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LISA: The Painful
The miserable journey of a broken man...
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Data as of 2026-05-20.
What reviewers agree on
51 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“I usually write stupid ♥♥♥♥♥♥ joke reviews but I think this is genuinely one of the best and most woke roleplaying games ever made. This is an entire 12 hour metaphor for toxic masculinity and how utterly destroyed the…”
“A bit like Mad Max, by way of Earthbound. It can be quirky and laugh-out-loud funny, or dark and genuinely disturbing. Or both at the same time. You could argue it's worth playing for the music alone, which is equal…”
“gave me depression cured my depression gave me depression again and made me kill myself 10/10”
17 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“I usually write stupid ♥♥♥♥♥♥ joke reviews but I think this is genuinely one of the best and most woke roleplaying games ever made. This is an entire 12 hour metaphor for toxic masculinity and how utterly destroyed the…”
“Lisa the Painful is possibly one of the best RPGMakers, and possibly rpgs in general since the way it's design is very well crafted with only nitpicks I would like to bring up due to the fact that it being a turn based…”
“WOWEE I love this game so much. Genuinely the best ludo-narrative in any game I think I've ever played. The choices are actually meaningful story-wise and gameplay-wise in a way that very few games seem to ever…”
7 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“A bit like Mad Max, by way of Earthbound. It can be quirky and laugh-out-loud funny, or dark and genuinely disturbing. Or both at the same time. You could argue it's worth playing for the music alone, which is equal…”
“I have found myself genuinely transfixed with this game. It is easily one of the best Indie RPGs ive played, an amazingly, disgusting, disturbing, painful, and f***ing hilarious. An unbelievable balance of tone this…”
“I like usually like weird / disturbing / difficult / RPGMaker / indie type games, so I really thought I'd like this one given the amount of positive reviews and the hype around how emotionally brutal this game is. But…”
6 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“One of the best RPG's ever made, and one of my own personal favourites. Heartbreaking, life ruining, hilarious, life affirming. I could simply say words all day long about what this means to me, and the impact it's had…”
“Truly one of my favourite games of all time from the story to the art to the gameplay everything was crafted with a masterful level of skill and intention that makes for a game that I cannot stop coming back to. With…”
“Beautiful and moving game. Surprisingly funny too.”
4 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“I usually write stupid ♥♥♥♥♥♥ joke reviews but I think this is genuinely one of the best and most woke roleplaying games ever made. This is an entire 12 hour metaphor for toxic masculinity and how utterly destroyed the…”
“A weird JOYFUL unique experience and a good story. My first playthrough on normal took nearly 12h but it definitely has replaybility to make different choices and if you would try to recruit more people it might be…”
“Jesus, it's already been 11 hours? Either way, frickin' love this game. Play it. Play it NOW.”
6 of the 104 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“honestly found it kinda boring...”
“Lisa the Painful is possibly one of the best RPGMakers, and possibly rpgs in general since the way it's design is very well crafted with only nitpicks I would like to bring up due to the fact that it being a turn based…”
“I like usually like weird / disturbing / difficult / RPGMaker / indie type games, so I really thought I'd like this one given the amount of positive reviews and the hype around how emotionally brutal this game is. But…”
5 of the 104 reviews raise this · 5 of them still recommend the game.
“This game is not suitable for people who easily get angry at rage bait. You will want to smash your keyboard.”
“False advertisement, wasn't that painful to play. I expect a full refund.”
“They gave me the middle finger after climbing so long. I hate you”
3 of the 104 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“A formative experience that I will never recover from or forget for as long as I live. While I am not a fan of the definitive edition changes, the legacy version still holds up well and regardless of the game version…”
“everything i love about video games is exemplified by the painful. everything i mildly tolerate in video games is exemplified by the joyful.”
Counted across 104 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 95.6% positive rating · as of 2026-05-20
“You have to play this game alone, all by yourself, don't watch gameplays. This rough game works better cuz when u less expect sth it happens and ure ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up brutally. Having that said, Lisa has an interesting way to interact with the world, no one can tell what is happening…”
— a player, Steam review · 9 hrs played“This game is what people tell you Undertale is.”
— a player, Steam review · 17 hrs played“The Painful: I love collecting middle aged men The Joyful: I love slaughtering middle aged men till insanity”
— a player, Steam review · 16 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live count fetched 2026-07-11 12:18 UTC · history via SteamCharts.
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.
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.
Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.
Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-07-24). Relative comparison only.
Latest official news
Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.
LISA: The Painful + OFF Bundle Now Available!
Venture through the brutal wastelands of LISA: The Painful and the uncanny world of OFF. This bundle brings together two cult-classic RPGs where strange beings and cryptic truths await. Save up to 41%
LISA + To the Moon Bundle Now Available!
LISA is now bundled with To the Moon in a narrative focused bundle! Save up to 43% OFF while both titles are on sale today: https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/54300/To_the_Moon__LISA/
Brad Armstrong Plush Available for Pre-Order!
Brad Armstrong has joined your party! 🧸❤️🩹 From the wastelands of Olathe to the comfort of your shelf - it’s soft, customizable, and sure to bring some serious joy into your world 🔵 The campaign is n
LISA: The Painful & LISA: The Joyful are both available NOW on mobile!
You can now experience both of these heart-wrenching RPGs on the go, including all of the additional content and languages from our Definitive Edition ❤️ Google Play - Painful: https://play.google.com
Here’s a first peek at our physical release for LISA: Definitive Edition
Here’s a first peek at our physical release for LISA: Definitive Edition ❤️🩹 These Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5 physical editions both come bundled with quirky goodies. Join us for a closer look
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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.
| Genres | Adventure, Indie, RPG |
| Player tags | Dark Humor · RPG · Story Rich · Psychological Horror · Post-apocalyptic · RPGMaker · Indie · Choices Matter · Pixel Graphics · Dark · JRPG · Adventure (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Steam Achievements · Steam Trading Cards · Partial Controller Support · Steam Cloud · Family Sharing |
| Languages | English, French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Portuguese - Brazil, Russian, Spanish - Latin America, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese |
| Achievements | 68 |
| Estimated owners | 500,000 – 1,000,000 (SteamSpy) |
| Official site | https://serenityforge.com/games/lisa-definitive-edition |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: OS *: Microsoft® Windows® XP / Vista / 7 (32-bit/64-bit) Processor: Intel® Pentium® 4 2.0 GHz equivalent or faster processor Memory: 512 MB RAM Graphics: 1024 x 768 pixels or higher desktop resolution Storage: 800 MB available space