Action · December 11, 2014

The Talos Principle (2014)

trophy40 achievementsextension4 DLClocal_offer-85% current discountgroup1M–10M ownerstrending_up117 peak concurrentrecommend28.7k recommendations
As if awakening from a deep sleep, you find yourself in a strange, contradictory world of ancient ruins and advanced technology. Tasked by your creator with solving a series of increasingly complex puzzles, you must decide whether to have faith or to ask the difficult questions: Who are you? What is your purpose? And what are you going to do about it? Features: Overcome more than 120 immersive puzzles in a stunning world. Divert drones, manipulate laser beams and even replicate time to prove your worth - or to find a way out. Explore a story about humanity, technology and civilization. Uncover clues, devise theories, and make up your own mind. Choose your own path through the game's non-linear world, solving puzzles your way. But remember: choices have consequences and somebody's always watching you.

Action releases from 2014

146 Action titles launched in 2014 — top 6 by review volume.

Localization Coverage

Interface / Subtitles (12)

  • English volume_up
  • French volume_up
  • Italian volume_up
  • German volume_up
  • Spanish - Spain volume_up
  • Russian volume_up
  • Japanese volume_up
  • Korean volume_up
  • Polish volume_up
  • Portuguese - Brazil volume_up
  • Simplified Chinese volume_up
  • Traditional Chinese volume_up

Full audio (12)

  • English
  • French
  • Italian
  • German
  • Spanish - Spain
  • Russian
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Polish
  • Portuguese - Brazil
  • Simplified Chinese
  • Traditional Chinese

Position in Action

MetricThis titleGenre position
Review volume31.9k Steam reviewsTop 17% in Action
Positive rating95% positiveGenre average: 83% — this title sits in top 14%
Metacritic85/100Genre average 77 — top 19% of Action titles
Concurrent peak117 playersTop 32% in Action by live player count
Engagement hours13 h averageTop 39% for session depth among Action

Peer Action titles

Comparable titles in the same genre and review-volume band — ranked by Steam positive percentage.

Community Tag Signals

Tag weights reflect how many Steam users voted each descriptor — larger pills = stronger consensus.

  • Puzzle · 1.0k
  • Philosophical · 605
  • First-Person · 538
  • Sci-fi · 517
  • Atmospheric · 491
  • Story Rich · 487
  • Singleplayer · 473
  • Great Soundtrack · 347
  • Robots · 334
  • Exploration · 280
  • Adventure · 279
  • Indie · 205
  • Multiple Endings · 164
  • Difficult · 162
  • Mystery · 142

Reception Metrics

Steam community

95%Overwhelmingly Positive · 31.9k reviews

30.3k positive · 1.6k negative

Metacritic

85/100 critic aggregate

Open Metacritic page

Metacritic user score

8.6/10

Curator recommendations

28.7k

Peak concurrent players

117

Features & Capabilities

Community

  • Steam Achievements
  • Steam Trading Cards
  • Steam Workshop
  • Steam Cloud
  • Remote Play on TV

Input & Comfort

  • Full controller support

Other

  • Single-player
  • Includes level editor
  • Family Sharing

Press Quotes

“The Talos Principle is going to be something very, very special for you.” 9.5/10 – Jim Sterling (Jimquisition) “The Talos Principle is an absolute joy to play.” 9/10 – Gamespot “One of the best games of the year.” 4.5/5 – PCWorld

Engagement Profile

All-time avg

13h

short (5–15 hours)

Median

6h

Typical completion time

2-week avg

2h

Current engagement

Achievements

40

Steam unlocks available

More from Croteam

Croteam has 7 titles indexed — top 6 by review volume below.

Release & Availability

Release dateDec 11, 2014
DeveloperCroteam
PublisherDevolver Digital, Croteam
Base price$4.49 -85%
DLC / Add-ons4 released
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Linux
Estimated owners1M–10M
External linksOfficial site · Metacritic page · [email protected]

Editions & Packages

  • Buy The Talos Principle