General game information

Game name: Human: Fall Flat

Release date: 22 Jul, 2016

Price: $14.99

Available on: Steam, Humble Store, Bundlestars

Genre: Physics puzzler with bits of exploration

Developer: No Brakes Games

Gameplay video:

When I started playing Human: Fall Flat I thought I was going to hate it. The main character, a humanoid figure named Bob, moved his limbs in a slow and infuriating manner, and there was no apparent objective to accomplish. The environment seemed somewhat interesting, yet at the same time quite normal, and the only thing that stood out was the visual design of the player character (which resembled a fighter in Gang Beasts) and the game’s sound design, which was superb.

I kept playing, but I already had the idea that the game wasn’t going to be very good. The first level was a cakewalk, and I’m not a skilled puzzle game player. Normally, that’s where I’d cut my losses and leave the game aside, but the game’s level transition screen caught my attention. Instead of just showing me a chart of my failures and a score, the game simply continued. The little blobby guy fell through the air and landed on a new level, which actually looked pretty interesting.

I started the new level with a renewed interest in the game, and the gamble paid off. Instead of the simple mechanics that greeted me in the beginning section, now I had to figure out how to deal with obstacles that had were similar, but just a bit out of Bob’s small jumping range. I had to learn how to manipulate the environment so that it worked on my favor, and I also had to contend with my character’s limitations. The game was now quite similar to Grow Home in a way, and that was good.

The following level upped the stakes by no small amount, and by then I was completely sold. Aside from a few quirks that stem from Human: Fall Flat‘s reliance on floppy physics, most of the puzzles were fun, and in the few situations where that wasn’t the case, they could be skipped.

I would say that Human: Fall Flat is a game that can satisfy both puzzle game aficionados, and people who doesn’t normally enjoy the genre. It’s designed in a way that eases the player into the game’s mechanics, and then lets them loose in a beautifully crafted world, where they can choose to tackle the designer’s puzzles or find a way to skip them.

I didn’t try the local cooperative mode, but from what I read over the web it’s even more fun that playing the game alone, which is already quite fun.

Don’t be discouraged by the clumsy controls or the slow start, the journey quickly picks up and I think that it was definitely worth my time.