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) | – | 71 | 21 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 86% | 80 | 1000 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | – | 0 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 77% | 72 | 1063 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: since the last significant patch (Dec 20, 2024) · 300 reviews sampled · 1063 total reviews in window · weighted 165.2 up / 56.6 down · computed 5h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (16)
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
“Backpack Hero is a rogue-lite, dungeon crawler, inventory management game that is so much deeper than it appears on its surface.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Backpack Hero is a game full of strategic planning and suspense. Whether you choose Story Mode or a quick game, you’ll find plenty of challenges and tactical fun. Although it has its flaws, it offers a unique experience thanks to its innovative use of the backpack as a central gameplay element. Plus, the developers promise to add more content in the future.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“The gameplay loop is so richly varied that finding new ways to break the game with a build is always entertaining, it is just a shame that the presentation surrounding this gameplay is so lackluster.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“While hardly a looker, this is pretty unique roguelike RPG makes meticulous inventory management compelling”
read full review ↗ - 80
“The core gameplay loop is simple but requires a lot of strategy and sometimes quick thinking. Each time you enter the dungeon you’re given a limited amount of backpack space and a few starting items. When you level up, you’re able to add more space to your backpack but that resets each time.”
read full review ↗ - 55
“Backpack Hero offers some neat adventures worth experiencing, but you'll have to grapple with a persistently irritating interface and other rough edges to find them all.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Backpack Hero features a novel premise that makes constantly collecting items and arranging them endlessly exciting.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Backpack Hero is an excellent roguelike that should be on everyone's radar. Every moment of the game is fun to play, the story is solid, and the meta progression is deeply satisfying. It's everything a good roguelike should be, and I'm going to continue playing it as soon as I finish writing this paragraph.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Despite the interesting spin, I don’t think Backpack Hero breaks any new ground, but boy is it fun! Despite the aggravating problems, in the grand scheme of things, they are minor issues in an otherwise very addicting roguelike, and I can’t help but give it a thumbs up. It is a shame that it falls into the same trap of poor performance that so many games on the Switch fall into, though. There are many more graphically-intensive games out there that run buttery smooth on the Switch, yet it seems every other day a promising game trips over execution. I’m hoping that the next release from the devs of Backpack Hero will take that into account.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Despite floundering a bit with meta-progression mechanics, Backpack Hero is still a thoroughly entertaining deckbuilding roguelike. Its use of item management as a central game mechanic is wildly inventive, and I consistently wanted to reenter the dungeon just to explore new item synergies. I do wish the town sections didn’t drag the pace of the main campaign as much as they did. But even if you strictly use the Quick Game mode, Backpack Hero is still a worthwhile venture.”
read full review ↗ - 71
“The core mechanics with the backpack are ingenious. It's not unique, and there are now several games with similar mechanics, but it remains fantastic. Packing your backpack as skillfully as possible and creating a deadly build for your character is fascinating over and over again. Unfortunately, most of the other aspects of "Backpack Hero" are mediocre at best. The story is boring and becomes almost unbearable due to a miserable font. The construction of Haversack Hill is confusing and unnecessarily complicated. The fights sometimes lack balance, which is why you are quickly too strong or too weak. In addition, the menu control with controller and virtual mouse cursor is neither pleasant nor intuitive. Nevertheless, the core mechanics manage to entice you again and again with another run and have fun with it.”
read full review ↗ - 55
“The core concept of Backpack Hero is one with incredible potential for an awesome conbination of two classic genres, but the result feels slightly muddled and confused in the final product. Where the foundations are solid, convoluted and poor explanations of complex mechanics lead to an experience that left me scratching my head more than a few times, and not in the intended way. Despite oozing with personality from the very beginning, and offering a wide variety of content to sink your teeth into, I didn't find myself meshing with the offerings on show here. Sometimes less, is undoubtedly more.”
read full review ↗
Geek to Geek Media
Gaming Professors
RPGamer
Nindie Spotlight
The Switch Effect
PC Invasion
Siliconera
TheSixthAxis
Switchaboo
Destructoid
GAMES.CH
PlayStation Universe…and 4 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- December Check-In!Dec 20, 2024significant · resets scoring window
- Summer Update Hotfix #1Jun 28, 2024
- The Summer Event is here!Jun 27, 2024
- What’s going on? 👀Jun 11, 2024significant · resets scoring window
- Holiday Update is out!Dec 23, 2023
- Hotfix 2Nov 22, 2023
- 1.0: The Biggest Changes From Early AccessNov 21, 2023significant · resets scoring window
- Saving and Font HotfixNov 17, 2023
- Backpack Hero 1.0 OUT NOW!Nov 14, 2023significant · resets scoring window
- Town Testing Hotfix #6Nov 7, 2023
- Town Testing Hotfix #5Oct 26, 2023
- Town Testing Hotfix #4Oct 24, 2023
- Town Testing Hotfix #3Oct 23, 2023
- Town Testing Hotfix #2Oct 23, 2023
- Town Testing Hotfix #1Oct 19, 2023
- New enemies, all encounters rebalanced, more player agency!Sep 16, 2023significant · resets scoring window
- Backpack Hero Mod Support and CR8 Update!Sep 6, 2023
- Relic Update Hotfix!Aug 15, 2023
- Ghostly items, redesigned relics, new events and more 🐾Aug 11, 2023significant · resets scoring window
- A little extra Early Access...May 29, 2023significant · resets scoring window
- Hotfix on the Testing BranchMay 11, 2023
- Sorry we cursed you update!May 1, 2023
- Hotfix to the default branch 2!Apr 29, 2023
- Hotfix to the default branch!Apr 28, 2023
- 700 Items!Apr 27, 2023significant · resets scoring window
- Curse Hotfix 3Apr 26, 2023
- Curse Hotfix 2Apr 25, 2023
- Curse Hotfix 1Apr 25, 2023
- Curse Update on the Testing Branch!Apr 24, 2023significant · resets scoring window
- Magic Hotfix 4Apr 13, 2023
- Magic Hotfix 3Apr 13, 2023
- Super Fast Magic Hotfix 2Apr 12, 2023
- Super Fast Magic Hotfix 1Apr 12, 2023
- Magical Update on the Testing Branch!Apr 12, 2023significant · resets scoring window
- Rivals Hotfix 1Mar 31, 2023
- Updates on the testing branch!Mar 31, 2023significant · resets scoring window
- Pochette's Update moves to the main branch!Mar 15, 2023
- Pochette Re-design Hotfix 6Mar 14, 2023
- Pochette Re-design Hotfix 5Mar 13, 2023
…and 10 earlier patch announcements.