Against the Storm

Worth buying? What 300 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 300 Steam reviews actually say.

Very Positive · 95%Very Positive · 95%2023

$29.99

US Steam price, checked 5 h ago · Lowest we’ve seen since Oct 20, 2026: $8.99

The verdict

A highly addictive roguelite city builder built on short settlement runs with deep production chains. Skip it if you want one big permanent city or dislike RNG and timers.

Great for

Players who love the early-game puzzle of city builders, roguelites and production-chain optimization in short sessions

Main risk

Expecting a traditional city builder, then hitting RNG-driven losses, repetition and slow meta-progression

What players love

Roguelite variety keeps every run different

Mentioned in ~1 in 4 positive reviews

“Each run you get random terrain, resources, citizens, blueprints, perks, world events and local events and conditions.”
Steam review · 298.4 h played ↗

“Every game is different from the last.”
Steam review · 148 h played ↗

Gorgeous art and atmospheric soundtrack

Mentioned in ~1 in 5 positive reviews

“The soundtrack deserves a special mention — it’s absolutely calming and perfect for setting a relaxing, almost meditative atmosphere while you build and manage your settlement.”
Steam review · 390.8 h played ↗

“intuitive UI, captivating gameplay, nice music, beautiful graphics”
Steam review · 439.3 h played ↗

Adjustable difficulty and challenge

Mentioned in ~1 in 6 positive reviews

“combining that with the 24 difficulty settings, its very easy to just tune things down or up to fit your taste and skill”
Steam review · 174.2 h played ↗

“Things gradually get harder and harder, but the way it ramps the difficulty up feels fantastically paced and never overwhelming.”
Steam review · 295.4 h played ↗

Best part of city builders on repeat

Mentioned in ~1 in 6 positive reviews

“Against the Storm solves this by focusing almost exclusively on the most engaging early 'struggle' stages”
Steam review · 145 h played ↗

“This game takes the best part of city builders, the first 1-2 hours and makes it it's whole gameplay loop with actual goals and win conditions.”
Steam review · 4.2 h played ↗

Short sessions, great replayability

Mentioned in ~1 in 7 positive reviews

“You can sit down for a couple of hours, create your city, then log off for the night feeling like you had a complete experience. The replayabiliy is almost infinite.”
Steam review · 670.6 h played ↗

“Want to play for one hour then uninstall for 2 years? Want to play for a month straight? The game will still hold up.”
Steam review · 162.9 h played ↗

“combining it with roguelike elements makes sessions much shorter”
Steam review · translated · 4.4 h played ↗

Deep, satisfying production and resource management

Mentioned in ~1 in 7 positive reviews

“Production chains are another highlight.”
Steam review · 68.7 h played ↗

“so many mechanics that feed into eachother, and so much versatility”
Steam review · 157.8 h played ↗

What players complain about

RNG can make runs unwinnable

Mentioned in ~1 in 4 negative reviews

“Like, you are given no farm buildings in a map where there are few natural food resources.”
Steam review · 32.4 h played ↗

“Example failed a game as didn't get one single service building or any building that could make flour despite many re roles and many trader visits.”
Steam review · 277.7 h played ↗

“Choice of production buildings is random. Didn't get the buildings you need? Replay.”
Steam review · translated · 67.2 h played ↗

Repetitive gameplay loop

Mentioned in ~1 in 5 negative reviews

“It is fun for a couple of runs but becomes repetetive and boring incredibly fast :(”
Steam review · 19.6 h played ↗

“in 3-4 hours you see 90% of the game's content, and after that it's just the same things alternating”
Steam review · translated · 43.8 h played ↗

“After playing it for a while, you realize each game plays the same, with only minor differences based on whichever buildings are available.”
Steam review · 47 h played ↗

Micromanagement and stressful timer

Mentioned in ~1 in 5 negative reviews

“It feels like juggling knives and i'm continually trying to catch them before they hit the ground.”
Steam review · 39.3 h played ↗

“I didn't expect Against the Storm to revolve so much around micromanagement.”
Steam review · 22.6 h played ↗

Poor tutorial and overwhelming UI

Mentioned in ~1 in 6 negative reviews

“Terrible tutorial. Manages to not teach anything while not allowing for any actions for an extended period.”
Steam review · 0.2 h played ↗

“The UI is packed with icons and modifiers even on the tutorial instead of unlocking/explaining as you learn.”
Steam review · 0.9 h played ↗

“There's no real tutorial; I don't need hand-holding but at least show the basics.”
Steam review · translated · 0.2 h played ↗

Not really a city builder; settlements are disposable

Mentioned in ~1 in 6 negative reviews

“You step in to monkey patch problems, apply short fix to meet goals and objectives, and leave for the next city when it just started booming.”
Steam review · 9.8 h played ↗

“in ATS you just make a slapdash shanty town that only needs to hold together for a couple of years and then throw it in the trash”
Steam review · 119.8 h played ↗

“as soon as the city becomes reasonably efficient and large, the game ends and you have to start over”
Steam review · translated · 81.1 h played ↗

Slow, grindy meta-progression

Mentioned in ~1 in 7 negative reviews

“At this rate, to get meaningful progressions you would have to play for like 100-200+ hours.”
Steam review · 10.6 h played ↗

“settlers move 2% faster [spoiler] WOOOOW [/spoiler]”
Steam review · translated · 7.6 h played ↗

System requirements

From the Steam store page

Steam Deck: Playable

Minimum

OSWindows® 10 (64-bit)

ProcessorIntel® Core™ i3-530 (dual-core) / AMD® Phenom™ II X4 965 (quad-core)

Memory4 GB RAM

GraphicsNVIDIA® GeForce® GTS 450 (1 GB) / AMD® Radeon™ HD 7750 (1 GB)

Storage5 GB available space

Recommended

OSWindows® 10 (64-bit)

ProcessorIntel® Core™ i5-2500K (quad-core) / AMD® FX-Series™ FX-8320 (quad-core)

Memory8 GB RAM

GraphicsNVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 970 (4 GB) / AMD® Radeon™ R9 290X (4 GB)

Storage5 GB available space

OSWindows® 10 (64-bit)

ProcessorIntel® Core™ i3-530 (dual-core) / AMD® Phenom™ II X4 965 (quad-core)

Memory4 GB RAM

GraphicsNVIDIA® GeForce® GTS 450 (1 GB) / AMD® Radeon™ HD 7750 (1 GB)

Storage5 GB available space

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