Fearless Fantasy
Fearless Fantasy
Game
Game2017
Flinthook
Developer Tribute Games Inc.
Flinthook is a roguelike platformer by Tribute Games in which the player's character uses a grappling hook to traverse procedurally generated spaceships for treasure. The developers were inspired by "rogue-lites" including Spelunky and Rogue Legacy. They said that the grappling hook game mechanic was their hardest design challenge. The game was released in April 2017 for Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4, and… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
210 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon, Lemmy) · newest Oct 24, 2026 · last updated Nov 4, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
65
Fresh
119 positive · 64 negative
95% range 58–72%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 119 | 64 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 14 | 0 | 10 |
| Mastodon * | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Lemmy * | 0 | 0 | 1 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
425 of 596 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
65% recommend · 120 yes, 65 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 185 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Mostly Positive (625 of 843 positive).
Players praise the beautiful pixel art, music, and charming space pirate theme. [1][2][3] Many find the gameplay fun and addictive once they master the controls. [2][4][5] Some reviewers criticize clunky controls, visual clutter, and lack of variety. [3][6][7]
Liked
Representative posts
- [3]
randomly decided to play Flinthook after like 3 years of me not playing it, and was wondering why i stopped playing... and uh, OOF. the art, music, and overall presentation are just FANTASTIC, A+++ in that department, but anything relating to actual gameplay is absurdly frustrating the base moveset would be really fun to master if it actually... controlled well? on paper, it's amazing! you shoot stuff, you use a …
- [7]
Charming art direction and a decent soundtrack. That's all I can say in terms of positives. After the first few hours however this game falls into one of the roguelike genre's greatest pitfalls; monotony Nearly every run feels the same and most of the gameplay and loot variety doesn't lend itself to enhancing gameplay in any significant way, sure there's optional content to engage with but the core loop is GRATING. …
- [1]
200 character summary Flinthook is a great rogue lite action platformer with a lot of ability customization, beautiful pixel art, a great soundtrack and some solid gameplay. Don't miss out on this absolute gem of a game. Story & Characters 8/10 You play as Flinthook, You are an acrobatic space bounty hunter out for space pirates. The game has a lot of lore and some damn fine animations. There is a lot of detail in …
- [15]
This is one of the most enjoyable roguelikes I found. The hookshot really is its selling point, making it into a pretty unique action-platformer. Jumping, grappling and shooting really makes you feel agile and powerful.
- [2]
Flinthook is one of those games that already conquer you before you even start playing it. How to resist the charismatic space pirate as nice as the main character? The pixel art of the game is very beautiful, the colors very interesting and the music is fantastic. The gameplay is a bit complex at first, even confusing, but with a few matches, everything becomes natural. Despite all the charisma of the game, it is …
Summarised from 34 of the 212 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
Flinthook sits at 65% positive across 183 opinionated reactions from 4 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Critics, per Wikipedia
Digital Trends listed the game among the best in show at the June 2016 Electronic Entertainment Expo and added that though many major games were adding grappling hook features, Flinthook was the only one to support a whole game based on the concept. The website praised the game's "imaginative artwork and refined, fun gameplay". Nick Robinson (Polygon) wrote that the game's controls were "enormously intuitive", easily accessible, and comfortable. The game received "generally favorable" reviews, according to video game review aggregator Metacritic. Rock, Paper, Shotgun included it among the year's best action games.
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 210 · most liked first200 character summary Flinthook is a great rogue lite action platformer with a lot of ability customization, beautiful pixel art, a great soundtrack and some solid gameplay. Don't miss out on this absolute gem of a game. Story & Characters 8/10 You play as Flinthook, You are an acrobatic space bounty hunter out for space pirates. The game has a lot of lore and some damn fine animations. There is a lot of detail in every object and there are a lot of secrets to uncover I like the whole…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →randomly decided to play Flinthook after like 3 years of me not playing it, and was wondering why i stopped playing... and uh, OOF. the art, music, and overall presentation are just FANTASTIC, A+++ in that department, but anything relating to actual gameplay is absurdly frustrating the base moveset would be really fun to master if it actually... controlled well? on paper, it's amazing! you shoot stuff, you use a hitscan grappling hook, and woohoo fun pirate shenanigans! but playing with mouse…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Today's indie game is Flinthook! This is an action-platformer roguelike! Fight through pirate spaceships with your trusty blasma pistol and hookshot, grappling around levels and collecting loot to become space's greatest pirate! Dev: @tributegames.com Link below!
neutral · AI labelView post →Tribute Games is soaring into the clouds of Buesky! ☁️ We're a video game developer/publisher from Montreal, bringing you retro-style titles that pack a punch! 👊 💥 You might know us from TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge 🐢 , Panzer Paladin ⚔️, or Flinthook⚓ — to name a few! Learn more ➡️ tributegames.com
neutral · AI labelView post →This is the most beautiful game i had to say no to. Its really saddening/maddening. The art is pretty, the style is energetic and full of personality and love in ever element. Fighting enemies clearly could be fun. Collecting and upgrading feels nice and the sound design when hitting enemies or collecting loot just hits that magical sweet spot that makes you feel the gold and gems you collect or the containers you break to get them. There is a bit of an issue with the visual clutter…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I tried to play this game again after putting it down for a few years. And I've got to say, I can see why I wasn't too happy with it when I first tried it out. PROS: - Beautiful art style. There's no way to deny that the sprites, animations, backgrounds, and so on are immaculate and should be praised as such. - An interesting perk + meta scaling system. Although I don't like too much meta upgrades in a rougelite setting, this game offers unique perks that makes strategic building fun and…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Lets see... This is one of those "I really want to love it, but i can't" kind of games. This is largely due to fundamental flaws relating to the game's design. The whole "slow mo" gimmick exists due to the fact that the game's controls are so floaty. What more, the combat feels very lackluster and the game feels more like a platformer than an actual roguelike. Unless you can pick it up on a deep discount, I would say this game is a hard pass :/
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hey I'm streaming a dang video game!! #DuinoIsLive It's FLINTHOOK! All I know about it is you get a grappling hook and a gun and that's all I need to know to be on board! Live now, starting soon! C'mon and toon in! www.twitch.tv/duinoduck
positive · AI labelView post →Please, please make the controls editable. I can't jump and swing easily, a game so based on movement should be fluid.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Charming art direction and a decent soundtrack. That's all I can say in terms of positives. After the first few hours however this game falls into one of the roguelike genre's greatest pitfalls; monotony Nearly every run feels the same and most of the gameplay and loot variety doesn't lend itself to enhancing gameplay in any significant way, sure there's optional content to engage with but the core loop is GRATING. Writing this review years later after seeing an art for it on the publishers…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Really wanted to love this game, but it's very angering simply because everything on screen blends together so you can't easily see what is harmful or what is coming towards you or where you can or can't land. There's no clear indicator for trapped platforms, most platforms that bear obvious warning signs are actually safe. Enemy rooms have a special warning effect at the start that hides a good portion of the screen, but you can take damage while it's there and you sometimes are in direct…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I had my fun in this game for couple hours but i give up. I dont wanna torture myself with unfair rooms where i lose half my HP, search exit for 2 hours and then die on second ship by some hidden spikes in the ground. Can't get pass 3rd boss because: I don't have good upgrades that drops from leveling up and only get useless ♥♥♥♥ I don't have enough money to buy upgrades because I NEED to farm level over and over again to get something good Its like playing Isaac but every room with spikes…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Somehow this is one of my favourite indie games out there, and at the same time I just can't recommend it to other people simply because of the amount of wasted potential this game has. The idea, mechanics, art, MUSIC, and general direction of the game is fantastic. There's very few games like Flinthook out there and it can be insanely fun to traverse the hundreds of different rooms and spaceships in the game. However, this all goes to waste because of a few quite simple balance issues. While…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Despite not recommending, I enjoyed the Flinthook and will spend more time with it. I just don't think it's very recommendable. It's much better in my opinion than, say, Rogue's Legacy, but still falls into the same trap that game and most most roguelites do: the slow XP gain roguelite mechanics take the edge off of permadeath and inconsistent difficulty due to procedural generation but fail to distract that the game has become an exercise in running your head into a wall until the wall breaks.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Flinthook | Video game UI → interfaceingame.com/games/flinthook
neutral · AI labelView post →Bouncing Bert, Daisy's Garden, Pipe Dreams, Jetpac (ZX81 port), Another Day In The Life of Bob, Drak 1, Secret Agent Clank, FRACT OSC, Catch The Clown (original game maker demo), Mystery of the Druids, Adventure Road (sadly not playable anymore), Flinthook, Odd Realm, Don't Shit Your Pants,
neutral · AI labelView post →Flinthook is a game that really didn't need to be a rougelike at all. I really enjoy the genre, but Flinthook absolutely made me feel like strategy didn't matter and instead I have to bash my head through a wall until it finally gives in with good RNG. I thought I was having a "skill issue" moment with the game, but several hours in and I mastered how this game controls (and it controls well), but I didn't feel like I learned anything from the MANY deaths I experienced. A lot of it was hazards…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →super charming GBA-style aesthetic, marred by numerous bizarre design choices. The worst of which is an enemy who appears randomly, and continuously fires a laser at you non-stop until you're dead. Who thought this was a good idea? Every few years I think "why did I stop playing that great looking Flinthook game?" and then I play for a while and get to this garbage and remember why and uninstall it again.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really, really tried here. Have played plenty of roguelites and difficult platformers. I tried this once, failed at it, came back later, but just failing again. Maybe there's some kind of OP perk combo that I'm missing here, but the rooms are often built in a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ way. It's not really forgiving either; you can have an amazing run, and then have that one room where you fall into a trap you can't get out of and get 130 damage trying to get out, with a lifebar up until 150. (No…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Flinthook is a unique roguelike platformer about a caped thief infiltrating pirate ships for loot in the outer reaches of space. The sprite animation and background art are immaculate, Flinthook's design is adorable and every space pirate enemy that opposes him drips with personality. Everything about Flinthook is an A+ save for the gameplay. The graphics don't take into account visibility, spikes are colored the same as a metal floor and they're not made to stand out so the player can take…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good art and music, horrible level design and difficulty spikes. It's frustrating and does not feel rewarding. Go play Dead Cells instead, now that's a more balanced and enjoyable game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wanted to love this game but this is the angriest I've ever gotten at a game that i desperately wanted to enjoy. However there were too many moments of "♥♥♥♥ YOU" where the game would throw an insane room that I had nearly no chance of getting through, like placing a bunch of long range enemies in a room filled to the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ brim with spike balls. The controls are good, and the hook is fun, but the design of the game greatly overestimates the controls as well as the ability of the player.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game is full of nothing but impossible to see spikes and other obstacles dotted around rooms that will slowly kill you each run. Combat is boring too. Just don't bother it's actually not fun at all.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My hidden gem this month is Flinthook, a grappling, blasting space-pirate indie roguelite that more people should know about. Sharing the @superjumpmagazine.com article here for a deeper dive. #IndieGames #Roguelite #HiddenGems
positive · AI labelView post →The haters just suck.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a mix! The first one was looking for fresh ideas to prototype in incubation at Rovio, second was an idea a friend and I prototyped after but left on the backburner, and the last one became Flinthook, released on Steam in 2017. Often these are to look for a game worthy to spend time on!
neutral · AI labelView post →Game looks fun, right ?! But the controls are HORRIBLE !! and not rebindable. I want to love this game, but I hate it. Controller or mouse and keyboard, it is a pain in the bum.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A hidden gem and a must try. My Rating: 10/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Flinthook model I made a while back. Super great pixel art and animation on this game! #3d #fanart
positive · AI labelView post →Take care at spikes...
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So many poor design choices. Boring.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The concept is great, the sounds are sharp, the movement is responsive, the art style is fantastic and the progression system is fun. But levels are presented in such a way that moving too fast, or using your abilities to the maximum should be punished. Why have tools to make an euphoric fast 2-D shooter when the best way to play it is by moving as little as you can. Grapple hooks are a great addition to any game, but why have them if it cant be used with much freedom?. Also wall jumping sucks
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I generally enjoyed Flinthook but I'm not recommending it due to how environmental hazards are handled. There are spikes and blades spread out through different levels and they're not very noticeable. You'll hit one accidentally, jump away, and possibly be hit by something else. The metroidvania and roguelike parts of the game are fine but the environmental hazards made me give up in the end.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very cute and enjoyable rogue-lite game! The game does a great job of slowly ramping up the difficulty, and the progression is JUST fast enough to keep you (flint)hooked. Tons of unlocks, daily challenges, all the good stuff.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I want to love this game, I really do. The art style is fantastic, the music is good, and the idea behind it is pretty fun... in theory. All this is hamstrung by absolutely wretched controls that you can't remap without the use of external tools. The two options they give you are a joke. This leads, inevitably, to some extremely tedious combat and barely predictable platforming. Why on earth aren't twin-sticks an option without completely botching the rest of the controls? It's a damn shame…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Flinthook is one of those games that already conquer you before you even start playing it. How to resist the charismatic space pirate as nice as the main character? The pixel art of the game is very beautiful, the colors very interesting and the music is fantastic. The gameplay is a bit complex at first, even confusing, but with a few matches, everything becomes natural. Despite all the charisma of the game, it is far from easy. This game is very challenging and is suitable for players who like…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Grab your hookshot and pistol, and get ready to set sail for a journey to become the best space pirate in the galaxy. This is Flinthook. The GoodGood mix of random events on enemy ships. When going up against an enemy’s fleet of ships, you have the option of choosing between 3 ships to raid, and you can view what type of events are going to occur before making your choice. The events have good variety, they could come in extra bonuses and challenges, or they could come in additional hazards…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Has grown to become one of my favorite hidden gems... Superbly fun!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My two cents for game developers wannabes; Cent #1: don't bother letting the player level up if leveling up doesn't change anything. Cent #2: have mercy on our ears and don't have the same music track loop from one level to another.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I had high hopes for Flinthook but found the game to be quite boring and forgettable. The pixel art is great and the game clearly has a lot of polish but the combat isn't very engaging - even with the grapple-hook and time-slowing mechanics. The 'Metroidvania' style level layout and traversal between individual rooms felt slow and tedious. Honestly, Flintook might be a good game to pick up for a child in the 'very young' age group but I wouldn't recommend it for older kids or adults.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is one of the most enjoyable roguelikes I found. The hookshot really is its selling point, making it into a pretty unique action-platformer. Jumping, grappling and shooting really makes you feel agile and powerful.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Seems repetitive and uninnovative. Judging from videos and reviews on internet, first 30 minutes give you full experience over things you would encounter in game and it feels like there's not so many interesting mechanics in game, Platform sections and fighting aren't rewarding as control system is wacky and does't give you the control you need. You also cannot remap inputs.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really want to enjoy this game. It seemed like it would be perfect for me, a roguelike with interesting characters, a nice art style, and, of course, a grappling hook (the pinnacle of gaming). And in general, the game delivers on these points. I just can't bring myself to recommend it though, as the moment-to-moment gameplay falls short for me. I think the best way to explain it is through the health system: in Binding of Isaac or Enter the Gungeon, you start off being able to take 6 hits…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Thanks! Flinthook was flawed but definitely had a lot of good things! New game coming soon :)
neutral · AI labelView post →To this day my mind regularly goes back to Flinthook and its many, many charms. Hope one day soon we get to play new game of yours.
positive · AI labelView post →This is a very solid game for what it is but unfortunately suffers from a lack of variety or content. Having said that, as you can probably tell, I still recommend this game. The artstyle and characters are charming and unique, and the worldbuilding is fun and engaging. The items that do exist are good and help to shake the game up a little bit. The progression feels nice, and the pacing is good. Everything about this game is solid. If you're hoping to have a game you can keep playing over…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Flinthook is one of those games that are really complicated to recommend, when you first start the game feels like garbage, but It gets better. When I first started playing I had a really hard time, the controlls are weird and there are a million stuff happening every screen, I kept dieng with no progress. But after a while (around 3 hours of gameplay) I got some good upgrades and got used to the controls, after that the game becomes really addictive. One big complaint I have with this game…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Masochism But without the pleasure part. Every single thing about this game makes it so you feel someone just robbed you blind and cheated you whilst coming at you from behind and throwing a 2 gallon bucket of trash over your face
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don’t really recommend Flinthook. In Flinthook, you play as a bounty hunter whose goal is to track down space pirates. There’s also a Big Bad who is capturing your siblings (?). It’s a roguelikey sort of game, somewhat comparable to rogue legacy though not as fun due to what I feel are some missteps. Navigation and combat in Flinthook is 2D, and primarily based around your character’s ability to grapple around the room on hooks which are fixed on some boards and mobile on others. The game…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Some people love it and some people hate it. I honestly enjoyed it, so I don't get the hate. The gameplay is smooth and simply perfect. Even the in-game mechanics are really nice. I did enjoy those challenges and everything. Even the achievements we're fun to unlock. I honestly really don't understand the hate. This game deserves my big positive review.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a cute little game, and it's kinda fun but I gave up after less than 40 minutes and after few runs due to really frustrating environmental traps that are blending with the environment too much to the point where you can't see them. I don't mind difficult games. But I do mind frustrating games that are unfair and simply not fun. I may give it another go in the future but it's unlikely.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a good roguelite with some annoying elements like slowing time and I just never know when to use the consumables... But yes, I'd recommend this hidden gem
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Flinthook is a perfect example of a game that can look amazing, have a kick ass soundtrack, Anyone can follow the story, But it deeply falls apart when it comes to the game mechanics. Its as if someone who never made a game, wanted to make something difficult for players but never thought it or play'd it through. Dev: Oooo lets have a room coverd in spikes, and balls that shoot plasma in alternating directions line the roof, and it should spawn waves of enemies, Lets even make the enemies…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →the controls are ♥♥♥♥ for key board and mouse
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Awesome roguelike/roguelite with a great sense of progression. Had this in my Steam library for a while but only just started to really play it, and it's a lot of fun. Being able to customize your loadout means that runs aren't quite so dependent on RNG as they are in, say, Enter the Gungeon or Binding of Isaac. But in the same vein, it gives that awesome sense of accomplishment when you actually complete a run and kill a boss. Art style is a huge plus, and definitely adds a lot to the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Could have been a nice little indie platformer but instead I’m still stuck of stage 2 having to grind Black Market Coins to make my stats viable. Rooms are often dull until you find an awkward one where a few consecutive bumps means 70 damage and for your troubles you’ll get an apple that heals for 10. The hook shot doesn’t work as well as the developers seem to think and the time slow just seems unnecessary. Soundtrack and graphics are great at first but become increasingly repetitive with…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Part 1/3 because Steam don't support over 1000 mark reviews. This is one of my most mixed review's, I'll regret no matter would I give it positive or negative thumb. Why you ask? I'll guess it's a long explanation. First, roguelite-genre is one of my favorite game-genres out in the market. When Rogue legacy came to switch, I felt like addicted those 14 hours I had time with it. "Just one more run and a new upgrade" over, over and over again. At this point we also have to acknowledge that…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ahhh I love Flinthook! Such a great game! You guys rock!
positive · AI labelView post →From my (minimal) research, as a publisher of their own titles, Tributes Game seems to embargo reviews until day of. I looked up the release date and date of reviews of Panzer Paladin and Flinthook and both coincided on the same day. And both are great games. Seems to be a strategy they prefer.
neutral · AI labelView post →11. Flinthook. Motherfucker I LOVE Flinthook! It's so fucking good! Why doesn't it have thousands more reviews? I thought y'all loved that Celeste shit of zipping around? I'm pretty sure this was top 2 in my Game of the Year 2017. Fucking Flinthook! store.steampowered.com/app/401710/F...
positive · AI labelView post →
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