title image

Sometimes You Die

Adventure

Ratings

Age

13+

Category

Adventure

Languages

English

Sometimes You Die is a thought-provoking puzzle platformer that subverts the traditional concept of 'Game Over.' Players control a simple square through a series of dangerous levels where hazards like spikes and saw blades are unavoidable. The twist is that your character's 'corpses' remain in the level, allowing you to use them as platforms or shields to reach the exit. Accompanied by a cryptic narrator, the game explores themes of life, death, and the structure of video games themselves.

Dinsun Expert Review

Our Expert Score

88/100

Sometimes You Die is a brilliant, meta-commentary on the nature of video games disguised as a puzzle platformer. Its central hook is ingenious: death is not a failure state, but a tool. To cross a bed of spikes, you must throw yourself onto them so that your previous corpse becomes a bridge for your next life. It’s morbid, clever, and constantly forces you to rethink your approach to level design.

The minimalist, monochrome aesthetic combined with a haunting, philosophical narrator creates an atmosphere that is both eerie and thought-provoking. The game isn't just about jumping; it’s about the value of failure. It’s a short experience, but it sticks with you long after the credits roll, especially given the clever twists it introduces in its final act. It’s a must-play for anyone who appreciates 'art-house' indie games that challenge the conventions of the genre.

Dinsun reviewed on: Fri Feb 27 2026

Features

1

Unique 'death-as-progress' mechanic

2

Minimalist monochrome graphics

3

Philosophical narration

4

Hidden secrets and twists

5

Atmospheric sound design

Tips & Walkthrough

Gameplays

Screenshot

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Q&A

The game features around 80 levels, including several secret stages that challenge your understanding of the game's rules.

Ratings & Reviews

Decently Fun with an intriguing "story"
Fri Nov 06 2015 SuperBudder

So the puzzles are not too difficult and require only a bit of brain power. I still enjoyed the gameplay, especially when you could change gravity. The wording however in the background had quite the psychological effect. Gave kinda a weird look on life and the "story" is more of the highlight of this game. So overall I rate it 4 out of 5, but the fact that I got this off AppsGoneFree MAY have influenced my opinion a bit. Note: do not worry about app reviews saying the game has an in-app purchase of 9999. These people just didn't realize this is an in game element. By that I mean you can jump on it and it is part of the level.

It has a great message but ultimately fails as a game
Sun Nov 19 2017 App$ir

I really didn't know what I was expecting when I first started this game. I thought it would just be, to progress through the levels, you needed to die and try again. But it quickly made me question if it really was a game. And boy I did. The first section is a simple tutorial, teaching you the game mechanics and how when you die, you become a platform for your future play. Then it becomes a deep thought story, making you question what a game really is. An ingenious idea, it really has a deep message. But as I started getting through, I realized there wasn't much "game". It was just follow the game through and deal with the annoying parts. When you finally do finish it, you're given this new mechanic, tilt your phone to alter gravity. It's a great addition, really makes the game much more interesting. However, after you go through it again, you end up in a new section that really seems more like a game, it's a whole area which requires you to skillfully die in order to advance. Great idea? Yes. Badly implemented. The level itself is badly designed, you'll spend most of your time getting back to where you were because you fell and you travelled to another section. The tilt mechanic just doesn't work well. It takes absurdly long to activate and switch the gravity. So you end up dying where the exit is, making you restart, or teleporting to another section, trapping you in an endless loop of death whilst you're helpless watching. For $2 it's simply disappointing. Deep story, yes. Badly designed levels, yes. Badly implemented 'interesting' mechanic, yes. Great ideas, you just failed to make a game.

Kamibox knocks it out of the park… as usual.
Fri Nov 15 2024 Mr M Bag

Kamibox. Enough said. I would love to know where the ideas for these games come from. This game is so unique, and I love the story or plot that you literally follow. It’s such an interesting concept. Do you or have you ever dabbled in console game development, or is there anything on steam, or are these only mobile games? I seriously love everything you put out. My favorite is a toss up between squaredance, supertype, and zip zap. I would absolutely love to see what you would do with an RPG. I’ve no doubt you’re unique stylistic choices, story, and playability would be a smash! Keep the games rolling! So good.

I won with 11 deaths
Sat Jun 17 2023 print("Hello World")

Fantastic game, blew my mind with the orange levels, they are terrifying. What a philosophical game! I love the bonus features after completing the game. Advice: Make a leaderboard to see who has won in the fewest number of deaths! I think Apple added it recently, you can create leaderboards that are sorted by fewest points instead of most points (used for ‘golf’ type games like this one) I want to beat the game in 0 deaths, but there’s one point where I think you are forced to die, unfortunately. So the minimum should be 1 death. That will test my patience! Overall, a very fun and frustrating platformer game.

Best Mobile Game I’ve Seen.
Sat May 12 2018 Premierepres

I’m not exaggerating. As far as entertainment goes, this is the best game I’ve played. It’s a wonderful blend of puzzle and platformer, with a side of innovation in game design, and a sprinkling of meta. The simplistic presentation is really appealing as well. Despite a short playtime, the orange levels were extremely challenging for me, and the “prequel” was a nice, deep intellectual challenge. As an aspiring game developer, the “texts” you get from the developer were a great insight on the process, and I was absolutely astonished to find out the entire process was 6 weeks.

Short but entertaining.
Tue Oct 27 2015 Haloman221

This game, although it has very simple mechanics, still manages to challenge the player especially if you wish to find the secret "orange" and prologue level and beat them. After the prologue level the creator begins a commentary on the creation of the game as you replay it from the beginning and he reveals some other secrets that you may not have already found. Finding all the hidden elements in the game definitely add to the value of your experience and I would encourage that do attempt to find them.

Different and Smart
Fri Jun 28 2024 DemoRaze

This is another excellent game, from a brilliant developer, that’s grossly underrated. It seems most people aren’t interested in games that are unique and thoughtful. Anything more cerebral than match 3 is lost on most people. Thank goodness there are still developers who are willing to create great independent games for those who want more than more copies of the same old thing.

Terrible Ending
Sat Apr 13 2019 tornadobuster9

The game has a nice concept, was challenging enough at times, but short-lived and super frustrating at the end. The entire game was kinda easy, but then at the orange level everything was super difficult and near impossible to finish. I’m not even sure some of the levels there were actually possible to finish. So I gave up after 100+ tries and looked up a walkthrough to see what would happen at the end. Guess what? It’s an empty orange room with absolutely nothing in sight. So don’t waste your time trying to beat the orange level, you’ll hardly be rewarded. The insane difficulty on the last level just seemed to be an excuse to lengthen the already super short game.

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