Survival Machine

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 820 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 297 reviews: 6.7h for positive, 3.3h 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 (93% 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 (57)

• Feeding the Fire Throw your first batch of fuel into the furnace. 100%
• Let It Run Get your machine up and running for the first time. 98%
• Lumberjack Rookie Chop and gather a total of 100 units of wood. 90%
• Laying the Plans Unlock your very first blueprint. 89%
• Power Up Construct a generator to power your base. 84%
• Armed and Ready Build your first defensive turret to help fend off the zombies. 78%
• Still Standing Survive the first night’s zombie attack. 70%
• Gatekeeper Unlock the massive gate. 53%
• Make Way Clear a blocked path by using explosives to blow through the collapse. 50%
• Heart of the Machine Craft the second Core Component to upgrade your machine. 47%
• Fully Loaded Fill the furnace to its maximum fuel capacity. 44%
• Sniff This Kill 20 Stinkers before their stench overwhelms you. 39%
• Bridge the Gap Repair the broken bridge. 39%
• Fort No More Destroy the fortified zombie stronghold. 38%
• The Chosen Drop Discover three different legendary items hidden deep in the world. 36%
• It's alive! Survive your first encounter with Zombieburg! 35%
• Tomb Raider Loot 100 graves left behind after zombie encounters. 33%
• Crack the Shell Bring down 15 armored zombies with heavy resistance. 28%
• Undead No More Eliminate 250 zombies through any means necessary. 27%
• Practice Makes Progress Lose the game—failure is part of learning. 24%
• Outlaw Logic Crack the mystery of the bandit hideout. 22%
• Up and Running Build all essential workstations to support your survival efforts: Workbench, Sawmill, Woodworking Table, Smelter, Smithy, Tailoring Table. 21%
• Dressed for the Apocalypse Change the visual skin of your machine for the first time. 21%
• Loot Goblin Open 100 crates in search of resources and supplies. 21%
• Shovel This Take down 10 Gravediggers before they drag you under. 19%
• High Noon Solve the clock tower puzzle hidden in the city. 15%
• New Horizons Complete the main objective of the first biome. 13%
• Totem Whisperer Gather all totems and reach the reward. 13%
• No Hard Feelings, Pavel Kick Pavel. He probably deserved it. 10%
• Heavy Fire Use artillery to kill 100 zombies from a distance. 9.9%
• 28 days later... Endure 28 full days in the adventorous, zombie-infested world. 8.1%
• Sticks and Stones Kill 20 Stone Thrower zombies. 7.2%
• Piotr & Pavel Find out Pavel's secret. 5.6%
• Wood Hoarder Hold a single stack of 2000 wood in your inventory. 3.8%
• Bomb Squad Kill 20 Bomber zombies. 3.1%
• Juiced Up Have 3 different food buffs active at once. 3.1%
• Headhunter Score 100 headshot kills. 2.7%
• Cold Start Build the Chemistry Vat after arriving in the mountains. 2.6%
• Roadcleaner III Clear the Cable Bridge roadblock. 2.4%
• Meltdown Thaw your first frozen structure using the Flamethrower. 2.2%
• Hands Off Set up full production automation. 2.0%
• Roadcleaner II Clear the Moria Collapse roadblock. 1.9%
• Double Jump Craft Nitro Boots for all players. 1.9%
• Stormbreaker Survive your first snowstorm in the mountains. 1.9%
• No Healing Allowed Kill 20 Healer zombies. 1.8%
• We Hear You Build the Reflector Antenna and contact the Bastion. 1.8%
• Incoming! Defeat Zombieburg in the mountains for the first time. 1.8%
• Eyes in the Sky Deploy your first drone and gather resources. 1.8%
• Roadcleaner I Clear the Toxic Gas roadblock. 1.7%
• Sky Harvester Have 3 drones flying at the same time. 1.5%
• Lab Coat Build the Chemist Table to unlock advanced alchemy. 1.5%
• Gun Nut Build 20 turrets. 1.4%
• High Voltage Build the Arc Reactor. 1.4%
• The Cure Produce 20 Blight Shield doses for the Bastion. 1.4%
• Triangulated Decode the Bastion's hidden coordinates. 1.2%
• Void Witness Defeat Zombiestein once and for all. 1.2%
• Arms Dealer Send Rockets to the Bastion. 1.2%