⚜ SteamCozy

Home / Games / When the Darkness comes

When the Darkness comes

When the Darkness comes

When the Darkness comes is a walking simulator whose glitchy and dark tale tries to illustrate the hardships of depression and anxiety through a variety of imaginary digital landscapes.

Released Mar 1, 2019 Developer Sirhaian Platforms Windows Psychological HorrorFree to PlayWalking SimulatorIndieFirst-Person
View on Steam ↗ Free (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.

92.3%positive8,314 reviews
Recommended · 2 found this helpful

“This game first made me think i was playing some gimmick of a walkthrough style game, little did i know, it was helping me see into a lot of issues about myself. you have to play the game at least twice to see the difference. It was definitely eye opening. I highly recommend…”

— a player, Steam review · 3 hrs played
Recommended · 1 found this helpful

“Hum, kinda scary sometimes but really accurate tho. This is probably one of the most well made game I played in my life, the narrator is perfect, the chapters are all very interesting”

— a player, Steam review · 5 hrs played
Recommended · 1 found this helpful

“Very good game that my friend recommended to me. Explores mental health well. I hope you and anyone playing can follow their light too. 10/10.”

— a player, Steam review · 5 hrs played
Read more reviews ↗

Player activity

Monthly average concurrent players. Live count fetched 2026-07-11 13:11 UTC · history via SteamCharts.

3playing at last check
324-hour peak
675all-time peak
0 100 200 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2026 175 avg · Mar 2019

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.

32achievements
20.6%median completion
5.5%rarest: Speed Ninja!
89.8% of players 74.4% of players 67.4% of players 66.6% of players 61.3% of players 51.5% of players 51.0% of players 49.8% of players 49.2% of players 48.3% of players 38.4% of players 33.1% of players 32.9% of players 30.9% of players 24.7% of players 20.6% of players 20.6% of players 17.7% of players 17.4% of players 16.1% of players 15.2% of players 15.1% of players 14.5% of players 13.0% of players 12.8% of players 10.9% of players 9.5% of players 9.4% of players 8.7% of players 8.4% of players 5.9% of players 5.5% of players 89.8% 0% most earned rarest
Almost everyone has
89.8%Thanks for playing! — You won the game!
74.4%No Escape — Hidden achievement
67.4%Faith in the Light — Find the Light at the end of the Bridge.
Rarest badges of honor
5.5%Speed Ninja! — Hidden achievement
5.9%Fame — Choose Fame as your purpose in life.
8.4%Well, that was unexpected. — Hidden achievement

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.

Freecurrent · sampled 2026-07-26 08:39 UTC
Freelowest since tracking began2026-07-11

Latest official news

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

Jan 07, 2026
WTDC Music Remaster and EP

Hello everyone! I just wanted to provide a nice little update from the composer of the music featured prominently in When the Darkness Comes: Mars Landscape.The composer of Mars Landscape, Julie Maxwe

Nov 26, 2019
When the Steam Awards come.

Hi everyone! I can't believe it has already been over 8 months since the Steam release. What a ride it's been. I first wanted to thanks everyone for the extraordinary support and all your kind words.

Aug 31, 2019
You can now feature your Achievements on your profile!

Hello everyone! Just a tiny little update to let you know that Valve has finally allowed WTDC's achievements to be featured on player profiles! Thanks again everyone for all your support! And keep fol

Mar 29, 2019
The Piano Song is now available on iTunes!

Hi, everyone! Julie Maxwell just let me know that she released the song featured in When the Darkness comes on iTunes! For those interested, here it is: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/mars-landscap

Mar 05, 2019
Patch 1.16d - Breathe level and launch warnings

Hi, everyone! Patch 1.16d is very minor, but thought I'd push it before going to sleep. Changed up the Breathe level (Chapter X) in the second playthrough. Lengthened the game's launch warnings to hop

Games like When the Darkness comes

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

The Beginner's Guide The Beginner's Guide 88.2% · 18,116 reviews shares Philosophical, Psychological, Narration, Emotional Layers of Fear 2 (2019) Layers of Fear 2 (2019) 70.7% · 911 reviews shares Psychological, Surreal, Walking Simulator, Choices Matter The Stanley Parable The Stanley Parable 92.3% · 32,065 reviews shares Dynamic Narration, Psychological, Narration, Surreal my eyes deceive my eyes deceive 74.8% · 544 reviews shares Psychological, Narration, Emotional, Choices Matter What Remains of Edith Finch What Remains of Edith Finch 94.3% · 19,250 reviews shares Narration, Emotional, Walking Simulator, Dark KARMA: The Dark World KARMA: The Dark World 90.5% · 862 reviews shares Philosophical, Psychological, Emotional, Walking Simulator Hello Charlotte EP3: Childhood's End Hello Charlotte EP3: Childhood's End 98.4% · 1,189 reviews shares Philosophical, Psychological, Surreal, Choices Matter [Chilla's Art] The Convenience Store | 夜勤事件 [Chilla's Art] The Convenience Store | 夜勤事件 83.7% · 1,931 reviews shares Psychological, Narration, Surreal, Walking Simulator

Screenshots

Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.

Facts & details

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

GenresAdventure, Free To Play, Indie
Player tagsPsychological Horror · Free to Play · Walking Simulator · Indie · First-Person · Horror · Dynamic Narration · Narration · Adventure · Atmospheric · Dark · Story Rich (SteamSpy community voting)
FeaturesSingle-player · Steam Achievements
LanguagesEnglish * *
Achievements32
Estimated owners200,000 – 500,000 (SteamSpy)
Official sitehttp://www.sirhaian.net/games/sheet.php?p=when_the_darkness_comes
Minimum system requirements (PC)

Minimum: OS *: Windows 7 Processor: Intel Core i5-3xxx Memory: 2 GB RAM Graphics: Nvidia Geforce 970 DirectX: Version 10 Storage: 550 MB available space