Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Game
Game2014
The Joylancer: Legendary Motor Knight
Developer alpha six productions
THE JOYLANCER: LEGENDARY MOTOR KNIGHT is a new breed of action game, combining ultra-technical action with a simple control scheme and an artstyle inspired by portable games of old! Wield the divine power of the Motor Knights and save the world! From the Steam store page
132 reactions from 2 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky) · newest May 18, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
37
Rotten
48 positive · 83 negative
95% range 29–45%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 48 | 83 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
1 newer reactions are still waiting for a label.
Steam's own rating
Mostly Negative
65 of 169 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Summary pending — the reactions are listed below.
Reactions
60 of 132 · most liked firstUntil the game comes out of Early Access, avoid it. The developers consistently go completely silent on the project, only to come back and make a new slew of promises that then go unfulfilled. When issues are brought up, they reference vague timetables that are never met and offer platitudes that do nothing. I want to like the game, but three years in Early Access is ridiculous, alongside promised fixes never coming. I'd like to play the completed game, but at this point I've given up all hope…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Let's get this out of the way, music is ear-grinding and it drowns everything else, but thankfully, you can turn it off. Game mechanics seems to be relatively deep, but tutorial is very confusing (you'll see on forums people getting stuck in tutorial levels) and does a poor job conveying how everything works. For example, in one of the first tutorials you may fall into a deep pit, which would require you to make a high jump (hold x+down, then press z+up, x, x, x, z as you have guessed!) to get…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game has the most annoying 8bit soundtrack I've ever had the displeasure to submit my ears to. Also from all indications the game is unfinished. Caveat emptor on this mess.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game that controls phenomenally well, and devs doing a phenomenal job releasing new content on a fairly regular basis. I had the chance to hang out with the developer for about an hour https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqDO7tngVEg check it out for yourself! THERE IS TRUE JOY IN LANCING!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Lots of poor design choices. Example: When the game first starts it asks you if you want to go through a tutorial. If you say yes, it puts you on the main menu afterwards. The problem is there are actually THREE tutorials and you have only done one of them. The game doesn't even tell you there are 2 more unless you go into the tutorial menu. But why would you go into that menu at all when you just finished the tutorial? Another example: When you first start the game it asks if you want to turn…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Its been 6 years - going on 7 years - the game is still not complete-----
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →In actual play the game feels fairly fluid and nice. The graphics are well done for a Game Boy "tribute." Those are the only positives I have. Buttons have inconsistent functions between menus. UI design in general is overloaded with information with no apparent meaning; what many options are actually doing is totally unclear. Joystick support is sketchy at best, if it even exists at all. Many reviews mention the terrible music. The music is truly unconscionable. It's unethical. I cannot…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →EDIT: it seems every one of my suggestions in the opening paragraph of the summary has been added, could not ask for more, game is super fun - if not still a little (too(?)) nuanced - definitely recommended. Tl;Dr Dear developer, please implement default settings (upon startup) that are most conducive to one(who hasn't played it before)'s ability to play it best, i.e. no screen shake, vibrant colors, intuitive controls (that respond (on controller)). I'm certain the game is great. As of 0.4…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I waited two years for this to be finished and it hasn't gotten an update since. No fixes, incomplete abandoned game, and the soundtrack really is horrendous.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really thought I'd enjoy this game, but it was just a rediculous amount of button mashing. Once you get through the tutorial, and get into real combat, you will just be hitting the one attack button as fast as you can to "rev up" and then attack (rinse and repeat - room after room). If you can handle 10 button presses every second for a minute, a 5 second break, and then another minute of button mashing over and over again,, then you will enjoy it. For me, it was too physically painful. It's…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Do not purchase. This is developed by a total scammer.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game is dead before arrival. Dev comes back randomly saying they're working on a bunch of stuff that never actually happens then vanishes. It's never going to be done, so don't even bother.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →In its current form I really can't recommend this. There is a good game here, but things just seem way unfinished. The UI is kinda unintuitive and doesn't always keep settings -- which is a big issue for me. Aside from that, there's a lot going on in the game that it's hard for me to tell if it's just unfinished, glitchy, or a poor design decision. The title screen music is a huge example of this, as I find it really disjointed and obnoxious. There are some graphics that fall into this…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Yet another cautionary tale about putting your trust in Early Access. This game occasionally pops up in my library and I have this bizarre insistence, ten years later, to check up on its progress 10 years after its release. It's been abandoned. And the fact it's still being sold is frankly scummy.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ஜ۩:weed::B1::weed:۩ஜ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ ＤＡＭＮ ＢＯＹ ＴＨＩＳ ＧＡＭＥ ＩＳ ＦＲＥＡＫＩＮＧ ＤＯＰＥ ＢＬＡＺＥ ＩＴ ４２０ ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ஜ۩:weed::B1::weed:۩ஜ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of the most interesting games of this year as far as ideas go. Joylancer is an uncut diamond, the graphics take inspiration from NintendoGameboy and uses a two-button system. The controls have to be learned but once you get the hang of it, elaborate combos come out then you go ahead like butter. The customizable visual aspect and the concrete soundtrack - as much to the plus. Currently there is only enough for about 45 minutes of gameplay, but Joylancer is so great that you can go back and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is an abandoned Early Access game (relatively untouched since 2014). Serious issues with the game have not been fixed. This is a mediocre 2D retro pixel platformer/brawler. The graphics are quite poor, the developer opted for retro graphics due to either lack of talent or lack of money to pay for an artist. The controls are terrible and you're left to work them out yourself (although at least you get the option to tell the game you want to use the keyboard). Some display options…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Unfinished early access game. :'(
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There has not been a real update for this game since 2015. The devs made empty promises to revamp the game, and then disappeared, while having the audacity to release another game on itch.io. I'd ask for a refund, but I held out hope they would fix this game for so many years I don't qualify for one anymore. Do yourself a favor guys, skip this game and buy Shovel Knight instead, its the old-school platformer you deserve.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So! Let's talk Joylancer, shall we? While the game just recently hit Early Access and is obviously not finished, for what its worth, it actually plays pretty damn well all things considered. The multiple color schemes, the feel, and the looks all scream Game Boy and Game Boy Color, and on that note, they have so far excelled in bringing in the nostalgia train for this gamer. The controls take a short amount of time and practice to get used to, and the uppercut lance technique seems to be…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is abandonware and should be avoided. The game has an amazing foundation that was left untouched by careless devs/publisher and left to be forgotten. It was close to being pretty great as a side scrolling action title with a bit more content and a lot more polish.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game seems to have been entirely abandoned. Music is also exceptionally bad. Its a pity, the game had promise. I'd avoid it personally.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I gave this game time to mature before I reviewed it, since it was early access when I bought it two years ago. It's two years later and I'm really dissapointed in how this game turned out. The level design is terrible. There are long stretches of nothing but collecting gems, and then some enemies thrown in that are way too easy. The placement of the platforms just seems slapdash. Like they were put there, not out of a necessity for your character to progress, but just for the sake of being…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I made a video preview to show off some of the features and gameplay of this game! http://youtu.be/Zbhd1AKFjcw I hope you enjoy! Martyr
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game gets straight to the point: the satisfaction of busting through enemies is one of the biggest draws for action/platformer games, and Joylancer nails it. Not only is it rewarding to plow through enemies, but there is enough depth to the combat and movement systems to let you plow through them the way YOU want to. Even more than that, just being able to fly across levels with the few actions available to you is just a hell of a lot of fun. Boss battles, though? That's where the game may…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I think there's a good game here but I'm confused who the target audience of the game's music is? Masochists? The game seemingly has a deep amount of mechanics and throws you into the action immediately. That sounds good on paper but the game doesn't properly walk you through how this all works. Customisation looks good but that won't help much with the current state the game is in. I can see a good game in this but a lot of work still needs to be done. For now I don't think this game is…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Managed to leave the tutorial by accident. Information in the tutorial is not given in a consistent manner (sometimes it is with an interactable sign, other times it appears at the top of the screen.) Throughout the first few levels and the tutorial, text in both situations would fall outside or on the edge of the text box, making it harder to read. The tutorial music is like autotuned nails on a chalkboard. (The first few levels' music was tolerable.)
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is an amazing example of a game with good core mechanics gone completely wrong. - Really good. Some of the pixel art is a treat, and the Gameboy Color/ish aesthetic is pretty much nailed down. - Battles with multiple enemies become extremely busy, and because of the limited color palletes, it sometimes ends up looking like a vomit-like-pixel mess with no good visual guide on wherever the hell you are on screen. - I have heard murders that sounded better than this. Do not play this game…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game, while fundamentally flawed as a whole, has a beautifully designed foundation. With love, care, and effort, this could have been one of the finest games that I have ever played. Too bad it's stuck in Early Access Hell.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Sadly, the Joylancer is completely joyless. It's a retro-inspired fast action game, where you plow through the waves of enemies using skillfully made combos with your jet-powered lance. Sounds good so far and the gameplay itself is not that bad, but it was left unfinished, unpolished and on top of that, everything else also holds it back. The graphics, while being stylized to look like a GameBoy game (which is something I'm usually fond of,) In many scenarios have too much stuff cluttered on…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game development is, by all observations, abandoned. Updates were decently regular until mid-2015, where they completely halted. The dev gives the occasional news update with promises of releasing a new game update in the upcoming months, only to never deliver. There are claims of work being done on the game, but most of them are incredibly vague without any evidence that said work has been done. I understand it can be hard to juggle game development with a separate, full time job, but not…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →unfinished and probably never will be also the soundtrack is utter garbage
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →For the love of everyone and everything with ears, make the music stop....
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The short review is: Horrible music. Good mechinics from what I could tell, but the menues and controller assignments are glitchy and we couldn't even manage to play multiple with 2 xbox 360 controllers. As it is right now, I was very disapointed with my purchase, even though i only paid 3 dollers for the game, and that says something in and of itself. The main reason for this is both the incomplete glitchyness of the game, and the music. I have never before been detered by a games music…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →For early access this game has a lot going for it. The controls are quick and responsive, the combat is unique, the platforming is solid, and it has a decent amount of content, not to mention the devoloper is fairly active in the discussions, letting you know this won't be another abandonware game. I'm very interested in seeing what the game will be like upon full release, as for now I like it quite a bit.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →FUGGIN LOVE THIS GAME REVVREVVREVVREVVDORIRUDORIRUDORIRUDORIRUDORIRUDORIRUDORIRUDORIRUDORIRUDORIRU pls crank up the madness PLSPLSPLSPLSPLSPLSPLSPLSPLS
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Right now this game feels really good to play, controls really well although there can be a lot of moves that need remembering so there might need to be a way to prompt players better but this is a game with lots of potential made by a great team. There's only a bit of content right now but the potential for this game is high and definitely recommend that people get on board with this one because this game is lots of fun and I think it will continue to get better in the future.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game has been in early access for almost 10 years and is completely abandoned. Also the music and controls are horrible.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Unfinished - this is what the game feels like. It has some "gaps" and bugs that are hard not to notice when playing it. Feels rather clunky, more so than a quirky old MS DOS game - and this is the bad kind of nostalgia. Either I don't get it, or the game seems to be missing a lot in terms of storyline, save for a simple explanation of what is going on, who am I, where are we, etc. "The Joylancer: Legendary Motor Knight" seemed like a fun game at first, but it turned into a very confusing one,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Okay, better luck next time. Bad controls, poor hitbox/graphics alignment, and so on. Don't bother with it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game has all the stuff I like and knew it from the description but I was wary about buying. I took the plunge and I'm glad I did. The game is really fun and I can only imagine that it gets better as the development continues.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Really well done skill-based action-heavy platformer that makes use of a "revving" mechanic quite reminiscent of Devil May Cry 4. My Let's Play is from version 1.0.4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-F31fwTkWg
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is hella sick There are alot of glithes and controls and binding them need alot work. Pretty good game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The PirateSoftware drama reminded me that I bought this game 10 years ago. eat a ♥♥♥♥ tj lmao
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Endless potential, eternal disappointment. If Valve essentially community noting this game on the early access box is any indicator, it means you should probably keep away from it. I loved the game when it first came out, I really did. We have to accept the truth of it and give up though. I know it's not a very good descriptor of "what's wrong" with the game. It's more of "Where do I start?" I honestly believe it'd be better off sold to a dev that could clean it up, because with how much you…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game had a lot of potential and a great art style but the developers have completely abandoned it, has not been updated since the start of 2016. Yet another example of early access being a bad thing.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →visually stunning, but actually broken and not going to be finished. last dev update was 29 Sep, 2015
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Has some minor positive qualities such as style, animation and color use but is held down by shallow combat and horrendous music. The game hasn't been updated in years, don't get it, it's never getting finished.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's colourful, it's vibrant, it's a ton of fun. If you like retro platformers with a modern edge, a bit like Shovel Knight, you'll like Joylancer. The platforming is functional, the rev mechanic is fun, the spritework is the highlight of the game. I want to recommend this game, I really do. The thing keeping Joylancceer back is the soundtrack. This is some of the most grating chiptune music I have ever heard. The meldodies clash with the chords to produce some horrendous sounds, the likes…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →unique, and it is obvious that this dev cares deeply about this game, and has put A LOT of love into it, but it isnt for everyone. it takes a bit of getting used to the controls and mechanics, but once you get it revved up and going, the game really starts to shine. if you are not using the mechanics correctly, then it will probably suck for you, but it is a solid game, and only getting better. menus are indeed a bit strange, but nothing that patience can not overcome. if your not already…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Got this game through some Indie Bundle and thought I will give it a try. Maybe I will enjoy this game......(10 minutes later)...Nope, I don't enjoy it at all. Positive stuff I liked: - A nice Q&A Intro for the options - Graphics (I really like the GBC graphic) Negative aspects of the game: - Button smashing... - The Q&A choices did not work (like color mode did not start) - Really annoying soundtrack...in the beginning it was nostalgic. In the end just annoying. - Nonstop rumble, after…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A case study in self-imposed constraints leading to polished, refined design, Joylancer's chunky pixels and limited palette mesh well with its responsive, fluid gameplay. Definitely play with a gamepad.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game was made my a scam artist who was clearly born deaf based on the "music" in this garbage. Steam shouldn't be allowing this to happen, but sadly they are and can only hope people read the reviews before purchasing it. This game will never finish. Developer spends more time getting high on twitch and making other games not on steam than finishing this. Do not buy this. For the record, I got this game for free and still feel ripped off.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →well i played this 4 years or so ago, which is about in line with the last time it saw any update, so that's an objective no from me sir
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a great game and I do really like, but will most likely never be finished. The last update was several years ago and the main dev is always talking about stuff that is being worked on but even several years later it hasn't been added to the game (only on Twitter mind you, the steam boards are radio silent). Avoid buying this even with a discount, because you will NOT get a finished game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →You would like this game if you are into combo-based fighting games, or are a speedrunner. Figuring out the menus is currently a nightmare. Navigating the overworld is pretty confusing too. This game has a lot of potential, but it is currently massively hindered by poor UX. I didn't find the tutorials other people are mentioning, but I bet that would be extremely useful because I had no clue what was happening in the game. Additionally, when looking for a 4-player couch co-op game, it really…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game Graphics are very basic but have a unique look Gameplay is mainly what it comes down to and over the months it has been slowly becoming more intuitive. Its really an indie i plan to keep an eye on into the future.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of those novel attempts to shoehorn modern concepts (DMC buttonsmashers) into retro concepts (GB-era 2d platformers). Not a bad concept, terrible execution. Mark of the Ninja this ain't. Fails miserably. Hit detection is off, controls are wonky. No content. "Retro" graphics literally hurt my eyes. Not recommended.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I am all kinds of excited for what this game will be like on completion, given how good the mechanics feel now. Holy moly.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i wanted to like this game but.. menu is a mess, i struggled to start to play the actual game then.. nothing is clear, what is going on in the stages, with enemies, or upgrades the style and graphic have tons of potential and it is well made but at the same time can be often not comprehensible then crashed..i mean..what?! 7 years in EA..ok it is an dindie but..i don't get it too bad..genuinely too bad..i'll drop the game here..and i'm late for a refund
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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