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Salt and Sanctuary
Explore a haunting, punishing island in this stylized 2D action RPG. Salt and Sanctuary combines fast and brutal 2D combat with richly developed RPG mechanics in a cursed realm of forgotten cities, blood-soaked dungeons, and desecrated monuments.
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
34 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“An incredibly good Soulslike. The 2d perspective makes it a bit more accessible than the genre typically is, although the game is still quite challenging (sometimes frustrating with how frequent death-by-falling is).…”
“Played on Switch originally, but I had to get it on PC. Unironically my favorite soulslike game just because of how it feels to play, as well as the branching options for gameplay”
18 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“With several Souls-Likes and a Souls game under my belt, I can safely this game is nice 7.5/10. It is fun and the game is very atmospheric when it comes to the environments. The world building only happens if you do the…”
“An incredibly good Soulslike. The 2d perspective makes it a bit more accessible than the genre typically is, although the game is still quite challenging (sometimes frustrating with how frequent death-by-falling is).…”
“One of the best souls-like to have ever been conceived. I don't have many hours here on Steam but that is because i mostly played this gem when it went free on the Epic Game Store. This game has such a unique artstyle,…”
15 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“An incredibly good Soulslike. The 2d perspective makes it a bit more accessible than the genre typically is, although the game is still quite challenging (sometimes frustrating with how frequent death-by-falling is).…”
“This game is a rough ride but extreamly satisfying at the same time. Having no map does make traversing throughout areas pretty difficult often times going through the same areas over again when I didn't need to. At the…”
“Salt & Sanctuary is an homage to FromSoft and other Souls-like titles, in a smaller, simpler package. Gameplay is extremely similar albeit in a side-scrolling, metroidvania esque format. Not quite as difficult as your…”
12 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“One of the best souls-like to have ever been conceived. I don't have many hours here on Steam but that is because i mostly played this gem when it went free on the Epic Game Store. This game has such a unique artstyle,…”
“Amazing game i just dont get tired of playing it over and over.”
“Im extremely biased and late by many years to show my love of this game but im here now lol. This is literally my childhood game, me and my brothers have beat this game in couch coop dozens of times and i cannot…”
6 of the 104 reviews raise this.
“Salt & Sanctuary is an homage to FromSoft and other Souls-like titles, in a smaller, simpler package. Gameplay is extremely similar albeit in a side-scrolling, metroidvania esque format. Not quite as difficult as your…”
“I have 15 hours in this game. I was not expecting this much gameplay. It's pretty good, but most bosses can be face-tanked rather than learning their mechanics. The parry timing critical are a neat homage to Dark Souls.”
“Very good 2d souls-like. I’ve put about 40 hours into Salt and Sanctuary, and I’m now at the final boss before jumping into NG+. Before resetting the world, I’m backtracking to wrap up a few remaining tasks and…”
10 of the 104 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“Its not that this is a bad game. It will either just appeal to you or it won't. I am a souls like fan as I've played DS1-3, Eldren Ring, Demon Souls, Bloodborne, etc. For me I play single player games often because I…”
“It is OK. but some bosses, specifically the Kraken Wyrm make 0 sense.”
“The platforming in this game is super annoying while fighting enemies, not being able to do a falling attack downwards with a one handed sword, even while two handing it, is a missed opportunity. The limited arch to…”
9 of the 104 reviews raise this · 7 of them still recommend the game.
“Its not that this is a bad game. It will either just appeal to you or it won't. I am a souls like fan as I've played DS1-3, Eldren Ring, Demon Souls, Bloodborne, etc. For me I play single player games often because I…”
“With several Souls-Likes and a Souls game under my belt, I can safely this game is nice 7.5/10. It is fun and the game is very atmospheric when it comes to the environments. The world building only happens if you do the…”
“This game is a rough ride but extreamly satisfying at the same time. Having no map does make traversing throughout areas pretty difficult often times going through the same areas over again when I didn't need to. At the…”
7 of the 104 reviews raise this · 6 of them still recommend the game.
“An incredibly good Soulslike. The 2d perspective makes it a bit more accessible than the genre typically is, although the game is still quite challenging (sometimes frustrating with how frequent death-by-falling is).…”
“I have 15 hours in this game. I was not expecting this much gameplay. It's pretty good, but most bosses can be face-tanked rather than learning their mechanics. The parry timing critical are a neat homage to Dark Souls.”
“37/37 achievements for a quick 100%. (I swap my safe file for the alternative ending, that is a single still screen with FOUR words, sorry, not sorry) Petition to rename the "cake" to "the princess" is a lie. The game…”
7 of the 104 reviews raise this · 2 of them still recommend the game.
“Its not that this is a bad game. It will either just appeal to you or it won't. I am a souls like fan as I've played DS1-3, Eldren Ring, Demon Souls, Bloodborne, etc. For me I play single player games often because I…”
“Repulsive graphical style. No sense of taste in the use of effects and no options to disable them.”
“A surprisingly stellar blend of soulslike and metroidvania. The one significant caveat is that, in contrast to many other metroidvania, its visuals, particularly for player characters, are somewhat lacklustre, although…”
6 of the 104 reviews raise this · 2 of them still recommend the game.
“The platforming in this game is super annoying while fighting enemies, not being able to do a falling attack downwards with a one handed sword, even while two handing it, is a missed opportunity. The limited arch to…”
“Aside from being the most annoying. This is the most clunkiest souls-like I've ever played.”
“the only true souls like metroidvania i've ever played. Its ds2 in 2d lol, game is easy af, was frustrating in some parts due to the controls sucking ass for platforming but the more you go forward the easier it gets. I…”
Counted across 104 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 89.5% positive rating · as of 2026-05-20
“Really enjoyed playing this game a lot. It's a really fun soulslike but in 2D, so definitely recommended for anyone that is into metroidvanias or any soulslike games in general. The combat is pretty fun and the designs is really nice as well. The music is also very underrated…”
— a player, Steam review · 273 hrs played“Simply put, this is the best souls-like ever made and the best 2d RPG too. I finished it several times on different platforms and once in a while I feel the urge to start a new playthrough from scratch.”
— a player, Steam review · 8 hrs played“I bought this game a few years ago and got backlogged. played it this week and was blown away. did 2 playthroughs in 3 days. Amazing game.”
— a player, Steam review · 54 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live count fetched 2026-07-23 23:53 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.
Patch Notes for 1.0.2.2
Another small update. This patch is focused on bug fixes and internal cleanups. 1.0.2.2 - Fixed a DPI zoom issue when using multiple monitors. - Fixed a salt transfer bug. - Fixed a level-up transfer
Patch Notes for 1.0.2.1
Another update -- Now that the dust has settled on the last patch, it's time for some cleanup. This cleanup patch arrives with many bugs squashed and some wrinkles ironed out. 1.0.2.1 Bugs General - F
Patch Notes for 1.0.2.0
Highlights A momentous moment has arrived! A storm of chaos settles on the Isle of Salt with the addition of a Randomizer. Choose from three options how you wish to tackle this new challenge mode. Fee
Salt and Sacrifice comes to Steam November 7, 2023!
Wishlist Salt and Sacrifice now! A once-peaceful kingdom is plunged into chaos by encroaching tides of Mages: merciless embodiments of elemental chaos. The Marked Inquisitors, a doomed force of the co
Patch Notes for 1.0.1.1
1.0.1.1 Bugs - Sanctuary place icon prompt crash fixed. - Particle limit reached crash fixed. - Max resolution on Windows adjusted. - Witch of the Lake has a tighter leash to her arena. - Dried King i
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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 | Action, Indie, RPG |
| Player tags | Souls-like · Metroidvania · Dark Fantasy · 2D · Difficult · RPG · Action · Platformer · Indie · Local Co-Op · Atmospheric · Dark (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Multi-player · Shared/Split Screen · Steam Achievements · Full controller support · Steam Trading Cards · Remote Play on TV · Remote Play Together |
| Languages | English, German, Japanese, French, Italian, Spanish - Spain, Korean, Portuguese - Brazil, Polish, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Turkish |
| Controller | Full support |
| Achievements | 37 |
| Estimated owners | 1,000,000 – 2,000,000 (SteamSpy) |
| Official site | http://www.saltandsanctuary.com/ |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: OS *: Windows Vista Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.8 GHz or equivalent Memory: 1 GB RAM Graphics: DirectX 10 compatible video card with shader model 3.0 support DirectX: Version 10 Storage: 2 GB available space Sound Card: 100% DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card and drivers Additional Notes: Xbox360 Gamepad recommended