Sable Reviews

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Shedworks has created a gorgeous throwback of an adventure game that settles the player in for a leisurely, minimalist voyage of self-discovery.

It’s your very own desert coming-of-age story! In the world of Sable, traverse a unique and enchanting world, climb the highest peaks, solve puzzles and make ancient discoveries, assist other travelers or even map out the continent – it’s all up to you!

Sable should be applauded for its strong aesthetic choices and ambitious restructure of open-world priorities, but it fails to fully deliver on its premise and is ultimately undone by a lack of polish or engaging mechanics.

We tell you, it’s a good game! It’s not average! It might have some problems here and there, but you have to admit it is a “Good” game.

Take away the technical issues, and Sable is a pretty good game. It's not great, because some fundamental design issues do hold it back, but it would still be worth checking out. As it stands, however, the game is a mess technically speaking, with frame rate drops, pop ins, crashes, hard locks, and long loading times. If there is a good game in here, it's really hard to get to, and it might be best to wait till after some of the technical issues have been ironed out.

These issues are unfortunate because Sable is a remarkable game that would normally warrant a higher rating. But the problems, although minor for the most part, were encountered with such regularity that they can’t be overlooked. Hopefully, Raw Fury will fix these hiccups quickly because, without those flaws, Sable truly is a beautiful and minimalist journey through an open world that is a joy to explore.

When I meet the mask crafter for the first time, I am unsure if I am touching a spirit, god, or machine. The machinists, whose ranks I plan to join today, would probably dismiss the distinction altogether. As I remember this, my hoverbike Simoon purrs outside the tent. She has been a good teacher.

Yet deserts have rarely looked as captivating as in Sable, the debut from a two-person developer who started the game from working out of a shed (hence the studio name Shedworks).

There’s a trend I’ve noticed with artsy indie games lately: a weird reluctance to show the faces of its characters. I just finished playing The Artful Escape, in many ways a musically thrilling and downright inspiring game, but every character’s eyes were hidden behind opaque glasses. And now we have Sable, which masks its protagonist and everyone else in the world, besides. If eyes are the windows to the soul, it’s no wonder that these games feel lovely and inventive but, at least to me, emotionally distant.

Of all the stories that games can tell, a lot of indie games tend to orbit around adolescence and coming of age. Popular titles, such as the recently released Life is Strange: True Colours, tell a coming of age story through narrative choices. It makes sense because so much of adolescence is bearing the weight of your free will and the perceived consequences of choosing incorrectly. But Sable explores a different side of adolescence: self-discovery. The mechanics in the game exist to allow ex...

Sable has been a long time coming. First announced by Shedworks all the way back in 2018, it has more or less consistently made it into our Most Anticipated Indie list year on year ever since. Now we can all finally stop anticipating it because it's here, and it's great.

Sable is high on the list of game of the year contenders in one jam packed with them. It’s a gorgeous, immersive coming of age story that happens organically and at your own pace - you can see as much or as little of the game as you like. While it certainly has its share of issues, Midden is just a place you have to visit.

Striking, peaceful, and wholly focused on exploring at your own pace, Sable is a joy to play. The optimization could use some serious work, but this is an extremely compelling game that offers a better open-world experience than many AAA developers have crafted.

In a typical open-world game, the environment is littered with content, populated with interesting side-quests, and full of breathtaking sights, but an overarching singular objective remains. Whatever the quest, exploring the world and helping locals often requires that you step away from your primary purpose. Sable is refreshing in that regard. This expedition allowed me to lose myself in the small details, talk with diverse characters, enjoy the experience, and admire the sights.

A thoroughly enjoyable and relaxing voyage of soul-searching self-discovery, Sable is also a rewarding jaunt across an otherworldly desert that involves climbing, hoverbiking, and gliding. And rather good it is, too.

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Sable is a disappointment. It’s a high-minded concept, and at times the audiovisual package carries you to the game that was meant to be. When you get a few minutes without bugs, without camera issues, without your bike trying to return to its home planet, you can slide into that beautiful atmosphere. You can start to feel the pull as you wonder what’s over that mountain. You become entranced by what that flashing light in the distance is. At its best, the game promises to hook you and immerse you completely. But it doesn’t last. Before long, the camera will clip through the ground, or you’ll see some rogue UI element stuck on the screen, or your bike will do a triple lutz. The immersion will fade away, and you’ll realize you’re just sitting in a desert, desperate for something to connect to.

If the idea of a game that offers you a true sense of freedom appeals to you, you’ll undoubtedly get a kick out of Sable. Its expertly-crafted narrative alone will inspire you to keep going, but repetitive quests and an often barren world may dampen your spirits a little. Still, there’s a lot to enjoy here, and if its art style resonates with you, you’ll find it easy to lose hour after hour in Sable‘s unique world.

I love the weird beauty of Sable and its coming-of-age adventure story, but there are a lot of small irritants that pile up and - perhaps worst of all - your bike just isn't fun to drive.

An intimate and introspective open world odyssey, with jetbikes.

Sable will find an audience that truly adores its free-form exploration, stylistic visuals, engaging writing and chill soundtrack, but for me, these redeeming qualities were lost in a sandy sea of emptiness and repetition in its core mechanics. Its messages certainly resonated with me but its gameplay lacked the variety to truly keep me hooked for lengthier sessions. If you're looking for a chill experience and can overlook any performance issues that aren't quite resolved by the time you pick it up, then Sable will deliver. I just can't help shake the feeling of missed potential here.

It offers an otherworldly break from the busyness of life, and, when you do return to Earth, you will do so with a smooth landing, and without stress.

Sable is a beautiful story about self-discovery. It’s themes of solitude and what it means to be independent strongly resonated with me. The game is bolstered by a one-of-a-kind art style and an excellently crafted original soundtrack. If you can handle a slow burn and push some UI issues aside, Sable is an overwhelmingly pleasant experience.

Sable is a truly wondrous and serene experience at times, but lift the mask and you find it's also one that has its flaws and inconveniences. If you can see past its weaknesses, this is a journey of pure and innocent discovery that's well worth taking.

Playing Sable very well may be as close as one can get to a meditative experience while playing a game. Few games feel as good to simply exist within as Sable. The game’s gorgeous visuals, warm and comforting music, and intuitive game design all come together to create a unique experience about trying to find one’s place in the world through an expression of an individual’s freedom.

Sable is unusual in that it puts the player firmly in control of how they want to play it.  I cannot think of another game that has given me the choice to complete the story whenever I was ready, at whatever pace I chose.  With a unique atmosphere conjured up by the visual style and the custom soundtrack it is well worth sinking several chilled out hours into this title.

A sweetly told tale of youth, travel, and self-discovery that's not afraid to wear its inspirations on its sleeve. In turbulent, inward-looking times, Sable is a true comfort.

Sable is a game about self-discovery that unfortunately, doesn't live up to its potential.