Time Flies Reviews
Time Flies is a clever puzzle-exploration game and a playful meditation on life's brevity. Its gameplay mechanics don't evolve dramatically from one level to the next, but that never felt like a hindrance. It's a tight, focused experience that delivers its core ideas with confidence but doesn't necessarily push beyond them. That said, Time Flies never feels like a concept stretched too thin, and it bows out before overstaying its welcome.
The game will probably only last you a couple of hours or so, but that time is filled with lots of fun moments and amusing gags. It's not something that'll stand up to many replays, but it's an entertaining curiosity while it lasts.
It is rare that a game is so sharply tuned that I can be satisfied with having fewer levels to play through. Time Flies is such an easy recommendation to just about anyone who plays games. Your time with it may be short, but it is certainly well spent.
Even as someone who finds video games to be an incredibly worthwhile way to spend my time, I find myself falling victim to the "Is it long enough? Is it too long?" ruminating that plagues the industry today. As I've gotten older, that conversation has shifted, though. If it was two hours or two hundred, I didn't care. It's more about how the time spent felt. We've only got so much of it, after all. And even as it brought a newly heightened sense of my own ever-ticking life clock, I found that Time Flies was time well spent.
Time Flies is a short but clever game where you guide a fly through a bucket list of life goals before its inevitable death. Blending dark (and crass) humor with thoughtful design, it offers a light yet thought-provoking take on the fleeting nature of life.
Review in Finnish | Read full review
Visually speaking, it’s dull. When it comes to its sound department, there isn’t one – all you’re going to hear is annoying flies buzzing around. The gameplay is as shallow as a puddle, and whether or not this was meant to be comedic or philosophical, it has failed either way. I wasn’t laughing or thinking about the futility of a small amount of time spent alive, even if this was supposed to be one of its (smuggish) intentions – I was just beyond bored.
Time Flies is a short and simple game with simple graphics, but that's not a flaw. It has excellent puzzles, a great sense of humor, and deep themes that make it a great experience.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
“Time Flies is a little adventure about our limited time in this world,” claims Playables, but Time Flies is much more than that. It is a mirror held up to our own experiences, about how the choices we make influence our time. While we can make lists and plans, sometimes we just run out of time due to factors outside our control. Sometimes it’s better just to learn a little, finish a little, and then spin on a record for a while. Enjoy the last little bits of time we have with each other while the seconds tick down. Or we can snort drugs in a museum and party for no reason other than to party. Whatever passes the seconds.
Time Flies is a short, whimsical monochrome adventure toward death. Like life itself, it’s what you do with the time you’re given that defines you. This fleeting, fly-sized exploration of mortality is not for everyone, but it's likely to at least charm and bring a few laughs to players.
Time Flies not only shows that truly anything can become a video game, but that it’s important to take your time in life. Sure, we may have lifespans longer than that of a fly, but our time is still limited and we should continue to practice the art of enjoying life and everything it has to offer. Time Flies was able to wrap that message up in a fly-sized package, creating a brief but entertaining experience.
Time Flies may seem like a silly distraction at first, but its heartfelt message and compelling speed-running gameplay make it a masterpiece.
As much an experience as a video game, Time Flies will stick with me for some time. In the handful of hours I had completing everything the game has to offer, the games message that life is incredibly short left its mark on me. If only we were able to rewind clock hands in real life to give us more time with loved ones, or give them more time with us.
Time Flies is a playfully thought-provoking meditation upon death and the brevity of life, viewed through the (many) eyes of flies. The movement is unique, the art superb, and this game might just make you think twice about picking up that flyswatter.