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The Waste Land

The Waste Land

The Waste Land, a "metroidvania" style side-scroller inspired by T.S. Eliot’s poem of the same name, puts players in the role of a fallen king who must find his way to right the wrongs caused by his own failings.

Released Sep 16, 2014 Developer Fledermaus Publisher Digital Tribe Platforms Windows ActionAdventureIndieMetroidvaniaPixel Graphics
View on Steam ↗ $9.99 (US · as of 2026-05-14)

What players say

Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Score via Steam as of 2026-09-28.

50.5%positive105 reviews
Recommended · 0 found this helpful

“Developed by Fledermaus and published by Digital Tribe, The Waste Land is an independent action-adventure that embraces the spirit of classic metroidvania games while weaving in themes inspired by T.S. Eliot's famous poem. Rather than focusing entirely on combat or platforming,…”

— a player, Steam review · 23 hrs played
Not recommended · 1 found this helpful

“Terrible controls that cannot be remapped”

— a player, Steam review · 4 hrs played
Not recommended · 0 found this helpful

“Dreadful. I was tired of backtracking before the tutorial/introduction was over.”

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

Achievement stats

Global completion rates across all Steam players — a data view of how far people actually get. Source: Steam official stats · as of 2026-09-28.

30achievements
5.1%median completion
3.6%rarest: Master of collectibles
37.4% of players 35.3% of players 34.8% of players 27.8% of players 13.9% of players 9.7% of players 9.5% of players 7.0% of players 7.0% of players 6.1% of players 5.9% of players 5.8% of players 5.2% of players 5.2% of players 5.1% of players 5.1% of players 5.0% of players 4.9% of players 4.9% of players 4.8% of players 4.8% of players 4.7% of players 4.7% of players 4.4% of players 4.3% of players 4.3% of players 4.1% of players 4.1% of players 3.7% of players 3.6% of players 37.4% 0% most earned rarest
Almost everyone has
37.4%The Beginning — Start a new adventure
35.3%Ol' trusted blade — Find the short sword
34.8%What have you done? — Follow your fate
Rarest badges of honor
3.6%Master of collectibles — Collect all the upgrades and all the weapons
3.7%Heart master — Find 20 heart power ups
4.1%Heart veteran — Find 15 heart power ups

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 08, 2016
A new important update!

A new update is available! It brings some substantial changes, so let's go trhough them. http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/6742517/231e382d41ced089676fd35c07bd4873b9

Jun 08, 2016
A new important update!

A new update is available! It brings some substantial changes, so let's go trhough them. http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/6742517/231e382d41ced089676fd35c07bd4873b9

Feb 11, 2015
All New Emoticons & Backgrounds!

http://digitaltribegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/TWL-NewEmoticon-Announcement-copy.jpg Your adventures have just begun! Continue questing throughout the lands to unlock all 10 new emoticons and

Feb 11, 2015
All New Emoticons & Backgrounds!

http://digitaltribegames.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/TWL-NewEmoticon-Announcement-copy.jpg Your adventures have just begun! Continue questing throughout the lands to unlock all 10 new emoticons and

Oct 13, 2014
An interesting update

Hi all, besides some minor fixes on tiles and italian text, i've reworked the enemy hit reaction. Some were complaining an excessive "immunity" time and somehow clunky combat. I've retuned all of this

Games like The Waste Land

From our knowledge graph — ranked by shared traits, not a black box. Each card says why it's here.

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Screenshots

Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.

Facts & details

From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-09-28.

GenresAction, Adventure, Indie
Player tagsAction · Adventure · Indie · Metroidvania · Pixel Graphics · Retro · 2D · Platformer (SteamSpy community voting)
FeaturesSingle-player · Steam Achievements · Steam Trading Cards · Partial Controller Support · Steam Cloud · Family Sharing
LanguagesEnglish, Italian, German, Russian
Achievements30
Official sitehttp://digitaltribegames.com/waste-land/
Minimum system requirements (PC)

Minimum: OS *: Windows XP/Vista 7/8 Processor: 1.2GHz processor Memory: 1 GB RAM Graphics: DirectX 9.0 compliant DirectX: Version 9.0c Storage: 50 MB available space Sound Card: DirectSound compliant