Action · March 31, 2016
Hyper Light Drifter (2016)
Echoes of a dark and violent past resonate throughout a savage land, steeped in treasure and blood. Hyper Light Drifter is an action adventure RPG in the vein of the best 16bit classics, with modernized mechanics and designs on a much grander scale. Drifters of this world are the collectors of forgotten knowledge, lost technologies and broken histories. Our Drifter is haunted by an insatiable illness, traveling further into the lands of Buried Time, hoping to discover a way to quiet the vicious disease. • From each character to subtle background elements, everything is lovingly hand-animated. • Easy to pick up, difficult to master; enemies are vicious and numerous, hazards will easily crush your frail body, and friendly faces remain rare. • Upgrade weapons, learn new skills, discover equipment and traverse a dark, detailed world with branching paths and secrets abound.
Action releases from 2016
168 Action titles launched in 2016 — top 6 by review volume.
Position in Action
| Metric | This title | Genre position |
|---|---|---|
| Review volume | 17.8k Steam reviews | Top 27% in Action |
| Positive rating | 93% positive | Genre average: 83% — this title sits in top 24% |
| Metacritic | 84/100 | Genre average 77 — top 22% of Action titles |
| Engagement hours | 6 h average | Top 65% for session depth among Action |
Community Tag Signals
Tag weights reflect how many Steam users voted each descriptor — larger pills = stronger consensus.
- Pixel Graphics · 876
- Great Soundtrack · 647
- Atmospheric · 641
- Adventure · 612
- Indie · 592
- Difficult · 590
- Action · 500
- Hack and Slash · 398
- Singleplayer · 394
- Exploration · 368
- RPG · 313
- 2D · 302
- Colorful · 278
- Top-Down · 274
- Post-apocalyptic · 270
Peer Action titles
Comparable titles in the same genre and review-volume band — ranked by Steam positive percentage.
Features & Capabilities
Multiplayer
- Multi-player
- PvP
- Shared/Split Screen PvP
- Co-op
- Shared/Split Screen Co-op
Community
- Steam Achievements
- Steam Trading Cards
- Remote Play on Phone
- Remote Play on Tablet
- Remote Play on TV
Input & Comfort
- Full controller support
Other
- Single-player
Reception Metrics
Steam community
93%Very Positive · 17.8k reviews
16.6k positive · 1.2k negative
Metacritic
84/100 critic aggregate
Metacritic user score
7.7/10
Curator recommendations
14.7k
Engagement Profile
All-time avg
6h
short (5–15 hours)
Median
3h
Typical completion time
Achievements
23
Steam unlocks available
Release & Availability
| Release date | Mar 31, 2016 |
|---|---|
| Developer | Heart Machine |
| Base price | $19.99 |
| DLC / Add-ons | 1 released |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Estimated owners | 1M–10M |
| External links | Official site · Metacritic page · Support · [email protected] |
Localization Coverage
Interface / Subtitles (6)
- English
- French
- Italian
- German
- Spanish - Spain
- Japanese
Editions & Packages
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