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) | – | 77 | 20 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 83% | 76 | 35 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | – | 0 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 0% | 15 | 0 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 1 reviews sampled · 1 total reviews in window · weighted 0 up / 0.1 down · computed 1h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (25)
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
“Akka Arrh is a great arcade throwback with some cool, vintage vibes. The cost of the game at the time this review was published is a bit more than I might jump at, but the action and trippy visuals will keep you busy testing your arcade skills for a while.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“As irreverent and disruptive as one has come to expect from the mind of Jeff Minter, Akka Arrh is a game that, rather than based around all-out cattle space warfare, requires a certain level of restraint to wring the most from its scoring potential. Learning to dally with its diverse and ever-changing threats is almost mathematical, but still liberating and rewarding to overcome. It may struggle to appeal in the long-term in the same way as Tempest or his recent Polybius, owing to its slightly less absorbing construction; and those uninitiated in Minter's unusual thought processes may find it altogether abstruse. Nevertheless, it certainly earns a rightful place in his catalogue of psychedelic, slightly barmy, and altogether addictive score-based challenges.”
read full review ↗ - 68
“If you’re a fan of a bit of craziness mixed with tripped out and colorful colors, and can live with sketchy gameplay, it may work for you”
read full review ↗ - 70
“The core loop is a simple one, but it’s not as instantly addictive as many of the other games from Atari's prime. While it’s satisfying to pull off a huge combo, and requires a surprising degree of strategy, by the time you’ve played through the core 50 levels of the game, you won’t be as anxious to dive back in as you might hope.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Akka Arrh won't click with most people right away. It takes a while to understand how to effectively use the bombs and bullets while wrangling a free-aiming cursor. The inclusion of another level to travel to briefly when things get hectic can be a bit too much to handle all at once. When it does click, it becomes a beautiful destructive symphony that pushes a psychedelic landscape for a signature Jeff Minter title. This is well worth the trip if you want a shooter that moves away from the genre norms.”
read full review ↗ - 100
“Chaos is actually choreography, as an unreleased Atari arcade game gets the full Minter treatment.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Akka Arrh is a chaotic but addictive space shooter where the player uses a stationary cannon to defend against attacks. The game combines randomness and player skills to create a challenging and rewarding gameplay experience, where the objective is to score as high as possible by creating chain reactions with a single bomb. Fans of retro-style games will enjoy the entertaining and nostalgic experience Akka Arrh offers.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Make no mistake, this reimagining is easily the definitive take on Akka Arrh, especially if you compare this modern entry to the original in Atari 50 and see just how much Minter was able to evolve the concept test marketed all those decades ago, and finally realizing it in an addictive fashion that modernizes the game a while also adding great scorechasing elements, just like he did with Tempest before.”
read full review ↗ - 75
“When it comes down to it, Akka Arrh is a fun arcade game but probably an acquired taste. If you think back to the old days when you walked through the arcade, you could watch the game’s demo before you decided to slip a coin in. If I go by this logic, I would slide in a few coins and play Akka Arrh. But I’m unsure I would return to it once I had my fill. If you love your retro or looking for a quick arcade fix, I absolutely recommend Akka Arrh, and if this leads to more relics from the past getting tuned up and re-released today, then I’m all for that.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“A fascinating reimaging of an 80s classic that never quite existed, but as interestingly unique as it is, it lacks the elegant simplicity of its more famous stablemates.”
read full review ↗ - 66
“The game has been out for other platforms for a while, but gets a PSVR2 option for the Playstation 5 version and this makes a bigger difference than you might originally think. While the 2D version is a lot more difficult to understand and keep an overview, the PSVR2 option makes the game a lot clearer. You are in the middle of your tower and with the two layers you have a lot of depth in the different levels. It doesn't happen often, but this is a game that is really much better in VR. This is a game for Atari and Minter fans and players who are interested in the history of this game. It's great to discover old prototypes and make them accessible to many people. You will quickly notice why this game remained a prototype and did not reach the arcades in the eighties.”
read full review ↗ - 75
“If this is what Atari will keep releasing from now on, I’m game. It might be a brand new title, but Akka Arrh feels like the perfect marriage between the Atari of old and the technology of today. It’s also weird as hell. It took me a while to understand what on Earth I was supposed to do in this game, but once I got the hang of it, I had a blast with this bizarre mixture between a space shooter, a puzzler… and a golf game.”
read full review ↗
Pure Nintendo
Nintendo Life
Nindie Spotlight
Push Square
Worth Playing
Eurogamer
SECTOR.sk
Seafoam Gaming
LadiesGamers.com
Metro GameCentral
Evilgamerz
WayTooManyGames…and 13 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
No patch announcements found on Steam yet.