flOw
Flow is an indie video game created by Jenova Chen and Nicholas Clark. Originally released as a free Flash game in 2006 to accompany Chen's master's thesis, it was reworked into a 2007 PlayStation 3 game by his development studio, Thatgamecompany, with assistance from Santa Monica Studio. SuperVillain Studios developed a PlayStation Portable version of the game in 2008, and PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita versions in 2013. In Flow, the player navigates a series of two-dimensional planes with an aquatic microorganism that grows and evolves by consuming other microorganisms. The game's design is based on Chen's research into dynamic difficulty adjustment at the University of Southern California's Interactive Media Division, and on psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's theoretical concept of mental immersion or flow.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA, read 5 September 2026.
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- Released
- 2006
- Developer
- SuperVillain Studios
- Platforms
- 2 systems
- Critics
- Not scored
- Steam Deck
- Unknown
- Download
- Not stated
The record
| First released | 14 April 2006 |
|---|---|
| Developer | SuperVillain Studios |
| Publisher | Sony Interactive Entertainment |
| Platforms | PlayStation Vita, Steam Deck |
| Genres | Simulation |
Source. Catalogue facts from Wikidata Q284928, seeded 30 August 2026.
How long is flOw? How long to beat it
Total play time for flOw is about 5.1 hours to do everything, and around 1.5 hours to reach the end of the main story. These are player-submitted times from HowLongToBeat, not our own, shown with the number of players behind each.
| How you play | Hours | Players logged |
|---|---|---|
| Just the main story: straight through the critical path | 1.5h | 158 |
| Main + the extras: story plus the side content most people do | 2.5h | 48 |
| Completionist: everything: 100% the game | 5.1h | 16 |
Source: HowLongToBeat community submissions, read 2026-10-19.
Where flOw sits on the grid
The grid places every game in the catalogue on measured axes rather than on an opinion. This is where flOw lands on each map it has the data for, with the share of the catalogue it beats on each axis.
- Year
- 69ahead of 21% of the catalogue
- Reach
- 30ahead of 72% of the catalogue
Percentiles are against the games that carry a reading on that axis, not the whole catalogue: counting a game with no figure as a zero would flatter everything that has one. How the grid works.
What readers say about flOw
Reviews written by people who have played it. These are separate from the GamingPickz Score and are never averaged into it: that score comes from thousands of Steam reviews with a sample-size correction, and a handful of unverified ratings would distort it rather than improve it.
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Where flOw appears
The ranked lists and finder pages flOw qualifies for, from its own genre and platform to what it takes to run.
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Common questions about flOw
What platforms is flOw on?
flOw is available on PlayStation Vita, Steam Deck. It first released in 2006.
Who made flOw?
flOw was developed by SuperVillain Studios and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment.
How long does it take to beat flOw?
about 1.5 hours for the main story, 2.5 hours with the main extras, 5.1 hours to complete everything, from HowLongToBeat's player-submitted times. These are community medians, so your own run may be shorter or longer.