Tulpa

Tulpa is a very beautiful puzzle game. It deals about loss, but only through the moody music, imagery and symbolism - there is no storyline at all. The gameplay itself is just basic puzzle solving. There is virtually no platforming skills involved in Tulpa. Most puzzles aren't that hard to solve, so you can easily finish within 2 hours of gameplay. Getting all the Steam achievements, takes another playthrough, which immediately makes it very clear that the game has no replay value. If you feel stuck, most of the time you can simply solve the puzzle by systematically trying to interact with every element you see on screen. Some puzzles require putting items in the correct order, and you can simply resort to brute-forcing the solution by trying out all possible arrangements.

Although I recommend the game, it think it is suitable mainly for people who like puzzle games in general, and only at a discount.

What a beautiful game! The puzzles were relatively easy, leaving time to enjoy the atmosphere and music, which was relaxing and unique. I wouldn't call it a horror game. Some parts were unsettling but it is more like a piece of art you get to explore, rather than a challenge, and the price is very low which makes up for anything negative I could say.

I absolutely recommend it to everyone that likes taking their time to appreciate beautiful art and to fans of horror/alternative indie games. Not as much to people that are looking for a gameplay challenge, as the game is short and I think that puzzle difficulty is not what the developers wanted to focus on. Again, great work!

Great graphics, great music. It's a kinda short game but very atmoshperic, enjoyful very very beautiful.
Totally worth it.. recommended for sure!

Interesting game. I really liked the aesthetics due to their vibrant colors and mysterious environment. It worth the price and I had a good time playing it.

Tulpa is an abstract game, which is the main reason for playing it. The puzzles, the art, the story (as much as there is; it's mostly up to interpretation) - all of it is drenched in abstractions in ways that are often very creative, if not always practical. If you're looking for a visual stunner with abstract art and somewhat creepy visuals, I would say that this game is worth playing solely for that. The vague storytelling also lends itself pretty well to such imagery, giving you a feel for what the game wants to convey and then sealing the deal with quite a stark ending. In those areas, the game is at its best, and it's pretty impressive for what it is.

However, there are some glaring negatives, and it's all gameplay. The platforming is servicable, but that's pretty much it. There is also little point to it as it mostly exists as a way of getting from puzzle to puzzle. And that's where the problem lies: the puzzles. They are mainly solved by switching to the floating man/ghost, which allows you the use of the mouse to drag or click on objects. However, the quality of the puzzles basically comes down to a coinflip: some of them are pretty good, allowing for some logical thinking; while others have you frantically looking for something to interact with, often finding it hidden somewhere off the screen. It's annoying and unnecessary, feeling like a way to just mess with the player instead of conceiving a puzzle that actually gives an intellectual challenge.

On top of that, you have instant-deaths-from-nowhere, where you encounter something that you haven't seen before, and the way the game signals that it's dangerous is simply by having you die to it. A few times it also springs pure traps on you that are next to impossible to dodge if you don't know that they're already there. Basically, you die way more than necessary, which means spending a lot of time with black loading screens. And that's in a game that is already somewhat short (if not awfully so, as it has a decent pacing to it). Again, it feels more like the developers messing with you than something that you could have dodged if you were just faster/better.

As it stands, I will recommend this game, but I want to note that it's a careful recommendation. This is not a polished game and really only suitable to people who really like the art. If you're here for gameplay, then I would give this a pass. For those who can overlook some bad puzzles in favor of gorgeus visuals, I would give it a try (even if I would probably pick it up at a sale).

A very pretty game, but the controls are frustrating, some puzzles are good, but most arent super interesting, and the story is confusing to say the least. I'd recommend buying the game on sale.

I found Tulpa on sale for $2-$3. The art is what solely caught my attention. It is so beautiful and creepy I love it! Keep in mind, there are a few annoyances with the game and controls, the puzzles made no sense, and the game is very short, 3-4 hours, but in the end, I was left wanting more visual eye candy, and overall, I am very satisfied. I would recommend for art lovers and casual gamers.

You control two characters in Culpa, a girl who jumps and climbs (and even pulls things twice in the whole game) and a guy who basically exists to be a 'wormhole' liability and to let you point and click with your mouse. You switch between them with a keypress. It's a bit of a clunky mechanic. When in control of the guy, the girl will blindly walk off of cliffs to stay close to him. Most puzzles require you to find the magic thing to click on and interact with. Once you've identified that, the 'puzzle' is often just dragging something. The platforming controls are slow and sluggish and platforming itself never poses any real challenge. The game's art style is consistent and almost unique; it is a cousin of the "silhouette" platformer that's become so common as of late.

The game is very short and doesn't offer much to engage the player in terms of unique game mechanics or a gaming experience in general. I wouldn't recommend this to all but the most diehard of puzzle platforming fans. 5/10.

Wanted to like this. I tried, I really did, but the controls are awful and when trying to jump, Ophelia hardly ever bloody jumps correctly leading to death and having to start over, and over, and over again until I feel like throwing things.
It's clunky and not enjoyable. It's a frustrating waste of money.
I may give it a go again but frankly, I'm tired of turning into shattered glass and repetitive motions.

I am torn on whether or not to recommend this game.

Personally, the biggest perk from this game is its atmosphere. How beautiful and artful it is comes in a close second, however. The imagery is fantastical. I loved the colors and how each level centralizes (or tries to anyway) around a certain theme and color. I found that the character breaking into shards of glass when dying was interesting and the entire concept of what a tulpa is. The visuals and the atmosphere of this game is the most fascinating and enjoyable aspect this game has to offer.

On the other side, this game has some hefty cons. It is incredibly short. One playthrough takes roughly about an hour to get through (this is coming from someone who gets stuck on the simplest of puzzles). The ending is very abrupt and unexpected with no real plot involved - unless I am perhaps too vague to understand the depth that is presented in the surreal imagery. There does appear to be a hint of a story underlying the imagery, but after spending my time going through multiple playthroughs I simply cannot fathom what I am missing. With so much to look forward to regarding the imagery and the atmosphere I was hoping for at least five levels to go deeper into the concept of a "tulpa" (which is a fascinating concept on its own and I did not feel as though it explored this idea at all). I was, admittedly, very disappointed with the abrupt ending as I was enjoying the game up until then. I had expected a lot more from it.

Regardless of its hefty con ... it is worth playing in my opinion, especially if you enjoy atmospheric games with lots of imagery. I would wait until it was on sale to purchase, though.

I'd totally remove the "puzzle" tag for this very, very short game.

Basically, this is a sidescroller with some obstacles, where you use one ghost-like character to reach and manipulate objects that the regular character cannot. The game sacrifices the logic in the name of the surreal flavour. Yes, this means "trial and error" most of the time. Like Hapland.

The controls are not horrible, as other people claim. Granted that using X and Z together with WASD movement is very awkward, but you can use Shift and Ctrl instead.

The atmosphere is great at some points, and just off in others. The "Ophelia is Distressed" thing in the first part was great, why did that stop? I was expecting more of that. Actually, I was expecting more of everything, the game is ridiculously short.

Only get this during a sale.

At first glance, Tulpa is nicely surreal with good artwork, and interesting puzzles. I did like the creepiness and minimalist design. The music was ok, if a bit bland and uninspired.
Where it fails is in it's overall clunky controls and mechanics. everything there is laggy, slow, sloppy, and frustrating. Too much pixel hunting to see what you were meant to interact with.

Overall, I can't recommend this for any price over $3.

Tulpa is a 2D puzzle platformer where you control two characters with different abilities. The girl can push/pull things and jump and the floating boy can interact with onscreen objects with the mouse cursor. If you've played Limbo you'll have an inkling of what you're in for, if not, that means that you will learn what to do by being killed, repeatedly. Some deaths are unavoidable the first time around. This aspect makes the game frustrating, especially coupled with the obtuse puzzles you'll have to solve. The puzzle-solving boils down to clicking any suspicious object on-screen to determine its utility. The unresponsive controls confound the puzzle-solving further, as there are instances where I knew what should be done, but the controls failed me. Despite the colorful presentation and surreal imagery, there is no story in this game. It is one of those games that throws as much weirdness at you and hope that your mind would probe for meaning, when there isn't any. If there was an underlying thread of meaning that ties up this adventure, it went way beyond me. Game duration is about 1-2hrs.

I would not recommend 'Tulpa'.

As a game, it's not great. The keys used are WASD to move, X&Z for actions, and the mouse. This is pretty hard to play with, as moving my hand around to move while holding X [for example to move something] is extremey awkward, and the controls cannot be re-mapped.

The visuals in the game are nice, although I am missing any symbolism here, because I have no clue about the subject matter of 'Tulpas'. Nearer the end, the game starts to use some evangelion 3 level visuals which fit right in to the game, but I have no idea what they mean.

This is actually true for a lot of the game. There are many puzzles where I found the solution just by random chance, and some things are never really explained.

Perhaps if you like the subject matter you would enjoy the game, but i cannot recommend it for anyone who doesn't.

Very interesting game; the art style is quite unique, as is the gameplay, but I feel it leaves a bit too much up to the player's imagination.

And by that I mean the game literally tells you NOTHING about the story or what's going on at any point.

Still, 8/10.

Awesome.
Vivid colors , meticulous design, great music, atmospheric.

This game is traveling you directly to a particular dream world .
The combination of the above , along with the development of the script, it leaves you with the feeling that it has something to tell you , a deeper meaning behind the solution of the puzzle.

Great work Developers ! Keep going !

Tulpa is a 2D colorful puzzle platformer with a little bit of adventure in there. It's surreal, beautiful, charming, and you get a great half experience from it, the other half is frustration, which is surprising for me since barely any game does that to me.

The game is a damn beautiful art piece, which as vibrant colors, great art work that looks like it was inspired by a mix of Indian, Arabian, and English art. The puzzles are really simple and hidden so plainly that you'd just miss it somehow, and that's kind of what I think is makes (one version of) a good puzzle game.

The beginning section is annoying, along side with most of the game. I get what they're trying to do, adding a creepy/scary factor to it, but it's more annoying than being effectively creepy.

The controls/gameplay are less than solid work, sometimes frustrating, where there actions are delayed, moving objects around are noticeably laggy, and half of the time the character won't hold on to a ledge.

Tulpa is absolutely astonishing in the way that it looks, it's art is just fantastic, it's creepy factor is amazing, and the pacing of it is good too, the characters are also great with how one is working with the other to continue their adventure, but it's a shame that it has such low quality control in the gameplay side of things, which includes the platforming design, the controls, the interactions with items and the environment, the movement and jumping system, that and the guides/tutorials are bad or not even there to help sort out what you can do in the game, which I think they aren't there because of the shortness of the game? not sure.

I'm actually more disappointed that angry with the game, looking forward to it before release, and then finally playing the game, it did an amazing job in its looks, in the characters, in the puzzles, but not in the gameplay sadly, which is why I recommend this game only at a price cut, around 6 dollars is a good point, but if it didn't have those problems that ruined half of my experiences, then I would wholeheartedly recommend at full price, even if it is short 2-3 hour game, I'm more into a great experience rather than length, to an extent, and this Tulpa delivered half a good one.

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Lovely looking game. Great sounds. Nice atmosphere. Has been a problem with the jump button not being responsive, but the developer got in touch and they've been fantastic. I'm sure that this won't be a problem for much longer. ** EDIT ** Turns out to be my not too great machine specs. From the other reviews this doesn't seem to be a problem for most people. **

I can't recommend the game enough. It's feels unique and stands out from the usual fayre. The sound only adds to the mood of the game. The puzzles are fun, not too difficult, but you will die a few times trying to solve them. Stick with it though as the visual style only gets better as you progress, just look at the trailer :)

This game is really fun. The puzzles are good, even in the beginning of the game they challenge you. The music is amazing and definitely sets the mood for the rest of the game. The minimalist style is awesome. The game itself runs smoothly and beautifully. This is an all around good game so far. Anyone who likes games like "Limbo" will really enjoy this game.

Interesting but rather short game. Game aesthetics are distinct and gorgeous but gameplay and controls have some rough edges. Nevertheless game is well worth playing (even if you have no idea what "tulpa" is).