Antichamber

 PC
  • Publisher: Demruth
  • Release Date: Jan 31, 2013
Metascore
82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 50 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 44 out of 50
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 50
  3. Negative: 0 out of 50
  1. The Digital Fix
    Mar 5, 2013
    70
    Like a lot of various other media and art, I can appreciate the technical skill involved in its creation, but find it a tad too vexing for my own personal enjoyment. Maybe this dog’s too old to be taught new tricks; players more able of mind may fare better. But don’t count on it.
  2. Gamer.no
    Feb 6, 2013
    70
    Antichamber teaches you to expect the unexpected, and while some of its later tasks may prove ridiculously difficult, the initial half of the game never seizes to amaze, nor surprise. It may fool you into thinking you have some kind of clue about what’s going on or how to break the mold, but trust me, you don’t.
  3. Toronto Sun
    Mar 6, 2013
    60
    As an experimental bit of game design full of intriguing puzzles that defy earthly geometry, Antichamber is a success. Yet given a choice, I’d much rather spend my time with a more conventional first-person puzzler like Portal 2, Quantum Conundrum or Q.U.B.E. Maybe Antichamber is a little too clever for its own good. Or maybe I’m just dumb.
  5. Eurogamer
    Feb 11, 2013
    60
    In the end, though, it left me cold. Antichamber's frosty and self-satisfied air is preferable to the chummy japery of Kim Swift's Quantum Conundrum, for sure - but both games have made a similar mistake in hiving off half of Portal's personality and expecting it to stand on its own.
  6. Edge Magazine
    Feb 1, 2013
    60
    Antichamber is many things – a remarkable technical achievement, a smart subversion of its genre, a game that plays you as much as you play it – but you're more likely to respect it than enjoy it.
  7. Riot Pixels
    Apr 1, 2013
    55
    Antichamber is an intriguing little experiment. It is both a humble imitation and an attempt to avoid all the trappings and clichés of the genre. Alas, it fails to excite. Unlike Echochrome and Braid, where we bending realities to our will, in this game its creators simply tease us whenever they feel like it.

Awards & Rankings

41
#41 Best PC Game of 2013
60
#60 Most Discussed PC Game of 2013

User Reviews

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User Score
8.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 621 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 485 out of 621
  2. Mixed: 85 out of 621
  3. Negative: 51 out of 621
  1. kingplain
    Feb 11, 2013
    2
    I'm not as charmed with this game as others have been. The basics are you move from one room to the next solving puzzles in a minimalistic 1stI'm not as charmed with this game as others have been. The basics are you move from one room to the next solving puzzles in a minimalistic 1st person world. There's no goal other than connecting the different rooms and seeing all the hint messages along the way. After "beating" an area you'll find yourself either in a new room or right back where you started. After failing a room, the same thing will happen, making it unclear when you should feel like you've accomplished anything. Sometimes the reward is a dead end. Or maybe it's not. Who knows? The controls and physics within the game often lead you to wonder if you passed an area the way you were supposed to or if you stumbled on some exploit they didn't consider or correct. This also robs you of your sense of accomplishment. Most of the puzzles don't take thought or planning, rather experimentation. You just do things until something works and move forward. Sometimes you'll reapply what you stumbled on previously, but most of the puzzles are just mindless poking around. As soon as you understand, the game will move on and introduce something else that will be equally confusing on first inspection. These cheap tricks are what passes for difficulty. The mind-bending stuff is hardly ground breaking. I mean, the original zelda and super mario had repeating mazes. You're not going to mouth the word "wow" unless you're easily impressed and have already prepped by others who swear this is a mind-blowing work of art. I can assure you it's not. The end game plays like an empty/texture-less Doom level. You just stroll along an ill-defined catwalk for 5 minutes and watch an end sequence that nowadays could have been animated by a 10 year old. It is an addicting game. I'll give that. I didn't put it down until I beat it but the same could be said for most browser games. Was it fun? Not really. I feel like most that recommend do so because they think it validates their intelligence and because calling games where nothing happens "art" is in fashion. It feels like someone entirely foreign to video games had a cool idea but lacked basic video game theory to make it rewarding or enjoyable. Everything in the game is smeared with vagueness to cover its shortcomings. It sounds like a bunch of reverse-engineered cop-outs when I hear the game designer explain what's going on. I would recommend if it were a free browser game (because all they need is the addiction part) but as it's not, I cannot. Sorry guys.… Full Review »
  2. TheCoolDude
    Feb 1, 2013
    10
    One of the best puzzle games ever made. In most video games they give you a few options but most of them don't lead anywhere. When the hero isOne of the best puzzle games ever made. In most video games they give you a few options but most of them don't lead anywhere. When the hero is asked "Do you want to save the princess?" It might give you a Yes or No choice but really no matter what you pick, you have to go save the princess. Not in Antichamber. Every decision you make leads somewhere. Turned left instead of right at an intersection? The game will happily let you continue down this path for 20 minutes throwing puzzles at you as you go just to find yourself trapped in a room with no way out. Probably because you missed some really important clue or ignored all the really subtle warnings that you were going the wrong way. This game might just be the most scary games ever made. Its not a fear of something popping out at you and eating your face like most horror games, its a fear of the unknown. Its the same fear you might get before giving a big speech in front of a large audience. What if I make a mistake? What if I forget what I was going to say? What if the audience does not like what I'm about to say? Only now its what if I go down this hallway instead of the other one? What if I close this door behind me and I get trapped? What if this next room has a hidden trap door and I fall into a completely new level? What if I did not find all the items I needed to from the area I can no longer access?
    You can always teleport out by pressing the escape key and start again, but you don't want to. You never want to admit the game beat you or that you fell for such an obvious trap. The game does such an amazing job setting the mood and pulling you in that it almost feels like your trapped for real.
    Overall its one of the best games I have ever played.    … Full Review »
  3. mrdeath5493
    Jan 31, 2013
    10
    I thought after the Portal era, that the first person puzzle genre would be left unexplored for many years to come. I thought I was smart. II thought after the Portal era, that the first person puzzle genre would be left unexplored for many years to come. I thought I was smart. I thought that they didn't make games hard anymore. Antichamber has gently relieved me of these delusions. I've been playing for hours and I don't even think I'm past the first level yet. It seems so abstract, but after grinding away you eventually find the clues cleverly woven into walls, or skillfully hidden in the cryptic language of the signs located throughout. There is no one solution, no single correct way to proceed. You must try and remember everything, and once you devise a possible solution it will no doubt take technical execution.

    I highly recommend this game, but come prepared. I didn't think a game could mentally toy with me like this one has, or be capable of downright stumping me in a manner that ridicules my intelligence. It's challenging and frustrating, but at the same time lots of fun. Games have veered away from the model presented in Antichamber, which is why I believe I like it so much.    … Full Review »
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