Manifold Garden Reviews
I wanted to love Manifold Garden. It has a gorgeous design, thoroughly unique concept, and is wonderfully challenging despite being frustrating at times. Unfortunately, it just makes me too ill to play in the type of bursts I’d like to. If you’re unaffected by motion sickness then there’s a real gem of a puzzler here, but I’d recommend watching some gameplay first to make sure that you’ll be ok – I’ve heard multiple counts of it negatively affecting people who normally have no issues.
Despite the relatively short playtime and little replay value, Manifold Garden is worth exploring. Just be prepared for an existential trip into the world of William Chyr.
Manifold Garden is the best first person puzzle game since Portal 2. Unique spatial mechanics, a world that brings to life M.C. Escher’s work, a winsome art style and masterfully designed puzzles make this one of the easiest recommendations of 2020 so far.
Completing puzzles and unlocking the various ways the game plays with its central mechanic all provide the catharsis of truly understanding each new environment and admiring the clever ways the developer wrapped everything together. From a pure gameplay perspective, it's a bit clunky, but you could say that about the work of many of the great artists and composers. Manifold Garden may not be much of a game, but it's surely an adventure that's worthy of some attention.
And it takes an artist's touch to so masterfully combine gameplay, art direction, architecture, logic puzzles, spacial subversion and audio-visual elements into such a coherent package. I've a feeling Chyr's next project might manifest as an art installation rather than a game. If so, I'll be holding my breath for a fall as I step tentatively through the doorway.
Manifold Garden offers an experience both challenging and stunning, in equal measures. With absolutely beautiful visuals and a set of simple mechanics it cleverly takes to its limits, it is not an exaggeration to affirm we are before one of this genre’s best and most creative games. Above all, Manifold Garden is memorable and easily recommendable, even to those less used to puzzle games.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Manifold Garden is a wonderful, mind-bending puzzle experience. After 7 years of development, the five or so hours of the game are unique yet familiar. There is nothing else quite like it, and is one of the best puzzle games ever created.
Manifold Garden is a really special game, with its beautifully hypnotic world and enjoyable puzzle design making for a truly unique experience. Admittedly, some of the puzzles themselves can be pretty simple in design and there aren’t too many intricate mechanics involved, but you won’t mind too much given how mind-blowing the game world is to explore.
Manifold Garden is a stunning puzzle game, one that will leave a lasting impact on you, not just for its thought-provoking puzzles, but by virtue of the fact that you're essentially playing an actual piece of art. It's bloody delightful!
Part of my love for indies is that the best of them dare to be different and then unapologetically deliver something new that challenges and defies your normal expectations...
Manifold Garden is a gorgeous puzzler that is something very different. It will test you and reward you in equal measure for a very unique experience.
The star of the Manifold Garden show is far and away its presentation, and witnessing it in motion is worth the asking price alone. It's just a shame the puzzles themselves can't quite hit those same levels of spectacularity.
From world to world you go deeper and deeper, trembling with fear of a new complex task that seems impassable. Perhaps this is the most important thing you need to know about Manifold Garden, apart from the addictive desire to continue fighting puzzles and a slight dizziness.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Manifold Garden delivers a unique, exciting world to explore with some mind-bending environments that tightly integrate with its puzzles and play systems. While it doesn’t reinvent the genre, it experiments in some exciting and playful ways that make it a memorable experience you’ll hang onto long after you’ve finished.
William Chyr’s passion project is among my favorite first-person puzzlers for its ambitious scope, entrancing visuals, and brain-breaking conundrums.
There are plenty of titles that share some common DNA with Manifold Garden but when it really gets into the zone, there's nothing else on the market like it. It brought out feelings in me I've never felt from a video game. I demanded others I know experience it in a way I haven't since the first time I tried VR. At its best, I forgot I was playing a video game, surrendering completely to the audio and visual experience while taking on challenging but not overwhelming puzzles.
But most of all, Manifold Garden makes me break out in a cold sweat. I cannot help but imagine myself, trapped in an endless kaleidoscope.
Manifold Garden is an incredibly stylish first-person puzzler, like walking through the architectural drawings of a pandimensional designer.
Manifold Garden is a nice and pleasant title, especially to play it off and on and avoid saturation.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Mesmerising and thrilling, this is a puzzle game for the ages.