... I'm also pretty shocked about the text cutting off: it definitely shouldn't do that. I'm gonna fix it, I promise! Edit: Try it now! Hopefully 1.1.1 actually fixes the problem. Edit 2: I think I fixed the text cutoff in 1.1.2. Sorry for all the nonsense, and thanks for your help 😅
Great game, pity it doesn’t work on the 13 pro
I really enjoyed the game the first time I played it through. Went to play it agai and it doesn’t even launch on my new 13 pro/iOS 15.
Hope they fix it soon.
Hope they fix it soon.
Response from developer
Just pushed an update that should fix iOS15. Let me know if it's still broken.
Great game.
A great game and with a good UI as well.
Though one option ild like at the end is to go back so i can grab the ones I haven’t seen.
Also a sequel or something explaining a bit more the ending leaves a few questions for me.
Also just to add i fully recommend buying Penrose its well worth the money.
Though one option ild like at the end is to go back so i can grab the ones I haven’t seen.
Also a sequel or something explaining a bit more the ending leaves a few questions for me.
Also just to add i fully recommend buying Penrose its well worth the money.
Abrupt ending
I found myself slamming face first into the ending.
Feature request: let players see if they completed the map of story points. I’m left with an awful feeling that I missed something and have no way to go back now. Like I never got to try entering both of the suggested angles.
Why have the cool story map, if you can’t even see at the end whether you checked all the circles or not?
Also, why can’t you go back through the game after you’ve finished? The game just gives you a title screen and kicks you out for good. I would like to go back in and look closer at things I might have missed or sped through WITHOUT playing through the *entire* game again.
The plot is interesting, but when there’s a HUGE wall of text and you have to bounce up and down and up and down through that massive text it quickly becomes a headache. And solving how to progress is not always intuitive; I especially got stuck where the only options were to change whether the brother goes left or right and had to scroll ENDLESSLY through the mountain of text to see what I had missed. The button to jump to changing a decision is often finicky. It will confusingly grey out if you’re within 5 miles of an existing decision. And most of the time I needed to jump to a name to change perspective; a button to do that would be very useful.
The plot falls off the rails towards the end. Specifically *mild spoilers* where they leave town for CA at the end of one chapter and abruptly each of them is who knows where in time and location without explanation. From there on explanations are out the window and it takes the carefully crafted plot of the first half, dumps it into a blender, and produces a jumbled mess.
Who is the woman Cat is with? You don’t know, also she doesn’t even have a name. How did you meet her? Who knows. Why aren’t you in California? Plot got bored and missed the exit I guess. And apparently there are self-driving cars now? So, maybe there was a time jump? It feels like a whole lot of missing plot.
I will forever wonder if the plot would have radically changed if I had entered a different angle to paint, so I’m left with a feeling of utter irritation with this game and nothing else. All the other gripes would have been minor but getting kicked out with no resolution as to whether I got the correct ending (if there is one) or if I saw all of the plot points is EXTREMELY frustrating for someone who enjoys narrative games!
Feature request: let players see if they completed the map of story points. I’m left with an awful feeling that I missed something and have no way to go back now. Like I never got to try entering both of the suggested angles.
Why have the cool story map, if you can’t even see at the end whether you checked all the circles or not?
Also, why can’t you go back through the game after you’ve finished? The game just gives you a title screen and kicks you out for good. I would like to go back in and look closer at things I might have missed or sped through WITHOUT playing through the *entire* game again.
The plot is interesting, but when there’s a HUGE wall of text and you have to bounce up and down and up and down through that massive text it quickly becomes a headache. And solving how to progress is not always intuitive; I especially got stuck where the only options were to change whether the brother goes left or right and had to scroll ENDLESSLY through the mountain of text to see what I had missed. The button to jump to changing a decision is often finicky. It will confusingly grey out if you’re within 5 miles of an existing decision. And most of the time I needed to jump to a name to change perspective; a button to do that would be very useful.
The plot falls off the rails towards the end. Specifically *mild spoilers* where they leave town for CA at the end of one chapter and abruptly each of them is who knows where in time and location without explanation. From there on explanations are out the window and it takes the carefully crafted plot of the first half, dumps it into a blender, and produces a jumbled mess.
Who is the woman Cat is with? You don’t know, also she doesn’t even have a name. How did you meet her? Who knows. Why aren’t you in California? Plot got bored and missed the exit I guess. And apparently there are self-driving cars now? So, maybe there was a time jump? It feels like a whole lot of missing plot.
I will forever wonder if the plot would have radically changed if I had entered a different angle to paint, so I’m left with a feeling of utter irritation with this game and nothing else. All the other gripes would have been minor but getting kicked out with no resolution as to whether I got the correct ending (if there is one) or if I saw all of the plot points is EXTREMELY frustrating for someone who enjoys narrative games!
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Great game
Really love how you see the same story from different perspectives. That story look well put and intriguing. Well done
A revelation for gamers and readers
Many apps and games brag about interactive storytelling, but I’ve never seen it done so well as I have here. I’ve yet to finish Penrose, but the way it allows you to see multiple sides of the same story is masterful and I can only hope that the creators make more similar content!
