Kenoma: Action Without Action
Jack Levin · 2025 · Interactive Fiction, 2D, Philosophical, Surreal, Story Rich
PC
4 user reviews100% · 4
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About Kenoma: Action Without Action
Due to the high-contrast between the "two worlds" of the game, switching between them quickly may trigger photosensitive epilepsy. Please exercise caution.
Kenoma: Action Without Action is a 2D-sidescrolling graphic adventure game focused on a peculiar narrative experience, a two-sided game world, and a streamlined version of the classic adventure-game feel.
The world has been in two pieces since time immemorial. One knows death, the other does not. Which would you rather live in?
Moving between the halves of the world is instant, easy, and entirely at your discretion. Any time, anywhere, so long as you won't land inside the floor. A spectral image of the other half is always visible to keep you informed. Some problems can only be solved by going back and forth!
Take the role of a driven wanderer and travel these world-halves, finding and destroying the pillars of one to ensure the continued survival of the other. All you need is your wits, the things you can find on the floor, and the help of a few strangers to complete your task.
Though it is monochromatic, the world is far from mundane. Visit scenic trash dumps, ancient ruins, massive temples, and some private homes along your way, all populated by meaningful symbology and a cast of odd characters.
People have many shapes in this world. Some of them are priests, some of them are sages. Yet others are tradesmen and day-laborers. There is no telling which of them will prove vital to your efforts. Who can say what your conversations may reveal?
Of course, your goals cannot be achieved through only walking and talking. You'll need to find and put to good use a myriad of strange things. You can carry only four at a time, but you needn't be discerning in what you pick up. There is nothing truly pointless: if you can take it you can use it, and soon!
As you travel, you will come upon many interesting sights. Some of these can be interacted with more closely, leading to small setpieces that use your computer mouse (or equivalent). Knock bones around, smash padlocks, cut open glass, catch rats, and much more!
Kenoma: Action Without Action is a 2D-sidescrolling graphic adventure game focused on a peculiar narrative experience, a two-sided game world, and a streamlined version of the classic adventure-game feel.
The world has been in two pieces since time immemorial. One knows death, the other does not. Which would you rather live in?
Moving between the halves of the world is instant, easy, and entirely at your discretion. Any time, anywhere, so long as you won't land inside the floor. A spectral image of the other half is always visible to keep you informed. Some problems can only be solved by going back and forth!
Take the role of a driven wanderer and travel these world-halves, finding and destroying the pillars of one to ensure the continued survival of the other. All you need is your wits, the things you can find on the floor, and the help of a few strangers to complete your task.
Though it is monochromatic, the world is far from mundane. Visit scenic trash dumps, ancient ruins, massive temples, and some private homes along your way, all populated by meaningful symbology and a cast of odd characters.
People have many shapes in this world. Some of them are priests, some of them are sages. Yet others are tradesmen and day-laborers. There is no telling which of them will prove vital to your efforts. Who can say what your conversations may reveal?
Of course, your goals cannot be achieved through only walking and talking. You'll need to find and put to good use a myriad of strange things. You can carry only four at a time, but you needn't be discerning in what you pick up. There is nothing truly pointless: if you can take it you can use it, and soon!
As you travel, you will come upon many interesting sights. Some of these can be interacted with more closely, leading to small setpieces that use your computer mouse (or equivalent). Knock bones around, smash padlocks, cut open glass, catch rats, and much more!
- Venture through a two-sided world, switching between the sides whenever you choose
- Choose a side to destroy
- Visit interesting locales and meet strange people
- Engage in worry-free puzzle solving
- Play varied micro-games to find information and effect change upon the world
- Decide whether or not you want to die
What Steam players say
Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.
A charming little game about smashing stuff to see what happens, and really strange individuals. Controlling a woman who can sometimes call herself Ghost, you explore different levels solving simple inventory puzzles and talking to everyone you can come across. The conversations are a definite highlight of the game, with so many of the recurring characters having this amusing dry, heavily character oriented writing that doesn't seem to get old, reminding me of Dave Grossman's work. The puzzles are a fun exercise in exploration, as you can swap between the black and grey worlds to do basic platforming and check out different rooms, and rarely are too hard to figure out on your own. However the difficulty was a bit odd, as I found the more obtuse ones to be in the second level of four personally, and I did run across some few bugs with the save system, which the dev kindly fixed. My biggest qualm is that unfortunately the switching mechanic doesn't get as much use as it potentially could, but as is, you already have a cute effort with two different routes to take your playthrough in. It reminded me a lot of playing Humongous Entertainment games, which is as good as praise I could…3 found this helpful
Kenoma: Action without Action is a worthwhile addition to anyone's library for its low cost and enjoyable gameplay loop. While lacking in flashiness, the game holds true to itself by focusing on what it does best, which is atmosphere and writing. The characters are enjoyable and the dialogue, as well as the world itself, are well-crafted. The music is simple but fitting for the tone of any given area, which is important, since it's likely to repeat whilst you're running back and forth solving puzzles. The different endings also genuinely change the game's route, instead of being a 'choose door 1 or door 2 for ending a and ending b', which is a nice change of pace from many other games. There's easily 6 or more hours of gameplay here, depending on how fast you are with puzzle solving; my time isn't indicative, since I played the game without an internet connection.2 found this helpful
This game was really fun! I liked the spirit world shifting mechanic, and it was surprisingly funny. I also like how the game gave me choices that seemed to make a real difference to the story. I did get stuck for a bit, but after finding the solution I can confidently say it was my fault, and I wasn't paying enough attention. The characters are neat and fun to talk to, and the story is interesting. Definitely recommend.1 found this helpful
This was a pretty interesting game. The world-changing mechanics were really cool—using them to reach higher platforms or enter different buildings was a truly unique idea. The game has a lot of characters that look strange and weird, which added to its charm. The music was quite good and really made it feel like you were exploring a broken-down world. Finally, the game’s art style was very unique, with a lot of attention to detail, which I really liked. Overall, I had a lot of fun solving puzzles and talking to all the different characters. I definitely recommend playing this game.
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