ActionIndie
Shift Happens
Give it 3 hours
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 14% of players who started
Started playing 35% of owners
Steam reviews 77% positive of 4,392
What the data shows
- In the first 2 hours 1 in 3 reviews are negative (33%); after 5h it's 1 in 6 (16%).
- Fully opens up by hour 5.
- 14% of players who start reach the ending.
- The biggest drop-off is between “Two blobs one lab” (Finish the Laboratory [Multiplayer]) and “A shift in the forest” (Finish the Forest [Multiplayer]): from 100% to 31% of starters.
- Only 35% 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 4,462 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 292 reviews: 5h for positive, 3.6h 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 (35.2% of owners), so people who bought the game and never launched it don't count.
- Started playing 100%
- Two blobs one lab Finish the Laboratory [Multiplayer] 100%
- A shift in the forest Finish the Forest [Multiplayer] Most players quit here 31% −69
- From cactI to cactUS Finish the Canyon [Multiplayer] 19% −12
- We didn't eat the yellow snow! Finish the Grotto [Multiplayer] 14% −5
story milestone ending biggest drop-off
Story milestones were labeled by AI from achievement names and descriptions; mistakes are possible.
All achievements (31)
story milestone ending side
- Two blobs one lab Finish the Laboratory [Multiplayer] 100%
- Let me go! Struggle yourself free [Multiplayer] 90%
- Elevator separator Splitting up doesn't get you anywhere [Multiplayer] 34%
- Push it real good "Push" a character over 8 meters 34%
- A shift in the forest Finish the Forest [Multiplayer] 31%
- From cactI to cactUS Finish the Canyon [Multiplayer] 19%
- Lab perfectionists Finish each Laboratory-level with 75 coins and Bonus Object [Multiplayer] 16%
- We didn't eat the yellow snow! Finish the Grotto [Multiplayer] 14%
- Forest perfectionists Finish each Forest-level with 75 coins and Bonus Object [Multiplayer] 8.0%
- Unfair business A "little" unfair distribution of coins [Multiplayer] 8.0%
- Cr(e)ative death Get squished by a small crate with the big character 7.4%
- Bottom feeder "Steal" the chain-coin from your partner who did all the hard work [Multiplayer] 7.1%
- Canyon perfectionists Finish each Canyon-level with 75 coins and Bonus Object [Multiplayer] 6.5%
- No Shift sherlock! Don't use the Shift in the level "102: Troubling Teamwork" [Singleplayer] 6.5%
- Don't drop it! Throw a crate and let your partner catch it [Multiplayer] 6.0%
- Laborious first steps Finish the Laboratory [Singleplayer] 5.7%
- Grotto perfectionists Finish each Grotto-level with 75 coins and Bonus Object [Multiplayer] 5.4%
- We did it! Finish all levels (including bonuslevels) [Multiplayer] 3.7%
- Lab perfectionist Finish each Laboratory-level with 75 coins and Bonus Object [Singleplayer] 3.1%
- How to die here? Die in the level "103a: Push & Pull" 3.1%
- Run Forest, run! Finish the Forest [Singleplayer] 2.6%
- Get your shift together! Finish ALL levels with 75 coins and Bonus Object [Multiplayer] 2.6%
- Catch me if you canyon Finish the Canyon [Singleplayer] 2.3%
- Forest perfectionist Finish each Forest-level with 75 coins and Bonus Object [Singleplayer] 2.3%
- 12 years in a cave Finish the Grotto [Singleplayer] 2.0%
- Canyon perfectionist Finish each Canyon-level with 75 coins and Bonus Object [Singleplayer] 2.0%
- Don't be mad at your friend Beat the timechallenge in all levels [Multiplayer] 2.0%
- You did it! Finish all levels (including bonuslevels) [Singleplayer] 1.7%
- Beat that Shift! Finish ALL levels with 75 coins and Bonus Object [Singleplayer] 1.7%
- Grotto perfectionist Finish each Grotto-level with 75 coins and Bonus Object [Singleplayer] 1.7%
- Retry, retry ... and retry Beat the timechallenge in all levels [Singleplayer] 1.7%
Steam page Updated: 2026-10-19.