Fract Osc is a musical exploration game. You arrive in a forgotten place and explore the vast and unfamiliar landscape to discover the secrets of a world built on sound. You rebuild its machinery by solving puzzles and bring the world back to life by shaping sound and creating music in the game.
Very Positive
610 Steam reviews
| LANGUAGE | AUDIO | SUBTITLES | INTERFACE |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Y | — | Y |
FRACT OSC is a trippy puzzle game that reminds me of the old-school puzzlers like Myst in the way it explains very little and focuses on your exploration. The environment and atmosphere is great and I enjoyed the soundtrack as well. It's definitely not for everyone, but I enjoyed it.
Fantastic game, love playing with sound to progress, and the environment is very engaging.
Still love this oldie. We need a sequel!
Meh, no story, simple puzzles, and SLOW movement. Only interesting thing you can do is create music with it but only after "beating," the game.
This game is great for those that appreciate electronic music, atmospheric gameplay, and puzzle solving. There is VERY LITTLE direction. There are subtle hints if you pick up on them. This reminds me of playing through Myst the first time. Pick up on the patterns and clues.
This game was infuriating in every way possible. From game design, to controls, map layout, and even the music which this game is supposed to be all about.
The map is confusing and not designed to helpfully guide the player through it. It felt like navigating the map and finding the next puzzle was the actual puzzle. Also. This map has so many dead-ends and uneven terrain that you can't even jump over. You can't jump. The games makes you feel like you should be able to. Also running? Almost non-existent. Get ready to waste all of your time moving around.
Puzzles were also just dumb. Not always the hardest thing but I felt like most of my solutions were always wrong, despite solving the puzzle. The game tries to teach you how to use their music machine but all it taught me was how to guess how to use it.
The music? What music? It's sort of there. You get some neat beats when you solve your current puzzle but the second you walk away it becomes dead silent, save for some random ambience sounds here and there. You will spend most of your time playing in silence.
Controls and options were bad to. Menu options are abysmal, not even a volume slider. Which is crazy for a game about music. Also, the way to interact with the world is so convoluted and unnecessary.
I guess the game is sorta pretty when it's not completely blinding you with colours or awful level and UI/UX design.
I genuinely hated playing this game. I regret buying this game all those years ago.
Don't buy this game. Don't even buy it on sale. The concept sounds neat but everything that makes up that concept is awful and should be avoided.
Awful level design and very bad puzzles, both in terms of mechanics and execution.
Sadly, it isn't really worth anyone's time.
One of my most favorite games. The premise is simple; traverse the huge underground labyrinth and try to put the missing pieces of the musical puzzle together. If you loved The Witness, you'll love this game. It's devilishly difficult and in it's own right! What looks to be simple beats and music is far from the truth. You'll have to not only navigate this massive world to find specific places to go to, you'll have to figure out how each puzzle works. Turn this, click this, slide this and move this around to find the proper beat and sound to make the music needed to further your exploration of this world. Sounds easy, but it isn't! There is so much to explore and YOU WILL GET LOST. It's that big.
If puzzles are your bag and you love music this game is for you. Once I start it's hard for me to quit! It's just that addictive. The graphics are a WONDER to behold and there is so much to see....this game is PURE EYE CANDY. What looks so minimalist is far from the truth. YOU WILL BE SHOCKED at just how well this game works, plays and even allows full freedom to go wherever you want at anytime. It's a complete OPEN WORLD. There is nothing stopping you from going from one brain scratcher to another area until you can figure out what you need to do next in the last. There is so much to do and see it's no joke.
Running on an HP Z4 9940X with 64GB RAM, EVGA 3060 RTX (12GB) and an SSD and you're set. I'm also running in Manjaro Linux which is breath of fresh air from the EVIL windows OS. It runs flawlessly and I am for one so drawn and hooked into the world of FRACT OSC!
This game is worth EVERY PENNY FOLKS. YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED!
This game has no words. Instead, its reality is made from sound crystallized into a solid form and sent through machines to create pure music. It's a fun experience for people who are deeply interested in synthesized music.
If you like walking sims, making music, and puzzles, you'll have a good time. No story or dialogue to speak of.
The synthesizer you build is pretty impressive and versatile, too.
I have no clue what is going on or why but I enjoyed almost every moment of it. it speaks to me on an abstract level. its art and sound. that may sound pretentious but its really not. if you like raves you'll like this. if you can't figure out a puzzle you can usually brute force it with enough tries.
I don't think anybody else has done music puzzles better than FRACT OSC. This game asks you to explore and have fun in a way that feels interesting and creative, without ever making its puzzles too convoluted or complicated. It's a series of formidably simple puzzle ideas done really well, with a ton of audio feedback. All of the game's polish is in the audio and in responding to the events happening on screen. The audio really heightens the experience in a way that I think other puzzle games struggle to do meaningfully. The puzzles aren't pushovers, but they remain limited in scope in a way to always have a meaningful relationship to the music.
Unfortunately, I found myself getting lost and teleporting back to checkpoints often. I'm the kind of person who loves tresspassing, and I spent a lot of time deliberately checking boring-looking corners and walkways for potential "stuff". I found it hard to feel like my time exploring was 100% worth it, especially with how many death planes there are to try and put you back on the right course. Frustratingly, a lot of achievements ask you to explore caves that look nearly identical to ones that will either respawn you immediately, or get you stuck and require you to respawn yourself. Even the main progress feels a bit confusing at times to navigate, as the whole world is large and takes time to navigate.
Despite that, this game contains a truly unparalleled level of love for synthesis and electronic music. It comes with its own rudimentary step sequencer and in-game virtual synthesizers, so you can get a feel for making music without knowing any theory or having to learn any new professional tools. It's good clean fun for aspiring music producers and I think it excels at being an interesting puzzle game with something new to offer.
After having mostly beaten the game many years ago, returning to the inside of this music machine has helped me slow down in gaming. The surrealist TRONesque landscapes, the travel and taking in the whole of the world, the sound of the puzzles and the Synesthesia qualities they evoke - this game gives you space to explore a different perspective. That perspective being on the inside of a synthesizer of course :)
bom puzzle + musicas
Explore a dark cyberscape which itself is a massive electronic instrument. Dynamically you'll quietly see far off structures that beckon you with their absolutely brutal facade that house oddly rhythmic and melodic puzzleboxes. Maybe a little frustrating at first but it never gets too hard to figure out. Recommend.
It feels to me like ever since The Stanley Parable came out, every other puzzle game tries to incorporate a snarky, sarcastic tone or insert some forced meta commentary, so it felt really good to play a puzzle game that was straightforward and just focused on being fun, even if this title isn't actually all that new. The game's surreal atmosphere does a great job of enticing you to go forward and explore as you solve one puzzle after another. The neon visuals work together with the game's unique incorporation of music to not only solve each puzzle, but get really immersed in them. There were a few times where it wasn't completely clear where you were supposed to go or how a puzzle was meant to be solved, but those instances were rare. Otherwise, the difficulty of the puzzles was mostly a perfect balance between not being too hard, nor being too easy. The game isn't too long, but if you're looking for a great, well-crafted puzzle experience, I'd highly recommend this one.
I like playing with different DAWs and synthesizers. Patching synths together with MIDI and jamming a session is a lot of fun. I've also always liked taking any kind of sound and seeing what I can do with it using programs like Audacity.
To me, all the above is much more fun than FRACT OSC. I really wanted to like it since it seems right in my wheelhouse for fun, but it's not. What comes to mind is what a reviewer said about Zachtronics games - a Turing Tarpit but on a different level of frustration. There is a creepy abstractness about being in FRACT OSC and for me it just never equated to fun, creativity or satisfaction.
I absolutely adore this game. It makes me very happy to play it. It is visually stunning, absolutely gorgeous. The music is wonderful, I love how it adapts and changes as I solve the puzzles. I love just wandering around in this world, taking in the views and listening to the music. I wish I could play this game for the first time again. It is criminally underrated and I want to recommend it to everyone I meet. I just auauaioiuuioo I love this game so so so much.
Neat puzzle game. Not sure what to do once I unlock all the instruments, but there's some more lock icons in the studio. Maybe someone more musically inclined will figure it out. I enjoyed it, and it basically comes with a free music mixer once you figure out how to turn everything on.
It's a bit niche. Not super complicated in terms of puzzle solving. I feel like finishing it at some point but it requires the right mood. Maybe in the winter...
GREAT GAME GREAT CONCEPT , GREAT EXECUTION!
THANKS FRACT OSC DEV.
Lovely. Black and Glow. Easy puzzles, wonderful music.
While the concept is interesting, the level design needs a lot of work. i find myself getting turned around looking for the puzzles and struggling to get over the intended ramps and through some paths than i do actually trying to solve puzzles. unless you are looking for a very infuriating walk simulator with the occasional puzzle and no ability to control the games volumes from within the game's menu despite being built around audio, i would not suggest playing.
Total trip and a good game. Fond memories.
Un des jeux indés qui m'a le plus influencée de toute ma vie.
Même 7 ans après l'avoir découvert, je trouve son concept toujours aussi pertinent, frais et exécuté avec une grande finesse.
Certes, je suis moins emballée qu'avant par son aspect exploration, qui peut devenir un peu mou quand on le connaît déjà, mais la force esthétique rétro-futuriste de FRACT OSC reste toujours bien présente et absolument unique dans son traitement via le gameplay de puzzles musicaux qui impliquent directement le joueur. Il ne s'agit pas de simplement résoudre des énigmes pour avancer, elles font totalement corps avec le monde ; ainsi l'interactivité du jeu devient franchement remarquable quand on entend toutes les mélodies, lignes de basse et instruments que l'ont a aidées à agencer au fil de l'aventure, s'accumuler et se rassembler progressivement jusqu'au grand final, tout en changeant l'environnement au fil de nos pas !!
Mais encore plus que ça, le plus gros point fort de FRACT OSC, qui est assez évident si vous vous intéressez de près ou de loin à la musique, c'est qu'il vous offre la possibilité de composer vos propres morceaux ! Une fois le jeu "fini", sa seconde couche vidéo-ludique se révèle pleinement, et il se transforme en véritable logiciel de composition musicale avec assez d'options et de sons différents pour créer des albums entiers, pour peu que vous ayez envie de vous y plonger. Vous avez des samples pour vous aider, des rythmes que vous pouvez réagencer, une interface claire et agréable, bref un séquenceur complet qui, personnellement, m'a occupée largement plus d'heures que le jeu de base !
Extrêmement atypique, si je ne devais retenir qu'un jeu indé parmi tous ceux qui offrent une expérience saisissante sur la musique et le sound design, je pense que ce serait FRACT OSC !
I actually wanted to give the game a third chance, but have now decided not to, it's just like with music, if I don't like it why should I listen to it again? Before I downloaded the game the description of FRACT really appealed to me, I didn't have super high expectations but I was really looking forward to it. With the first few rounds in the game I was immediately disappointed and a little frustrated, everything was confusing, lots of graphic errors and malfunctions in the gameplay and with audio/sound. I left the first session thinking: oh my god what was that? A few days later I tried again, unfortunately with similar results. Therefore, and I don't like doing this, unfortunately both thumbs down. I've read some reviews where players seem to have had a positive experience, and if that was the case then good for them, even if I have to wonder if we really played the same thing, because the game clearly has some issues, and not just a few.
A beautiful musical puzzle game. Enjoy the views of the vast synthesizer world and unlock new areas of it to be able to create your own music..
Une superbe expérience de puzzle basé sur les sons.
Il manque peut-être une fin plus appuyée.
I remember being very hyped and then slightly disappointed, when the game finally came out. But still, the game has a special place in my heart, even 10 years after the release.
It is slow-paced, often quite hard to figure out the puzzle mechanics, what to do, and where to continue in general. One could dismiss the game as slow and boring, as confusing and frustrating. Having no musical background or, at least, musical intuition, does not help too.
However, if you manage to slow down, become patient, and accept the fact that figuring out the visual language is part of the game, you become rewarded with a story whose plot is the landscape you unexplainably exist in. I clearly remember, in later stages of the game, feeling everything was blending together: the ambience, the sound, the "physical" environment were becoming one synesthetic experience, and I felt like I'm becoming part of it. It was borderline psychedelic, and I liked every moment of it.
oscillates my frequencies just right
Give it a try, but i nodded off trying to figure out what the Fract to do. Nothing seemed to do anything. Went to bed and will probably uninstall. I love puzzle games this just bored the fract out of me.
GG
great game
Like being sucked into a synthesizer with no map
Very unique music-based puzzle game. There is not much instruction at all, so you need to figure out the objective of puzzles on your own. For me, some puzzles were so obscure that I had to consult a guide, but I enjoyed the game overall. Recommended if you like puzzles and electronic music, especially electronic music production.
Niche game for those who like synths, puzzles, and confusion.
banger.
I recently replayed this through again for a third time. I remember first time being quite confused and took a while to work out what was going on (I remember unintentionally trying to do dam backwards), but it's a game that gets better as you progress and get a sense of what it's all about, and is ultimately a pleasant and satisfying experience.
Still one of the coolest and most unique puzzle games I've ever played. It might seem obtuse at first, but once you get into the groove it's really unlike anything else out there.
Wish the studio was available as a vst plugin tho.
Opaque at first, but slowly opens up into one of the most unique climaxes I've seen in a game.
Great Puzzle Adventure with excellent Audio-Visual.
The game has aged well, as if its release was quite recently.
Worth the time, definitely recommend.
I played this game 10 years ago on release, and since then no other game has quite scratched the itch that Fract OSC does.
I honestly think about it all time.
If you like abstract, weird but beautiful games then buying this is a must.
Abstract exploration game with musical puzzles
This game is truly one-of-a-kind
A condition d'être très amateur de musique électronique (et particulièrement de synthwave) et de ne pas chercher un jeu d'exploration puzzle très poussé, ce jeu est plutôt réussi dans le genre trip expérimental et sensoriel pour ceux qui ont bien aimé Rez par exemple. En dehors de ça, il n'a pas suffisamment à offrir et reste très cryptique pour satisfaire le plus grand nombre.
This is a very interesting game. I'm not really musically inclined so I'm not sure that I'm really the proper audience for it, but the puzzles were interesting enough and the visuals+music are combined in a cool way. I think it's very esoteric and confusing without starting with a guide of some sort, as it expects you to take note of different things and put them to use later. The effects of certain things also aren't 100% clear, but it's excusable for the most part. Even though I don't think I really grasped the point of the game, I'd definitely recommend to anyone who knows anything about music in any capacity.
Music is the only language in this alien caves.
Difficult game.
As a person that's never really been into music, I can confidently say that this game is a great introduction to music making. There's a big novelty in solving a puzzle, hearing the final music and going "I made that!". Also this game has some of the best puzzle design I've ever seen, it's up there with Baba is You and The Talos Principle. Definitely reccommend.
Vorne weg sag ich schon mal dankeschön und an alle anderen kauft es nur nicht ihr seit zu DUMM dafür ^^
I love the atmosphere and look of this game, the puzzles are fun and varied and it felt great watching the world literally light up and feel more alive as you completed more puzzles, similarly to games like the witness it just drops you in the world to figure out things for yourself which lends to a very immersive experience. Definitely one of my favorite puzzle games.
Great atmosphere, you run around inside a giant sequencer where you place all the notes. For fans of exploration and music games alike.
this game is absolutely incredible. so much love poured into it. it's also like my perfect kind of puzzle game, where you very rarely feel stuck while also having every puzzle feel immensely satisfying. and everything is just accentuated by the musical aspect of every part of this game.
what an absolute gem
Really cool puzzle game about synthesizers and electronic music.
I would prefer to give it a neutral rating rater than a positive one. The puzzles were great but the traversal didn't feel especially good and going from silent to whatever noise you create with the puzzles weren't that great either. So good puzzles but didnt feel good playing.
I remember being very excited for this game in 2014 after seeing Jon Blow tease it as a playtester. I bought it on launch day and enjoyed it at first. The thing about this game is that the navigation is truly terrible. The world doesn't feel like a coherent space, so I never really knew where to go, and after 10 hours I hadn't cleared a section fully. Fast forward to 2022, and I used a guide, beat the game in about 3 hours from scratch, and then got 100% achievements in about another hour or so.
The idea is great, and the visual theme is nice, though it does wear out its welcome. If there was any way to tell where you were supposed to go, this game would have been a lot better. Overall, it plays like a fever dream, and I can't recommend it, even though it is an "interesting" game.
Perfect symbiosis,
if you are into music/synths and playing sci-fi/explorational games
+ like to solve puzzles.. Audio/visual candy, well thats Fract Osc.
Indie done right.
a good game that cause an instant migraine due to low FOV and dithering filter
One of the most stunningly beautiful puzzle games released. Super relaxing for me, someone that has ADHD and Autism. Played through the entire game in one sitting back in 2014, then came back to it this week and finally got the achievements I missed as I played without a guide of any kind. Love the fact that you get a quaint little music studio as a prize for beating the game. Would definitely recommend for those that want to have a fun time exploring an abandoned world of electronic music with puzzles to reactivate parts of the world again.
This game gave me one of the best experiences I had in my life while playing, and that is all I have to say. Thank you to the creators. Something you guys made is now a part of my visual and musical imagination.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Yes, people want part 2. I've talked to the people and We want part 2. So please make part 2. Please. Part 2. Make.
[h1]Making beats to beat the puzzles... hah![/h1]
If being a gamer while having some interest in electronic music and maybe even the production of it, this game makes the seamless cross-combination to fulfill your wishes.
You find yourself in a desolate world, riddled with puzzles that involves changing parameters in order to solve and make progress re-activating the synths. Yes, there's a fresh form of satisfaction in making progress by producing beats in-game. Gradually, you unlock features on the in-game studio so you can create and export your own beats for others to listen to. The puzzles are generally not too challenging, but some major puzzles will require your observation and memorizing details during your exploration.
Fract OSC is pretty niche-based and can have a moderate learning curve in the beginning but should you stick through, you are in for a fresh kind of sound-based gameplay experience.
FRACT OSC takes me back to the turn of the millennium in the best possible way.
Bold colors, techno ambiance that builds on itself, and the best part is that you're the one building it.
This game often tricked me into making music by accident, which just makes me wonder what else I can do.
Amazing and underrated.
Sad this game has been forgotten by most, beautiful visuals and amazing sound. You can make some pretty awesome music in this game.
If there was ever a game that was made for VR it is this one, and if the devs were to make a VR (hint..hint) version I would be one of the first to buy.
A beauty of a game. Literally anywhere in the game i lose myself in the world, the environment and of course the music.
It's intuitive with its game play, while also lacking in some areas (jump button, you need one of those. i'm sitting at the edge of my seat wondering if i'll slip off this ledge and get stuck. Again)
This game desperately needs a map of some sort, looking and the world and seeing all the different machines and objects(?) is nice and all but getting lost isn't.
Despite the no jumping or no maps you will figure it out eventually and once you do you can get back to immersing yourself in what this game has to offer.
P.S. this game is loud
get this if you're into music and weirdness
wish this game hadn't been forgotten so early, one of my favorite indie games
one of those games that makes a good screenshot anywhere in the world you are
This game is straight up my happy place. I revisit it every time I feel like it's been long enough I won't directly remember the solutions. The combination of chill exploration and audio interactivity is an experience I haven't found anywhere else. Kudos Phosfiend, this is a winner. From one synthophile to another, thank you!
FINALLY got round to completing this game after many years. It is an absolutely gorgeous, neon-soaked puzzler where you steadily build up the three strands of a soundtrack. There's no more narrative than that, and while you're free to locate some hidden areas for achievements, that's it. The focus is on the colour and the music.
Following a guide, you'll have an enjoyable 2-3 hours in Fract OSC: more if you're puzzling it through yourself. The game generally walks you through it fairly well but for a few clues you have to keep an eye out for.
Criticisms? It seems to want to be a puzzle platformer in the final stage despite not having a jump button, and in a game that's already full of yawning chasms it's far too easy sometimes to fall off (or very rarely through) scenery and be unceremoniously dumped far away if you don't keep an eye on the game's checkpoints.
Seriously though, that's nitpicking. This is such a wonderful and unique game that you must try it.
There is nothing like FRACT.
The presentation may seem familiar (TRON-esque), but what the game IS is unique unto itself.
You explore a universe that is made up of the engines of music... It has fallen into disarray, and you're there to set things right.
A meditative puzzle-exploration game where each new environment and puzzle teaches you a fundamental aspect of synthesizers and how they're used.
Once you complete the main campaign, you're gifted with access to a fully-unlocked immersive, in-engine DAW where you can compose music and export it.
Even for a rank amateur like myself, having learned some concepts of how to work with a synth, I was able to create my own instruments using effects and then make what I am proud to say is my finest track ever.
Worth it for the DAW alone, let alone how enjoyable the world is to explore.
Buy it already, then go get the absolutely stellar soundtrack from Mogi Grumbles on BandCamp.
Experiment with puzzles and bring a low-poly world to life by immersing it in neon light and synthesizers. Wandering the environment is a nice experience, although getting caught on geometry from time to time is a detraction. Nevertheless, the expansive world offers a great opportunity to enjoy the sights and sounds on offer.
A immersive, ambient world, where places have their own varying synth sounds to behold, that is in desperate need of a map, jump button, save system and any form of a hint system to actually get to where you need to be going. It's a great concept, but way too open-ended and it's a chore to find where you should get to the next set of puzzles to unlock audio synth modulators and signals for your in-game studio. I got so bored out of this walking simulator, and as a music buff and a fan of a good puzzle I was disappointed.
Art style, music, and world are really really good
First of all, the devs forgot to program in a jump button, so I'm constantly getting stuck in crevices everywhere I go, making exploration cumbersome. This is fine in a game like The Witness, but there are so many slopes and winding paths that I couldn't stand walking around not long after the tutorial.
The world itself looks nice, and I'm sure the puzzles are cool, but I was barely able to find any before I gave up, so I can't really comment on their quality. The game lacks any kind of coherence or player guidance in general, which other (similar) games have done far better.
Despite having an interesting concept, I cannot recommend this.
A fantastic little rhythm puzzle game that's all about activating music machines so you can make some funky beats. Your reward for completing the game is a nice little sound studio to play around in. Only have a few complaints:
-The game itself is very short. Ideally, I would have liked another hour or two out of it.
-Some of the achievements are very hard to find without a guide. If you know what to do, they're easy. But you'll probably stumble on one or two accidentally without knowing what you did. This is exacerbated by multiple hidden areas/objects that have no achievements tied to them, acting as red herrings.
-When I used fullscreen, the game was very buggy. Minimizing the game led to more than one crash, and one time I attempted to quit out and it froze before it could end. I had to restart my computer to fix it. Play it windowed if you can.
Overall: Good game.
It's a bit aged in some ways, but building a synth via walking simulator and lite puzzling is still a cool concept. Pricey, perhaps.
Only played a couple hours so far but enjoying it. Reminds me of NaissanceE which released around the same time, mixed with a bit of Outer Wilds.
If you are into synths, sound programming, walking simulators and puzzle games you will love this.
Fantastic puzzle game with a great atmosphere and music. Had a blast playing through, exploring the areas and trying to figure out everything on my own.
This game has issues.
First of all, getting into the menu where you can modify controls requires an internet search to reveal an obscure key combo to hold while launching the game. Second, the game offers minimal guidance as what to do, with visual cues for basic the mouse or gamepad controls in the starter area, but little else. These icons seem simple enough, but I still had trouble getting inside the developers head and realizing they don't want me to hold down a button while moving the mouse, they want me to move the mouse and then click the button. It seems like this was all done to create an immersive experience, which is all well and good, but nail down your UIX first. It doesn't hurt to write actual words explaining what you want the player to do.
Getting around is a chore, because the input isn't normalized so you walk diagonally faster than walking forward. If you use a gamepad, this means you will constantly be walking faster and then slower as you change the angle you are headed. This is annoying in a game that has a great deal of walking.
The levels are visually appealing, but not much fun to get around in. There are a lot of stylized elevators with long animation sequences and obscure controls. You might think you have found a control panel of some sort, but no it's just another elevator and your experimentation leads to a long animation where you are taken someplace you didn't intend to go.
This feels like someone's first stab at putting together something interactive in Unity. It has great artistic direction, but the actual game is at the early alpha stage.
A stylish exploration/puzzle game about figuring out and rebuilding a strange synth-world.
+ The world is scenic, varied, and well-crafted – no matter where you go, it never feels empty. Prepare to wander for a bit though.
+ Sound, naturally – musical notes and ambient noise are woven into the world, linked with locations, puzzles, and objects so that, again, the soundscape is never empty.
• Zero hand-holding.
• The puzzles are alright, clever and not repetitive. Difficulty is about 3.5/10 – solutions themselves aren't that complex, but discovering the mechanics and rules would take some "aha moments". However, the clues are designed and placed well, so nothing should be hopelessly missable.
+ You get a step-sequencer to play with.
- At a couple points walking around did get a bit annoying, but it's just a part of level-scale puzzling, and fast travel system mostly negates this.
First person puzzle game based on music synthesizer controls. The map is literally a one huge synthesizer. Very relaxing, yet rewarding when you finally figure it all out. Once you complete the puzzles, you can even create music of your own.
Very interesting game, if I wanted to sum it up: "music tracker, the game".
It's a combinations of puzzle and platforming genres with exploration/walking simulator.
You solve puzzles and patterns, the more you solve, the more sounds are added to the music. Each puzzle has separate music.
Graphically-wise it's rather pure but not ugly, reminds me of Tron in many places.
It is a bit short. Should take you around 5-6 hours to finish.
Features built in music tracker with ability to record your creations (can save/load the files).
It's definitely a gem, not for everyone, but if you like puzzle games and tracker/demoscene sounds, you should definitely pick it up.
I went back to this game after several years to experience it again. I've since learned a lot about synthesis and sound design which provided an additional layer of enjoyment. I'd highly recommend it. The sound track is awesome and the studio component, even though basic, is fun to play with. I've made a sick bass in less than 3 minutes which on a standard Digital Audio Workstation would have taken me much longer. Probably will end up sampling it. >_>
It's quite a fun romp across a mysterious and desolate landscape that eventually opens up into musical bliss.
a hidden gem in the experimental art games
"A puzzle-unlocked sequencer sandbox"
Say that 5 times fast
Fracting awesome game.
Challenging and expansive, absolutely beautiful on so many sensory levels. Just a mind blowing experience. Also now I totally need to learn how to compose synth music so thanks for yet another hobby that will utterly consume my life.
You will get lost in this game.
[h1]FRACT OSC[/h1]
[b]Genre: First Person Walking Simulator/Puzzle/Adventure
Theme: Abstract, Cyberpunk?
Art Style: Simply shaded 3D objects and environments with no textures but used to construct complex structures and areas.
Value for Price ($3.74-15): Medium to Potentially High
Replay Value: Low for completion, High to Infinite for the Studio
Quality: Medium
Completion Play Time: Uncompleted. The game feels like it could be short, but the difficulty of the puzzles can hold you back for a long time[/b]
[h1]FRACT OSC doesn't make a lot of sense.[/h1]
[b]I had to say that first because world is alien and confusing and may have you lost or stuck in making progress[/b]
[h1]The design of FRACT OSC is vague and minimal - but to its detriment.[/h1]
[b]You're placed in a world that FEELS like it should be a very "Video gamey" platformer, but you can only walk, run, and "Interact" which holds you in place to interact with puzzles[/b]. You can move while in "Interact Mode" but you can't move your camera, which is a bit awkward to get used to. FRACT OSC is a Tron-esque environment that eventually leads you to The Studio - a literal in game music creator with all of it's screen locked off from use.
[h1]With all of The Studio's features locked, your quest is to explore the world around this studio and reactivate the machines that power the Studio[/h1]
From what I can tell the world is largely divided into three main sections: Magenta (Lead), Cyan (Bass), and Green (Pad). You soon find a central area with a spire that shoots said colored beams into the sky through pipes that eventually reaches portions of deactivated musical constructs. [b]These large constructs are puzzles that need to be solved to activate one of the many screens of The Studio[/b], that connect rythmic beams of light to other constructs.
[b]This world is VERY large and near each major musical construct puzzle is a waypoint that lets you fast travel to other discovered waypoints by interacting with them and then selecting the way points in a holographic "Solar system" like interface.[/b] The way the side panels of the circular waypoints slide down and back up depending on which side you entered in looks pretty slick and using these will lift you into the air to follow a track of rings in a sort of floating, guided monorail system...where you are the train. These are pretty neat, though, I did find myself in situations where it wasn't easy to just find them all and use them for fast travel.
[b]Using waypoints is faster than traversing the land, which you can only walk or Run[/b]. The game could use an Always Run toggle, since there seems to be no reason to walk. Traversing the terrain can be annoying sometimes as you might run into a hill or a lip of some sort of abstract structure and you may have to awkwardly circle around it or go a completely different direction. Since there are no enemies and the only hazards are pitfalls, [b]I see no reason why the the player wasn't granted some sort of ability to fly, jetpack, or at least jump- so you're forced into another one of these slow trodding walking simulator experiences when you don't have to be.[/b]
[h1]Due to the extreme minimal and abstract design of FRACT OST, it is very easy to get lost or walk into dead ends.[/h1]
The world is huge and there are lots of strange objects, particle effects, and mysterious pathways. Some spaces have large magenta rectangular prisms to match and "sing" in rhythm to parts of the Lead you may have solved, but they seem to have no practical use. Wireframe green spheres can be found that look like you can walk inside them or interact with them, but instead have collision and have some small ball of light that can expand from its center. [b]There's all kinds of odd simple shaped particle effects and random objects that react to your prescense and may or may not be part of a puzzle or at least responding to a puzzle, but continually adds layers of strangeness and confusion[/b] - are they supposed to lead me somewhere like breadcrumbs? Are they highlighting something? Are they reacting to something? Do that have any purpose other than mostly decoration? [b]The whole point of the game is to find puzzles and way points, but since the developer took the pretentious "No interface what so ever" route, there are no maps, interface, tools, abilities, characters, or even signs whatsoever to guide you around - just the design of the world itself. It might seem "modern and artistic" but it leads to alot of wasted time running around in circles and spots you can't pass.[/b]
[h1]Puzzle solving is the end all be all factor of FRACT OSC.[/h1]
Some puzzles will have you realigning lasers on a panel to hit nodes that play notes. Some have you manipulate multiple cubes in a 2D plane to activate bridges and plug holes so you can reach the rest of the puzzle and eventually move them into green areas that activates a musical sequence. [b]Most puzzles involves interacting with a Step sequencer, which allows you place notes in a small track. It feels neat to make your own tunes here, but these are puzzles with finite if not only one solution.[/b] Many puzzles are hard, obtuse, or tricky to figure out and is the primary reason why most people who buy this will never complete it (see the Negative Steam Reviews)
[h1]There is a unique and surreal world to investigate here, with potential for an amazing experience.[/h1]
But the leaps of logic required of the player and the lack of feedback, instructions, directions, and even options ([b]how the heck can a game about music not have AUDIO OPTIONS?![/b]) makes this a wasteful purchase for anybody wanting to complete this game without a walkthrough or guide. I really want to know what happens when you eventually connect all these strange, massive, otherworldly musical contraptions together to form light beams to meet at some spire - but when many of the puzzle solutions feel less intuitive and more like "manipulate every object until something works", [b]FRACT OST is more of a test of my patience than a test of my puzzle solving.[/b]
[h1]The Studio can be fully unlocked from the pause menu when you teleport to it.[/h1]
[b]I had more than my fill of artsy, walking simulators, so I **SPOILED** myself by watching a Youtube video of the ending.[/b] [spoiler] Solving all the puzzles completely unlocks The Studio and from what I can tell, there is no "deep and obtuse" ending that so many of these games have, which is good, but it also seems like if the whole point is to unlock a music sequencer which has limited functionality to real life software is largely pointless. [/spoiler]. You play FRACT OST for the puzzles, world, The Studio, not for the ending itself. The Studio isn't exactly powerful like Fruity Loops or or Pro Logic, but it is robust for a $15 indie game - complete with a step sequencer, pattern editor, various tools for BPM and effects, and even a modest handful of drum loop samples in which I THINK are not part of the instrument puzzles, as well as the ability to save and load songs.
[h1]FRACT OSC is a bit hard for me to recommend because it boils down to being a limited music creation tool with its functions locked behind a grand, walking simulator puzzle fest. This game has to appeal to a niche audience of those who like walking simulators, difficult puzzle games, AND music creation. Buy it if you're part of that tiny niche, but I think few players will complete it without a guide. I'll keep it installed to mess with The Studio, but most are better off playing with a music program or another walking sim.[/h1]
Just relax, and let the music wash you away
Awesome game !
I think Fract OSCs is interesting, i give it that. I like the idea that solving the puzzles activates the interesting world and i like the low poly style of it all. I also liked that i had to go and explore a bit on my own to find the next step or puzzle.
It is not a bad game when it comes to its visual design or atmosphere and seeing the world come back to live with music is... interesting.
However i can not recommend this game either as puzzle game nor as a game based on music. These are the games flaws that prevent me from doing so.
1 - The puzzles have nothing to do with music per se and it could be finished muted. This also can mislead the player in regards to the puzzles.
2 - The design of the puzzles can be misleading or needlessly obscured, with elements that aren't actually used in the puzzle despite looking like it or parts of the world becoming the puzzle that gave no indication that they are as such. Some of the downtime is guessing the random new elements instead using established rules to create clean solutions. At other times the puzzle is needlessly parted into several elements and spread out in a room so that the player needs to walk back and forth to solve the same active puzzle.
This is what caused me the most downtime, getting stuck at badly signaled, random new elements. It got so bad that i had solved the first half of a puzzle but because so many parts of it were unused and it was not clearly signed to me i completed it i was convinced that there was a cleaner solution.
At times the ideas put into these puzzles seem random and wanton making for a overall frustrating experience dragging out the overall playtime of the game.
I think this game and its world would have benefited from a more exploration based approach.
By the way, the music editor included in this game has the same problems when it comes to using it.
it is not bad, but i would not recommend it to anyone.
Amazing game of being an engineer inside a synthesizer trying to make it play awesome music, which it does! :D Logic puzzles and synthesizer sounds, what more can you ask from a game! :D <3
Some of the most epic and elegant game design I've ever seen. Kudos!
Finally finished this game and I'd like to say that I am impressed. I have spent less than 10 hours playing and most likely won't play the campaign again. However there is a mode that is fully open only after you finish campaign and people who are inclined to write music might like it.
The game itself is an adventure inside synthesiser. You make music, basically, by solving puzzles. But at same time you learn how music works in general manner. Some puzzles are difficult if you don't want to spend much time solving them yourself. There are full solutions to the game. However, I highly recommend doing the puzzles yourself as much as you can and only looking up how to get from one puzzle to another, roads are weird.
Although, if you don't like getting lost all the time, you might want to pass this. Look up first puzzles solutions if you are unsure and decide if you are okay wandering around the digital world of Fract OSC.
Really enjoyed the vibe. The puzzles were neither too hard nor too easy. Like as if TRON had been made by Moog enthusiasts instead of arcade fanatics.
I have been a hobbyist musician all my life and I like puzzle games, especially hard ones.
I spent the first hour wondering around the boring landscape of FRACT OSC with little clue where I am supposed to go or what am I supposed to do. Apparently I solved a puzzle, which at first I didn't even recognize was a puzzle. Then I got stuck. I checked out a walk through and solved another puzzle, although I failed to realize why the solution was the solution - it seemed more like guesswork.
After that I spent a few minutes again wondering where am I supposed to go. And got bored, really fast, as in the end I had absolutely no f*cking clue. If by the one hour mark I have no clue what am I supposed to do, where and why, I think there is something wrong with the game. I don't remember this happening with any other game ever, and I've played quite a few.
In short, I don't have time for this. I recommend rather take a stroll or better yet, play an actual instrument instead of figuring out why does this game exist. If you want a first person puzzle game, check out Antichamber instead. If you want a great puzzle game with a great soundtrack, check out Baba is you.
The visuals, puzzles and music are well designed and together they make a great and immersive game. Come for the first person puzzler, stay for the beginner-friendly synth studio.
If you have an inexplicable craving for dark caves and synth noises you might get enjoyment from it, but as a puzzle game it's simply bad. Music has nothing to do with the puzzles, it just plays nearly-random noise based on your input. You could complete this game muted. That is, if you can figure out the intended solutions. Which are frustratingly arbitrary. Especially near the end.
Overall it's kind of short and the puzzles aren't particularly mindbending to make up for it like some other shorter puzzle games. The shtick is the musical aspect of the puzzles...but it's not really musical puzzles, it's puzzles that happen to play some music. Since it's not terribly long it's not like I regret the time spent on it, but I don't think it's worth the money unless you are going to take a lot of enjoyment from the synthesizer you unlock along the way.
