Action · March 31, 2016

Hyper Light Drifter (2016)

trophy23 achievementsextension1 DLCgroup1M–10M ownersrecommend14.7k recommendations
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

MetricThis titleGenre position
Review volume17.8k Steam reviewsTop 27% in Action
Positive rating93% positiveGenre average: 83% — this title sits in top 24%
Metacritic84/100Genre average 77 — top 22% of Action titles
Engagement hours6 h averageTop 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

Open Metacritic page

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 dateMar 31, 2016
DeveloperHeart Machine
Base price$19.99
DLC / Add-ons1 released
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Linux
Estimated owners1M–10M
External linksOfficial site · Metacritic page · Support · [email protected]

Localization Coverage

Interface / Subtitles (6)

  • English
  • French
  • Italian
  • German
  • Spanish - Spain
  • Japanese

Editions & Packages

  • Buy Hyper Light Drifter