The Flame in the Flood

IGN

Leif Johnson

7.3 / 10.0

The Flame in the Flood is a beautiful procedurally generated survival sim that gains a welcome sense of momentum from the need to stay on the move. Its unwieldy menus and tendency to crash ruins some of the fun, unfortunately, but not enough to diminish the strength of the hopeful, riverbound journey at its core.

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Eurogamer

Christian Donlan

Recommended

If you can handle the wild river - and the odd bug - there's plenty to love in this heartfelt survival game.

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PC Gamer

Christopher Livingston

70 / 100

Lovely and challenging with enjoyable crafting and survival elements, but poor river controls make it harsher than it should be.​

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Metro GameCentral

David Jenkins

7 / 10

Not the deepest wilderness survival game around in terms of gameplay, but certainly one of the most atmospheric and thought-provoking.

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Game Informer

Javy Gwaltney

9 / 10.0

This challenging voyage makes for one of the most memorable and satisfying survival games in the last few years

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GameSpot

Edmond Tran

8 / 10

The Flame in the Flood is an harsh and absorbing survival game that never lets you rest on your laurels, with fantastic audiovisual design direction.

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Game Revolution

Gil Almogi

Overall, the experience of playing The Flame in The Flood is more frustrating than nerve-wracking. I get that survival games won't be easy, but their systems should feel balanced, not bullshit. And the nodal method of traveling down river can feel futile in its own way. There's a big, bad wolf between me and any desire to play this further.

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Destructoid

Ben Davis

7.5 / 10.0

The post-societal visuals of crumbling buildings, broken-down cars drifting along the flooded river, and menacing wildlife lurking in the distance, paired with an excellent folk rock soundtrack featuring Chuck Ragan, creates a unique atmosphere of exploring a desolate frontier. It's easy to become absorbed in this world and end up spending much more time on this treacherous river than you initially intended. That is, until it swiftly kills you without remorse. It seems mother nature is a cruel mistress indeed.

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