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Land of Screens

Land of Screens

Serenity Forge · released Feb 4, 2022

AdventureIndie

When Holland’s social media is lit ablaze by a recent breakup, she embarks on a new mission to ditch the social media saturation and discover some real-world relationships among a Land of Screens.

77
VGC Score
·No trend datalow confidence
76%
At launch
90%
Steam all-time
56%
Press
100%
Recent sentiment

Screenshots & trailers

Review sentiment over time

Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.

How this score was computed

The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.

ComponentPositiveQuality (0-100)Weight (pseudo-reviews)
Press reviews (OpenCritic)5610
All-time Steam reviews90%8463
Metacritic user ratings0
Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted)100%970
Calibration prior (typical game)7250

Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 1 reviews sampled · 1 total reviews in window · weighted 0.5 up / 0 down · computed 3h ago · full methodology →

Press & Creators reviews (11)

Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.

  • 50
    trust 80Feb 24, 2022

    Land of Screens has an interesting storyline, but there's no depth to it or its characters. The music is fun and it'll keep you busy for about an hour but that's about it.

    read full review ↗
  • 68
    trust 70Feb 4, 2022

    Since the time I graduated from high school in the early 90s the world has changed substantially, and the traditional ways people have socialized and kept in touch has been revolutionized (and not always for the better) by the Internet...

    read full review ↗
  • 80
    trust 69Mar 12, 2022

    I could only think of a couple of times where you can make a choice in the game and the only thing it would affect is a handful of dialogue responses. As far as I know there aren't any alternate endings, so there isn't much of a reason to play through it again. It did leave me interested in the other games from the publisher already available on the eShop. If you are looking for a chill, short, impactful game with a great story, Land of Screens comes highly recommended.

    read full review ↗
  • 60
    trust 66Feb 23, 2022

    Land of Screens is a short and sweet romcom experience that is ultimately too reductive to deliver its message meaningfully.

    read full review ↗
  • 100
    trust 64Feb 23, 2022

    Land of Screens is a charming indie that extols the importance of getting off one’s phone to live in the real world sometimes. Thankfully, it’s not over the top or egregious about the topic, failing to demonize people who like social media. Instead, it allows for a more balanced message of taking it in doses and not forgetting that our problems that can seem so big online might be smaller than we think when we take some time away to reconnect to loved ones in real life. I would definitely recommend this title, particularly to people who enjoy talking to characters, solving problems, and the genres listed on this game.

    read full review ↗
  • 60
    trust 60Feb 4, 2022

    Land of Screens tells a short, hokey, on-the-nose story about disconnecting from technology and reconnecting with friends and family, and it's not remarkable in any way. Fortunately, the art and sound are excellent, making it a decent way to spend a couple hours.

    read full review ↗
  • 80
    trust 56Feb 12, 2022

    Land of Screens may not be the longest game you’ll ever play, but it’s one that, if you let it, has the potential to have the longest impact. Every level has something that will resonate with someone, driving home the point that maybe, just maybe, being terminally online isn’t the way to live life. With cute visuals, soothing audio, casual gameplay, and a tiny pricetag, Land of Screens takes a tired conversation that is oft ignored and repackages it to offer an obvious but fair lesson. Skip on the screen time, but don’t skip on Land of Screens.

    read full review ↗
  • 30
    trust 56Feb 5, 2022

    Ultimately, Land of Screens may serve as a helpful reminder for a few players, but most people already know that it’s important to look up from their devices sometimes. As a non-developer, it’s difficult to see how Serenity Forge could have relayed its message in a more engaging manner, but there are developers who have successfully sneaked a societal call to action into their games. This is usually accomplished by focusing on gameplay first and sprinkling the message throughout for people to uncover themselves. Instead, Serenity Forge has made the entirety of Land of Screens about the message and only marginally concentrated on anything else. This has resulted in a flat experience that lacks the ability to inspire.

    read full review ↗
  • 82
    trust 55Feb 7, 2022

    Land of Screens demonstrates how much time we spend in front of the screen and how we're not aware of the here and now. It was an emotional journey for me that I can recommend to anyone looking for a relaxed adventure.

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  • 50
    trust 53Feb 16, 2022

    Land of Screens is far too one-note for its own good, repeatedly hammering the message that screens are pure evil. Its heart is in the right place, but its execution leaves something to be desired.

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  • 63
    trust 47Feb 8, 2022

    There are definitely people out there who could get a lot out of Land of Screens. Maybe they too are struggling with themselves after a breakup. Or maybe they are having a bad time with social media. I get it. I’ve felt those feelings. But nothing about the Land of Screens brought me to a personal catharsis. I can see where the developers are coming from, but they did not convey their message in a way that applied to me. With a more interesting execution, perhaps this could have been an exciting, moving indie narrative. As it stands though, there are better things you can do with your screens than play Land of Screens.

    read full review ↗

Patch history

  1. Patch (10-10-2022)
    Oct 10, 2022