When does Xenonauts get good?

Give it 10 hours. In the first 2 hours 1 in 2 reviews are negative (47%); after 20h it's 1 in 13 (8%). Fully opens up by hour 20.

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Xenonauts

Jun 16, 2014 Steam: Very Positive

Give it 10 hours

Gets good by 10h then rated almost like by veterans

Fully opens up by 20h rated like by long-time players

Steam reviews 87% positive of 5,087

What the data shows

In the first 2 hours 1 in 2 reviews are negative (47%); after 20h it's 1 in 13 (8%).
Fully opens up by hour 20.
The game has no achievements; this is based on reviews only.

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 5,093 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 294 reviews: 44.5h for positive, 21.3h 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

This game has no achievements.

Steam page Updated: 2026-10-19.