Grotto

 PC
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 5 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 5
  3. Negative: 0 out of 5
  1. GameCritics
    Nov 10, 2021
    70
    Grotto can be best recommended to those who can look past simple, repetitive gameplay in service of a thick and emotional story. All others should look elsewhere.
  2. The Indie Game Website
    Oct 26, 2021
    70
    Though the process of playing it can occasionally drift into tedium, it’s worth working through the repetition to see the game to its eventual conclusion. In Grotto your choices matter. But they matter in the same way your choices matter in the real world: in ways you can’t see in the moment and may never see at all.
  3. Multiplayer.it
    Nov 2, 2021
    65
    Grotto is a heartfelt, visually brilliant narrative game, but its lack of gameplay and interactions tend to eradicate its artistic value.
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  1. Rock, Paper, Shotgun
    Oct 19, 2021
    After several months of stalling and dogged perseverance, I finally finished a 350-page book about the art and struggle of being a Japanese literary translator the other week, and not once did it get me thinking about words and language in the same way Grotto did over the course of five hours. When a game provokes these kinds of feelings in me, I don't mind so much if the choices I'm making are actually a little bit fake. Grotto stands on its own as an engaging story about the way we communicate with others and how their meaning can be polluted and morphed over time, and I reckon fans of such things will likely enjoy it even if the game-y aspects of it feel a little undercooked. If it's a meaningful, branching narrative you're after, though, then you'll be better off finding a different rabbit hole to hunker down in than Brainwash Gang's Grotto.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
6.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 5 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 5
  3. Negative: 2 out of 5
  1. Ciocolici
    Aug 30, 2023
    4
    I've really tried to force myself to like this game, considering how much it was loved in the reviews on Steam, but my efforts were in vain.I've really tried to force myself to like this game, considering how much it was loved in the reviews on Steam, but my efforts were in vain.

    This game is essentially a binary answer simulator. The entire gameplay loop is confined within a grotto. A character appears, delivers 2-3 sentences, poses a question, and you're expected to determine whether the gods approve. How is this accomplished? You walk to the opposite side of the grotto, where you must connect stars and select a constellation. Subsequently, you return to the respective character, present the appropriate constellation as your answer, and hope that they will interpret your message accurately. Once done, you wake up, and the same cycle repeats with another character. And then again, and again. Occasionally, one of two other events takes place: an encounter in which something or someone with an ominous demeanor communicates with you, or a moment where you literally "roll some bones" to receive what resembles a sentence-vision.

    This essentially sums up the game. While a storyline is present, much like the characters, it held potential. However, the repetitive and nonsensical gameplay left me hoping for a swift conclusion. Ultimately, it was a brief and uninteresting experience.    … Full Review »
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