Outstanding writing and storytelling
Mentioned in ~2 in 5 positive reviews
“Excellent, excellent, excellent writing. Moody and pleasantly verbose.”
Steam review · 94.5 h played ↗
SUNLESS SEA
Worth buying? What 300 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 300 Steam reviews actually say.
Very Positive · 84%Very Positive · 84%Failbetter Games2015Survival · Adventure · RPG
$18.99
Open on Steam ↗US Steam price, checked 5 h ago
The verdict
A slow, text-heavy Lovecraftian sailing roguelite with superb writing and atmosphere but tedious, grindy gameplay. Skip it if you want action or hate reading and slow pacing.
Great for
Readers who love Lovecraftian lore, atmosphere and patient, punishing exploration
Main risk
The slow, grindy sailing and permadeath resets make the gameplay a tedious chore
What players love
Eerie Lovecraftian atmosphere
Mentioned in ~1 in 3 positive reviews
“the best lovecraftian game ever, every location and character is very well written, atmosphere and lore is way better than any other same type of game by miles”
Steam review · 43.3 h played ↗
Rich, unique world and lore
Mentioned in ~1 in 4 positive reviews
“the richest, deepest, most creative setting I have ever seen”
Steam review · 173.1 h played ↗
Rewarding exploration and tense survival
Mentioned in ~1 in 7 positive reviews
“the gameplay is a tense and unforgiving management of resources that adds weight to every venture into the inky black waters of the unterzee”
Steam review · 153.3 h played ↗
Great soundtrack and art
Mentioned in ~1 in 8 positive reviews
“The artwork is great, and the game’s use of light and shadow creates a truly unique, eerie atmosphere for this gothic world.”
Steam review · 20.6 h played ↗
Dark humor and emergent moments (cannibalism)
Mentioned in ~1 in 14 positive reviews
“committed ritualistic cannibalism, stopped a war between rodents, cheated on my wife with a lady made of clay”
Steam review · 18.2 h played ↗
What players complain about
Painfully slow sailing and pacing
Mentioned in ~2 in 5 negative reviews
“The ship moves at a snail’s pace, making exploration feel completely boring.”
Steam review · 5.2 h played ↗
Grindy, punishing economy
Mentioned in ~1 in 3 negative reviews
“the game's economics are so punishing, and the sheer amount of grinding, is so high, that I can't enjoy the wonderful world the writers have created”
Steam review · 18.5 h played ↗
Permadeath resets and repetitive restarts
Mentioned in ~1 in 4 negative reviews
“You can lose 20 hours of gameplay on a Captain on one bad roll. And then you get to start it all over again, from zero.”
Steam review · 18.2 h played ↗
Poor UI, journal and unclear mechanics
Mentioned in ~1 in 6 negative reviews
“To add insult to injury the game doesn't keep track of anything for you.”
Steam review · 27.3 h played ↗
Dull, shallow combat
Mentioned in ~1 in 9 negative reviews
“Combat. Combat is pretty boring. Get behind the enemy, Stay there. And grind them down for 3 min.”
Steam review · 27.2 h played ↗
Crashes, corrupted saves and blurry text
Mentioned in ~1 in 13 negative reviews
“Crashes consistently ,several times per day.”
Steam review · 16.3 h played ↗
System requirements
From the Steam store page
Steam Deck: Playable700 MB
Minimum
OSWindows 10 or later
Processor2Ghz or better
Memory1 GB RAM
Graphics1280x768 minimum resolution, DirectX 9.0c compatible graphics card
Storage700 MB available space
OSWindows 10 or later
Processor2Ghz or better
Memory1 GB RAM
Graphics1280x768 minimum resolution, DirectX 9.0c compatible graphics card
Storage700 MB available space
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