RPGStrategy
King's Bounty: Dark Side
The first hour is a test
Gets good by 1h almost every game dips in hours 2–3
Fully opens up by 100h rated like by long-time players
Started playing 54% of owners
Steam reviews 74% positive of 1,944
What the data shows
- In the first 2 hours 1 in 2 reviews are negative (60%); after 100h it's 1 in 7 (14%).
- Fully opens up by hour 100.
- The opening is criticised more than in 89% of games we track.
- Few early reviews, so this is a rough estimate.
- Only 54% 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 1,947 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 298 reviews: 52.6h for positive, 31.4h 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 (54.2% 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 (37)
- Bane of Life Deal a total of 100,000 damage points 100%
- Heartless Lose 1,000 troops 99%
- Fighter Destroy 100 enemy troops 86%
- Looking for Trouble Receive 500,000 damage points in one game 79%
- Idol Organize a fan club 74%
- Butcher Defeat 25 enemy armies in a row without replenishing your army 72%
- Collector Collect 50 artifacts and items during one game 71%
- Amateur Jeweler Open 100 chests during your travels 70%
- Inspired Train all the talents in your class tree (at least to level 1) 68%
- Champion Get 15 medals (at least 1st level ones) 67%
- Reckless Fighter Win 25 fights without using the Spell Book 55%
- Enslaver Take 10,000 prisoners 55%
- High Mage Inflict 300,000 magic damage during one game 53%
- Large Escort Gather all the companions 50%
- Greedy Accumulate at least 10,000,000 gold 49%
- Adventurer Get the following achievements: Greedy, Collector, Heartless, Amateur Jeweler 44%
- Ph.D. Complete all Research Department quests 42%
- Cool Warrior Win 25 fights without using Rage skills 41%
- Veteran Get the achievements Bane of Life, Fighter, Butcher, Cool Warrior and Looking for Trouble 34%
- Innovations Enthusiast Complete all Department of Experimental Weapons quests 33%
- Honorable Engineer Complete all Engineering Department quests 30%
- Warlock Complete all Magic Department quests 27%
- Lights Out! Defeat the Spirit of Light before 10th round 26%
- Transformations Master Get the Metamorph for your army 25%
- Deputy Field Marshal Complete all Military Department quests 19%
- Master Player Raise your character to the maximum level 18%
- Master Trainer Increase any 2 attributes of your troops to the maximum level 18%
- Demons’ Era Complete the game with the Demoness class on Normal difficulty or higher 17%
- Appearances Are Deceptive Get the ogre girl for your army 17%
- The Undead Will Live Complete the game with the Vampire class on Normal difficulty or higher 17%
- Great Artifacts Have Great Power Collect all the 12 Great Artifacts of Netana 16%
- Connoisseur Collect any complete set of items. 12%
- Strength and Rage Complete the game with the Orc class on Normal difficulty or higher 11%
- Darkness Complete the game on Impossible difficulty 8.9%
- Mad Courage Defeat the Spirit of Light in the final battle without using your Spell Book. 7.2%
- The Sky’s the Limit Increase all improvable attributes of your troops to level 3 6.6%
- Professor Get the achievements High Mage, Mad Courage, Reckless Fighter 5.7%
Steam page Updated: 2026-10-19.