Screenshots & trailers
What players say
Why the number is what it is: aspect mentions counted across 304 sampled Steam reviews (289 positive / 15 negative), recent and most-helpful. Plain keyword counting, fully reproducible; nothing here is written by a machine.
What positive reviews talk about
- Story & writing13% mention it
- Music & audio8% mention it
- Visuals & art7% mention it
- Controls & UI4% mention it
What negative reviews complain about
- Story & writing20% mention it
Satisfaction by hours played
Same score, different games: see how sentiment holds up the longer people play.
Under 5h
85%
33 reviews
5-15h
96%
101 reviews
15-40h
96%
104 reviews
40-100h
98%
43 reviews
100h+
96%
23 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) | – | 78 | 29 |
| Creator reviews (2 tracked) | – | 68 | 1 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 98% | 94 | 1000 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | 90 | 55 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 96% | 91 | 2403 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Acclaim gate: the raw blend lands at 91.5, but scores above 88 must be earned in front of a mass audience; this verdict rests on 54,109 player reviews, a largely self-selected fanbase. As more players weigh in, the ceiling rises (full scale unlocks at 100,000 reviews).
Scoring window: since the last significant patch (Jun 26, 2025) · 300 reviews sampled · 2403 total reviews in window · weighted 238.5 up / 9.1 down · computed 1h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (98)
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.
- 70
“A Hat in Time won't wow you out of the gates, but if you can plough through the mud, you'll find an enjoyable 3D platformer with a goofy personality.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“A Hat in Time is a hugely enjoyable take on the classic 3D platformer. The tight, familiar controls and varied, innovative levels result in one of the most fascinating and entertaining games out there. The issues with performance and the camera do little to wipe the smile from our faces while playing through this; if you adore the likes of Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie, then you'll fall utterly in love with A Hat in Time.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“What flaws it has do little to change the fact that the gameplay is satisfying and the characters will make you smile. The title is a little on the short side, at around ten hours, but it’s ten very enjoyable hours that don’t overstay their welcome.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Billed as a “Cute-as-heck platformer” it delivers on that promise. It has great platforming, level design, and gameplay, but it doesn’t have a cohesive feeling to tackle the big dogs.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“When it comes to 3D platformers and you’re looking to release on the console that Mario helped make you’d better be ready to deliver...”
read full review ↗ - 70
“A Hat in Time is a delightful 3D platformer, with tight controls, some of the best humour seen in the genre to date and compelling scenarios driving the collectathon aspect of the game.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“A Hat in Time excels with an overwhelming charm in its writing and art direction that overcomes any missteps in these areas. Its core, smooth mechanics also benefit from promising ideas, but none of them prevent the game from being pulled into a wormhole of mediocre level design and objectives. The potential for phenomenal platforming and exploration is here, but for every positive, there seems to be a negative in A Hat in Time.”
read full review ↗ - 92
“A Hat in Time is a 3d platformer that offers unadulterated enjoyment, marred only by some slight technical issues, such as camera hiccups and occasional clipping. After the credits have rolled you' ll be craving for more, so some additional content in the form of extra chapters and power ups would be welcomed. On the whole, a great game and a worthy contender for the throne of the genre, on PCs at least.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“A Hat in Time is not the best platform game of this year, but it surprises us with degrees of experimentation and gameplay variety. Gears for Breakfast debut title is not only recommended for those who yearns the golden age of old school 3D platformers, but also those who want the experience from the past fused with modern designed elements.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“Playing through A Hat in Time was an experience that made me question the idea of a specific term - Inspired. It’s clearly built as a homage to titles like Super Mario and Luigi’s Mansion yet struggles to stand out on its own because of it. It certainly made me smile from time to time, but most of that time was also spent thinking how a finer experience could be achieved by simply playing the games that inspired it. An issue presented by a certain other homage earlier this year.”
read full review ↗ - 85
“Coming kind of out of nowhere, A Hat in Time should be played by anyone who enjoyed 3D platformers like Mario 64. If you enjoyed Mario 64, you’re going to enjoy this. It is a nice homage to the king of platformers and one that I highly recommend checking out. There’s a lot to see and do here, and the platforming is well done with level design being thought out and intricate. I really enjoyed my time with it and any platforming fan will too.”
read full review ↗ - 85
“What a great game, A Hat in Time was just enjoyable and ever so charming featuring this lovely tale that anyone could enjoy.”
read full review ↗
Gadgets 360
Nintendo Life
Gamer Escape
Kinglink Reviews
Nindie Spotlight
Cubed3
Push Square
LevelUp
GameWatcher
ZTGD
Gamerheadquarters…and 86 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- A hotfix is available for A Hat in TimeJul 29, 2026
- A hotfix patch is available for A Hat in TimeJun 29, 2025
- 2025 Summer Event for A Hat in Time is now live!Jun 26, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- April 2025 minor update for A Hat in TimeApr 18, 2025
- A minor update is available for A Hat in TimeOct 21, 2024
- A minor update is available for A Hat in TimeJun 28, 2024
- A new update is available for A Hat in Time!Mar 31, 2024significant · resets scoring window
- A new minor update is available for A Hat in Time!Dec 4, 2023significant · resets scoring window
- A Hat in Time Summer Event is here!Jun 29, 2023significant · resets scoring window
- A new minor update is available for A Hat in Time!Feb 7, 2023significant · resets scoring window
- A Hat in Time's 5th AnniversaryOct 3, 2022significant · resets scoring window
- An Update to A Hat in Time is Now Available!Aug 15, 2022
- An Update to A Hat in Time is Now Available!Jul 19, 2022
- A new update for A Hat in Time is now available!Jun 20, 2022
- A new update for A Hat in Time is now available!Jun 20, 2022
- Online Party Outage UpdateApr 4, 2022
- A new update for A Hat in Time - Vanessa's Curse is now available!Feb 3, 2022significant · resets scoring window
- A new update now available!Jan 11, 2022significant · resets scoring window
- A new update for Vanessa's Curse is now available!Dec 15, 2021significant · resets scoring window
- An update to Vanessa's Curse is now available!Nov 29, 2021
- An Update for A Hat in Time is now available!Oct 14, 2021
- An update to A Hat in Time is now available!Aug 2, 2021
- An Update to the PC release of A Hat in Time is now available!May 4, 2021significant · resets scoring window
- An update to A Hat in Time is now available!Feb 11, 2021
- An Update to A Hat in Time is now available!Jan 21, 2020significant · resets scoring window
- An update to A Hat in Time is now available!Sep 4, 2019significant · resets scoring window
- An Update to A Hat in Time is now available!Aug 19, 2019
- An Update to A Hat in Time is now available!Aug 16, 2019significant · resets scoring window
- An Update to A Hat in Time is now available!Jun 20, 2019
- An Update to A Hat in Time is now available!Jun 16, 2019significant · resets scoring window
…and 32 earlier patch announcements.