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Skul: The Hero Slayer

Skul: The Hero Slayer

SOUTHPAW GAMES · released Jan 20, 2021

ActionIndie

Guide 'Skul' on his quest to single-handedly take on the Imperial Army and rescue his King from captivity, in an action-packed rogue-lite 2D platformer for the ages.

86
VGC Score
Stablehigh confidence

anchored at patch: “Release 1.9.0 Patch Notes” (2y ago)

88%
At launch
93%
Steam all-time
n/a
Press
69%
Player sentiment
92%
Recent sentiment

Screenshots & trailers

What players say

Why the number is what it is: aspect mentions counted across 298 sampled Steam reviews (271 positive / 27 negative), recent and most-helpful. Plain keyword counting, fully reproducible; nothing here is written by a machine.

What positive reviews talk about

  • Story & writing15% mention it
  • Difficulty & balance6% mention it
  • Visuals & art5% mention it
  • Progression & loot5% mention it

What negative reviews complain about

  • Progression & loot26% mention it
  • Grind & repetition26% mention it
  • Story & writing19% mention it
  • Difficulty & balance15% mention it
  • Combat15% mention it

Satisfaction by hours played

Same score, different games: see how sentiment holds up the longer people play.

Under 5h

71%

45 reviews

5-15h

89%

56 reviews

15-40h

96%

82 reviews

40-100h

96%

73 reviews

100h+

95%

42 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.

ComponentPositiveQuality (0-100)Weight (pseudo-reviews)
Press reviews (Metacritic)0
Creator reviews (1 tracked)901
All-time Steam reviews93%881000
Metacritic user ratings0
Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted)92%863000
Calibration prior (typical game)7250

Scoring window: since the last significant patch (Apr 5, 2024) · 300 reviews sampled · 8872 total reviews in window · weighted 236.4 up / 15.5 down · computed 1h ago · full methodology →

Press & Creators reviews (1)

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.

  • 90
    trust 48CreatorJan 20, 2021

    Skul: The Hero Slayer is absolutely worth grabbing, if you enjoy rogue-lites, 2d action games, and have a skeletal system.

    read full review ↗

Patch history

  1. Release 1.9.0 Patch Notes
    Apr 5, 2024significant · resets scoring window
  2. Dev Blog [Supporter Murdoc]
    Mar 29, 2024significant · resets scoring window
  3. Soundtrack Update
    Nov 26, 2023
  4. v1.08.01.3 Patch Notes
    Nov 24, 2023significant · resets scoring window
  5. Release 1.8.0 Patch Notes
    Nov 16, 2023significant · resets scoring window
  6. Release 1.7.5 Patch Notes
    May 11, 2023significant · resets scoring window
  7. Release 1.7.3 Patch Note
    Mar 17, 2023significant · resets scoring window
  8. 1.7.2 EGS Update
    Feb 11, 2023
  9. Release 1.7.2
    Feb 9, 2023significant · resets scoring window
  10. Release 1.7.1
    Jan 19, 2023significant · resets scoring window
  11. The Dark Mirror Patch Notes 1.7.0
    Jan 12, 2023significant · resets scoring window
  12. The Dark Mirror Beta Patch Notes (edited)
    Jan 5, 2023significant · resets scoring window
  13. Release 1.6.1 Patch Notes
    Aug 17, 2022significant · resets scoring window
  14. Release 1.6 Patch Notes
    Aug 2, 2022significant · resets scoring window
  15. Release 1.5.2 Patch Notes
    Jun 15, 2022significant · resets scoring window
  16. [1] Release 1.5 Patch Notes
    Jun 8, 2022significant · resets scoring window
  17. [2] Release 1.5 Patch Notes
    Jun 8, 2022significant · resets scoring window
  18. Release 1.4.3 Patch Notes
    Feb 24, 2022significant · resets scoring window
  19. Release 1.4.2 Patch Notes
    Feb 17, 2022significant · resets scoring window
  20. [1] Release 1.4 Patch Notes
    Feb 9, 2022significant · resets scoring window
  21. [2] Release 1.4 Patch Notes
    Feb 9, 2022significant · resets scoring window
  22. Dev Blog #7 Development Update
    Nov 26, 2021significant · resets scoring window
  23. Dev Blog #6 Development Update
    Sep 23, 2021significant · resets scoring window
  24. Release 1.3.1 Patch Notes(Edited)
    Jul 5, 2021significant · resets scoring window
  25. Release 1.3.0 Patch Notes
    Jun 22, 2021significant · resets scoring window

…and 32 earlier patch announcements.