Small Radios Big Televisions

Everybody’s gone to some kind of rapture in Small Radios Big Televisions. It’s a rapture devoid of physical labor or mental exertion, but one of technological transcendence. It’s a game of sensible puzzles, though a few still stumped me. It’s a game owning its simple art style, but assembles itself in broad strokes with bold geometry. And it’s a game of meditative musicality, though willing to occasionally strip down my senses or hit rewind on my complacent ears. Small Radios Big Televisions is short, but it takes you deeper, once you stop working so hard for it.

Small Radios Big Televisions is strange, but it absorbs you and won't let you go till you finish it. A dark story, well-executed (although simplistic) puzzles and a quite original art style.

A different kind of puzzle game, perfect for those who want something not very hard, but a calm proposal.

The self-indulgent climax, trippy as it is, ultimately doesn’t make good on all of the build-up that had led to that point.

Pointless in VR, but still a compelling puzzler. [Issue#183, p.83]

It’s not a bad puzzle game by any means, and the virtual worlds add intrigue and wonder, but overall you won’t be going back after finishing the two-hour playthrough.

Small Radios Big Televisions is a good game to wind-down and play after a tough day. That is, until it starts to turn on you and needlessly stresses you out.

Small Radios Big Televisions is an interesting project and those keen on trying it out should either wait for the game to go on sale or watch a Let’s Play on YouTube. With no real challenges to test your mettle and a game length of just under two hours, it doesn’t come with much staying power. It might be more fun as a VR game, given the premise and the places the cassette tapes reveal. Either way, there is little more to the game outside of it being a “Hey, check this out” experience.

Small Radios Big Televisions isn’t a bad game by any means, its beautifully animated style, coupled with a synth led soundtrack, creates an amazing environment in which to explore its well-thought-out puzzles and interesting level design. At times though, it just lacks direction.

While very short and suffering from some control issues, Small Radios Big Televisions mostly succeeds in delivering a fun, bizarre adventure game. Its presentation is its greatest strength, offering moments of tranquility and also of total obscurity. It's a shame that the puzzles never grow beyond their initial design, as the premise practically begs to be expanded upon.

Small Radios Big Televisions is bold in so far as it offers very little gameplay and is surprisingly repetitive for a game that will last you two hours. There's merit here from an artistic point of view but the game is a victim of its own narrow viewpoint and the fact that artsy non-games aren't exactly rare these days.

Small Radios Big Televisions is the embodiment of style over substance, providing a beautiful world that warrants exploration, yet does not provide the tools or the desire to do so.

Small Radios Big Televisions has visual style to spare, but the lack of depth in both narrative and gameplay make this oddball experience worth skipping.