FlOw
Encyclopedia
Flow is an indie video game
created by Jenova Chen
and Nicholas Clark. Originally released as a free Flash
game in 2006 to accompany Chen's master's
thesis
, it was reworked into a 2007 PlayStation 3
game by his development studio, Thatgamecompany
. SuperVillain Studios
released a PlayStation Portable
version of the game in 2008. In Flow, the player navigates a series of two-dimensional
(2D) planes with an aquatic microorganism
that evolves by consuming other microorganisms. The game's design is based on Chen's research into dynamic difficulty adjustment
at the University of Southern California's Interactive Media Division
, and on psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
's theoretical concept of mental immersion or flow
.
The Flash version of Flow received 100,000 downloads within its first two weeks of release, and had been played over 3.5 million times by 2008. Its PlayStation 3 re-release was the most downloaded game on the PlayStation Network in 2007, and won the Best Downloadable Game award at the 2008 Game Developers Choice Awards
. It was nominated for awards by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts
(BAFTA). Reviewers praised Flows visual and audio appeal, but noted the simplicity of its gameplay; several considered it to be more of an art piece
than a game.
s that increase the number of segments in the player's creature when eaten. All planes, except for the highest and lowest, contain two specially colored organisms that move the player's creature up or down one plane when touched.
Certain planes feature aggressive, multi-segmented creatures that perish when all of their segments are eaten by the player's creature; however, they can eat segments of the player's creature to regrow their own. These creatures release many cells upon death, which can restore the health of the player's creature, temporarily increase the size of its mouth, or cause it to sprout decorative protrusions. Players are not required to eat these or any other organisms; they may travel to higher or lower planes at any time. Being defeated by aggressive creatures does not result in death, but causes the player's creature to float to a higher plane. In the Flash
version, the player can replay the game with a jellyfish-like organism by defeating an aggressive creature on the bottom plane. If the player reaches the bottom again, the creature there is their original worm-like creature, and defeating it starts the game over as that organism.
(PS3) version of Flow features enhanced visuals and three additional playable organisms: one that can move with a short burst of speed, one that can paralyze other creatures, and one that lunges toward its prey's weak point. The worm creature from the original game was given the ability to move faster, while the jellyfish may now create a vortex to attract small creatures. These special moves are activated by hitting any button on the controller. When the player reaches the bottom plane with each creature, the next creature type is unlocked and becomes selectable at the beginning of the game. The PS3 version features a multiplayer mode for up to four players; a game in progress can be joined at any time, but all players must play as the same creature type. The PlayStation Portable
(PSP) version contains all of the features introduced by PS3 version, but reduces the size of each plane. On November 20, 2007, the PS3 version received an add-on pack
that allows players joining a multiplayer game to select their creatures. The pack also includes new enemies, new food types, and a new playable creature with a shield ability.
Flow was originally developed as part of Jenova Chen
's master's
thesis
for the Interactive Media Program
at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts
. His thesis was on the concept of dynamic difficulty adjustment
(DDA), wherein a game adjusts its reactions to a player based on the past and present actions of that player. He illustrated his ideas with Flow, which he created in collaboration with Nicholas Clark. Chen implemented DDA by causing the player to change the game's difficulty subconsciously; he allowed players to dive between planes at will, and provided the option of eating or not eating any creature. Players may decide to rush downwards, or to grow stronger before attacking powerful opponents. Chen described Flow as "a simple game. It's the simplest test of active DDA." Another influence on the game was psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
's work on flow
, wherein a person fully immerses themselves in an activity and gains a feeling of energized focus. To achieve this state, the person or player must have control over the activity; Chen believed that his DDA theory gave players the control necessary to achieve flow while playing.
The game was released in March 2006, after two months of development—during which Chen and Clark taught themselves Flash programming. The game's score was composed by Austin Wintory. A PS3 version was announced for the PlayStation Store
in May of that year, and was released in February 2007. Chen had graduated by that point, and had founded Thatgamecompany
, which handled the conversion to the PS3; Nicholas Clark was one of the employees. Impressed by Flow, Sony provided Thatgamecompany with finances, supplies, and additional staff, and offered them a three-game contract; the PS3 version of Flow was the first of these. Chen originally believed that the conversion could be completed in four months, and that it would be ready for the November 2006 launch of the PlayStation Network. However, when it was finally released in February 2007, it did not include "half of the original design".
A version for the PlayStation Portable, developed by SuperVillain Studios
, was released in March 2008. The company coded it from scratch, as the PS3 version's code and art were too platform-specific to reuse. The add-on pack for the PS3 version was also developed by SuperVillain. Thatgamecompany was not involved in the development of either project beyond a design influence and art direction role, as they were creating their next title, Flower
.
nominations for the Innovation Award and Best Debut, and was presented with Best Downloadable Game. The game was nominated for the Best Downloadable Game of the Year award at the 2008 Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
Interactive Achievement Awards, and for the Best Innovation award at the 2007 British Academy of Film and Television Arts
(BAFTA) awards. Its music garnered nominations for Best Interactive Score and Most Innovative Use of Audio from the Game Audio Network Guild, and won composer Austin Wintory the Rookie of the Year award. Flow was a finalist at the 2007 Slamdance Guerrilla Games Competition, but withdrew along with several other finalists after Super Columbine Massacre RPG!
was removed from the competition. In 2011 it was chosen through a public vote out of an initial selection of 240 to be one of 80 games showcased in a 2012 exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum
titled "The Art of Video Games
".
Flow received mostly positive reviews from critics, who focused on the game's PlayStation versions. The visuals and presentation were among its most praised elements, with IGN
's Chris Roper calling them "one of Flows greatest strengths". Alex Navarro of GameSpot
agreed, saying that it was "hard to argue with those aesthetics"; he lauded the use of color, the designs of the creatures, and the dynamic soundtrack
. Will Freeman of VideoGamer.com called it "attractive and stylish", which made the game "immensely satisfying to toy with". Richard Leadbetter of Eurogamer
claimed that the game's main purpose was to "look pretty" and "sound cool".
Reviewers were mixed in their opinions on the gameplay; Roper said that "simply see[ing] what's next" was enjoyable, but acknowledged that the game's activities were limited beyond this aspect. Leadbetter went further, saying that Flow "feels like a tech demo in many ways", and that its small amount of gameplay existed primarily "to act as a tour guide" through the visuals and audio. Freeman said that "it would not be unfair to describe Flow as empty and without substance." Navarro concluded that Flow was enjoyable for the few hours needed to complete it, but that it lacked "a lasting gameplay experience"; he attributed this to the game's "heavy emphasis on aesthetics over gameplay". Luke Mitchell of PALGN
, however, felt that "anything more complicated would take away from the friendly nature of an experience of this type."
Reviewers found the game to be largely unchallenging. Roper stated that "there really isn't any sort of a challenge here", particularly due to the player character
's inability to die; Leadbetter summed up the game's difficulty as "negligible". However, when reviewing the PSP version of the game, Justin Calvart of GameSpot took the view that "the game's difficulty masterfully scales to match your skill level", so that it does not become overly "frantic or frustrating". Reviewers were universally dismissive of the multiplayer mode, with Calvart saying that "whatever it is, it's not good". Leadbetter called the PS3 version's multiplayer "little more than an afterthought", while Navarro said that it "doesn't add a lick of depth to the experience".
Overall, reviewers saw Flow as being more akin to an art piece
than a game. Navarro called it an "arty piece of gaming", and complimentarily said that it had the "vibe of an art-school project". Leadbetter believed that it was more of an experiment than a traditional game, and described it as a "trippy ornament". Freeman called it the PS3's "first art-house title". Roper summarized Flow as "not so much a game as it is an experience", and Mitchell claimed that it "tries to do something entirely unique and experimental, and on that level, it succeeds".
Indie game
Independent video game development is the process of creating video games without the financial support of a video game publisher. While large firms can create independent games, they are usually designed by an individual or a small team of as many as ten people, depending on the complexity of the...
created by Jenova Chen
Jenova Chen
Xinghan Chen , known as Jenova Chen, is the designer of the award-winning games Cloud, Flow, and Flower, and is co-founder of Thatgamecompany. Chen is from Shanghai, where he earned a bachelors degree in computer science and a minor in digital art and design...
and Nicholas Clark. Originally released as a free Flash
Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
game in 2006 to accompany Chen's master's
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
thesis
Thesis
A dissertation or thesis is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings...
, it was reworked into a 2007 PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
game by his development studio, Thatgamecompany
Thatgamecompany
Thatgamecompany, stylized as thatgamecompany, is an American independent video game developer co-founded by University of Southern California students Kellee Santiago and Jenova Chen. The studio is currently a second-party developer for Sony Computer Entertainment, and is under contract to create...
. SuperVillain Studios
SuperVillain Studios
SuperVillain Studios is a video game development company that develops for the Wii, Nintendo DS, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, and the PlayStation Portable.-Company Profile:...
released a PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
version of the game in 2008. In Flow, the player navigates a series of two-dimensional
2D computer graphics
2D computer graphics is the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models and by techniques specific to them...
(2D) planes with an aquatic microorganism
Microorganism
A microorganism or microbe is a microscopic organism that comprises either a single cell , cell clusters, or no cell at all...
that evolves by consuming other microorganisms. The game's design is based on Chen's research into dynamic difficulty adjustment
Dynamic game difficulty balancing
Dynamic game difficulty balancing, also known as dynamic difficulty adjustment or dynamic game balancing , is the process of automatically changing parameters, scenarios and behaviors in a video game in real-time, based on the player's ability, in order to avoid them becoming bored or frustrated...
at the University of Southern California's Interactive Media Division
USC Interactive Media Division
The University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts's Interactive Media Division first accepted students in 2002. In addition to coursework in film production, screenwriting, and animation, students in the division study across three disciplines within interactive media: immersive...
, and on psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is a Hungarian psychology professor, who emigrated to the United States at the age of 22. Now at Claremont Graduate University, he is the former head of the department of psychology at the University of Chicago and of the department of sociology and anthropology at Lake...
's theoretical concept of mental immersion or flow
Flow (psychology)
Flow is the mental state of operation in which a person in an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity. Proposed by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, the positive psychology concept has been widely referenced across a variety of...
.
The Flash version of Flow received 100,000 downloads within its first two weeks of release, and had been played over 3.5 million times by 2008. Its PlayStation 3 re-release was the most downloaded game on the PlayStation Network in 2007, and won the Best Downloadable Game award at the 2008 Game Developers Choice Awards
Game Developers Choice Awards
The Game Developers Choice Awards are annually presented by the Game Developers Conference for outstanding game developers and games.Introduced in 2001, the Game Developers Choice Awards were preceded by the Spotlight Awards, which were presented from 1997 to 1999.The 2009 award presentation was...
. It was nominated for awards by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences , founded in 1996, is a non-profit organization that promotes computer and video game entertainment with the annual D.I.C.E. Summit event, where its Interactive Achievement Awards ceremony has been held annually since 1998...
and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
(BAFTA). Reviewers praised Flows visual and audio appeal, but noted the simplicity of its gameplay; several considered it to be more of an art piece
Art game
An art game or arthouse game is a video game that is designed in such a way as to emphasize art or whose structure is intended to produce some kind of reaction in its audience. Art games typically go out of their way to have a unique, unconventional look, often standing out for aesthetic beauty or...
than a game.
Gameplay
In Flow, the player guides a small, multi-segmented worm- or snake-like creature through an aquatic environment. There are no menus or guidelines; the game begins immediately. The game world, which is viewed from a top-down perspective, consists of two-dimensional planes stacked vertically upon each other. A blurred version of the layer below appears in the background of each plane. Planes contain organisms of varying sizes; the player's creature automatically attempts to consume them when they are nearby. The majority of these creatures are non-confrontational, and are composed of cellCell (biology)
The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all known living organisms. It is the smallest unit of life that is classified as a living thing, and is often called the building block of life. The Alberts text discusses how the "cellular building blocks" move to shape developing embryos....
s that increase the number of segments in the player's creature when eaten. All planes, except for the highest and lowest, contain two specially colored organisms that move the player's creature up or down one plane when touched.
Certain planes feature aggressive, multi-segmented creatures that perish when all of their segments are eaten by the player's creature; however, they can eat segments of the player's creature to regrow their own. These creatures release many cells upon death, which can restore the health of the player's creature, temporarily increase the size of its mouth, or cause it to sprout decorative protrusions. Players are not required to eat these or any other organisms; they may travel to higher or lower planes at any time. Being defeated by aggressive creatures does not result in death, but causes the player's creature to float to a higher plane. In the Flash
Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
version, the player can replay the game with a jellyfish-like organism by defeating an aggressive creature on the bottom plane. If the player reaches the bottom again, the creature there is their original worm-like creature, and defeating it starts the game over as that organism.
PlayStation versions
The PlayStation 3PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
(PS3) version of Flow features enhanced visuals and three additional playable organisms: one that can move with a short burst of speed, one that can paralyze other creatures, and one that lunges toward its prey's weak point. The worm creature from the original game was given the ability to move faster, while the jellyfish may now create a vortex to attract small creatures. These special moves are activated by hitting any button on the controller. When the player reaches the bottom plane with each creature, the next creature type is unlocked and becomes selectable at the beginning of the game. The PS3 version features a multiplayer mode for up to four players; a game in progress can be joined at any time, but all players must play as the same creature type. The PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
(PSP) version contains all of the features introduced by PS3 version, but reduces the size of each plane. On November 20, 2007, the PS3 version received an add-on pack
Expansion pack
An expansion pack, expansion set, or supplement is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game or video game. These add-ons usually add new game areas, weapons, objects, and/or an extended storyline to a complete and already released game...
that allows players joining a multiplayer game to select their creatures. The pack also includes new enemies, new food types, and a new playable creature with a shield ability.
Development
Jenova Chen
Xinghan Chen , known as Jenova Chen, is the designer of the award-winning games Cloud, Flow, and Flower, and is co-founder of Thatgamecompany. Chen is from Shanghai, where he earned a bachelors degree in computer science and a minor in digital art and design...
's master's
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
thesis
Thesis
A dissertation or thesis is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings...
for the Interactive Media Program
USC Interactive Media Division
The University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts's Interactive Media Division first accepted students in 2002. In addition to coursework in film production, screenwriting, and animation, students in the division study across three disciplines within interactive media: immersive...
at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts
USC School of Cinematic Arts
The USC School of Cinematic Arts, until 2006 named the School of Cinema-Television , is a film school within the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. It is the oldest and largest such school in the United States, established in 1929 as a joint venture with the Academy of...
. His thesis was on the concept of dynamic difficulty adjustment
Dynamic game difficulty balancing
Dynamic game difficulty balancing, also known as dynamic difficulty adjustment or dynamic game balancing , is the process of automatically changing parameters, scenarios and behaviors in a video game in real-time, based on the player's ability, in order to avoid them becoming bored or frustrated...
(DDA), wherein a game adjusts its reactions to a player based on the past and present actions of that player. He illustrated his ideas with Flow, which he created in collaboration with Nicholas Clark. Chen implemented DDA by causing the player to change the game's difficulty subconsciously; he allowed players to dive between planes at will, and provided the option of eating or not eating any creature. Players may decide to rush downwards, or to grow stronger before attacking powerful opponents. Chen described Flow as "a simple game. It's the simplest test of active DDA." Another influence on the game was psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is a Hungarian psychology professor, who emigrated to the United States at the age of 22. Now at Claremont Graduate University, he is the former head of the department of psychology at the University of Chicago and of the department of sociology and anthropology at Lake...
's work on flow
Flow (psychology)
Flow is the mental state of operation in which a person in an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity. Proposed by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, the positive psychology concept has been widely referenced across a variety of...
, wherein a person fully immerses themselves in an activity and gains a feeling of energized focus. To achieve this state, the person or player must have control over the activity; Chen believed that his DDA theory gave players the control necessary to achieve flow while playing.
The game was released in March 2006, after two months of development—during which Chen and Clark taught themselves Flash programming. The game's score was composed by Austin Wintory. A PS3 version was announced for the PlayStation Store
PlayStation Store
The PlayStation Store is an online virtual market available to users of Sony's PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable game consoles via the PlayStation Network. The Store offers a range of downloadable content both for purchase and available free of charge. Available content includes full games,...
in May of that year, and was released in February 2007. Chen had graduated by that point, and had founded Thatgamecompany
Thatgamecompany
Thatgamecompany, stylized as thatgamecompany, is an American independent video game developer co-founded by University of Southern California students Kellee Santiago and Jenova Chen. The studio is currently a second-party developer for Sony Computer Entertainment, and is under contract to create...
, which handled the conversion to the PS3; Nicholas Clark was one of the employees. Impressed by Flow, Sony provided Thatgamecompany with finances, supplies, and additional staff, and offered them a three-game contract; the PS3 version of Flow was the first of these. Chen originally believed that the conversion could be completed in four months, and that it would be ready for the November 2006 launch of the PlayStation Network. However, when it was finally released in February 2007, it did not include "half of the original design".
A version for the PlayStation Portable, developed by SuperVillain Studios
SuperVillain Studios
SuperVillain Studios is a video game development company that develops for the Wii, Nintendo DS, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, and the PlayStation Portable.-Company Profile:...
, was released in March 2008. The company coded it from scratch, as the PS3 version's code and art were too platform-specific to reuse. The add-on pack for the PS3 version was also developed by SuperVillain. Thatgamecompany was not involved in the development of either project beyond a design influence and art direction role, as they were creating their next title, Flower
Flower (video game)
Flower is a PlayStation 3 video game. It was developed by Thatgamecompany, designed by Jenova Chen and Nicholas Clark, and announced at the 2007 Tokyo Game Show. Flower was released on February 12, 2009, via the PlayStation Network. The game was intended as a "spiritual successor" to Flow, a...
.
Reception
The Flash version of Flow received 100,000 downloads within its first two weeks of release. By July 2006, it had been downloaded over 650,000 times; by February 2008, it had been played over 3.5 million times. Its PS3 re-release was the most downloaded game on the PlayStation Network in 2007. Flow received the 2008 Game Developers Choice AwardsGame Developers Choice Awards
The Game Developers Choice Awards are annually presented by the Game Developers Conference for outstanding game developers and games.Introduced in 2001, the Game Developers Choice Awards were preceded by the Spotlight Awards, which were presented from 1997 to 1999.The 2009 award presentation was...
nominations for the Innovation Award and Best Debut, and was presented with Best Downloadable Game. The game was nominated for the Best Downloadable Game of the Year award at the 2008 Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences , founded in 1996, is a non-profit organization that promotes computer and video game entertainment with the annual D.I.C.E. Summit event, where its Interactive Achievement Awards ceremony has been held annually since 1998...
Interactive Achievement Awards, and for the Best Innovation award at the 2007 British Academy of Film and Television Arts
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
(BAFTA) awards. Its music garnered nominations for Best Interactive Score and Most Innovative Use of Audio from the Game Audio Network Guild, and won composer Austin Wintory the Rookie of the Year award. Flow was a finalist at the 2007 Slamdance Guerrilla Games Competition, but withdrew along with several other finalists after Super Columbine Massacre RPG!
Super Columbine Massacre RPG!
Super Columbine Massacre RPG!, abbreviated SCMRPG!, is a role-playing video game created by Danny Ledonne and released in April 2005. The game recreates the 1999 Columbine High School shootings near Littleton, Colorado...
was removed from the competition. In 2011 it was chosen through a public vote out of an initial selection of 240 to be one of 80 games showcased in a 2012 exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
The Smithsonian American Art Museum is a museum in Washington, D.C. with an extensive collection of American art.Part of the Smithsonian Institution, the museum has a broad variety of American art that covers all regions and art movements found in the United States...
titled "The Art of Video Games
The Art of Video Games
The Art of Video Games is an upcoming exhibition to be displayed at the Smithsonian American Art Museum from March 16, 2012 through September 30, 2012. The exhibition is designed to highlight the evolution of art within the video game medium over its forty-year history...
".
Flow received mostly positive reviews from critics, who focused on the game's PlayStation versions. The visuals and presentation were among its most praised elements, with IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's Chris Roper calling them "one of Flows greatest strengths". Alex Navarro of GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
agreed, saying that it was "hard to argue with those aesthetics"; he lauded the use of color, the designs of the creatures, and the dynamic soundtrack
Dynamic music
Dynamic music is a concept used in many video games, whereby specific events cause the background music to change. Its first uses in major video games were Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge and Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss. It has since been used in such games as Mushroom Men and Guitar Hero...
. Will Freeman of VideoGamer.com called it "attractive and stylish", which made the game "immensely satisfying to toy with". Richard Leadbetter of Eurogamer
Eurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
claimed that the game's main purpose was to "look pretty" and "sound cool".
Reviewers were mixed in their opinions on the gameplay; Roper said that "simply see[ing] what's next" was enjoyable, but acknowledged that the game's activities were limited beyond this aspect. Leadbetter went further, saying that Flow "feels like a tech demo in many ways", and that its small amount of gameplay existed primarily "to act as a tour guide" through the visuals and audio. Freeman said that "it would not be unfair to describe Flow as empty and without substance." Navarro concluded that Flow was enjoyable for the few hours needed to complete it, but that it lacked "a lasting gameplay experience"; he attributed this to the game's "heavy emphasis on aesthetics over gameplay". Luke Mitchell of PALGN
PALGN
The PAL Gaming Network is an Australian based video game news and reviews website that focuses on the videogame industry and culture in PAL territories, particularly Australia and the UK. It was launched in 2003 by a group of PAL forum members on the IGN message boards who were disenfranchised by...
, however, felt that "anything more complicated would take away from the friendly nature of an experience of this type."
Reviewers found the game to be largely unchallenging. Roper stated that "there really isn't any sort of a challenge here", particularly due to the player character
Player character
A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...
's inability to die; Leadbetter summed up the game's difficulty as "negligible". However, when reviewing the PSP version of the game, Justin Calvart of GameSpot took the view that "the game's difficulty masterfully scales to match your skill level", so that it does not become overly "frantic or frustrating". Reviewers were universally dismissive of the multiplayer mode, with Calvart saying that "whatever it is, it's not good". Leadbetter called the PS3 version's multiplayer "little more than an afterthought", while Navarro said that it "doesn't add a lick of depth to the experience".
Overall, reviewers saw Flow as being more akin to an art piece
Art game
An art game or arthouse game is a video game that is designed in such a way as to emphasize art or whose structure is intended to produce some kind of reaction in its audience. Art games typically go out of their way to have a unique, unconventional look, often standing out for aesthetic beauty or...
than a game. Navarro called it an "arty piece of gaming", and complimentarily said that it had the "vibe of an art-school project". Leadbetter believed that it was more of an experiment than a traditional game, and described it as a "trippy ornament". Freeman called it the PS3's "first art-house title". Roper summarized Flow as "not so much a game as it is an experience", and Mitchell claimed that it "tries to do something entirely unique and experimental, and on that level, it succeeds".