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Sokobond

Sokobond

Alan Hazelden, Lee Shang Lun · released Jul 21, 2014

IndiePCNintendo SwitchiOS (iPhone/iPad)

Sokobond is an elegantly designed puzzle game about chemistry. It's logical, minimalist, and beautiful - crafted with love and science.

85
VGC Score
Stablemedium confidence
80%
At launch
93%
Steam all-time
82%
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 (Metacritic)826
All-time Steam reviews93%87357
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 0.4 up / 0 down · computed 4h ago · full methodology →

Press & Creators reviews (7)

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.

  • 89
    trust 69Jul 30, 2014

    Sokobond is puzzle game that follows brilliantly the rule 'less is more'. Simple rules of chemistry dictate the puzzles of the game, without the need of their profound knowledge. Sokobond demonstrates how simple a concept or an idea can be, yet how hard it is to reach that goal. Isn't this, what science is all about? Definitely recommended.

    read full review ↗
  • 90
    trust 66Nov 3, 2013

    This is a game about the beauty of science, and most puzzle games can learn from its findings.

    read full review ↗
  • 80
    trust 58Jul 23, 2014

    In a word, Sokobond is elegant. It is elegant in its concept, it is elegant in its aesthetic direction, and it is elegant in its puzzle design.

    read full review ↗
  • 68
    trust 58Aug 4, 2014

    Sokobond is a challenging, quiet game. But it's also a fun game, as the post-level facts come out, telling you about the practical applications of these little elements you're pushing around.

    read full review ↗
  • 70
    trust 52Nov 3, 2013

    Once you understand that this game, whilst centred on an elemental and molecular foundation, is really just about moving blocks until they’re in the right place - and have been put there in the correct order - you’ll be able to beat all one-hundred and forty four levels of it (these can all be unlocked from the start if desired) and suffice to say such a result would be as rewarding as getting an A+ in any school exam.

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  • 60
    trust 50Dec 4, 2013

    Even though it has little to do with real chemistry, Sokobond poses some interesting challenges. It's not especially memorable, but it will supply a few hours of solid puzzling.

    read full review ↗
  • 90
    trust 49Nov 3, 2013

    Sokobond introduces complexity via level furniture that breaks bonds or lets you adjust the position of bonded atoms, but even the basic chambers provide ingenious challenges. Forget chemistry: it takes alchemy to produce a puzzle game as refined and smart as this.

    read full review ↗

Patch history