Defense Technica
Defense Technica
Game
Game2023
Fall of Porcupine
Developer Critical Rabbit
Fall of Porcupine is an adventure video game developed by Critical Rabbit. Players control a young physician in a new town. Assemble Entertainment published it for Windows, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series X/S, and Switch in June 2023. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
248 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon, Lemmy) · newest Oct 26, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
68
Fresh
131 positive · 62 negative
95% range 61–74%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 131 | 62 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 14 | 2 | 30 |
| Mastodon * | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| Lemmy * | 0 | 0 | 2 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
328 of 457 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
69% recommend · 134 yes, 59 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 193 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Mostly Positive (569 of 741 positive).
Many players find the game charming with beautiful art and a heartfelt story, but note it is unpolished and buggy. [1][2][3] Several reviewers criticize the ending as anticlimactic or rushed, leaving unresolved plot points. [4][5][6] Some players compare it to Night in the Woods, saying it has similar vibes but falls short in execution. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [19]
Honestly, this game proved to be a bit of a letdown, and I'm still kind of bummed about it. The concept is really strong, and had me pretty excited- I think there's a lot of meat to the idea of playing a doctor in a small town and the experience of taking care of these people you have to live with, and this game provided shockingly little of that. I wanted to enjoy exploring the town and getting to know the people, …
- [20]
Mixed Feelings – Beautiful game, lackluster experience. I really wish there were a "Mixed Opinion" button for this game. I can't say I *don't* recommend it, but I also didn't enjoy it enough to fully recommend it either. TLDR: This game had the potential to be something truly special. The atmosphere and character work are excellent, but the pacing issues, bugs, and lack of rewarding gameplay severely hold it back. I …
- [1]
This is one of those games that deserve something inbetween a thumbs up or down. If you liked Night in the Woods, you will most likely enjoy this game for what it is too. The art design is very nice, the music is pleasant but nothing special and the main story is good overall. But man is the game unpolished, it is full of minor bugs (but nothing game breaking or unplayable), some of the optional stories lead to …
- [4]
i've been interested in this game since the demo and was so excited when the full release came out, i ignored the bugs and text errors because the character designs, unique and realistic hospital setting, and gorgeous art style really stuck out to me. the game was fun, the characters are enjoyable, and the art is beautiful. i even enjoyed the minigames, despite absolutely sucking at one of them. however, the …
- [13]
Fall Of Porcupine: Beautiful, but a bit bruised TL;DR: Cozy small-town feels, emotional trauma, and finger-Twister surgery. Loved the vibes, cried at the story, still mad at the ending. Would recommend... on discount. I really enjoyed this game overall. The story and characters are genuinely heartfelt. I laughed, I cried, I got way too emotionally attached to a nervous pigeon. It's a cozy, emotional ride that isn't …
Summarised from 34 of the 250 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 13, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Fall of Porcupine sits at 68% positive across 193 opinionated reactions from 4 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Critics, per Wikipedia
The Windows version of Fall of Porcupine received "mixed or average" reviews from critics, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. Multiple reviews compared it to Night in the Woods. Hardcore Gamer said it needs patches to resolve buggy or poorly structured content, but they recommended it for its story. Nintendo Life said it does not live up to its potential and recommended Night in the Woods, Stardew Valley, and other cozy games instead. GamesRadar said it "does a great job of hooking you in" and said they enjoyed spending time with Finley.
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 248 · most liked firstHonestly, this game proved to be a bit of a letdown, and I'm still kind of bummed about it. The concept is really strong, and had me pretty excited- I think there's a lot of meat to the idea of playing a doctor in a small town and the experience of taking care of these people you have to live with, and this game provided shockingly little of that. I wanted to enjoy exploring the town and getting to know the people, but it wound up being shockingly empty, day after day, I would get up, go out,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →GOT YOUR PUMPKINS YET?! Cutest bird is from the game Fall of Porcupine. Was real touching. do recommend. #fallofporcupine #halloween #bats #hashtagsconfuseme
positive · AI labelView post →Slightly Scuffed and Dented Steam Key Giveaway. I pick up one of the "mystery packs" sometimes when I'm buying a game anyway on Fanatical. I probably shouldn't but it's the only gambling I do, so meh. I present you now, the leftover keys from my last couple pulls. I won't lie, I don't think most of these games are going to be top quality, but maybe there's something that looks a lot better to you than it does to me, or maybe you just need a distraction to get through Thanksgiving. First come,…
neutral · AI labelView post →I would love to recommend this game, it has a lot of good things going for it, but I just didn't love it enough. Let's start with the good: Beautiful art Likeable and interesting characters A good variety of mini games. Cute moments and relationships between characters. I especially liked the way Finley interacted with his patients. I really liked the message of the game though it was a little darker and more "adult" than I expected with references to alcohol and cigarettes and the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hi, I'm Lukas Eckart (he/they) a game and narrative designer from germany. I worked on: The Butler Did It Fall of Porcupine Lunar//Drill I like science fiction stories and tabletop mechanics! I also started organizing small meetups for game designers. Excited to be here & always happy to connect!
neutral · AI labelView post →This game has been likened to Night in The Woods, and it suffers for the comparison. Sure, the 2D platforming and anthropomorphic animals are similar. So is some of the gameplay. But there isn't much else here that quite lives up to the heights of NITW. I am not trying to compare this game to NITW; that would be unfair. I really wanted to like this game because it seemed right up my alley. A mystery in a small town with adorable animal characters? Sign me up. But the plot is very basic, slice…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The base concept is great, and its dedication to the health care and its workers are spot on. However I feel like this game could have been half its length if not shorter. There is a lot of empty days were nothing of substance happens and it feel like a build up for something that doesn't come, or when it does it feels rushed and unfinished. I sadly cannot recomend this game beacuse of its longwinded and at the same time rushed story. It feels like they had more ideas at the start of the game…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game was gearing up to be really enjoyable but ended at the climax of the story. I was just starting to get really invested in the characters when the game just...stops. There were plot points that didn't get tied up, potential character growth that didn't happen, and moving around the large map felt like a chore.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Despite some really touching moments, most of the story is flat, not to mention that it lacks an actual ending, leaving a ton of unanswered questions and a game that feels incomplete. Just like the story, the gameplay has some good moments, some minigames are actually fun, but for the most part it's just painfully slow, and there are way more bugs than you'd expect to see in a 2D game that costs 20 dollars. Sadly, the game falls short of its potential, it's not garbage, but it's not worth 20…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Mixed Feelings – Beautiful game, lackluster experience. I really wish there were a "Mixed Opinion" button for this game. I can't say I *don't* recommend it, but I also didn't enjoy it enough to fully recommend it either. TLDR: This game had the potential to be something truly special. The atmosphere and character work are excellent, but the pacing issues, bugs, and lack of rewarding gameplay severely hold it back. I can't fully recommend it—but I also can't bring myself to say it's bad. It's…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is one of those games that deserve something inbetween a thumbs up or down. If you liked Night in the Woods, you will most likely enjoy this game for what it is too. The art design is very nice, the music is pleasant but nothing special and the main story is good overall. But man is the game unpolished, it is full of minor bugs (but nothing game breaking or unplayable), some of the optional stories lead to nowhere. There will most likely not be an update for the bugs and it is too late…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →tl;dr Don't bother. We have Night in the Woods at home. Probably devs tried to show the struggle and frustrations of healthcare people. They failed at that successfully. Pros. There is Karl. He likes beer. Doesn't talk about rocks and stones, though. Cute art. Nice music. Ends with a bang. Cons. Half-baked story. A year after release, there are still many bugged elements, and there have been no patches for a long time. It looks like the game is abandoned.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wanted to like it, but the pacing of the story wasnt great at all, you can tell it takes inspiration from night in the woods, but the story and gameplay in this is sooooo slow, the mini games drag on and the majority of the game is spend walking thru and empty town and an empty hospital with very few meaningful interactions, the idea is there, a story about the world of a hospitals and its workers, but it gets buried under bad choices, the entire first and second act are slow to set up an…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →For someone working in healthcare this game is quite relatable and so deep and emotional. Really adorable story line with moving happenings! Really enjoyed it. I do say this game is better played with a controller than on PC because some minigames are very confusing and not very clear with how to use the controls.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I was so hoping to write a positive review for this game! Right up until the end I was going to. So many typos and grammar issues in the dialogue, and could be a bit clunky at times (glitches and mini games not working correctly) but the story and atmosphere and characters were well done so I was enjoying it anyways. BUT THE ENDING!!!! SO SO SO SO LAME. SO DISAPPOINTING!! Without giving spoilers let's just say, there was sooooooooo much left unsaid and so much left unresolved. What a sad and…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Honestly, I want to like this game – I can see the potential here to be a great game, but it just falls short. The art style and characters are great – and the concept for the story is a good idea, I can see what they were trying to tell here. But ultimately, it is half baked – the game just ends at what I would consider halfway (or maybe ¾) through what is really needed. Which is extremely frustrating and disappointing! The game itself has several bugs present, in a single playthrough there…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you like visual novels, this one is for you. If you're expecting gameplay and choices that matter, this isn't the game for you. I found myself spamming to get through the dialogue because I didn't enjoy the story and what little gameplay takes place is relatively boring and repetative.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →After spending many hours with the game, I did not enjoy it as I was expecting. It is very cosy and cute, and the topic is very unique and has loads of potential, but that's it. Some of the mini games are bugged, the story is way too slow and then highly rushed in the end, there are no real answers in the end, the story also takes weird side quests in the middle like the section when they see the figurines in the forest . I has good ideas, but definitely seems rushed and pointless. At night…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Long story short: This is not a terrible game. It's fine. I just would not recommend that you spend a whole lot of money to play it. The game feels unfinished, and borrows too heavily from Night in the Woods. Long Story: Fall of Porcupine, according to the devs, was supposed to be a love letter to heath care workers. I didn't come away with that feeling after playing through the game. What I came away with was a rushed and (I am sorry to say) uninspired attempt to replicate the game play…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →While I'm recommending this game I will say it's with the caveat that it's... not actually a very good game. Do not get me wrong, it's charming, and I loved it, it's just very flawed. With a somewhat disappointing ending, dialogue trees that occasionally negate each other, a world that doesn't really reward you for exploring, and extremely buggy minigames, I highly suggest this game if its on sale. I really hope the dev's fix some of these issues someday ! It would be a stellar game!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I feel bad checking "no" on whether I'd recommend this to other players, but what I really mean is I wouldn't recommend it to players like me. I didn't know what I was getting into with this, but at first glance it seemed very "Night in the Woods." The art and music were beautiful and I enjoyed them immensely. But here are all the things that me, a gamer who likes a little more thinking and choice, didn't like: I couldn't make choices that changed the game. The story was linear, I was going…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I liked the town, the characters, and most of the story, but the overall narrative didn't come together and I felt let down by that. Generally works well on Steam Deck except for some of the minigames, even with the simple setting turned on. The other issue is that the screen size doesn't fit the Steam Deck screen and there was no way to change it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'd love to recommend this game but it feels unfinished. The art style is great and the story starts off interesting but feel rushed in the end. Technical issues: On steamdeck, I constantly saw graphic assets on the lower or upper screen. One of the minigames is just broken and it is impossible to achieve a good score as button inputs are simply not read correctly. Dialog triggers are also sometimes broken. I go dialog out of order. People that followed me sometimes go stuck on stairs or…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i've been interested in this game since the demo and was so excited when the full release came out, i ignored the bugs and text errors because the character designs, unique and realistic hospital setting, and gorgeous art style really stuck out to me. the game was fun, the characters are enjoyable, and the art is beautiful. i even enjoyed the minigames, despite absolutely sucking at one of them. however, the anticlimactic, over-the-top dramatic, and completely unresolved feeling of the ending…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →the game was ‘Fall of Porcupine’ … follow the plot of a overworked young doctor trying to take care of patients while the whole town wants to destroy the hospital. I recommend it just not the mix of trying to distract yourself from sad election/news things
positive · AI labelView post →I didn't like how you had to play the demo before the full game for some context, that could be confusing to players going in blind. The game was pretty buggy and I had to reload my save file due to a game breaking glitch, luckily that only happened once. I downloaded this game because the art style reminded me of Night In The Woods, I think other fans of that game would enjoy this game as well. Fall Of Porcupine has similar qualities to NITW such as light platforming, mini games, and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Cute game so far! It's clearly trying to pull of a Night in the Woods style game, and it's not bad but not comparable. Pros: - Great art style - Cute characters - Interesting story so far Cons: - Far too much self-dialogue - I find the main character to not be very enjoyable, kind of annoying - Seems to be trying too hard to be charming with dialogue
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →At first I thought that sounded like a nice game to play. But now that I've spent some time playing myself, I feel like it's not what I was hoping for. We get to play as junior Dr. Finley, who just started working at the clinic where most of the story takes place. Overall, that sounds promising, doesn't it? But everything felt very slow and dragged out, and the repetitive mini-games didn't make the experience any better. It feels like the game tries to make you bond with the characters and…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Still pretty early on this but couple of comments. + Very pretty + Music and sound are nice - This would be extremely confusing if I hadn't seen the prologue played already - I didn't see the prologue bundled in game either so guess I lucked out by seeing a streamer that - Definitely a story delivery system but full of typos - Phone UI is an absolute mess for KBM users - Dialogue skipping is unintuitive - tapping to advance it should display the full text for a speech bubble, then tapping again…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fall Of Porcupine: Beautiful, but a bit bruised TL;DR: Cozy small-town feels, emotional trauma, and finger-Twister surgery. Loved the vibes, cried at the story, still mad at the ending. Would recommend... on discount. I really enjoyed this game overall. The story and characters are genuinely heartfelt. I laughed, I cried, I got way too emotionally attached to a nervous pigeon. It's a cozy, emotional ride that isn't afraid to shine a light on the flaws of the healthcare system. The art…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →🪩Let’s be mutuals🪩 My interests! -Tyler, The Creator -James Marriott -Megan Thee Stallion -Billie Eilish -Horror movies -Photography -Vinyls -Sunset -Minecraft -Fall of Porcupine -Sally face -Dark Deception -Any Mario kart game #promosky
neutral · AI labelView post →I left a comment but another SFW furry game I recommend is "Fall of Porcupine". I heavily recommend it if you work in healthcare or if you just really enjoyed Night in the Woods.
positive · AI labelView post →animation is so beautiful but the game is lowkey boring....reminds me a lot of night in the woods but night in the woods is actually interesting.....
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Finished a game called Fall of Porcupine. It's a VERY slow burn story focusing on the over stretched healthcare system and the day to day life between working on the wards. It has a really nice art style and is a cosy character driven story that I enjoyed. But it takes a long time to get going.
positive · AI labelView post →creepy cute mystery game. I loved the game "night in the woods" and this gives the same vibes. it's pretty relaxing also for a chiller. play time 15hr when I split it between 3 days.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →At first, it was hard for me to get into the story because, due to its very specific pacing, the game takes a long time to build momentum. For the first 8 hours, very little actually happens: small, melancholic moments here and there, caring for patients, solving puzzles. However, by the end, the story reaches such an emotional intensity that it even made me tear up. The final hours of the game were absolutely worth the entire playthrough. It turned out to be a powerful and deeply emotional…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →im live ~ for part one of our Fall of Porcupine playthru, i have been sitting on this game for awhile n i can't wait to finally experience it with u all!! reminder that i am still fundraising for my partner and very close to our next milestone goal: tilt.fyi/2k0pt8zAEm twitch.tv/starrynightbb
neutral · AI labelView post →Proud to be next to "Fall of Porcupine" (made by CRITICAL RABBIT) with my little game "Cozy Space Survivors" in the Fanatical Sale! www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-... It's the first time for me to participate in a Non-Steam-Sale. Can't wait to see if there are any sales and if so, how many. #indiedev
neutral · AI labelView post →I really want to love this game. The art is amazing, the music is well done. There was a story here that could have been good. But between the minigames that kept glitching when I played, the constant slow walking back and forth, and a plot that didn't give me what I was hoping, it was a miss for me.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you're looking for a full story then turn away : - Who you choose to hang out with doesn't matter. - The game just gets very dramatic all of a sudden towards the end and suddenly the Credits roll. - Mini-games don't matter if you do good or bad. - One of the mini game is super hard on controller and even hurts your hand. - Lots of visual bugs. Especially with character layers The game is very pretty and the characters were well drawn and cute but there is barely any time for…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Would not recommend this game at full price. I bought it on sale, so I am content with my purchase. Very cute art style, but the story is a bit clunky, and the ending doesn't feel fully flushed out. Wish it would allow for different save files or for several saves.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fall of Porcupine Fanart. The game was amazing.
positive · AI labelView post →#SteamNextFest: Wholesome #FallOfPorcupine, a narrative 2D game, looks so adorable and a bit quirky, and it has lovely music. It's giving me very strong #NightInTheWoods vibes. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1710540/Fall_of_Porcupine/ #Gaming #Games
neutral · AI labelView post →Small town bears scars Kindness heals the silent pain Hope blooms after loss
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →🏥 Starting on #FallOfPorcupine this evening. 🎮 #VideoGames 🕹️
neutral · AI labelView post →Hey we are streaming some fanart of Dr. Krakowsky from Fall of Porcupine, my favorite game of 2025! www.twitch.tv/fabianzibb
positive · AI labelView post →Thanks for coming to the stream everyone 💜! We finished Fall of Porcupine this evening and what a game, damn !
positive · AI labelView post →I'm very surprised by the mostly positive reviews and rating on this. I enjoy visual novels but the pacing of this one just makes it difficult to get into. I'm interested in the story of the hospital but each day is tedious to get through.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game and story are decent. The art and animation are charming. There are still bugs in some mini-games, especially those requiring keyboard inputs. Although it doesnt matter if you fail them. Traveling between locations in the city and hospital quickly becomes tiresome. 3 achievements require a 2nd playthrough and with no way to skip whole dialogues, replaying soon turns into a chore. I think the game was long enough without forcing players through another run.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The art itself made this game worth playing for me, I just looove it Story was great but the ending did feel rushed, I would really have liked to see what happens after to get some closure. Will certainly do another playthrough in a year or two for the scenes I missed, when it's less fresh in my memory cause I feel it would be too repetitive back to back considering the alternate choices are only a small part of the story. A bit pricy considering the length of the game, but at a sale price…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game although very beautifully made, lacks in many, many areas. Long winded texts that give character but don't amount to much story wise. The big "main story" is resolved in a picture during the credits. I played this game for 10 hours and most of it was walking from one place to another, then playing minigames and around 5% of that affects the story. So many characters that are there to fill out space, very surface level character creation. There were a few bugs and several typos.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really wanted to love this game. It has such a beautiful art style, and felt so similar to Night in the Woods. But it has a downright shocking number of bugs, some softlock the game, some break dialog, and the most perplexing one resets your game resolution to 1080p every time you pause the game. The mini-games range from a lot of pure luck to nearly impossible to complete with a controller (you try holding left stick, left d-pad, left trigger, left bumper and A at the same time in 5…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Beautiful art, cute characters. I am iffy on the writing, but it's not necessarily bad, just not my cup of tea. The minigames vary in difficulty, and don't always make clear WHAT you should be doing (confusing for me who came back to continue the game after not playing for several months) - would love a retry button on some of them, though I guess including it might ruin the verisimilitude of medicine practiced by cartoon animals. A couple glitches: 1. music just sometimes goes out, which is a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is unfortunately very broken. It's a pity, because from the few scènes that ran properly, I could tell that I would absolutely love it. I gave it a fair try, but with essential mini games being too broken to play, dialogue boxes spawning out of frame, and constant lag and crashes, I decided to get a refund instead...
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fall of Porcupine is a beautifully crafted narrative-driven adventure that immediately caught my attention with its cozy art style and heartfelt themes. Playing as Finley, a young anthropomorphic pigeon doctor navigating the challenges of a small-town hospital, felt both charming and deeply relatable. The game does a great job of capturing the highs and lows of working in healthcare—the camaraderie with colleagues, the pressure of patient care, and the emotional toll of the job. As a doctor, I…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fall of Porcupine is a good adventure game, the story is great and the graphics are so cutes and beautiful. I recommend it!!! 🧡🦤🧡
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Unfortunately, as much as I want to enjoy this game I simply can't. After playing a short while I went to do a puzzle and it would not load for me no matter what I pushed. Then again in the middle of the same puzzle my controls stopped working. Sadly, as charming as this game is I can't go back though all the dialog again just to have it get stuck once more.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There were elements I really enjoyed. The art was so cute and the music was nice. But the story?? Disappointing. The ending is so abrupt, it actually made me yell out loud in surprise. It leaves so many loose ends, and it is the least satisfying ending I've ever experienced in a game, bar none. Just... really poorly written. Overall, there was just way too much going on at once. The hospital burns down, right after the game hints at some stuff about the chief doctor being a sham? They never…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Been stressed from trying to board and finish my episode these past few days. Time to play the cozy Fall of Porcupine game 💞 Dealing with patients with deadly Gut Bacteria, Medical Insurance Scams, and the Hospital catching on fire. I am a stressed out Pigeon all around 😵💫
neutral · AI labelView post →Highly disappointed. Game was very glitchy / puzzles buggy. I tried restarting and verifying files, uninstall and reinstall...just never worked properly for me no matter what I tried. There's also no in-game save option so you have to wait for autosave and that also messed me up twice where I got off the game and then had to re-do a 20 min dialogue scene before I could get back to my next task. Sadly, had to give up on this one. I had 3 hours in game and I couldn't even get passed helping…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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