Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Game
Game2023
ATONE: Heart of the Elder Tree
Developer Wildboy Studios
ATONE is a Norse mythology-inspired, hand-drawn game that blends interactive storytelling and complex puzzles with a rhythm game combat system. Inherit the role of a young warrior named Estra as she journeys through Midgard to unveil the truth behind her father’s death. From the Steam store page
96 reactions from 2 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky) · newest Oct 6, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
81
LovedLoved
74 positive · 17 negative
95% range 72–88%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 74 | 17 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
5 newer reactions are still waiting for a label.
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
134 of 161 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Summary pending — the reactions are listed below.
Reactions
60 of 96 · most liked firstJust finished my first play through, I'd say a general run of this game will typically take players about 4 hours- but what a fun journey it is! The music and art is fantastic here, it's a beautiful world and story to travel through. Honestly if you're someone who enjoys atmospheric games with a strong story-line, this is the one for you! Strong character design, tons of Norse mythology lore in animated cut scenes, and a little froggy best friend! But if you're looking for incredible mechanics…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →While this is (hopefully) certainly not my final review of ATONE, it checks so many boxes, including the very critical "attentive developers" box, that I can't wait any longer. So far, ATONE is everything I want in a game, and maybe even a little more. It's nice to see a game that even takes disabled gamers into consideration (but NOT at the expense of abled gamers.) My heart says, "Thank you."
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →SDHQ STEAM DECK PERFORMANCE REVIEW: Follow our [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/42495043/]curator page for more Steam Deck reviews and our [url=https://twitter.com/SteamDeckHQ]Twitter for immediate updates on all SDHQ content including reviews, news, and more! This review is based ONLY on performance of the game on the STEAM DECK. The Game Itself: ATONE: Heart of the Elder Tree is an interactive story game that combines puzzle solving and rhythm-based combat. As a young…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Can't split your save files at plot branches, which is very annoying in a multi-ending game with many secrets.(I haven't complete this game yet, so I don't know whether the game has rewind system or something.) Also, in rhythm game part, note speed is fixed. It should be adjustable.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm a huge fan of the abstract art & aesthetics, love the color and contrast. Fun character stories and holy m, I would be lying if I say I wasn't confused at what was going on at the start, no spoilers but I was losing my sh*t as I discovered who Estra's mom was and what happened.... Everything makes so much sense. Really appreciated the effort of the team to reship such a great game -- or rather, a piece of art, to Steam so I get to finally play it as I didn't get to play it when it was on…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game almost got a recommended status for me. I'll start with the good and later show why it didn't get a recommendation 1) Norse mythology (yes I'm a sucker for it) and the game has an engaging story 2) Cool and unique art syle 3) Good music selection for the rhythm games Puzzles get a neutral rating for me. I enjoy the IQ-type of puzzles, quite on the easy side, but there are 1 chance-only puzzles that can be interpreted with more than one possible solution. Now, onto the downsides:…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I hate games with multiple endings and no manual save. If you want to see another ending you have to replay the whole thing. Sure, it’s short, but the walking speed is slow and boring, and nothing in the game feels exciting enough to replay. Puzzles are average, the story is dull most of the time, and the rhythm battles had a cool idea with nice music but the timing is bad, unclear, and it doesn’t really matter if you hit everything right, just keep pressing and you’ll win. The ideas are…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'll edit this later. I've never had more mixed feelings than from this game. If I take all the elements individually they're good to great. Together I'm confused. Sure, I only got like 90 minutes of the game played and I haven't even entered the 2nd chapter but I'm incredibly confused.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This puts a good ol' fashioned spin on "dull". Most of the game is made up of running around Atari Town, seeking the correct text box in order to move forward. This is presented through generic conversation from your generic villager NPCs. Every once in a while you have a "battle", which is a few repeating facial expressions and movements while you complete QTEs. I am regretful that I spent money (and time) on this.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pretty boring. There is a lot of running around, looking for the correct text to read or puzzle to solve ( most are pretty simple). Combat is a simple rhythm game, which seems hectic at first and I don't really like, but it is so forgiving that it too becomes pretty boring. It is a great concept, but too lacking in every area for me to be very interested in. I may come back and give it another try later, but for now there are many other games that I would like to play more.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Video Review: https://youtu.be/EvsuDEAJ0x0 I first picked up Atone in a game bundle. Ironically, I only really wanted to play the main game in the bundle, but it happened to be less expensive to buy the bundle rather than the other game by itself, so I decided, why not give this a try? I am a huge fan of the old Norse mythology stories and a sucker for puzzles, so I figured it wouldn’t be too bad to play through it. I have to be honest and say within the first ten minutes of the game, I…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →#PC #GameOfTheWeek: ATONE: Heart of the Elder Tree by @wildboystudios.bsky.social store.steampowered.com/app/894620/A... The peaceful environment belies the dark story and heart-pounding rhythm battles. #gamedev #indiedev #indiegames
unlabelledView post →The story really exceeded my expectations by a lot. I really wanted to keep playing to know what would happen. The Norse mythology was excellently woven into the storytelling. I especially loved all of the little secrets you can find (quite a lot of them!). The rhythm combat adds a nice layer to the game, with good music. In fact, it's a soundtrack I'd buy if that was available. You can change the difficulty of combat in the story, but not in the arena, which is just playing the combat scenes…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The story is great, I was hooked from the start. Just enough worldbuilding to get sucked in, without too many walls of text that could get you bored. I adore stories loosely based on mythologies. Superb artstyle - the geometry, sense of scale (and giants!) remind me of Hyper Light Drifter. The rhythmic elements make a good change of pace from the usual exploration and dialogue, although they aren't the main draw of the game for me. Minor annoyances - not being able to rebind controls or use a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →ATONE is an incredibly enjoyable game, in which the unhurried and peaceful exploration of the world contrasts well with dynamic duels conducted in the form of a rhythm game and an engaging, often poignant storyline. Although the logic puzzles are sometimes very simple, solving them is satisfying. I also really liked the cutscenes, which, combined with the climatic music, greatly enriched the vibe accompanying the player during the game. While exploring the world, I also appreciated the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →From the very beginning I easily dived into the world of Atone. I love its atmosphere, the music, and the animations. Every character has a depth and an interesting story to tell. Exploring this world is really amazing!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Morning Vibes Yet another Precision Tech based game I Wanna Atone The Flower (my second take on it) www.twitch.tv/ritsukicat #IWBTG #Streamer #ContentCreator #PrecisionTech
unlabelledView post →This game caught my eye for its unique art style and setting, so I gave it a try. This game is Incredible, the Norse setting is just so cool. This is pretty much a rhythm based, explore the world/lore type of game. It works. If you are not a fan of rhythm games, you can turn it off and take in the story instead (which is great) I would LOVE to recommend this game at full price BUT unless its in one of its many game bundles for cheaper, you are paying £12 for a 4-5 hour story which you…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Avs need to ATONE for their play in game 3. Not showing up for a key game is bad enough, but playing that flat on Gabriel Landeskog’s return game? That was unacceptable. They should have been ready to run through a wall. That cannot happen. Some guys need to step up. Starting tonight. #GoAvsGo
unlabelledView post →Very underappreciated game. It has some rough edges, but overall is very good. A very interesting look at the North mythology, solid writing, likable characters and engaging story. Even multiple endings! Love it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Atone: Heart of the Elder tree is a wonderful game about a girl who’s been through a lot of loss in her life. I feel like the game portrays grief and loss very well. I am glad it mostly stuck to the actual Norse mythology. Finding the lore notes is fun and the animated lore book that sometimes appears when you interact with characters is very neat. One thing that they could have improved on is the voice acting. Some characters did it really well, others were mediocre at best. The art is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I absolutely loved Atone. I actually wasn't expecting to like it this much! The story is really good. The cutscenes are voiced and while it's not super polished, I like them, they have their own charm. You get really into it as it goes on. Your choices will matter for the story. I've done two playthroughs so far to see the different story diversions, but have yet to get all of the achievements. The second time, I couldn't stop playing. It's addictive! Other positives: → The puzzles are good…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game started to be very laggy during the battle against a skeleton face guy, I could only force shutdown the game and it is unplayable for me now, which is very unfortunate. Also please add a run faster button instead of just jogging, this game has so much potential and I loved the mechanic and art style very much, it would be wonderful if there's a setting to play it in lower quality, love you dev
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Initial impressions are that this one is an odd duck, but boasts some strong visual direction and if nothing else, it has character aplenty. Will continue playing and update this when I'm done. EDIT after beating it. I stand by the opinion that the visuals are the strongest element of the experience. There's some really cool and evocative art in this game. The rest is a very mixed bag, unfortunately - but the game isn't long enough to overstay its welcome.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Glad I stumbled upon this unique indie game and underrated gem. The hand drawn art style, emotional story, and relaxing exploration mixed with rhythm-based combat create a really unique experience. The soundtrack is great and the rhythm battle music is amazing. The arena battle achievements are extremely difficult and I had to get my wife's help to complete them :D
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It surprises me how little known this game is. It was fantastic, the rhythm-based combat is simple but very effective, I loved it
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Having a full village slaughtered and changing the color of blood is not the best visual choice when men, women and children lie in pools of white stuff
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A unique genre-crossing musical adventure. Some echoes of Superbrothers Sword and Sorcery and Hyper Light Drifter. Somehow the writers managed to make me care about even the most minor of characters even though the story was short and concise. But what really sets this game apart is the heart-pounding musical battles.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Better than God of War. Started playing, couldn't put it down, and finished it in the early hours of morning.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is an amazing game, I have only positive things to say about it. First the art style, it is beautiful and simple yet detailed. It has an angular style to it but it all flows together so well, will make some very nice screenshots. Next the game play, the battles are done in an interesting way, it is what drew me to the game in the first place, and I can easily say that I love it. If you don’t want that much challenge in the battles they have 3 modes Story, Normal and Hard, so if you want…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →At the beginning, it's worth noting Wildboy Studios have already made games that are focused on narrative and unveiling mysteries of the game world in creative way. Or should I say, Atone was the first one and their other productions follow the stream. As some may have already noticed, Atone isn't brand new game, originally it was launched in 2019 as part of apple arcade and was ported now to other devices. Don't take me wrong, I really appreciate they have made effort to let more audience…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Another indiegame gem from Untold Tales. Wonderful, unique mix of engaging narrative, adventure, exploration, great puzzles and pinch of (optional) rhythm battles. Gorgeous artstyle allows for atmospheric environments and impressive visuals, matched by fantastic soundtrack. If you're fan of Norse mythology, don't miss this one. Plenty of great lore here, with variety of characters and story shaped with your choices and consequences.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game mixes so many different element, that I am suprised it works so well as a whole. First there is the story, that's more mature (and sometimes brutal) than it seems at first glance. The decisions matter a lot and can lead to completely different outcomes. Voice acting is used sparingly, but when it is used it's more than solid. Then there are puzzles and exploration. The puzzles are mostly simple, yet satisfying, but sometimes they also provide a challenge. There is an in-game hint…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's time for another game giveaway for my Bluesky followers. These are the games I'm giving away: Aaero 2 Airship: Kingdoms Adrift Atone: Heart of the Elder Tree Doodle Derby Dust Fleet Guild of Darksteel Hacknet Nuclear Dawn Technotopia Comment below if you're a follower and have DM's open.
unlabelledView post →WEAKLY recommended - it offers an extremely tame and stale telling of an extremely watered down Norse mythos original story that some casual players might enjoy. In short, if your life mission is not to play through every casual game out there, you are best of just watching a cutscene compilation on YouTube. The maze levels and the level design in general is a big enough incentive. UPDATE: Having seen most of the game and the ending extra scenes, it is not worth any investment. There is no…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →lots of heart in this one
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →$14.99 is the whole price. No microtransactions or DLC. This was much better than I expected. I wasn't a fan a first but it slowly grew on me. I may revisit another time to 100%. The audio sounds a bit crusty (unsure if an intended effect), some of the puzzles were lame, and the hair wrapping around the tree early on made no sense at all. I think my biggest gripe was the blood censorship. It's white for the most part, which makes it seem like a very different bodily fluid. But in some scenes…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Beautifully stylized with a genuinely interesting branching story, mainly driven by the characters. The rhythm-combat sections are fun, but relatively easy if you've played other rhythm games. Running around/traversal doesn't 'feel' great, but the environment is atmospheric, so there's always something to look at.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Had no idea what I was getting into with this one, but man I’m glad I gave it a go. Incredible visuals hit you first, with a colour palette so gorgeous it’s utter eye candy. The animation style is sick (I don’t have the words to describe the style but loved it lol). The whole game is like an ode to Norse mythology, with names you’ll recognise and tales that are beautifully told via excellent and fitting narration. The gameplay is mainly puzzle based, but very much symbols and riddle type…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This was... Hm. I don't know how to explain what sort of game this is. Rhythm combat, story-rich, puzzle based. Some of the puzzles were ridiculously easy and felt great to accomplish, and some were like getting hit with a sledge hammer. The art design was a little off-putting... it felt like a Nordic version of Teen Titans where some of the portraits were done in a zany! anime-esque style, but then there would be some incredibly smooth animations / cut scenes, only to have another blocky…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's fine. Visually it's obviously amazing and the story cutscenes are crazy cinematic. The problem though is that there's simply too much fluff in between the rhythm battles or there are simply too few rhythm battles spread throughout the game. Also, the rhythm fights are way too easy for my taste. I instantly turned it on hard mode and still barely felt challenged. However, the mix between Hyper Light Drifter and arcade rhythm game was really cool.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fantastic game with a choice-driven narrative that really helps you feel like part of the world. Although a lot of the puzzles are easy, there are some tougher ones. And a variety of them. There's also riddles (which I'm horrific at) which is fun! A unique aspect of this game is the rhythm game combat. This is super fun, and has a normal mode and a hard mode. The normal mode is pretty forgiving, so even if you're terrible at rhythm games, you'll likely survive. But there's also a story mode…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →gameplay feels rudimentary, text feels like I'm having dyslexia (mind you, I loved Disco:Elysium) well I guess it isn't meant to be played on PC?
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →We atone but for what? Playing Atone Heart of the Elder Tree! let's see what this game is all about www.twitch.tv/nirukage
unlabelledView post →I just can't associate vikings with mellow electric music. Visuals are nice, but the story with the whole setup is just boring. And once again the girl boss thrope where you need to cut your hair to be a fighter...
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →---{ Graphics }--- ☐ You forget what reality is ☐ Beautiful ☑ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS ---{ Gameplay }--- ☐ Masterpiece ☐ Very good ☑ Good ☐ It's just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Just don't ---{ Audio }--- ☐ Eargasm ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ Not too bad ☐ Bad ☐ I'm now deaf ---{ Audience }--- ☐ Kids ☑ Teens ☑ Adults ☐ Grandma ---{ PC Requirements }--- ☐ Check if you can run Paint ☑ Potato ☐ Decent ☐ Fast ☐ Rich boi ☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So even though I wanted this game purely because I knew it had banging music and just seeing the art style intrigued me (indie games will always rock more style than AAA, quote me on that), somehow I completely missed the fact that thiiiiiiis is a rhythm game! And honestly, after I got over that surprise, I realize what a perfect fit that made for things like battle! Let's be honest: us gamers always need fantastic music to battle to and usually get into the beat of it when it's really…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This was really interesting! Essentially, Atone is an adventure(-ish?) game with two key unique features/styles. First, there is a branching storyline that, while still gets you to mostly the same point, does have different flowing-on consequences based on about half-a-dozen-or-so key decisions you make. When you finish the game it shows you the overall flowchart and the path you took, so you can get an overall sense of how it all did/can fit together. What I especially like about this is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →was okay, somehow it could very boring, but most of the story scenes that other characters told, felt like listening to a story book, and didn't skip any of the scenes because i found the stories interesting and was curious about them, some moments were sad and that also made me feel the same. most of the game though is puzzles and combat. the puzzles are mostly easy, but some can be very unclear despite hints, but even if so, trial and error works (unless the puzzles are those with only one…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I didn't really expect to like this game! I think what worked with me is the presentation of all these game elements rather than the actual gameplay. Maybe it's mostly because I really like the art style and it adds to the exploration. Although the art doesn't help with some of the puzzles since they're hard to recognize. I didn't really like it as a rhythm game, but I do as an exploration/adventure game with norse myth inspirations.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Attempts to do too many things and fails at doing any well. The game desperately needs an option to switch paths, considering how many endings it teases to have at the very end.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I enjoyed my time with ATONE quite a bit. The general aesthetics (visuals, audio) is very unique and sets an off-kilter tone that serves very well the engaging story. Story is where the game shone for me. Heavily inspired by Norse mythology, it is served by a cast of interesting and relatable characters, with interesting arcs and some surprising development. The story is branching and has several endings. I'll definitely want to play some more to explore different branches and their…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →they thought they were cooking, in the end its just cringe with mechanics that are not ergonomic
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wanted to like this based on the art style (graphically and musically) but it just didn't motivate me to keep playing past the 20 minute mark. Too munch uninspired dialog and then, BAM, I got stuck on a puzzle that seemed to only be solvable by random guessing. I suspect I missed something in all that dialog I was speeding thru but no way I was going to restart the game and play from scratch and have to carefully re-read all that I can skimmed before.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Atone: Heart of the Elder Tree is really a great game! It's got a unique and fun gameplay style, nice art, and beautiful music throughout. The story is good, if a bit lacking, but I don't believe that's the main draw and appeal of the game. But the music throughout the entire game was truly phenomenal, the tracks always got me hyped or sad for what was to come. While the playtime was shorter than I wanted, the game has multiple endings for you to go back and check out. Additionally, there's an…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game has some really cool rhythm based mechanic for combat. Forget getting 100% on the fights though, just enjoy the different approach and accept that no mere mortal would ever actually hit every note. The story is cool, there's a lot o f random easter eggs linking to all sorts of your favourite shows, games, books etc. The puzzles are fun albeit some are too easy and others make almost 0 sense but i do believe each puzzle is doable. Total playthrough whilst trying to search for extras…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Although I haven't finished this game, I can say that it's good. The rhythmic combat is fun and provided with a great soundtrack. The whole soundtrack is amazing btw, but what do you expect when you have Andrew Prahlow working on the soundtrack.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really wanted to recommend this because I love the art style and the music, and the rhythm game battle system was very appealing to me (I'm terrible at action/fighting games). But I only got maybe a quarter through it and got so frustrated I lost the motivation to continue. - In the rhythm game portion, the rhythm doesn't actually match up with the music making it really difficult to hit the beats when you're supposed to - its like half a beat behind. That's kind of a critical flaw if that's…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I am not really a fan of the artstyle and the battle mechanics just doesn't feel right for the world. I mean there is nothing wrong with it i just can't get in the mood for it. References feels very out of place and the speech choice system just feels frustrating because it is so hard to predict what reactions choices makes. If this were a score system the game would get a high score but since it is if you recommend it or not then no i don't recommend this game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →https://youtu.be/sk9QRvcD6l0 Attempting to do too much too fast much of the basics appear to have been overlooked weakening the overall cohesion.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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