When does A Guidebook of Babel get good?

Give it 1 hour. In the first 2 hours almost 1 in 3 reviews are negative (29%); after 10h it's 1 in 20 (5%). Fully opens up by hour 10.

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AdventureIndie

A Guidebook of Babel

Aug 2, 2023 Steam: Very Positive

Give it 1 hour

Gets good by 1h almost every game dips in hours 2–3

Fully opens up by 10h rated like by long-time players

Started playing 64% of owners

Steam reviews 90% positive of 1,815

What the data shows

In the first 2 hours almost 1 in 3 reviews are negative (29%); after 10h it's 1 in 20 (5%).
Fully opens up by hour 10.
Few early reviews, so this is a rough estimate.
Only 64% of owners have even the first achievement — the rest barely played.

When it gets good

Share of positive reviews by how many hours the reviewer had played when writing the review.

before it gets good opening up fully opened up

Based on all 1,829 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 299 reviews: 10h for positive, 7.9h for negative. Almost every game is rated lower in the first 2–3 hours: that window includes refunds and quick first impressions. What matters is how deep the dip is and how fast the game recovers.

Where players quit

Share of players who started the game and reached each story milestone. 100% is the most common achievement (63.8% of owners), so people who bought the game and never launched it don't count.

Story milestones aren't labeled yet; all achievements are listed below.

All achievements (19)

Set sail! Welcome Aboard the Babel. 100%
A Solid Grasp Complete 2 quests. 70%
First Riddle Complete 1 Note Page. 52%
Practice Makes Perfect Complete 4 quests. 47%
First Look Read one Logbook entry. 46%
Spun Memories Collect one character's backstory entry. 45%
Bag of Tricks Complete 4 Note Pages. 35%
Imaginative Complete 7 quests. 35%
In Your Element Complete 10 quests. 32%
Waking Up The carnival ended, leaving the longest goodbye. 31%
Knowledgeable Read all Logbook entries. 29%
Strip It Down Complete 8 Note Pages. 29%
Benevolent Find out who the five Connoisseurs Association assistants are by speaking with them. 26%
Echo of the Circus Collect Braith's backstory entry. 23%
Sunken Promise Collect Goffman's backstory entry. 22%
Dead End’s Flower Collect Jasmine's backstory entry. 22%
Father Collect Lake's backstory entry. 22%
Dreamland on the Other Side In the Earth’s warm breeze, dream a dream without saying goodbye. 22%
Perfect Landing! Unlock all other achievements. 19%

Steam page Updated: 2026-10-20.