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The Painscreek Killings

The Painscreek Killings

Investigate an infamous cold case in the eerie, abandoned town of Painscreek. Search for evidence, connect the dots and uncover who killed Vivian Roberts. Can you expose the truth behind this town’s dark secrets?

Released Sep 27, 2017 Developer EQ Studios Platforms Windows InvestigationMysteryDetectiveExplorationStory Rich
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.

91.1%positive5,217 reviews
Recommended · 31 found this helpful

“Let me begin by first saying, I'm a grandfather who is nearly 60 that very much enjoys "cozy" games where there is not a huge amount of pressure on me to have conflicts or quick-time events in games. I do love immersive 1st person games like Cyberpunk 2047, Starfield, and the…”

— a player, Steam review · 33 hrs played
Recommended · 7 found this helpful

“A 7/10 detective game with a good amount of genuinely memorable moments. I think everyone complaining about it being too hard might just be stupid, because I didn't find it difficult at all to find where the keys went or where the game obviously wanted me to go next. Honestly I…”

— a player, Steam review · 7 hrs played
Recommended · 4 found this helpful

“Probably the best "true" murder mystery I've ever played. I had fun playing, but this game for me has a stronger place in my heart for what it stands for rather than what it does. An open-world murder mystery that doesn't hold your hand is a terrifying idea executed really quite…”

— a player, Steam review · 6 hrs played
Read more reviews ↗

Player activity

Monthly average concurrent players. Live count fetched 2026-07-11 12:47 UTC · history via SteamCharts.

16playing at last check
3424-hour peak
578all-time peak
0 50 100 2018 2020 2022 2024 2026 83 avg · Aug 2025

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.

33achievements
30.2%median completion
8.6%rarest: Completionist
83.5% of players 78.6% of players 51.0% of players 49.4% of players 37.3% of players 37.0% of players 36.6% of players 35.3% of players 34.9% of players 32.8% of players 32.5% of players 32.4% of players 32.0% of players 30.9% of players 30.8% of players 30.3% of players 30.2% of players 29.2% of players 29.0% of players 28.8% of players 28.1% of players 27.0% of players 26.9% of players 26.8% of players 26.5% of players 25.2% of players 24.2% of players 21.6% of players 16.0% of players 15.8% of players 12.4% of players 12.1% of players 8.6% of players 83.5% 0% most earned rarest
Almost everyone has
83.5%James Howard's Story — James Howard's Story
78.6%Tutorial Completed — Tutorial Completed
51.0%Mary Martinez's Story — Mary Martinez's Story
Rarest badges of honor
8.6%Completionist — Completionist
12.1%Case Unsolved — Case Unsolved
12.4%All Letters Found — All Letters Found

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
$19.99lowest since tracking began2026-07-11
US19.99 USD
EU19.99 EUR
UK14.99 GBP
Australia28.95 AUD
Canada21.99 CAD
Japan1,980 JPY
Brazil36.99 BRL
China68.00 CNY

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

Brazil≈$7.3 China Japan Canada UK US Australia EU≈$23

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.

Mar 19, 2026
The Painscreek Killings Soundtrack Release

Hi everyone, We’ve received many inquiries from fans asking whether the soundtrack for The Painscreek Killings would ever be released. We truly appreciate the continued interest and support. Originall

Dec 01, 2024
November 2024 Patch Notes

11/30/2024: Changed all locks to start at 0. ex. 6 digit lock will be 000000. Changes to how items are rotated while being Inspected.

Jul 25, 2024
July 2024 Patch Notes

7/24/2024: 1. Added 3200x2000 resolution. 2. Fixed an issue with Andrew's House. This fix will only work on save datas that didn't already run into this issue. If you left Andrew's house after interac

Jun 27, 2024
A Bold Approach to Mystery | Dissecting THE PAINSCREEK KILLINGS 1 by Vote 4 Holt

Hi everyone! Recently Vote 4 Holt published an essay style video about mystery games and featured The Painscreek Killings as his case study. He invited 4 players to play The Painscreek Killings and co

Apr 19, 2024
The Making of The Painscreek Killings Available Now with 10% off!

Hi everyone! We have released The Making of The Painscreek Killings to be available for purchase! To celebrate launch week, it will also be 10% off. The Making of The Painscreek Killings is a 206-page

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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.

GenresAdventure, Indie
Player tagsInvestigation · Mystery · Detective · Exploration · Story Rich · Puzzle · Atmospheric · Horror · Walking Simulator · Open World · Supernatural · Adventure (SteamSpy community voting)
FeaturesSingle-player · Steam Achievements · Full controller support · Steam Trading Cards · Family Sharing
LanguagesEnglish * , Japanese, Russian, French, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Portuguese - Brazil, German, Hungarian, Korean, Italian, Spanish - Spain, Polish, Spanish - Latin America *
ControllerFull support
Achievements33
Estimated owners500,000 – 1,000,000 (SteamSpy)
Official sitehttps://www.eqstudios.com/painscreekkillings
Minimum system requirements (PC)

Minimum: OS *: Windows 7/8/10 64-bit Processor: i3-2120 @3.3GHz Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 745 (or AMD equivalent) DirectX: Version 11 Storage: 11 GB available space Additional Notes: *Subject to change after updates