Downwell
Hooks you almost right away
What the data shows
- In the first 2 hours 1 in 13 reviews are negative (8%); after 4h it's 1 in 65 (2%).
- Fully opens up by hour 3.
- The opening is criticised less than in 94% of games we track.
- 11% of players who start reach the ending.
- The biggest drop-off is between “Bye Frogs” (Beat the first area) and “Bye Ghosts” (Beat the second area): from 88% to 40% of starters.
- 75% 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 8,735 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 298 reviews: 5.1h for positive, 1.4h 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 (75.3% of owners), so people who bought the game and never launched it don't count.
- Started playing 100%
- Bye Frogs Beat the first area 88% −12
- Bye Ghosts Beat the second area Most players quit here 41% −47
- Bye Squids Beat the third area 23% −18
- Bye Stuff Beat the fourth area 17% −6
- Bye Well Beat the boss 11% −6
story milestone ending biggest drop-off
Story milestones were labeled by AI from achievement names and descriptions; mistakes are possible.
All achievements (20)
story milestone ending side
- Careful Descent Complete a level without taking damage 100%
- Time Never Stops Complete a level without visiting siderooms 90%
- Bye Frogs Beat the first area 88%
- Wow Combo Land a 10 combo 56%
- Bye Ghosts Beat the second area 41%
- Mottainai Complete a level without shooting 29%
- Whoa Combo Land a 30 combo 25%
- Bye Squids Beat the third area 23%
- Bye Stuff Beat the fourth area 17%
- Pacifist Complete a level without killing any enemy 14%
- Saving Up Have more than 3000 gems 12%
- Bye Well Beat the boss 11%
- Ground Allergy Complete a level without landing 9.8%
- Sugoi Combo Land a 100 combo 9.6%
- So Many Frogs Beat the first area (hard mode) 7.8%
- So Many Ghosts Beat the second area (hard mode) 6.1%
- Frugality Have more than 5000 gems 5.2%
- So Many Squids Beat the third area (hard mode) 5.0%
- So Much Stuff Beat the fourth area (hard mode) 4.4%
- Well Master Beat the boss (hard mode) 3.5%