Amerzone: The Explorer’s Legacy (1999)
Amerzone: The Explorer’s Legacy (1999)
Game
Game2015
Armikrog
Developer Pencil Test Studios
Armikrog (stylized as Armikrog.) is a stop-motion point-and-click adventure comedy game by Doug TenNapel in partnership with Pencil Test Studios and Versus Evil for Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4, Wii U and Xbox One. It is a spiritual successor to The Neverhood, and is developed by many members of the same team. Like The Neverhood, Armikrog uses clay animation. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
202 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Oct 31, 2026 · last updated Nov 4, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
66
Fresh
124 positive · 64 negative
95% range 59–72%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 124 | 64 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 1 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mixed
523 of 937 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
66% recommend · 124 yes, 65 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 189 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Mixed (971 of 1,649 positive).
Players praise the unique claymation art style and atmosphere. [1][2][3] Many note the game is short and has bugs. [4][5][6] Some reviewers compare it unfavorably to The Neverhood. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [7]
As much as I love point-and-click games and stop-motion animation, I'm afraid this game just doesn't cut it for me and it probably won't with you either. Take my advice: Avoid this game altogether and play The Neverhood. Sure the game's out of stock everywhere and the developer doesn't even exist anymore, but if you can somehow find the old files online, you can get the game working on your PC no problem with the …
- [18]
So, I wish that steam had a "Maybe" option instead of recommending or not recommending this game. I feel mixed because I enjoyed aspects of this game and hated aspects of this game. I should maybe say that I've never played Neverhood, so my take on the game is not based on any pre-expectations. It was recommended to me by a friend since I play a lot of point and click adventure games. Why I would recommend it: The …
- [1]
Instead of comparing Armikrog to Neverhood people should focus on the game itself. It is not Neverhood and it was never intended never be. First of all, the game has amazing style, the world made of clay is awesome. The characters are very likable and unique. The enviroment is unpredictable and exceptional. The way the game was created make it a real gem. Armikrog is a classic point & click game. The actions to be …
- [5]
It's short and glitchy but, all the same, I loved Armikrog. Save frequently and it's salvageable. Tommy and Beak-Beak are a pair of lovable guys, it's a brand new world of klay to stomp around in and Uncle Terry delivered another round of bangers that were a dreamier, more melancholic twist on his Imaginarium. The puzzles gave just enough resistance for this to be an enjoyable play-through with my kids without …
- [2]
Actually a nice little adventure game undeserving of a lot of hate & negativity it's received. The atmosphere and presentation are phenomenal and unique, the game's world is fascinating to explore and has a strong sense of mystery and "the unknown" to it. Puzzles could've been way better but I've played many, many adventure games with far worse and the puzzles are for the most part at least integrated nicely into …
Summarised from 34 of the 203 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 12, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Armikrog sits at 66% positive across 188 opinionated reactions from 3 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Critics, per Wikipedia
Armikrog received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator website Metacritic. Critics appreciated the fun art style and catchy music. As a fan of The Neverhood, Destructoid's Caitlin Cooke praised the game saying that it has a certain charm that only Doug TenNapel can deliver. She did however criticise the lack of an inventory system and outdated interface. GameSpot's Matt Espineli gave a 4/10 rating, with criticism stemming from underdeveloped characters, inconsistent sound design and confusing puzzle elements. In 2017, TenNapel admitted that the developers ran out of resources to put the final polish in Armikrog.
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 202 · most liked first“Twoflower didn't just look at the world through rose-tinted spectacles, Rincewind knew--he looked at it through a rose-tinted brain, too, and heard it through rose-tinted ears.” ― Terry Pratchett, The Light Fantastic Armikrog is a decent game. Deal with it. I haven't played The Neverhood.....is my opinion still valid? THE PROS + dat intro. Wow the opening is like a Saturday morning cartoon vibe mashed up with a game. I really loved that. I haven’t played The Neverhood. Maybe it has…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As much as I love point-and-click games and stop-motion animation, I'm afraid this game just doesn't cut it for me and it probably won't with you either. Take my advice: Avoid this game altogether and play The Neverhood. Sure the game's out of stock everywhere and the developer doesn't even exist anymore, but if you can somehow find the old files online, you can get the game working on your PC no problem with the help of ScummVm.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Instead of comparing Armikrog to Neverhood people should focus on the game itself. It is not Neverhood and it was never intended never be. First of all, the game has amazing style, the world made of clay is awesome. The characters are very likable and unique. The enviroment is unpredictable and exceptional. The way the game was created make it a real gem. Armikrog is a classic point & click game. The actions to be made are logical, puzzles are not very difficult. The story is not very deep,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As a fan of the Neverhood, I wanted to checkout this game dispite the mixed reviews. Would not recommend. It's close, but there are several things that just make you stop and wonder how the game possible launched as it is. The crying baby puzzles in particular are aweful. There really needed to be a better way to convey that you can test the items by clicking the ring above them, and that you didn't have to wait for the music to reach that section.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Actually a nice little adventure game undeserving of a lot of hate & negativity it's received. The atmosphere and presentation are phenomenal and unique, the game's world is fascinating to explore and has a strong sense of mystery and "the unknown" to it. Puzzles could've been way better but I've played many, many adventure games with far worse and the puzzles are for the most part at least integrated nicely into the world (which is rarely seen in the adventure genre past the 90's and early…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Couldn't force myself to finish it. But it was still useful — through reviews I learned how much of a horrible person doug tennapel actually is
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's not Neverhood, but Armikrog is an absolutely beautiful game with its own soul.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →11 years later, I finally played it after backing it in 2013 and it was an utter disappointment.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Nice, got TRIPLE softlocked and have to restart the game... There are puzzles that are unique to each playthrough, one of which has barely legible symbols that I was sure would come up again but I figured I would get a closer look at later. Then I crossed a certain part of the game with more of those symbols. You need to backtrack here, except to do that, you need the first symbols...which I can now no longer access..and are unique to my playthough, so short of trying out every solution…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So, I wish that steam had a "Maybe" option instead of recommending or not recommending this game. I feel mixed because I enjoyed aspects of this game and hated aspects of this game. I should maybe say that I've never played Neverhood, so my take on the game is not based on any pre-expectations. It was recommended to me by a friend since I play a lot of point and click adventure games. Why I would recommend it: The game looks super neat! If you are an artsy person that enjoys neat and…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Genuinely a disappointment, as someone that loved Skull Monkeys as a child and point and click style games in general. The puzzles are utterly uninspired and boring so it doesn't excel at that, and the point and click aspect is barely used. No menu for items or interesting engagements or interactions at all. The only thing this "game" has going for it is a fun art style and visual creativity.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I like the style but its still kind of pale. I wanted to like it but it's not fun. At this point i'm just trying to finish it just because i bought it. I can't recommend this meh game. Edit: Finished. Didn't enjoy it at all. Weird rushed ending.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Doug's become an abject loser. He started taking a detour when people sabotaged his Armikrog Kickstarter campaign over some old bullshit he said on his own website. When the game eventually launched and tanked hard, Doug went to a dark place.
neutral · AI labelView post →Some initially pretty visuals fall away into about four puzzles that constantly repeat themselves with only minor variation. It's not clear if this game has less music than it's predecessor, The Neverhood, or if the sound engine is bugged to the point that the music doesn't play. Bugged enough that when I encountered several roadblocks in the game, I could not tell if the game had just...totally broken on me or I missed something without a ton of trial and error. I bought this for a…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I played The Neverhood, some days before this review, (using ScummVM to get it working,) and while I found the experience of that game to be below average, due to slow pacing and unclear, frustrating puzzles, with a score of 6.5/10, its spiritual successor, Armikrog is what I would consider a significant improvement! In fact, I actually find it to be underrated by the reviews here on Steam. So, what makes Armikrog an improvement over The Neverhood? Well, the gameplay is much faster than its…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Its full of sound bugs and movement glitches. Be careful while playing and save often. It's not the neverhood, it's just a nostalgia trip that feels like it but without the spirit and passion the original game had.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →not bad, but loading / saving does not work well :( I had to go through the early middle of the game twice, and I've dropped it on the third time :( then I've managed to install The Neverhood - it's soooooooooo cooool! especially in contrast with Armikrog which is but nice.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've never been so torn on a recommendation before. I enjoyed Armikrog, but I was also deeply disappointed by it. I want other people to play it, but I expect that it will frustrate them. If you're not a die-hard Neverhood fan who enjoys the work of Doug TenNapel despite his atrocious reputation as an internet troll, don't play this. If you, like I, have listened to Terry S Taylor's soundtrack to Skullmonkeys about a zillion times, then you MIGHT enjoy this game, assuming the music plays for…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The choices on Steam are pretty limited, and I probably should have thought about it a bit more, but at least I did reach a solid landscape of games here. Problem is my first recommended game was Armikrog which... uh... no.
negative · AI labelView post →mmm yea was fun, pree short, buggy, didnt really live up to neverhood but still worth a go its cheap
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The animations are quirky and fun, if a bit drug-induced. I ran into a few bugs in the first 4 hours of play. One was a hang, and the other just stopped my progress. There's a "long hall" gag where they make you click through a lot of rooms back and forth, which would be funny, if the rest of the game didn't feel like that already. When The Neverhood came out almost 30 years ago, I thought it was amazing. This is just OK. Some puzzles are excellent. Some are near repeats of earlier…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I was a huge fan of clay animation from childhood. I especially remember “The Neverhood,” which had a big impact on my growing up. I really enjoyed playing Armikrog, despite a few moments where there were bugs in the gameplay. It was an amazing experience with not boring puzzles and a whole storyline. I cannot imagine the amount of work that was accomplished by the developers. Thanks to the developers for the time travel experience back to childhood!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Bring back the Neverhood in the age of tiktok gamers who will absolutely rage publically about the hallway of doom, and then we'll talk.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game, with it's stupid puzzles like one where A BABY CONSTANTLY SCREAMS IN YOUR EARS WHILE YOU'RE TRYING TO COMPLETE IT, gave me a headache. Good job game, good job. It looks the part but it doesn't play the part. Man I really want to enjoy point and clicks but the few examples I've played are not doing it for me.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's short and glitchy but, all the same, I loved Armikrog. Save frequently and it's salvageable. Tommy and Beak-Beak are a pair of lovable guys, it's a brand new world of klay to stomp around in and Uncle Terry delivered another round of bangers that were a dreamier, more melancholic twist on his Imaginarium. The puzzles gave just enough resistance for this to be an enjoyable play-through with my kids without getting bogged. It became a household classic. Fans that expected to be Raptured…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you played The Neverhood - don't play this game! Complete and utter disappointment. I supported the game during it's whole process but unfortunately it is boring, repetitive, full of bugs and some illogical riddles. I met some bugs that broke the game and I had to start over. Some actions you have to do at proper time without any reason to not work earlier. Some riddles are unintuitive and illogical. Some animations are fun but most of them are boring or even cringe. After that much time I…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Let me begin by stating that I absolutely loved the Neverhood growing up and held onto that game for as long as I possibly could, until it would run on a computer no longer. Armikrog is not a Neverhood remake, but instead a brand new story in the Neverhood universe, complete with 1990's claymation at its finest. New puzzles to solve in Neverhood fashion, all while remaining distinct in its own right.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →"Disappointing" sums up all my feelings on this game. I backed the Kickstarter, I loved the Neverhood but even rose-coloured glasses didn't spoil this game for me. Horrible GUI design: no separate save/load screen (it's in the Options). The cursor is TINY and because you can only interact with certain things, that's a huge hindrance. Horrible puzzle design: It's the great lever adventure. Which lever goes where? Who knows! One appeared out of nowhere without warning once and I completely…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hi, Everyone who did this "Armikrog" and "Neverhood": I want more of your stories and games! I really miss Klaymen and the universe Neverhood (I first got acquainted with the game in 2000). I know that you no longer have the rights to the game "Neverhood". But I really hope that you will be allowed to participate in the "Neverhood Remastering" and the subsequent game "Neverhood 2"!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As a player of the original Neverhood, I was very excited to finally try out Armikrog when it released. Unfortunately, the size of the game and the lack of a flushed out story really detracted from this game. It just fails to feel like a completed game. Pick it up if it is on sale. Otherwise, watch a playthrough of it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As a fan of The Neverhood and Skullmonkeys, I just had to play this game. I understand why some people complain about the puzzles and how hard they are, but I am a veteran of point-and-click adventure games, and I haven't come across any that I think were unfair.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pretty short and forgettable point and click with redundant puzzles. It is nowhere near close to achieving the same level of charm that The Neverhood had. At least the art looks cool. Definitely not worth the ten dollars though...
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I was a backer on Kickstarter. Because of that, I played the entire game off of Steam. That is why the low play time displayed. I played for a little on Steam on my laptop when visiting family. Turns out my nephews were good at solving the puzzles. They got pretty far. Anyway, this game is fun for the most part. I don't get the hate for it. While not amazing, it is easily worth the current price of $10 USD. I've also played The Neverhood. Not everyone is going to enjoy this type of game. I…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Obtuse puzzles and lengthy backtracking. The Neverhood came out in 1996, what's your excuse? Not to mention the tragedy that is the soundtrack, especially compared to it's predecessor.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As a fan of The Neverhood, the classic point & click adventure game by Pencil Test Studios, I was excited to back Armikrog on Kickstarter and see what the creators had in store for us. Unfortunately, Armikrog is not the game I was hoping for. It is a mediocre and buggy adventure that fails to live up to its predecessor in almost every aspect. The game’s main strength is its claymation style, which gives it a unique and charming look. Some of the scenes and animations are impressive and show…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →super short which was disappointing. without a guide to do the puzzles, I was able to finish the game under 3 hours with a fair amount of back tracking to explore. cute little game and doesn't really deserve some of the hate I've seen. got it for $2 and feel like i got the full value from it. I've seen worse movies for $8 for 2 hours, so if you look at it like an interactive movie then it's good enough.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Warning: The game has no language setting. If you do not desire to change the language of your Operating System, you probably can't get around installing a locale emulator, as you can't even change the language via Steam launch options. The game itself might be alright, if you like room based puzzles. I didn't play much, but I was a bit underwhelmed and the missing language options really did not sit well.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →its a short game but could be very fun if youre nostalgic for "Neverhood"
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →buggy, half baked. Feels out of touch with what made the neverhood good.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Wonderful art, terrible execution.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fantastic game with unique art style, funny commentary and fun puzzles. Not too long, not too short, overall - a really great piece to play on a Saturday.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →this game was fun but the 30 minute oiled up tommynaut fanservice scene was a bit unnecessary. not a complaint though 10/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →the game is not interesting, the puzzles are the same, the solution to some is not obvious, a terrible continuation of the legend
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →First of all, the appearance of the character and the game world attracted my attention to the The Neverhood series. I liked the art design of the game very much, and it was acceptable for me in terms of the sound and voice acting. The gameplay was a bit dry and slow and it could be better, but I liked the puzzles in the game. Overall, I enjoyed the game experience. Score: 7.4/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A decent point-and-click adventure. Yes, it's not Neverhood but it's not 1996 either and we're not kids anymore.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →YES, BUT ONLY IF IT'S ON A MAJOR SALE! I'm not sure if it's worth the entire 10 bucks, since I only got it when it was almost 80% off. As someone who's never played The Neverhood before playing Armikrog (plus the fact that I live under a rock), I don't have the lens of nostalgia or any influences going in. It's a short and sweet story with a simplistic claymation aesthetic, plus the OST is really catchy. The controls can be a bit wonky, some of the line delivery in the voice acting just…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fun, Yet challenging!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I know it's not fair to compare it to a game that came out 20 years prior, but.... Still. I actually went back and played The Neverhood to completion after I finished Armikrog, just to make sure I wasn't misremembering things. The Neverhood is a more satisfying experience, even today. In my opinion it's more creative, funnier, less tedious (despite a bit of back-tracking here and there), has a more interesting aesthetic (compared to Armikrog's dull color palette), and features better music.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Delightful point and click, escape-room style adventure. Makes me nostalgic for the Neverhood :) I love the stop-motion animation style. The puzzles are clever, tickles the brain. Not as challenging as Myst/Riven/other similar titles. Very approachable if you enjoy a puzzle game. Thought it would be a little longer, but not disappointed. I Love the character swapping; would love to have seen that more deeply developed, but it's great as is.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Tried it on my Steam Deck in docked mode with an 8-bit-do controller. The "mouse pointer" is way too sensitive using the controls , making it unplayable on the Deck. Sad, because it's a fun game otherwise.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Klayman approves
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is great! I finished about 70% without walkthrough and enjoy it a lot. Puzzles are logical and not so hard if you write down or screenshot hints on the walls. I like the art style also. Ending is a bit hard and I had to google for solution, but it's ok if you got this game on sale. Other players write about softlocks, I didn't get any of them hopefully, but I saw several "animation glitches". It didn't affect the gameplay. P.S. I thorugh that game has autosave because I didn't find…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →it's impossible to complete the game w/o hints but the game is perfect, so much fun!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Armikrog, thankfully, was an awful game.
negative · AI labelView post →Like many others, I really wanted to like this game, as Im such a fan of the original Neverhood. Boy did this suck.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game was so fulfilling for how mediocre it can be. Kind of wish the game had more cutscenes or jokes or little doodads to mess around with occupying in-between the substance of the game as for large swaths of the experience fail to leave an impression on me. Do not get me wrong however, the parts of Armikrog that are good, are GOOD. However the 2d slideshow cutscenes got tiresome and didn't really add up till the end where, spoilers?, you get the ability to understand the made up language…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Imagine a Moxxy game, a play through of levels based on CN and Hanna Barbara owned shows where he would need to use animation techniques and styles to move through the levels. Like a link between worlds with Armikrog, Maybe use Samurai Jack edit cuts as a special to slice enemies and breakable walls
neutral · AI labelView post →A perfect click and point adventure - nice puzzles - beautiful landscapes - funny story I really miss this kind of games
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you played The Neverhood and yearn for a similar experience, this is as close as it gets. the save feature seems unreliable and there are sound glitches, the click inputs can also be fussy at times. Beyond those issues it's a fun experience. Only worth picking up on a steep sale, the game is too short and lacks polish to be worth more.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →'Never played the Neverhood, so thankfully I can weigh in on Armikrog with a fresh, unbiased perspective. This is one of the worst things I've ever played.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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