Screenshots & trailers
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (OpenCritic) | – | 85 | 9 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 94% | 88 | 163 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | – | 0 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 100% | 97 | 0 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 1 reviews sampled · 0 total reviews in window · weighted 0.1 up / 0 down · computed 1h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (13)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 89
“As I sat there looking at the colorful rendering of Elk and my 100% completion save file, I wondered if my assumption was inherently American. I had these thoughts of, Give me my prize. Give me the thing again without having to work for it. Give me the chance to look at this again. I knew, looking at that menu screen, that that was not the point of Welcome to Elk. The point of Welcome to Elk is to experience a small world of stories and lives. And there’s no way to dip your toes in. Like the lovable alcoholic schoolteacher Sue, sometimes you have to just dive into those frigid waters and swim to shore.”
read full review ↗ - 85
“One of the subgenres of games that has been extremely well-represented on the Switch has been story-driven games, and these have come in all sorts of forms and share their narratives in a variety of ways...”
read full review ↗ - 85
“Frigg's experience feels genuine and grounded even during moments of whimsy. At the end of the day, the game's message is that sometimes a good story is just that: a good story. It really doesn't need to be anything more.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“A fascinating experiment in narrative techniques, even if there's some tonal whiplash along the way.”
read full review ↗ - 82
“Welcome to Elk benefits from a well-written narrative that intermingles dark and melancholic stories with comedy to create a world of its own. Even though it could have more content gameplay-wise, it still communicates very well with the players and makes them reflect.”
read full review ↗ - 95
“Welcome to Elk is like nothing else I’ve played. It’s a weird and wonderful game full of heart and carries an emotional deck like none-other.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“It may be short, but Welcome to Elk is an adventure like no other, and one that everyone should experience.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“I did enjoy playing Welcome to Elk and I’m glad I made it through the whole game. By the end I really felt for the main characters and their stories depicted, even more so for the real life people who tell the stories. The ending was a nice warm way to round out the whole experience.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Welcome to Elk is a game that’s hard to quantify. Hell, it’s hard to even accurately describe. Somehow, it manages to be moving, mystifying, upsetting, intriguing, stressful, confusing, enlightening, and probably a dozen other contradictory things. Welcome to Elk doesn’t provide satisfying answers or endings. There are few, if any, likable characters. You’ll experience more trauma than you probably want to in just a few, short hours. And at the end of it all, you’re left clutching at the sharp, jagged shards of other people’s emotions, wondering… what do I do now?”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Welcome to Elk delivers exactly what it proposes: to tell some shocking real stories within a fictional universe that unites them. For some, it can become a tedious experience, broken by short and fun minigames. Still, the game shows to be developed with great care, in colorful and friendly illustrated arts. So, grab a drink and hear a little of what each inhabitant has to say.”
read full review ↗ - 85
“On the cold little island of Elk we have people, and people always have stories. Listening to them and perhaps telling them ourselves in turn, is what has made so many continue to live for thousands of years. We will then know real stories, without morals or attachments, human stories, within a very particular narrative game and with a deep work within it.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Welcome To Elk is a very unique game to play. I have not played anything else quite like it and there is no easy way of describing it. Take the time to visit, spend some time with the people living there and the experience will stay with you long after you have left.”
read full review ↗
The Punished Backlog
Nindie Spotlight
NintendoWorldReport
Eurogamer
Bazimag
Explosion Network
GameSpew
GameOnAUS
Hey Poor Player
GameBlast
33bits
DayOne…and 1 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- 1.22 PatchMar 2, 2022
- 1.21 PatchFeb 16, 2022
- Welcome to Elk Comes to Linux!Feb 10, 2022significant · resets scoring window