ActionAdventureIndie
Cave Story+
Hooks you almost right away
Gets good by 3h almost every game dips in hours 2–3
Fully opens up by 5h rated like by long-time players
Reach the ending at least 19% of players who started
Started playing 87% of owners
Steam reviews 93% positive of 8,375
What the data shows
- In the first 2 hours 1 in 6 reviews are negative (16%); after 7h it's 1 in 18 (6%).
- Fully opens up by hour 5.
- The opening is criticised less than in 80% of games we track.
- At least 19% of players who start reach the ending.
- Most players drop off before “Wanna Fight?” (Defeated Balrog!): only 70% of starters get there.
- 87% of owners got the first achievement.
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 8,370 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 292 reviews: 8.2h for positive, 5.7h 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 (87.3% of owners), so people who bought the game and never launched it don't count.
- Started playing 100%
- Wanna Fight? Defeated Balrog! Most players quit here 70% −30
- Rabid Mimiga Defeated Igor! 69% −1
- What Are YOU?!? Defeated Balrog, again... 57% −12
- Huge Toad Defeated Balfrog! 51% −6
- Mimiga Bodyguard Defeated Curly... 48% −3
- Machine Monster Defeated Omega! 47% −1
- Ghost in the Clinic Defeated Puu Black! 42% −5
- Armored Feline Defeated Monster X! 39% −3
- Rock Bustin' Defeated Balrog, yet again... 38%
- Heart of the Island Defeated the Core! 37% −1
- Big Fish Defeated Ironhead! 36% −1
- Only If You're Greedy... Defeated the Twin Dragons! 32% −4
- Miserable Defeated Misery! 27% −4
- House Call Defeated the Doctor! 27% −1
- Evil to the Core Defeated the Undead Core! 23% −3
- Shtuff Happens Normal Ending ≥19% −4
story milestone ending (most common ending) biggest drop-off
Story milestones were labeled by AI from achievement names and descriptions; mistakes are possible.
All achievements (76)
story milestone ending side
- Pea Shooter Obtained the Polar Star! 100%
- Don't Get Lost Obtained the Map System! 78%
- Magic Missile Obtained the Missile Launcher! 74%
- Wanna Fight? Defeated Balrog! 70%
- Rabid Mimiga Defeated Igor! 69%
- A Gift from Santa Obtained the Fireball! 64%
- What Are YOU?!? Defeated Balrog, again... 57%
- Huge Toad Defeated Balfrog! 51%
- Mimiga Bodyguard Defeated Curly... 48%
- Machine Monster Defeated Omega! 47%
- <3 Obtained the Life Pot! 44%
- A Fine Blade Obtained the Blade! 43%
- Ate A Red Flower Defeated Toroko... 42%
- Kings of Power Accumulated 20,000 of damage 42%
- Ghost in the Clinic Defeated Puu Black! 42%
- Mr. Clean Obtained the Bubbline! 40%
- Girly Gun Obtained the Machine Gun! 40%
- Super, thanks for asking! Obtained the Super Missile Launcher! 39%
- Armored Feline Defeated Monster X! 39%
- Rock Bustin' Defeated Balrog, yet again... 38%
- Arm Bar Obtained the Arms Barrier! 38%
- Heart of the Island Defeated the Core! 37%
- Big Fish Defeated Ironhead! 36%
- Weapons of Mass Destruction Found and collected all Missile upgrades 35%
- Merry Holiday Happy Euphemism For the rest of us! 33%
- Only If You're Greedy... Defeated the Twin Dragons! 32%
- Turbocharged! Obtained the Turbocharge! 31%
- Doggy Style Beat Omega with Jenka's Puppy 30%
- Miserable Defeated Misery! 27%
- House Call Defeated the Doctor! 27%
- Muscle, MD. Defeated the Muscle Doctor! 26%
- Evil to the Core Defeated the Undead Core! 23%
- Shtuff Happens Normal Ending 19%
- Tow Me A Rope Obtained the Tow Rope! 19%
- Panty Raider Obtained Curly's Panties! 18%
- I'm Juggernaut... Found and collected all Life Capsules 17%
- Ladies' Man Obtained Chako's Lip Stick! 17%
- Coward Bad Ending 17%
- What A Fun Guy! Obtained Ma Pignon! 16%
- I've Got Your Back Obtained the Iron Bond! 16%
- Freakin' Laser Beamz Obtained the Spur! 15%
- Heavy Medal Defeated the Red Ogre! 14%
- Little Man Found Mister Little! 14%
- Cold Hearted Snake Obtained the Snake! 14%
- Ducking Awesome Obtained the Nemesis! 13%
- Home, Sweet Home Returned Mister Little back home 13%
- Count to 290 Obtained the 290 Counter! 13%
- So easy, so so easy! Completed Easy Mode 12%
- Return the Favor Saved Curly Brace 12%
- Supa Star! Obtained the Whimsical Star! 9.7%
- Swollen Mech Defeated Heavy Press! 8.8%
- Toroko Wins! Beat by Toroko 7.2%
- Hate Made Flesh Defeated Ballos! 6.1%
- Here's Johnny! Obtained the Alien Medal! 5.6%
- Fish Preserve Spared Eggfish 4.6%
- Happy Birthday Pixel! Played Cave Story on April 29th! 3.9%
- Curse Broken Best Ending 3.0%
- Mimiga Hero Mask Mimiga Ending 3.0%
- Cave Story Clone Defeated G-Clone! 2.1%
- Wind Fortress C Rank Completed Wind Fortress in Less Than 7:00 1.8%
- Wind Fortress B Rank Completed Wind Fortress in Less Than 6:00 1.7%
- Who's the Boss? Completed Boss Attack 1.6%
- I Like It Hard! Completed Hard Mode 1.4%
- Wind Fortress A Rank Completed Wind Fortress in Less Than 4:00 1.4%
- To Hell and Back Completed Blood Stained Sanctuary 1.3%
- Boss Attack C Rank Completed Boss Attack in Less Than 15:00 1.1%
- Untouchable No Life Capsules (Good Ending) 1.1%
- Boss Attack B Rank Completed Boss Attack in Less Than 12:00 1.0%
- Sanctuary B Rank Completed Blood Stained Sanctuary in Less Than 5:00 1.0%
- Sanctuary C Rank Completed Blood Stained Sanctuary in Less Than 6:00 1.0%
- Boss Attack A Rank Completed Boss Attack in Less Than 10:00 0.9%
- Boss Attack S Rank Completed Boss Attack in Less Than 8:00 0.9%
- Sanctuary A Rank Completed Blood Stained Sanctuary in Less Than 4:00 0.9%
- Sanctuary S Rank Completed Blood Stained Sanctuary in Less Than 3:00 0.9%
- Unstoppable No Life Capsules (Best Ending) 0.9%
- Wind Fortress S Rank Completed Wind Fortress in Less Than 2:00 0.9%
Steam page Updated: 2026-10-19.