Screenshots & trailers
What players say
Why the number is what it is: aspect mentions counted across 495 sampled Steam reviews (453 positive / 42 negative), recent and most-helpful. Plain keyword counting, fully reproducible; nothing here is written by a machine.
What positive reviews talk about
- Grind & repetition10% mention it
- Progression & loot10% mention it
- Story & writing10% mention it
- World & exploration9% mention it
- Multiplayer & servers7% mention it
What negative reviews complain about
- Grind & repetition36% mention it
- Progression & loot29% mention it
- Bugs & crashes26% mention it
- Story & writing24% mention it
- Difficulty & balance21% mention it
Satisfaction by hours played
Same score, different games: see how sentiment holds up the longer people play.
Under 5h
86%
22 reviews
5-15h
92%
48 reviews
15-40h
88%
85 reviews
40-100h
95%
106 reviews
100h+
91%
234 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) | – | 77 | 64 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 95% | 89 | 1684 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | 77 | 120 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 95% | 90 | 3000 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: since the last significant patch (Aug 12, 2026) · 300 reviews sampled · 16454 total reviews in window · weighted 250.7 up / 12.7 down · computed 1h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (40)
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.
- 80
“Palworld offers an incredibly expansive survival, catch 'em all experience. Its action-packed traversal and exploration are accompanied by a fully fleshed out base building system to provide a package that's bursting at the seams with content. This game proves there is still plenty of space in the monster-catching genre for successful competitors to the world's biggest IP.”
read full review ↗ - 85
“Palworld offers everything you'd expect, and so much more. From incredible boss fights to satisfying community building, there's something for everyone.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Still Fun, Despite Its Many Flaws With its full release, Palworld has changed in many ways. The world now feels more inviting to explore, with far more things to see and do. However, its inconvenient mechanics and underdeveloped elements are still easy to notice. Setting out on an adventure with your Pals remains an enjoyable experience, but there is clearly still plenty that needs to be improved.”
read full review ↗ - 86
“If you’re looking for a new style in survival games, or you enjoy monster hunter-type games, then Palworld will be worth your time and even if you’re completely new to the survival genre, Palword is a great place to start as it’s very noob friendly. Palworld’s success came as a bit of a surprise, but it deserves all the praise it is receiving at the moment, and if Pocket Pair follows through on their plans, then I see this game continuing to be extremely popular. As for me, well, I still need to go catch ‘em all and become a Pal master.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Despite having a very simple formula, Palworld is incredibly successful.”
read full review ↗ - 92
“Palworld succeeds by weaving together a wide range of survival mechanics into a gameplay loop that's consistently rewarding and remarkably approachable. Rather than relying on any single mechanic to carry the experience, it excels by making exploration, progression, base building, and its namesake Pals constantly strengthen one another. While a repetitive main story structure and a few lingering rough edges in base building keep it from reaching perfection, they're far outweighed by a dense, engaging adventure that confidently stands among the genre's best.”
read full review ↗ - 75
“Palworld is a far cry from the usual creature-collecting games on the market. Instead of being turn-based and bogged down with long, drawn-out cutscenes and dialogue sequences. This game lets you explore and feel the action yourself with a massive open world, a needlessly complicated base-building system, and so many Pals and bosses to take on. There are even little collaboration items and zones from games like Terraria and Ultrakill. The game is worth every single penny of its price tag, and absolutely has earned its success by daring to be different in the genre it’s in. You should absolutely pick up Palworld and have a fun time as I have!”
read full review ↗ - 90
“At the end of the day, Palworld is messy, ambitious and incredibly addictive.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“With all of its success, I hope Palworld uses future updates to establish a more confident identity that relies less on being the most audacious person in the room. It's full of enough thoughtful systems and entertaining loops worth embracing, no need to dress it down in callow internet humor.”
read full review ↗ - 81
“Palworld isn't perfect or complete yet. But its many flaws don't take away from the fun and success it offers. It mixes different game genres, giving players a new experience unlike traditional games. Palworld is likely to be a game remembered in history.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Palworld, even in its early access state, has far exceeded the expectations I had set for the game. The exploration can feel challenging but fair, and the rewarding feeling you get from leveling up your base or catching a Pal with an extremely low catch rate is amazing. Even with the fairly easy late-game Pal grabbing existing and multiplayer experience not being perfect, I can confidently say that Palworld is definitely shaping up to be something special.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Palworld is a fantastic game, and its journey from Early Access to 1.0 deserves to be studied. Pocketpair has maintained a steady stream of meaningful updates while consistently taking player feedback into account. Of course, the fact that the game is genuinely fun to play helps considerably.”
read full review ↗
Push Square
PC Invasion
PNN
GamesCreed
Arakat Mag
Game8
Lords Of Gaming 
Niche Gamer
PC Gamer
Gamersky
Smash Jump
GamingBolt…and 28 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- v1.0.3: Balance Adjustments & Bug FixesAug 12, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- v1.0.2.101103:Bug fixesJul 30, 2026
- Mod Support ImprovementJul 30, 2026
- v1.0.2: Bug fixesJul 29, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- v1.0.1: Bug fixesJul 15, 2026
- Palworld v1.0 - Official Release ChangelogJul 10, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- Palworld 1.0 Official Launch Trailer is OUT!Jul 9, 2026
- Important: About MODs and 1.0!Jul 9, 2026
- v0.7.3: Balance adjustments and bug fixesApr 6, 2026
- v0.7.2: Balance adjustments and bug fixesFeb 16, 2026
- v0.7.1: Balance adjustments and bug fixesJan 21, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- Palworld v0.7 - Home Sweet HomeDec 17, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- v0.6.9: Bug FixesOct 29, 2025
- v0.6.7: Dungeon Entry Bug FixSep 29, 2025
- v0.6.6: Balance adjustments and bug fixesSep 17, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- v0.6.5：Mission Bug FixesAug 12, 2025
- v0.6.4：Moon Lord [Master] and bug fixes!Jul 30, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- v0.6.1：Pal team preset bug fixJun 27, 2025
- Palworld v0.6.0: Tides of Terraria has been released!Jun 25, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Update v0.5.5: Changes to glider PalsMay 8, 2025
- v0.5.4: Fixed minor bugsApr 16, 2025
- v0.5.3: Autosave and server bug fixesApr 9, 2025
- Crossplay Update v0.5.0: Play across all platforms, Global Palbox and more!Mar 19, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Update v0.4.15: Random Pal mode rework! Bug fixes!Feb 20, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Update v0.4.13: Feybreak balance adjustments and bug fixes!Jan 15, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Major update! Feybreak v0.4.11: New Island, Pals, features and more!Dec 23, 2024significant · resets scoring window
…and 27 earlier patch announcements.