Screenshots & trailers
What players say
Why the number is what it is: aspect mentions counted across 295 sampled Steam reviews (271 positive / 24 negative), recent and most-helpful. Plain keyword counting, fully reproducible; nothing here is written by a machine.
What positive reviews talk about
- Story & writing14% mention it
What negative reviews complain about
- Story & writing46% mention it
- Music & audio17% mention it
- Content & length17% mention it
- Grind & repetition17% mention it
- Difficulty & balance13% mention it
Satisfaction by hours played
Same score, different games: see how sentiment holds up the longer people play.
Under 5h
90%
211 reviews
5-15h
95%
64 reviews
15-40h
100%
18 reviews
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) | – | 75 | 49 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 95% | 89 | 1000 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | 80 | 90 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 95% | 90 | 95 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 271 reviews sampled · 238 total reviews in window · weighted 125.6 up / 6.1 down · computed 2h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (89)
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.
- 60
“Superliminal borrows some familiar ideas and mixes them in ways that arouse interest. But the content doesn't match the price, especially for a game that might be more fun to watch than play. However, on sale, this can be an entertaining title if the puzzles click. Like some dreams, this one may linger with you.”
read full review ↗ - 75
“Superliminal is a game that values quality over quantity and is all the stronger for it. With simple, inventive mechanics and an involving play-time between 2-4 hours, Pillow Games have produced a wonderful little puzzle game here.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Superliminal is 20 minutes of revolutionary gameplay, the feeling of which is gradually fading as the game turns into a walking simulator. An interesting story could pull the project, but beyond the concept of "it's all a dream" the authors could not move, not to mention the insignificant duration. Thanks to the musical accompaniment, which does not allow you to finally fall asleep from boredom. Perhaps by the console version, the authors will recognize their mistakes and add new content and puzzles to the game. I want to believe it.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Superliminal plays with perspective and optical illusions brilliantly and brings a healthy dose of originality to the gaming market. Still, I feel that the developers didn’t fully realize the game’s potential, and their efforts to achieve variety weren’t entirely successful in every respect. For newcomers, this may be a good starting point, but more demanding veterans might be disappointed.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Superliminal will challenge and confound but never punish. Pillow Castle's debut is inventive and occasionally mind-boggling, a short but engaging feast for fans of optical illusions and lateral thinking.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Will Superliminal resonate with everyone as much as it did with us? Possibly not, but regardless, if you’re looking for a game in a similar vein to Portal, you’ll be right at home here.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“A surreal trip through an Alice in Wonderland-like dreamscape, Superliminal delights and surprises with level after level of inventive, bizarre puzzles.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Who hasn’t ever jokingly entertained the remote possibility of being trapped in their own mind? The brilliance of the game is in the way we can manipulate the environment. You know those dreams where physics and optics make no sense and seem to follow their own rules? Well, imagine being able to dictate those laws yourself. And you’ve got Superliminal.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“An innovative puzzle game focused on perspective puzzles. It tries to be unique and succeeds the entire way through. A bit short and a weak story, but otherwise a fun exploration of what's possible.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Superliminal challenges players to change how they perceive their environment in order to progress. This works both for and against the game. While it may take you a little to start thinking outside of the box, sometimes literally, it soon becomes second nature. You start to look for the things around you that can be shrunk, enlarged, or used in abstract ways.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Superliminal is quite simply a masterpiece. Pillow Castle Games have taken an interesting premise and ridden it to a place that no developer has gone before, resulting in an impeccable game. The perspective-based mechanics are just incredible, and there’s a level of innovation in the puzzle design that deserves recognition alongside some of the greatest games of all time, truly, Superliminal is to visual trickery what Portal 2 is to physics. I cannot recommend this game enough.”
read full review ↗ - 71
“With a pretty fresh take on first-person puzzling Superliminal definitely has its moments where the perspective and size shifting mechanics that serve as its core shine...”
read full review ↗
Pure Nintendo
TheReviewGeek
GameMAG
Gaming Professors
Jump Dash Roll
Nintendo Life
Indie Games Devel
Kinglink Reviews
Total Gaming Network
VGamingNews
Nindie Spotlight…and 77 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- Multiplayer improvements patch, with a big ol' sale to celebrate!Feb 20, 2023significant · resets scoring window
- Steam Deck! Multiplayer on macOS and Linux + Content Update + Midweek MadnessFeb 21, 2022significant · resets scoring window
- Co-Op launch + Holiday Update for MultiplayerDec 17, 2021
- Region mergeNov 24, 2021
- Multiplayer Week One UpdateNov 13, 2021
- The Group Therapy UpdateNov 5, 2021
- Quick Fix PatchApr 24, 2021
- April 2021 Update & LudoNarraCon sale!Apr 23, 2021
- Level Editor: Major Update and End-of-year notesDec 11, 2020significant · resets scoring window
- 11/23 Bug fixesNov 23, 2020
- First Post-launch Update: News, bug fixes, etcNov 12, 2020