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X-COM: UFO Defense
You are in control of X-COM: an organization formed by the world's governments to fight the ever-increasing alien menace.
In short, Steam reviewers most often praise “deep tactical strategy” (22 of 74 reviews) and “repeated play and strategic variety” (8); the most common complaint is “punishing unfair challenge” (9). What reviewers agree on ↓
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Score via Steam as of 2026-09-26 · quoted reviews as of 2026-05-12.
What reviewers agree on
22 of the 74 reviews raise this.
“If you fight the urge to savescum and embrace your soldiers are going to die this game is incredibly tense and satisfying. Very slow game but if you have the patience like me it's the best tactical game you'll ever play.”
“This is a real old school classic. Once you get over a bit rough start, it is a blast. Newer incarnations of the game are more polished, but this one is more fun.”
“One of the best games I've ever played, and one of the hardest. This is the original X-COM and the grandfather of all great turn-based strategy games. The overall strategies and battlefield tactics required will humble…”
8 of the 74 reviews raise this.
“One of the best games I've ever played, and one of the hardest. This is the original X-COM and the grandfather of all great turn-based strategy games. The overall strategies and battlefield tactics required will humble…”
“Despite it's ugly graphics, this is one of the most addictive and enjoyable strategy games of all time. It has it's flaws. Using constant saves, I am able to keep my squad members alive. Often I do missions with only 4…”
“I found great series of reviews in old Polish Gambler magazines: First, in the news they wrote that the game looks somewhat interesting. This was followed by the guy in charge of reviewing playing obsessively until he…”
6 of the 74 reviews raise this.
“If you fight the urge to savescum and embrace your soldiers are going to die this game is incredibly tense and satisfying. Very slow game but if you have the patience like me it's the best tactical game you'll ever play.”
“One of the best games I've ever played, and one of the hardest. This is the original X-COM and the grandfather of all great turn-based strategy games. The overall strategies and battlefield tactics required will humble…”
3 of the 74 reviews raise this.
“One of my favorite games, up there with Star Control 2 and Planescape: Torment. AI put it well: "If X‑COM had fixed cameras and a flashlight, no one would question its genre." What was meant is that its genre is…”
“UFO: Enemy Unknown (or X-COM: UFO Defense in North America) was released in 1994. It is a complex, very enjoyable turn-based sci-fi tactical game with strategic management elements, where you must defend Earth against…”
9 of the 74 reviews raise this · 6 of them still recommend the game.
4 of the 74 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“I'm a retro games fan, and I have a high tolerance for even the oldest and ugliest ancient pixelated games out there, I even have a dedicated retro gaming machine. But this for me is unplayable because of a few game…”
“One of my favorite games, up there with Star Control 2 and Planescape: Torment. AI put it well: "If X‑COM had fixed cameras and a flashlight, no one would question its genre." What was meant is that its genre is…”
4 of the 74 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“I'm a retro games fan, and I have a high tolerance for even the oldest and ugliest ancient pixelated games out there, I even have a dedicated retro gaming machine. But this for me is unplayable because of a few game…”
3 of the 74 reviews raise this.
“Old, obtuse - not fun.”
Counted across 74 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 95.0% positive rating · as of 2026-05-12
“Defend the Earth from extraterrestrials so our governments can keep us enslaved and fighting amongst ourselves. WW3 ain't gonna start itself.”
— a player, Steam review · 0 hrs played“X-Com doesn't need any introduction, but you should install Open X-Com before attempting to play. Everything is confusing in this game and Open X-Com brings many QoL updates to UI. The simplest example would be: you build radars to detect UFOs, but there is nothing in the UI…”
— a player, Steam review · 55 hrs played“OpenXcom with mods is one of the hidden gems only truly enlightened gamers know about.”
— a player, Steam review · 421 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live data self-collected from the Steam API · history through 2026-06 via SteamCharts.
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 (2026-10-21). 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.
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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 2026-05-12.
| Genres | Strategy |
| Player tags | Strategy · Classic · Turn-Based Strategy · Sci-fi · Aliens · Turn-Based · Tactical · Singleplayer · Turn-Based Tactics · Difficult · Isometric · Old School (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Family Sharing |
| Languages | English |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Supported OS: Microsoft® 2000/XP/Vista® Processor: 80386 processor or better Memory: 4Mb RAM Sound Cards Supported: AdLib compatible cards, SoundBlaster compatible cards and the Roland LAPC-1.