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Tangle Tower

Tangle Tower

SFB Games · released Oct 22, 2019

AdventureIndiePCPlayStation 4Xbox OneNintendo SwitchiOS (iPhone/iPad)

Unravel a thrilling mystery by exploring a strange and twisted mansion, discovering curious clues, interrogating peculiar suspects and solving unique puzzles. Will you be able to uncover the secrets of Tangle Tower?

88
VGC Score
Stablehigh confidence
88%
At launch
95%
Steam all-time
79%
Press
83%
Player sentiment
96%
Recent sentiment

PC 88 · PlayStation 77 · Xbox 77

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)798
Creator reviews (1 tracked)801
All-time Steam reviews95%901000
Metacritic user ratings806
Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted)96%9157
Calibration prior (typical game)7250

Acclaim gate: the raw blend lands at 88.7, but scores above 88 must be earned in front of a mass audience; this verdict rests on 6,740 player reviews, a largely self-selected fanbase. As more players weigh in, the ceiling rises (full scale unlocks at 100,000 reviews).

Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 159 reviews sampled · 164 total reviews in window · weighted 104.1 up / 4.5 down · computed 2h ago · full methodology →

Press & Creators reviews (19)

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.

  • 95
    trust 80Nov 1, 2019

    I can tell a lot of passion went into this game. There are just so many details, and the character’s personalities are really reflected in body language and vocals. I would highly recommend you check out Tange Tower. It’s amazing!

    read full review ↗
  • 80
    trust 78Nov 11, 2019

    "This reminds me of a puzzle..."

    read full review ↗
  • 80
    trust 76Oct 22, 2019

    Tangle Tower is an exemplary addition to the point-and-click genre, providing superb puzzles and very well written dialogue, backed up by some of the finest voiceover work in recent memory. A few of the character interactions may drag on a bit too long in places as you try and uncover every piece of evidence available to you, and there’s little reason to play through the game multiple times. But to be honest, these are very minor gripes considering just how much fun we had in the company of Detectives Grimoire and Sally.

    read full review ↗
  • 85
    trust 70Oct 22, 2019

    When there are so many point-and-click style adventures available on the Switch it pays to try to stand out...

    read full review ↗
  • 90
    trust 70Dec 16, 2019

    Charming, original, and terrifically paced, Tangle Tower is a strong contender for the best point-and-click adventure of 2019. Puzzles require real wit without bogging readers down with irrelevant information. Each screen is filled to the brim with detail, blending colour and lighting into a living, breathing tower. Only a few hours long with a gripping mystery at the centre of its plot, Tangle Tower is a must play for fans of the genre.

    read full review ↗
  • 85
    trust 69Oct 25, 2019

    The overall case is somewhat neat and tidy - it won’t take you much more than a few hours to solve the mystery - but the journey along the way is enjoyable. The voice acting and standout art and animation fits the distinctive characters very well, and with few exceptions, the puzzles and deduction sequences are engaging and brain-wrinkling. I hope this is the start of a new era in Detective Grimoire’s career, because I wouldn’t mind revisiting this world and gameplay style again soon.

    read full review ↗
  • 85
    trust 64Oct 28, 2019

    GREAT - Developed by the studio that brought us Snipperclips, Tangle Tower is a highly entertaining whodunit murder mystery that’s sort of a cross between an interactive graphic novel and a point and click adventure game. It features fantastic art and animation combined with a truly amazing soundtrack and superb voice acting to really make the experience memorable. By the end I was yearning for more, and hopefully I’ll get it in the future!

    read full review ↗
  • 80
    trust 61Nov 22, 2019

    Tangle Tower is a pleasure to play. An interesting story, well-crafted gameplay, and a brilliantly diverse cast of characters marred only by small faults here and there still make it an easy recommandation for adventure game fans.

    read full review ↗
  • 80
    trust 61Oct 23, 2019

    Tangle Tower draws you in with its superb presentation and hooks you with its alluring mystery, likable cast, and entertaining puzzles. It can be genuinely hard to put down, and one of the most enjoyable point-and-click games in recent memory.

    read full review ↗
  • 80
    trust 59CreatorNov 10, 2019

    Quote not yet available.

    read full review ↗
  • 70
    trust 58Nov 21, 2019

    Tangle Tower is still worth exploring despite its issues, especially for those with access to Apple Arcade. At it's piecemeal $20 price tag, though, the game's flaws are less forgivable. If anything, Tangle Tower makes a compelling case for a long-running franchise starring Detective Grimoire and Sally. The foundation is there: sharp writing, beautiful presentation, phenomenal voice work, stellar music. With just a little more time in the oven, SFB's next game could be something truly special. For now, we'll just have to settle for "good."

    read full review ↗
  • 91
    trust 57Sep 15, 2020

    Tangle Tower is built around an excellent whodunit mystery that moves along at just the right pace. There’s a great balance of plot, puzzle, and humour, and it does a good job of keeping you invested all the way to the very end. In this respect, you could say that the game carries on in the traditions of the very best adventure games from a few decades ago, but it manages to do so in a way that feels undeniably fresh.

    read full review ↗

…and 7 more tracked reviews.

Patch history