Order of the Sinking Star
Hooks you right away
What the data shows
- 94% of first-hour reviews are positive — about the same as players with 7+ hours (97%).
- The opening is criticised less than in 95% of games we track.
- 23% of players who start reach the ending.
- The biggest drop-off is between “Skipping Stones” and “Endgame”: from 57% to 23% of starters.
- Only 50% 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 3,581 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 300 reviews: 31.2h for positive, 23.9h 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 (50.1% of owners), so people who bought the game and never launched it don't count.
- Started playing 100%
- Heroes Finish the initial Heroes campaign. 100%
- Mirror Isles Finish the initial Mirror Isles campaign. 94% −6
- Beamcasters Finish the initial Beamcasters campaign. 68% −26
- Skipping Stones Finish the initial Skipping Stones campaign. 57% −11
- Endgame Complete the Endgame. Most players quit here 23% −33
story milestone ending biggest drop-off
Story milestones were labeled by AI from achievement names and descriptions; mistakes are possible.
All achievements (32)
story milestone ending side
- Heroes Finish the initial Heroes campaign. 100%
- Mirror Isles Finish the initial Mirror Isles campaign. 94%
- Gold HxM Open the HxM gold room. 75%
- Beamcasters Finish the initial Beamcasters campaign. 68%
- Skipping Stones Finish the initial Skipping Stones campaign. 57%
- Gold HxB Open the HxB gold room. 50%
- Antipode HxM Activate the HxM teleporter to the Antipode. 47%
- Gold HxS Open the HxS gold room. 46%
- Gold MxB Open the MxB gold room. 40%
- Gold SxB Open the SxB gold room. 37%
- Gold MxS Open the MxS gold room. 34%
- Antipode HxB Activate the HxB teleporter to the Antipode. 29%
- Antipode SxB Activate the SxB teleporter to the Antipode. 28%
- Antipode MxB Activate the MxB teleporter to the Antipode. 28%
- Antipode MxS Activate the MxS teleporter to the Antipode. 25%
- Endgame Complete the Endgame. 23%
- Antipode HxS Activate the HxS teleporter to the Antipode. 23%
- Ascend Ascend. 21%
- High Heroes Reach the Heroes part of Antipode High. 9.8%
- High Mirrors Reach the Mirrors part of Antipode High. 9.4%
- High Skipping Stones Reach the Skipping Stones part of Antipode High. 9.0%
- High Beamcasters Reach the Beamcasters part of Antipode High. 8.0%
- Endgame High Complete the Second Endgame. 6.6%
- Descend Descend. 6.2%
- Low HxM Activate the HxM teleporter in Antipode Low. 2.8%
- Low HxB Activate the HxB teleporter in Antipode Low. 2.6%
- Low HxS Activate the HxS teleporter in Antipode Low. 2.6%
- Low MxB Activate the MxB teleporter in Antipode Low. 2.6%
- Low MxS Activate the MxS teleporter in Antipode Low. 2.6%
- Low SxB Activate the SxB teleporter in Antipode Low. 2.6%
- Endgame Low Complete the Final Endgame. 2.0%
- Completionist Finish every puzzle in the overworld. 1.6%