Need to know
What is it? An action-adventure game where you explore a tiny world using insect-inspired mechs.
Expect to pay £15
Developer Flight School Studios
Publisher MWM Interactive
Reviewed on AMD Ryzen 5 3600, 8GB, AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT
Multiplayer No
Link Official website (opens in new tab)Â
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 Mechs in games are usually huge, hulking killing machines that can punch through buildings and crunch the earth beneath them as they stomp about. Pure metal, fuel, and rust, ready to unleash destruction and chaos. But the mechs in the adventure game Stonefly are not like that. Sure, you’re still controlling a 100-tonne machine, but Stonefly’s miniature mechs are light on their robotic feet, hopping and gliding with ease.Â
Developer Flight School Studio has left the electrifying pinball hack-n-slash action of Creature in the Well and the chilling ghost stories of Manifest 99 behind for a tranquil jaunt through nature. Stonefly is an adventure game that puts a magnifying glass over a forest’s undergrowth, letting us take a peek at an entire bug ecosystem all from the safety of the world’s smallest mech.
Although Stonefly’s fusion of nature and engineering make for an exciting world, the game’s loop of frustrating resource grinding and mission repetition stops this adventure from taking full flight.
(Image credit: MWM Interactive)
Stonefly left me in two minds. The feeling you get when you’re effortlessly bouncing from branch to branch is unlike anything else I’ve played. I love the concept too, the idea of a mech that is not simply a killing machine, but one that has been inspired by the gentleness of nature is something I’ve not seen realised like this before. It’s a shame that the struggle of getting materials, and lack of variety in missions, sucks the fun out of an otherwise chill game.
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