Ludography
69/100
Players263 ratings
73/100
Critics13 reviews

Where to get it

Human: Fall Flat cover

2016 · No Brakes Games · Platformer · Puzzle

Human: Fall Flat

Human: Fall Flat is a physics-based puzzle platformer where players control a customizable wobbly human character named Bob. Using intentionally clumsy arm controls for grabbing, climbing, and interacting with objects, players navigate open-ended levels that each contain multiple solutions to their puzzles. The game supports up to eight players in online or LAN multiplayer. Originally created by a solo Lithuanian developer as a prototype for a motion-sensing camera before transitioning to traditional controls, the game became a major commercial success partly through streaming popularity.

Released
22 July 2016
Platforms
AndroidLinuxNintendo SwitchNintendo Switch 2PlayStation 4PlayStation 5StadiaWindowsXbox OneXbox Series X/SiOSmacOS
Genres
PlatformerPuzzleSimulationAdventureIndie
Developers
No Brakes Games
Publishers
Curve Digital505 Games
Modes
Co-opLocal multiplayerMultiplayerSingle-player
Perspective
Third person
Themes
ActionComedySandbox
Engine
Unity

About

Human: Fall Flat is a 2016 puzzle-platform game developed by Lithuanian studio No Brakes Games and published by Curve Digital. It was initially released for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux in July 2016, and received ports for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, Google Stadia, and iOS and Android over the next several years and also was released on the Nintendo Switch 2 on 19 March 2026.

The game received mixed reviews from critics, though the replayability of the puzzles and comedic animations were praised. The game has sold more than 58 million copies as of December 2025, making it one of the best selling video games of all-time. A sequel, Human: Fall Flat 2, is in development.

Keywords

  • physics
  • steam
  • achievements
  • user generated content
  • steam achievements
  • digital distribution
  • steam cloud
  • customizable characters
  • voice acting
  • playstation experience 2016
  • pax east 2016
  • auto-saving

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Human: Fall Flat is a physics puzzle game where players play a customizable human, referred to in-game as Bob. Players can make him grab objects and climb up ledges using both his arms and looking with his head.

Although Bob's standard appearance is a featureless, minimalist all-white human with a baseball cap, players are able to customize him to their liking, painting his body in a different array of colors and dressing him in a variety of costumes.

Development

Human: Fall Flat was developed by Tomas Sakalauskas, founder of Lithuanian studio No Brakes Games. In 2012, Sakalauskas abandoned his work in IT to try video game development. Initially Sakalauskas concentrated on making mobile games although he ran out of money partway through; this, combined with him questioning the ethics of the freemium model of most mobile games, led him instead to turn development towards a PC game. Sakalauskas has stated that Human: Fall Flat was his "last shot at gaming".

The game began life as a prototype for Intel's RealSense motion sensing camera, though Sakalauskas eventually realized that the game would work better with traditional control and transitioned away from the device. Sakalauskas set out to make the game in the vein of a puzzle game similar to Limbo or Portal, however, when playtesting the game with his son Sakalauskas noted that "he did everything possible not to solve puzzles", instead just having fun with the physics engine. This caused Sakalauskas to change his approach and make the puzzles "not really watertight". Initially the game was only single player. Although Sakalauskas received several requests for a multiplayer mode, he felt the physics involved would make online play impossible; however, he eventually formed a solution using technology from Nvidia, and in October 2017, an online multiplayer feature was added, allowing up to eight people to play online or by LAN.

Reception

Human: Fall Flat received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator website Metacritic. Fellow review aggregator OpenCritic assessed that the game received fair approval, being recommended by 39% of critics. Dan Stapleton of IGN recommended the game for watching rather than actually playing, praising the slapstick controls, humorous animations, and character customization. Zack Furniss of Destructoid enjoyed the replayability of the puzzles and praised the multiple solutions each puzzle provided.

By February 2018, more than 2 million copies of the game had been sold across all platforms. According to Curve, the sales of the game were boosted with the addition of online multiplayer in late 2017; by early January 2018, the game had broken over 1 million units sold on the Windows version, but within a month, had seen an additional 700,000 sales. By June 2018, the game achieved over 4 million sales across all platforms.

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
Windows22 July 2016Worldwide
macOS22 July 2016Worldwide
Linux22 July 2016Worldwide
PlayStation 49 May 2017Worldwide
Xbox One12 May 2017Worldwide
Nintendo Switch7 December 2017Worldwide
Android26 June 2019Worldwide
iOS26 June 2019Worldwide
Stadia1 October 2020Worldwide
Xbox Series X/S28 May 2021Worldwide
PlayStation 524 June 2021Worldwide
Nintendo Switch 219 March 2026Worldwide

Editions and related releases

Included in
Instant Indie Collection: Vol. 5Human: Fall Flat + The Flame in the Flood BundleCo-Op Bundle
Ported as
Human Fall Flat VR

Games like this

Collections11 collections

Years

Features

Reception and records

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.