Screenshots & trailers
What players say
Why the number is what it is: aspect mentions counted across 391 sampled Steam reviews (350 positive / 41 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
- World & exploration7% mention it
- Visuals & art6% mention it
- Difficulty & balance5% mention it
- Music & audio5% mention it
What negative reviews complain about
- Controls & UI29% mention it
- Story & writing17% mention it
- Visuals & art15% mention it
- Difficulty & balance12% mention it
Satisfaction by hours played
Same score, different games: see how sentiment holds up the longer people play.
Under 5h
74%
65 reviews
5-15h
83%
81 reviews
15-40h
94%
98 reviews
40-100h
98%
64 reviews
100h+
96%
83 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) | – | 67 | 20 |
| Creator reviews (1 tracked) | – | 15 | 0 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 94% | 88 | 1000 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | 88 | 27 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 90% | 84 | 3000 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: since the last significant patch (Mar 31, 2026) · 300 reviews sampled · 5847 total reviews in window · weighted 227.4 up / 13.8 down · computed 2h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (72)
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.
- 65
“Rain World is a fun game with a lot of fun survival mechanics and beautiful art style. This title is held back by its own level design that felt confusing at time.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“Incredibly difficult but nicely drawn, atmospheric and surprisingly deep platformer about long and rough journey of one small slugcat. Rain World don't really have enough mercy, the game doesn't forgive the slightest weakness or inattention, and it's rules can remain misunderstood for a very long time. To go through it, you need an iron will, perseverance and aspiration. If you've got what it takes, it could be a lot of fun.”
read full review ↗ - 85
“When it comes to well-designed gameplay mechanics and attention to detail, Rain World far surpasses many other games in the genre. However, if its (well-hidden) story, overall stylization, and brutal difficulty don’t strike a chord with you, even its otherwise high-quality production won’t save it. On the other hand, a sufficiently stubborn, masochistic, or Zen-minded player may find a hidden gem in this game.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“Overall, Rain World is highly recommended as a piece of art, even just to check out its gorgeous visuals. Its gameplay is unforgiving, but not to the extent where it becomes unplayable. It certainly will take some devotion and time to get good at it, but with a world this beautiful, is that such a bad thing?”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Hauntingly beautiful and challenging. Rain World is more than a platformer, it transports the player to a fully fleshed out ecosystem in which he must play by its rules to survive.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Despite how much I enjoy that kind of experience on a conceptual level, it definitely isn't my favorite kind of game to play, and I generally felt like I was solving puzzles with half of the pieces. Rain World is a beautiful, forward-thinking game that points to a form of game design that I want to see more of. I just wish it made itself a little more accessible.”
read full review ↗ - 75
“Overall while there’s no doubt that Rain World is a unique title on Switch it’s also very likely going to be a love / hate affair for people at best. The controls that feel novel and unique to one person may just seem to be wonky and difficult to another, and I’d say both perspectives are right to a degree. It’s very much a trial and error kind of game, and the ever-present reality of the next monsoon coming to wipe you out when it’s most inconvenient adds to the tension and, often, frustration. That said, if you like a challenge, are interested in something that plays quite differently, and have some patience for getting to know how to make the best use of your always-limited time is can be rewarding.”
read full review ↗ - 50
“Rain World has so much potential, it's infuriating to watch it crumble under the weight of trying to be difficult. There seems to be a new mantra in gaming that the game's not good unless it's brutally hard, and this is clearly misguided. If it controlled better and gave the player a bit more sympathy, Rain World would have been sublime. As it stands, though, Rain World is just an angry experience, yelling at gamers for every little mistake.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“A gem of a platformer featuring an adorable Slugcat. Rain World is both brutal and challenging.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“The end result is complicated: it's a game we bounced off quite a lot but one we still greatly appreciate. The game does something new with the genre and it does it well for the most part, making the game worth at the very least giving a look.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“The main appeal I saw in Rain World was in its art style and the design of its enemies. Its mechanics need some fine tuning for it to be the masterpiece it has the potential to be. If you're looking for a game that'll really try your patience and give you a good challenge, then I'd absolutely recommend adding this to your library. Otherwise, I'd recommend you look elsewhere.”
read full review ↗ - 75
“Relentless and brutal, this post-apocalyptic pixel art survival quest is a gruelling, if often beguiling, challenge.”
read full review ↗
Pure Nintendo
3DNews
Gaming Professors
Nintendo Life
Hu3br
Paste Magazine
Nindie Spotlight
Cubed3
PC Invasion
Push Square
NintendoWorldReport
Eurogamer…and 60 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- Patch Notes 1.11.7Mar 31, 2026significant · resets scoring window
- Patch Notes 1.11.6Feb 2, 2026
- Patch Notes 1.11.5 - Improving Performance OptimizationsDec 17, 2025significant · resets scoring window
- Watcher 1.5 OST UpdateNov 18, 2025
- Patch Notes 1.11.3Oct 22, 2025
- Patch Notes: 1.11.2 - Fixing Many CrashesOct 9, 2025
- Watcher 1.5 is out now!Sep 25, 2025
- The Watcher 1.5 UpdateSep 22, 2025
- Watcher 1.5 Coming September 25thSep 12, 2025
- Five Days After The Watcher LaunchApr 2, 2025
- Rain World: The Watcher - Patch NotesMar 29, 2025
- Rain World Hotfix Patch (v1.9.15.3)Apr 1, 2024
- Quality of Life Patch - 1.9.14Mar 18, 2024
- 1.9.07 hotfixMar 21, 2023
- 1.9.07 Patch notesMar 21, 2023
- V1.9.05 Patch NotesFeb 13, 2023
- V1.9.04 Patch NotesFeb 6, 2023
- V1.19.03 patch notesJan 30, 2023
- Rain World: Downpour is out now!Jan 19, 2023
- Some Wishlists for Downpour have DisappearedMay 4, 2022
- UPDATE: Rain World 1.5Dec 11, 2017
- UPDATE: Rain World 1.5Dec 11, 2017
- Hello friends and slugcats! We present to you patch #1: Rain World v1.01Apr 6, 2017significant · resets scoring window