MainFrames Steam Charts & Stats

[b]Score: 7/10[/b] [list] [*][b]Art:[/b] Visually appealing and original, with a clean aesthetic that fits the tone of the game. However, characters tend to blend into one another. [*][b]Music:[/b] The soundtrack matches the game’s themes well but lacks standout tracks. It does its job, but isn’t something you’ll remember after closing the game. [*][b]Story:[/b] The narrative is minimal and ends on a weak note. Multiple endings could’ve added depth and replay value. [*][b]Gameplay:[/b] There’s a decent amount of mechanical variety, but nothing feels particularly fresh. Level progression lacks rhythm and can feel uneven or disjointed. [*][b]Level Replayability:[/b] [strike]As of now, there’s no option to replay previous levels. This becomes a major inconvenience when trying to collect missed items or unlock trophies.[/strike] A recent update added level selection in the options menu, which significantly improves the experience for players aiming to collect everything or revisit favorite sections. [*][b]Save System:[/b] The absence of manual saves is frustrating, especially for one specific trophy that depends on careful progression. [*][b]Accessibility:[/b] Offers a good range of accessibility options. [/list] Updated score and "Level replayability" section.

It is with a heavy heart that I must say that I cannot recommend this game. I was enamoured with the art, style and premise of this platformer when I wishlisted it ages ago and while I absolutely loved the art, style and premise of it while I was playing, unfortunately I cannot say that it was fun. Just frustrating. To start off, my issues with the game aside, it's a solid 6/10. It's nice, it's cute but it's not fun. The difficulty wavers between blindingly simple and blindingly frustrating regularly and the controls often feel just a little too off very frequently. The game consistently features screens that have a complicated or difficult platforming challenge and, after dying a few times, spawns an NPC to tell you that there actually is an easier, less obvious path that you should probably be taking. This is fine in concept. When done a few times, it could even be charming. But with the frequency these rooms appear it, again, just ends up being frustrating and when paired with rooms that are much harder than these multi-path rooms, makes the game seem like it doesn't know what it wants to be. I wish I liked this game as much as I wanted to.

A fun game full of cute little guys to save nothing more you could ask for

An incredible, metatextual blend of VVVVVV and Super Meat Boy with positively banging music.

MainFrames is such a cute and charming platformer. Clearly inspired by precision platformers like Celeste, MainFrames is broken up into 8 levels played through a collections of screens, in this case, literally. Each level introduces a gameplay element, and slowly increases the complexity of its usage as the level progresses. The visuals are stunning, each level features a unique background reminiscent of the detailed backgrounds of the Donkey Kong Country series. The animations on all the characters are so fluid and alive,something that can be tough to do with a pixel art medium. The music, too, is enjoyable and fits the aesthetic presentation of the game. Additionally, the creators of MainFrames clearly have a passion for the inner workings of computers. Honestly, much of what the story was trying to say went over my head. Part of me wishes I had more of a knowledge base in the software lingo this game plays with, and I think anyone more familiar with the field would have a blast seeing how it is represented here. MainFrames is a very short game, but the presentation and quality presented here makes it worth every dollar. 8/10

Super charming little puzzle platformer. The visual direction is amazing, the pixel art is great, and the puzzles are really well thought out. Gave me a good 4 hours of gameplay on my first run, well worth the price imo

Fun and cute, short and sweat. Love the retro computer aesthetics. The program window inspired platforming is very inventive. Each level introduces a new mechanic, keeping things fresh. Also, the music is excellent.