Maize (2016)

 PC
User Score
7.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 31 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 31
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 31
  3. Negative: 3 out of 31

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  1. RustyJames
    Dec 15, 2016
    4
    Not more than 4/10. Mystifying and intriguing in the beginning and completely uninteresting after 40-50 minutes of gameplay.
    NOT FUNNY at all! Extremely bad optimisation, very poor sounds, pathetic story. Devs, do you think, that permanent insults from teddy bear with russian accent and idiotic stickers will make this game funny?! Just running simulator with "move that object" puzzles.    Not more than 4/10. Mystifying and intriguing in the beginning and completely uninteresting after 40-50 minutes of gameplay.
    NOT FUNNY at all! Extremely bad optimisation, very poor sounds, pathetic story. Devs, do you think, that permanent insults from teddy bear with russian accent and idiotic stickers will make this game funny?! Just running simulator with "move that object" puzzles. Not even close to good games, like Stanley Parable, Vanishing of Ethan Carter, Dear Esther.    … Expand
  2. Soloux
    Apr 20, 2017
    2
    I will not talk about the "game". (Hint: there is no game it is yet another walking simulator but this time with teddy bear).
    I actually want to ask the developers when they last time visit the eye doctor? This is very honest question. I am concerned about them. True.
  3. ExpertPL
    Dec 10, 2016
    7
    It's for sure not an ordinary adventure game. It's humor is very strange and kind of unique. Graphics and sounds are moderate to say the least, but it's not really a problem in this game, as it looks like the developers realized it nad made sure that despite poor graphic and sound quality, it won't be the thing that matters for players. The game is really short, finished it in 5 hours.It's for sure not an ordinary adventure game. It's humor is very strange and kind of unique. Graphics and sounds are moderate to say the least, but it's not really a problem in this game, as it looks like the developers realized it nad made sure that despite poor graphic and sound quality, it won't be the thing that matters for players. The game is really short, finished it in 5 hours. There are no puzzles in this game (You pick an item and the game tells you what you should use it for, then you look for silhouette of the item suggesting where to place it).

    The strongest advantages of this game are it's characters which behavior is exaggerated (Teddy Bear named Vladdy forever in my heart) and it's humor.    … Expand
  4. Mandulum
    May 21, 2017
    7
    Five Word Review: A fun game about corn.
    Favorite Thing: A decent, dry sense of humor and a rather unique story.
    Least Favorite Thing: I found the store's screenshots deceptive. No matter your settings it's not going to look as good.

    Date Completed: 2017-05-06
    Playtime: ~ 3h
    Enjoyment: 7/10
    Recommendation: Yeah, sure. If you're looking for a quick and enjoyable jaunt.
  5. Sojum
    Jun 3, 2017
    8
    Under-rated game worthy of joining the ranks of Double-Fine in silly, clever adventure games. It's not laugh-out-loud funny, but plenty of the corn-y humor made me smile. It's not a "walking simulation" - an overused term referring to games in which you just wander about and catch snippets of story and nothing more. There's much more hands-on puzzle solving here. In fact you could skip theUnder-rated game worthy of joining the ranks of Double-Fine in silly, clever adventure games. It's not laugh-out-loud funny, but plenty of the corn-y humor made me smile. It's not a "walking simulation" - an overused term referring to games in which you just wander about and catch snippets of story and nothing more. There's much more hands-on puzzle solving here. In fact you could skip the backstory altogether and still complete the game. The puzzles aren't too difficult - you may find yourself searching for a missed passage or item, but once you have them it's not too hard figuring out how to use them. Voice acting is good and the visuals are well enough done. Not for everyone, but if you're a fan of old Lucas Arts games, Monty Python, Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchet you'll find yourself right at home.

    Best Follow-Through on an English Muffin in a Video Game award 2016    … Expand
  6. PublicNuisance
    Mar 4, 2020
    7
    I don’t know what I expected out of Maize when I started it but I’m sure it wasn’t anywhere close to what I got. I mean that in a very positive way. It first hooked me with two words: “sentient corn”. The idea of sentient corn being involved in the game somehow made me very interested. You wake up in a field not knowing why you’re there and you see corn stalks run off when you awake. ThisI don’t know what I expected out of Maize when I started it but I’m sure it wasn’t anywhere close to what I got. I mean that in a very positive way. It first hooked me with two words: “sentient corn”. The idea of sentient corn being involved in the game somehow made me very interested. You wake up in a field not knowing why you’re there and you see corn stalks run off when you awake. This begins your exploration of the farm. Along the way you also meet a cast of equally lovable crazy characters such as a Russian teddy bear with a robotic arm coming out of a backpack who can’t help but insult you at any given opportunity; a white corn stalk who is possibly crazy; a smart ruby corn stalk and more. If you pay close attention to notes left behind you can uncover the back story as to what this facility is and what went on here. I recommend doing so because it is equal parts hilarious; crazy and realistic for anyone who has dealt with incompetent middle management. The story and humor of the game really stand out. I was always amused and wanting to know what happens next. The puzzle parts of the game are a mixed bag. The puzzles are typically well thought out but many times I found myself not seeing items because what I needed was really tiny and while items are highlighted when needed I still didn’t see them. The map design isn’t great either. Some parts of Maize felt like a maze (i’ll see myself out). Seriously though some kind of map system would have been appreciated. Sadly the last part of the game really made me angry and frustrated. It involves a rhythm game you have to complete to continue and I despise rhythm games with all of my being.

    I played Maize on Linux using Valve’s Proton. It never crashed on me when it worked but was temperamental. When I first bought the game it worked on Proton 4.2-9 and I put it on my backlog and then went to play it on Proton 5.0-2 and the game crashed at launch. Luckily when Proton 5.0-3 was released it was back to working. The game has a toggle for Vsync; 4 settings for AA; and 4 graphics options to tinker with. There is no manual saving, just checkpoint saves. The main issue there is the game doesn’t tell you when it saves. I believe it is whenever you find a new object or complete a task but I’m not sure. The games graphics are overall a mixed bag but decent. The flowers are fantastic; as is the detail on characters faces; sun rays; lighting and artwork around levels. Other objects such as fences; pots; and cars are average to below average. There are some flickering textures once in a while as well. The game uses 10.58GB of disk space. The game uses the Unreal engine. It has a 60 FPS lock. Alt-Tab doesn’t work. The game has some performance issues. I played the game on Epic settings at 1080P and the game would often drop to the 40’s and 50’s, especially at the beginning of the game, and would stutter often to the point it would pause for a few seconds when it did. During game play my GPU usage was 42-100%; my VRAM usage was 3131-4368MB; my CPU usage was 9-20%; my RAM usage was 5.8-6.1GB and my frame rate was 29-60 FPS. I played version 1312 of Maize.

    If you can get past some of the shortcomings there is a fantastic game underneath. The humor and the story are worth it alone. It isn’t a punishing puzzle game, common sense will solve them easily. I finished Maize in 4 hours. I paid $5.49 CAD for the game and it is well worth that. I would pay as much as $15 for it overall and even more if they remove that damn rhythm game.

    My Score: 7.5/10

    My System:

    AMD Ryzen 5 2600X | 16GB DDR4-3000 CL15 | MSI RX 580 8GB Gaming X | Mesa 19.3.4 | Samsung 850 Evo 250GB | Manjaro 19.0.2 | Mate 1.24 | Kernel 5.5.7-1-MANJARO | Proton 5.0-3    … Expand
  7. KenyaFerrand
    Jan 2, 2018
    9
    I am so sorry that the critics didn't like this game. I bought it back when I saw John Wolf play it in 2016 and admiralty Its sat for a while in my steam library. I was watching a "worst rated games of 2017 and found out that there wasn't a user score for this on Metacritic so I uploaded it to see if I was just delusional about how fun it was when you tubers played it. I no can say that ifI am so sorry that the critics didn't like this game. I bought it back when I saw John Wolf play it in 2016 and admiralty Its sat for a while in my steam library. I was watching a "worst rated games of 2017 and found out that there wasn't a user score for this on Metacritic so I uploaded it to see if I was just delusional about how fun it was when you tubers played it. I no can say that if you like corny jokes (waggle eyebrows) but this is my kind of humor. I think its a lot like playing a game with just wheatley from portal, your the sane one that gets sucked into the madness, and you just finally grin and accept the angry, ADORABLE, Russian teddy bear. Its cute, fun, and in a world where comedies are all trying to be dark or awkward human its a relief. If you like cartoons like Beetlejuice and other 80's style comedy puns, this could be for you.… Expand
  8. stef_h
    Feb 17, 2017
    8
    I liked it.
    I laughed a few times about the very strange sense of humor the game features.
    A few gags were a bit too cheesy but some others were hilarious.
    And the game is good looking too, i liked the design.
    The riddles of the game are very easy though, so it is more like an walking simulator than an adventure.
    Cordially, Stef
  9. SamosSage
    Aug 17, 2017
    10
    Bizarre, unsettling, and mystical all describe this one-of-a-kind adventure about a group of sentient corn who outsmart man, who stood as both their creator and captor. This 3-hour indie game offers a very select style of humor that not all may enjoy, offers little to no challenge, and contains a few areas where players can get "stuck" quite literally, as in you need to reload the game.Bizarre, unsettling, and mystical all describe this one-of-a-kind adventure about a group of sentient corn who outsmart man, who stood as both their creator and captor. This 3-hour indie game offers a very select style of humor that not all may enjoy, offers little to no challenge, and contains a few areas where players can get "stuck" quite literally, as in you need to reload the game.

    But despite these shortcomings, this game is produced by an indie-developer and should be reviewed as such. For what it's worth, Maize lives up to what it set out to prove. It is, in fact, a puzzle game that will mystify you and offers a story that holds through to the end, which quite handsomely becomes the punchline to this entire game, or more closely put, this entire gag.

    I enjoyed my time with the game, enjoyed the comedy, and enjoyed the story. There were a few hiccups within the game-play, but for me, this is something I would wholeheartedly recommend if you're looking for something different!    … Expand
  10. PolarFox
    Dec 5, 2017
    10
    I played this game and I can say it was one of the best narrative experiences (walking simulator) that I met.
    It's a funny puzzle game that makes you feel smart even if you're probably not so smart. The graphics are stunning, offering the mystery and the intrigue of the farm and the lab, and even if the game is linear it gives you the feeling of the open world through all the details and    I played this game and I can say it was one of the best narrative experiences (walking simulator) that I met.
    It's a funny puzzle game that makes you feel smart even if you're probably not so smart. The graphics are stunning, offering the mystery and the intrigue of the farm and the lab, and even if the game is linear it gives you the feeling of the open world through all the details and funny descriptions that make the game even better .
    And the most important and best part of the game Vladdy (a Russian robot bear) is the best comrade of all the games because it's fun and loyal even if he insults you all the time .
    The game is fun and intriguing with a well-structured and funny story and for 20 euros it's worth all the money    … Expand
  11. Penix
    Sep 18, 2019
    10
    A funny adventure. The setting is promising, the humor got me laughing often enough and the visuals are gorgeous. The only problem is the optimization. The wonderful graphics are not wonderful enough to justify the rather bad performance. But if your pc is good enough to run this game on good graphics (as the gameplay is "walking" for a good amount of time, so then great graphics are theA funny adventure. The setting is promising, the humor got me laughing often enough and the visuals are gorgeous. The only problem is the optimization. The wonderful graphics are not wonderful enough to justify the rather bad performance. But if your pc is good enough to run this game on good graphics (as the gameplay is "walking" for a good amount of time, so then great graphics are the one thing which keeps you away from being bored to death), I can really just recommend you this game.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

15
#15 Most Shared PC Game of 2016

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
65

Mixed or average reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 17
  3. Negative: 1 out of 17
  1. Games.cz
    Feb 14, 2017
    70
    Crazy comedy adventure about intellect-gifted corn. In terms of gameplay it´s not a miracle, but crazy humor and bizarrely intriguing story richly compensates it.
    Read full review
  2. CD-Action
    Feb 13, 2017
    65
    Maize is more memorable than your usual Dear Esther clone. I imagine the developers thinking: “We’re unable to make something outstanding with our budget, so let’s at least make something funny”. And they did. [02/2017, p.48]
  3. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Feb 6, 2017
    40
    Maize is a funny yet imperfect adventure. It doesn’t offer anything better than a story about corn that outsmarted man. An absurd humor won over the gameplay. [Issue #271]
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