Netflix has been pretty revolutionary in the world of online entertainment, offering a wide variety of movies and TV shows for you to watch on just about any device with an internet connection, all for a monthly subscription fee. And, of course, with Netflix’s massive success, it wasn’t long before a bunch of other streaming platforms with similar structures started popping up, with some even moving from the TV and movie business into the gaming world.
I’ll be the first to sing the Xbox Game Pass its praises – I don’t own an Xbox console, but I’ve had a PC Game Pass subscription nearly as long as the service has been available, and I spend a lot of my free time playing Game Pass games on my PC. But, until recently, there’s been very little in the way of real competition for the Xbox Game Pass – that is, until Utomik came along.
Utomik shares a lot in common with the Xbox Game Pass but with a very different catalog of games and some extra bells and whistles. It offers both cloud gaming and local downloads (or a combination of both), and you can play it on your phone, PC, or even your smart TV if it’s compatible. But is it worthy of a subscription? Well, that’s what I’m here to tell you in this Utomik review.
Pros:
- Affordable
- Large catalog of over 1,400 games, with more added regularly
- Friendly UI
- Works across mobile, PC, and TV
- Supports cloud gaming, local downloads, or a mixture of both
Cons:
- Mostly unknown indie games/very few big titles to explore
- Only compatible with a limited range of TVs
- No support for iOS or Mac systems
Price
Utomik offers an initial 14-day free trial. Beyond that, there are a few different subscription plans to suit your needs. The lowest tier allows one user to play on PC only. The next tier up is personal+cloud, which allows one user to play on PC, mobile, and TV. Finally, there’s the family+cloud plan, which allows up to four users to play on PC, mobile, and TV. You can cancel at any time, without any cancellation fees, so there’s nothing to lose if you want to try the free trial – you can opt-out at any time, no strings attached.
The personal+cloud Utomik subscription comes in at the same price as the Xbox PC Game Pass, but with the added bonus of cloud, TV, and mobile gaming, offering some features that aren’t even available on the more expensive Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. While, of course, Xbox Game Pass has a wider selection of triple-A titles, the price point does make Utomik a pretty competitive deal, as long as there are enough titles that catch your interest in its catalog.
Games
Utomik has a pretty extensive list of games available, all from a wide range of genres and developers. In fact, at the time of writing, there are more than 1,400 games available, with plenty more on the way in the ‘coming soon’ section, including the highly anticipated Turnip Boy Robs a Bank. Naturally, not all of the games are winners, and there are bound to be quite a few that don’t appeal to your personal tastes, but there’s quite a nice mixture of styles to suit all sorts of users.
Beyond a few older triple-A’s like Saints Row, Dead Island, Metro 2023 Redux, and Metro Last Light, the bulk of Utomik’s catalog is made up of indie games. This includes some more well-known indies like Blasphemous, Spiritfarer, Coffee Talk, and My Time at Portia, along with many you’ve likely never heard of (for better or worse).
While there’s a sea of titles that you may have no interest in – and plenty of fillers that mostly seem to pad out the games list – there are some truly great gems hidden in there, with a nice mix of PC and mobile games for you to explore. And, with how easy it is to dive in and out of these games, it’s a great opportunity to try something new. Personally, I was very excited to see my beloved point and click games from the Deponia series among the ranks, along with Spirit Hunter: Death Mark and Spirit Hunter: NG, both of which are on our list of the best horror games.
In general, if you’re a fan of indie games or have grown tired of triple-A’s, I highly recommend taking a look through the Utomik games list and seeing whether anything tickles your fancy. There also appears to be a pretty steady flow of ‘new’ games popping up every week, many of which are older games that are just coming to the platform, while others are day-one releases like the adorable Pizza Possum.
UI and design
As with other platforms like Xbox Game Pass and Steam, Utomik requires you to install its own independent launcher on your device. And, while I feel many launchers can be a bit hit-or-miss with their UI, I find Utomik to be very smooth and easy to use.
The launcher on both mobile and PC is quite similar, with the two most notable tabs being home and channels. Home features some content specific to you, such as your recently played games, a list of recommended games, some genre lists influenced by your playing and browsing habits, as well as the standard ‘new’ and ‘coming soon’ sections.
The channels section is particularly handy, dividing games up into a set of easy-to-browse categories. There’s the genre section, with categories for just about every genre you could think of including action, adventure, beat ‘em up, puzzle game, open world, and more. Then there’s the style section, which has tags such as 90s game, anime, family-friendly, horror, and mystery. There’s also a publisher section, where you can browse all the games from specific publishers like Daedalic Entertainment, Idea Factory, Super Rare, and Team 17.
Finally, there’s the ‘other channels’ section, which has some super handy categories such as co-op, full controller support, local multiplayer, party game, and touch-friendly. There’s also an ‘all’ section, where you can browse through every game on the platform. These categories feel a bit more accessible than those on launchers and store pages I’ve used in the past, making your overall experience far more streamlined – which is much needed considering the vast quantity of games on the platform.
On mobile, the channels tab is split into either ‘play’ or ‘companion’, a feature I personally really love. The ‘play’ section only displays games that you can play on your mobile device, whereas the ‘companion’ section allows you to browse through all the games and add them to your list so you can play them later. Both the mobile and PC versions also have a news section, where you can read brief articles from the Utomik team introducing new games. This is a nice personal touch and has definitely encouraged me to look at games I may otherwise pass over.
When browsing, each game on Utomik is represented by a tile with an image and title. On PC, you can hover over a tile to enlarge it, where it shows you a brief synopsis, the game’s tags (including genre), its user rating out of five stars, whether it offers achievements, and a few other useful tidbits. You can also add it to your games list right then and there without having to go to its page. On the mobile version, game tiles have icons at the top showing what devices they’re available on (mobile, TV, PC).
When you do visit a game page, you are, of course, met with a full description of the game, along with a full list of tags, the name of the publisher, and the game’s original release date. You can also browse through trailers and photos, all of which generally load pretty quickly, along with a selection of related games. One feature that I really like is that a lot of the game descriptions include bullet points with a list of features and/or similar games to help you decide whether it’s something you’ll enjoy. On top of that, game pages also have a system requirements section as well as an achievements section which also details your last play session and total play time.
Overall, Utomik on both mobile and PC feels very comfortable and intuitive to browse, and I personally prefer its layout over Xbox Game Pass and many other launchers or apps I’ve explored. It feels closest to Netflix in its layout and design, but a lot less finicky, making trawling through those 1,400 games a surprisingly easy experience.
Connectivity and performance
As mentioned above, Utomik offers you the ability to play a variety of games on mobile, PC, and TV, either through local downloads, cloud gaming, or a combination of both. Android-compatible games generally either have touchscreen controls or an on-screen overlay with the same functionality as a regular controller, but there are some games that work better with a Bluetooth controller connected.
In terms of system requirements, at its base, the PC version of Utomik requires a PC with Windows 10 or newer and an internet connection. Utomik works with Android devices that have Android 9.0 or newer but doesn’t work with iOS or Mac operating systems.
One thing that I feel Utomik should make a bit more clear is that TV compatibility is very limited. While the Utomik homepage does have icons for Windows, Samsung, LG, and Android, it took me delving into the FAQs at the bottom of the page before I realized that Utomik is only compatible with 2020 or newer models of Samsung Smart TVs, and 2021 or newer models of LG Smart TVs.
This means that my Samsung TV from a few years ago isn’t compatible, so I couldn’t test out that functionality – and I honestly don’t know many people who do have a compatible TV. This is a little disappointing, as the idea of streaming games on your TV is likely a big draw for many prospective users. However, Utomik does state on its website that it’s working on expanding its list of compatible devices.
Beyond that, my experience with Utomik’s games has been very smooth across the board. Of course, some of this is dependent on your own internet connection, but I’ve experienced fast download speeds, great connection with cloud games, and zero latency in all scenarios. As someone who is generally pretty pessimistic about cloud gaming, I’ve been impressed with my experience so far, and will continue to test this out in the future – I will, of course, come back here and amend this should I face any difficulties in the future.
Verdict
Utomik is essentially the Netflix of indie gaming and is a strong alternative to the Xbox Game Pass. It has an impressively large number of games on offer, and, while there are plenty of filler titles padding out the catalog, there’s a surprising amount of great gems hidden in there, with plenty of new games dropping every week.
The launcher’s UI is intuitive and easy to navigate and makes playing games across multiple devices simple and fun. Additionally, its balance between local downloads, surprisingly stable cloud gaming, and a mixture of the two makes hopping in and out of games a breeze, all for a very reasonable price.
While the service lacks many more recognizable or triple-A games and is very limited in its choice of compatible TVs, overall it’s a great little platform and well worth a browse if you’re looking for something a bit different. Plus, that 14-day free trial can’t hurt, right?
If you’re looking for a device to explore all these games on, check out our lists of the best gaming phones, the best Xiaomi phones, the best Samsung phones, or the best OnePlus phones. We’ve also got some top picks of the best phone controllers and the best power banks to help amp up your gaming experience.