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.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (OpenCritic) | – | 75 | 8 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 75% | 70 | 50 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | – | 0 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | – | – | 0 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 0 reviews sampled · 0 total reviews in window · weighted 0 up / 0 down · computed 2h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (14)
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.
- 85
“Summertime Madness is a short, yet challenging adventure puzzler with a great story and amazing visuals that create a very unique aesthetic. Whether you pick it up for the gameplay, the artwork or both, you won't want to put it down until the summertime (or the madness) ends.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Summertime Madness is an engaging puzzle-adventure title with challenging puzzles, stunning graphics, a beautiful soundtrack and a wealth of collectibles. While several of its puzzles are needlessly complex, and some collectibles are near impossible to find without a guide, it is enjoyable for fans of the puzzle genre nonetheless.”
read full review ↗ - 75
“This puzzle game feels like something that someone put up for sale without playtesting it much first. While the visuals and the story are gorgeous. Some of the puzzles are confusing, winding, and waste the player’s precious time for no real reason. I liked a lot of aspects of Summertime Madness, but I wish it contained a little less aimless wandering and a little more puzzle solving to get where you need to be going.”
read full review ↗ - 65
“Summertime Madness is an earnest attempt at making an emotionally appealing puzzle game, but ultimately misses the mark. The beautiful art style, paired with a melodic score couldn't elevate the overly bloated puzzles and sterile storytelling.”
read full review ↗ - 75
“Despite some pretentiously cryptic puzzle design in the latter half, DP Games' first effort still succeeds from all of its strengths.”
read full review ↗ - 77
“First person puzzlers aren’t rare, but Summertime Madness is a great effort from DP Games to add to the growing entries in the genre. Outside of one incredibly sharp difficulty spike I enjoyed my time with it a lot. If you’re in for an evening or two of abstract puzzling then this gets a recommendation for sure, just have a walkthrough ready for that last section so as to not completely undermine the good experience up until that point.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Summertime Madness is a special game clearly built by artists or at least people who appreciate and want to pay respect to the art of painting. It’s a stunning and picturesque surreal world and has some crazy good and difficult puzzles to crack. It’s hard to recommend it to everyone, but if you are into puzzle games, this is definitely for you.”
read full review ↗ - 65
“I like Summertime Madness in theory. I like its premise, its world, I even like the fact it’s a walking simulator with a stupidly fast running button. On the other hand, this is a puzzle-solving adventure where the act of solving puzzles feels cryptic and arbitrary, almost as if it was intentionally made for you to fail your first run. With some slightly better puzzle design, this could have been a cult hit among puzzle enthusiasts. As it stands, I respect its premise, but I can’t exactly recommend it.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“If there’s one word I could use to encapsulate Summertime Madness it would be potential. This being DP Games maiden title there are some true flashes of brilliance here, notably in level design and exquisitely designed artwork. The aforementioned Neo Prague level is a real stand-out statement of the talent at the studio and I hope that they use this section of the game as a benchmark to work from as they build their next title. If you’re a console gamer looking for a game that will flex your cognitive powers then go check it out when it releases to consoles on January 26th”
read full review ↗ - 91
“Summertime Madness doesn't last long, and it can easily be finished in under two hours. But it's also not the sort of game that needs to go on forever, either. It's a challenging, engaging puzzle with enough plot to last through its runtime, and that's enough to make it well worth a look.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Summertime Madness is a wonderful surreal puzzle adventure title. You must solve many problems as you venture through a selection of bizarre and beautiful paintings. Flip switches, stop cogs, explore never-ending stairs, and more. Will you escape before the time runs out and the Devil traps you?”
read full review ↗ - 60
“Summertime Madness is a beauty, there’s no doubting that. It bewitches you with sunkissed moments and some surrealist cutaway moments, like a whale that swims past you at the summit of a lighthouse. But these are garlands on a forgettable little game, one that gets lost in its own mazes and can’t find a way of generating feeling, fun or meaning. One for only the fiercest Myst fans.”
read full review ↗
Pure Nintendo
GameGrin
LadiesGamers.com
Six One Indie
TechRaptor
Xbox Tavern
Duuro Magazine
WayTooManyGames
Thumb Culture
Gaming Age
Movies Games and Tech
TheXboxHub…and 2 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- Steam Summer Sales 15% Discount and Patch 1.2 Released!Jun 24, 2021significant · resets scoring window
- Patch 1.2 Released : final puzzles rework.Jun 24, 2021significant · resets scoring window
- Patch 1.1 is out! No Time-Limit mode available, UI Crosshair, Puzzle Rework.Jun 19, 2021significant · resets scoring window
- Patch 1.1 is out! No Time-Limit mode available, UI Crosshair, Mft Puzzle Rework.Jun 19, 2021significant · resets scoring window