Onde is an unusual chillout game where you surf sounds and create ethereal tunes. It’s an abstract artistic indie game experience from French indie team Lance Studio in Toulouse.
Although there are puzzle elements, the title is more a practice in gaming meditation. Onde is relaxing and provides around two hours of gameplay time, during which you enter a strange fluid world packed with artistic glory.
Abstract Artistic Glory Awaits in Onde
Okay, you can pick up Onde on Steam, Nintendo Switch, and iOS. It launched back in 2022.
It reminds us of the obscure indie platformer FLY’N. Surreal, lots of colours, an upbeat soundtrack, and soothing to play. Psychedelic, even! Bit lazy to roll out such an overused word, but all the same it’s pretty accurate here. This game is a real trip where you feel like a tadpole exploring vibrant waters.
There’s no other way of going about things, you just start the game and launch your way into it. Get moving, explore the environment, and unlock the melodies as you progress.
Onde is a game you can very much watch and appreciate, as well as play. Although we do recommend jamming your earphones in for this one before getting started (the devs even tell you to do that before it begins).
You can consider the gameplay a journey of sorts. Almost like you’re amoebic lifeforms working through some oceanic world and with all the aquatic flourishes you’d expect from that.
To the game dev’s credit, its simplistic opening does give way to increasingly complicated set pieces (essentially). This makes it important to wade through the whole experience, watch it unfold, influence the magic you see on screen, and revel in it all.
Really, very relaxing stuff and quite awe-inspiring as a visual experience. This is a full walkthrough if you want to let its full artistic glory wash over you.
With so many indie games launching every day, some titles simply get lost in a mass of white noise. Onde feels like one such hidden gem, with some beautiful moments that highlight the very best of gaming.
We think the playtime is perfectly judged—no outstaying your welcome in this unusual world. But its captivating, often enthralling musical and visual appeal do provide the urge to get straight back into its waters.
