
You’ve always been watching, but what happens when the screen watches back? Channel Surfing is a mysterious desktop idle game disguised as a retro TV. Click, spin, pop, and discover unique gameplay on each channel as you progress.
Modeled estimate, not a reported figure. How we estimate →
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About
Channel Surfing is an idle game that sits directly on your desktop, disguised as an innocent retro television set. But this is no ordinary TV - each channel holds unique gameplay experiences waiting to be discovered. With connections to be made
Spin fidget toys, pop bubbles, hunt for treasure, and many more activities across the various channels. Each offers different ways to earn resources, unlock upgrades, and progress through the game.
Multi-Channel Experience: Navigate through multiple distinct gameplay channels, each with its own mechanics, visuals, and progression systems
Idle Progression: Every channel continues to progress even when you're not actively playing
Cross-Channel Interactions: Actions in one channel affect others in surprising ways
Desktop Integration: Sits unobtrusively on your desktop while you work or play other games
Mysterious Unlocks: Discover hidden actions, and combinations
Stats
All-time low is the lowest price we've recorded for this game since we started tracking it.
Languages: English
Engagement
Hours played at review time, across 27 reviews with recorded playtime.
Reviews
It's cool but I bought every upgrade within 2 hours and I think there should be more content. Great game though
the interactions, artwork, animations, music, FX, all combined together are INSANELY delightful. It is genuinely a joy to play this thing the puzzle solving aspect is the game is super engaging, too
Cool relaxing game.
Edit 11 May -26: Still broken, and now being sold in a bundle while in a broken state. Awful. Edit 13 Jan -26: The game is still broken. Edit 7 Sept: The game is still broken as far as I can tell. Unfortunately, I can't recommend this game right now. I've played so many hours, trying to figure out if it's broken or not. Scratching my head if I'm actually dumb, or if the game is bugged out. I've even gone into the save file to check things, and I'm definitely missing parts of the game still. Either I don't know how to unlock it, or the riddles are bugged. I'm only getting the initial riddles, then told "Until we meet again". After one cartoon, it's the same dialogue. I've loved what I have played so far. I want to continue loving it. I want to see more.
This game is a huge waste of potential. The core idea is great, but the execution is incredibly shallow and half assed. If you came here looking for a short incremental game look elsewhere. Even if the game wasn't bugged it would still be bad. The core idea is that there are 12 channels that each contain a different little minigame or feature. Each of these channels is then affected either directly or indirectly by the other channels, and progressing in one will speed up another. Or atleast, that is the idea on paper, as it doesn't work in practice. For starters, as of right now the game is either bugged or unfinished, and if so, neither of these things have been fixed in the almost half year that it has existed. You unlock more features by completing quizzes and watching cartoons on channel 12. However, at the moment there is only one quiz and by extension one unlock. Of the 12 channels in the game, 4 of them are entirely useless, and 2 of them are dedicated solely to progression. That leaves 6 channels left for the incremental gameplay. Of these remaining channels, all 6 of them are basic clickers of varying, but always low, complexity. While some of these affect other clicker channels, most progression flows into the useless channels. To top it all off, there is hardly any progression in the first place. The most redeeming thing is that you can watch a couple old time-y cartoons on channel 12. But who are we kidding here? If you really wanted to watch stuff like that you would just find it on YouTube. The TV aesthetic is nice but you cannot make a game on aesthetic alone. There is also some conflict with making watching cartoons be a part of the progression, as you can't do other stuff while watching the cartoon which makes you feel like you are wasting precious time. In its current state it honestly hardly counts as a game at all. There are many, much, much better things out there to waste your time on if that is what you are looking for. And if you are looking for anything else? Not a chance.
The music is a vibe and I could see having this up through the work day. The fact that everything is interconnected and has an upgrade system per mini game makes it feel like there is a purpose to swap games.
I really like the unique idea behind your game. I can browse the web and play at the same time — it’s such a fun and clever concept!
Definitely a unique game, worth the price of admission.
I wasn't too sure what to expect, but finding the connections across the world of the game provided a pretty interesting experience. If you're a completionist, I maxed out all the currently available content in about four hours. The price is excellent for the experience offered, it's offbeat and a little surprising! Disclaimer: I bought the game myself, but do know the developer.
I want to like this more. Consept is great but underbaked and to be honest bit boring. Overall narrative or mystery would do so much.
Related
Related
Trends
Concurrent players on Steam, sampled daily since tracking started.
Momentum
Pace estimated from the game's recent review growth (our daily snapshots) at its own sales-per-review ratio — a momentum signal, not booked sales.
Audience
Estimated from the language of this game's reviews — a proxy for where players are, not official Steam demographics.
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