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9 Years of Shadows

9 Years of Shadows

Fight to bring beautiful colors back to a hand-crafted world of darkness and discover the story of Europa, a young warrior, and her ghostly childhood companion, Apino.

Released Mar 27, 2023 Developer Halberd Studios Publisher indie.io Platforms Windows MetroidvaniaPlatformerSide ScrollerFantasyAnime
View on Steam ↗ $19.99 (US · as of 2026-07-26)

What players say

Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Data as of 2026-05-20.

76.7%positive2,588 reviews
Recommended · 8 found this helpful

“Recommended, but JUST barely. Since I can't leave a 1-10 scoring (with 10 being the highest), this one sits solidly at a 6. Pros: + Beautiful level design. Environments are wonderfully detailed, truly a labor of love. + Exploration is fun. + Neat abilities (knowing your enemies…”

— a player, Steam review · 10 hrs played
Recommended · 8 found this helpful

“I have mixed feeling about this game. Idk if it's a hard concept to understand, but you can not put save points five miles from boss fights... it's the most annoying thing ever, and it only makes the experience less enjoyable. Also there's ZERO map guidance so you'll be walking…”

— a player, Steam review · 20 hrs played
Not recommended · 4 found this helpful

“No checkpoints = my time not being respected”

— a player, Steam review · 2 hrs played
Read more reviews ↗

Player activity

Monthly average concurrent players. Live count fetched 2026-07-24 01:05 UTC · history via SteamCharts.

18playing at last check
2024-hour peak
301all-time peak
0 50 100 2024 2025 2026 57 avg · Apr 2023

Achievement stats

Global completion rates across all Steam players — a data view of how far people actually get. Source: Steam official stats · as of 2026-07-25.

34achievements
31.7%median completion
14.0%rarest: Honed Edge
92.4% of players 82.9% of players 64.5% of players 54.3% of players 47.5% of players 43.5% of players 41.6% of players 39.6% of players 39.2% of players 38.9% of players 38.2% of players 36.2% of players 35.8% of players 35.5% of players 34.9% of players 33.7% of players 33.7% of players 31.7% of players 31.7% of players 31.6% of players 31.6% of players 31.5% of players 31.5% of players 29.2% of players 27.5% of players 26.8% of players 25.5% of players 23.3% of players 22.4% of players 21.5% of players 21.5% of players 20.8% of players 16.3% of players 14.0% of players 92.4% 0% most earned rarest
Almost everyone has
92.4%Bring it In — Perform a Lullaby for the first time.
82.9%Bullied an Enemy — Kill the same common enemy ten times.
64.5%Whack-A-Nope — Defeat the Dwarven Guard.
Rarest badges of honor
14.0%Honed Edge — Upgrade your Light Bar to the maximum.
16.3%Gotta Kill Them All — Complete the bestiary.
20.8%All The Jewels — Upgrade your Vitality to the maximum.

Price tracking

US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.

$19.99current · sampled 2026-07-26 08:39 UTC
$7.99lowest since tracking began2026-07-11
US19.99 USD
EU18.49 EUR
UK15.49 GBP
Australia29.50 AUD
Canada25.99 CAD
Japan2,300 JPY
Brazil57.99 BRL
China70.00 CNY

Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.

China≈$10 Brazil Japan Canada US Australia UK EU≈$21

Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-07-24). Relative comparison only.

$0 $25 $50 07-11 07-13 07-16 07-19 07-22 07-26

Latest official news

Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.

Jun 25, 2026
9 Years of Shadows: Restore the Light at 60% Off

The world of Talos has been swallowed by shadow, its color and warmth drained away. As the warrior Europa, descend into the dark with your spirit companion Apino at your side and fight to bring the li

Sep 26, 2025
9 Years of Shadows on PS5: Physical Editions Announced!

9 Years of Shadows will be released in Physical Edition for PlayStation 5 on December 12, 2025 . Two versions will be available: Standard Edition — includes the full game and an exclusive Talos Secret

Jun 26, 2025
9 Years of Shadows is on sale!

July 10th . Check out other great indies on sale during the indie.io Summer Sale to add them to your collection.

Apr 21, 2025
Build Update #9: 1.1.41

Greetings, everyone! It’s been a while—and we truly appreciate your patience and continued support during our time away. While it’s been over a year since our last update, we’ve been quietly working b

Apr 11, 2025
9 Years of Shadows is on sale!

If you were thinking about getting the game, now is a great time to do so as we are part of the indie.io Publisher Sale! Catch the game on sale from April 11th through April 25th . Check out other gre

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Screenshots

Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.

Facts & details

From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-20.

GenresAction, Adventure, Indie
Player tagsMetroidvania · Platformer · Side Scroller · Fantasy · Anime · Action RPG · Pixel Graphics · Action-Adventure · Exploration · Action · Adventure · Action Roguelike (SteamSpy community voting)
FeaturesSingle-player · Full controller support · Family Sharing
LanguagesEnglish * , Spanish - Latin America, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese - Brazil, Russian, Simplified Chinese *
ControllerFull support
Achievements34
Estimated owners100,000 – 200,000 (SteamSpy)
Official sitehttp://halberdstudios.com/
Minimum system requirements (PC)

Minimum: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 10 Processor: Intel Core i3-9100F Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: GT 730