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Xenonauts
Xenonauts is a strategy game in which you control a multi-national military organisation defending a Cold War-era Earth from alien invasion, using small squads of persistent soldiers to eliminate the extraterrestrials and recover their technology in turn-based ground combat.
In short, Steam reviewers most often praise “Tactical combat and strategic freedom” (19 of 81 reviews) and “Brutal but rewarding campaigns” (11); the most common complaint is “Repetitive, frustrating tactical combat” (19). 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 2026-10-22 · quoted reviews as of 2026-05-12.
What reviewers agree on
19 of the 81 reviews raise this.
“Heavily inspired by the original X-Com from the 1990's, similarly fun and frustrating at the same time. Worth playing at least once, be a hero against overwhelming odds defending mankind from xeno genocide”
11 of the 81 reviews raise this.
“After sinking dozens of hours into Xenonauts, I can confidently say it's the most faithful spiritual successor to classic X-COM ever made — if you want that brutal Cold War alien-defense experience without the…”
“A tough, old-school alien invasion campaign with real teeth. If you miss the classic X-COM vibe—soldiers with names, panic missions, permadeath, and that constant “we’re barely holding it together” pressure—Xenonauts…”
9 of the 81 reviews raise this.
“Xenonauts attempts to capture the magic of the original but often ends up feeling like a sterile military spreadsheet rather than a tense tactical thriller. While the Cold War aesthetic is solid, the gameplay is defined…”
“A tough, old-school alien invasion campaign with real teeth. If you miss the classic X-COM vibe—soldiers with names, panic missions, permadeath, and that constant “we’re barely holding it together” pressure—Xenonauts…”
4 of the 81 reviews raise this.
“I really enjoy this game, and I also really enjoy the mod options for the game as well. I am more of a casual player but regardless of that, playing this has been hella fun. I hope that Xenonauts 2 will be just as good…”
“Tense, squad level combat. Turn Based. Tech tree to research and improve your weapons, armor, and bases. High degree of playability.”
“Just a good time. The mods make it even better. Lots of vehicle mods to add flavor. Weapons mods for different countries. The possibilities are endless. Worth it at any price.”
3 of the 81 reviews raise this.
19 of the 81 reviews raise this · 11 of them still recommend the game.
“It suffers from the same "Alpha Strike" issue as all IGOUGO game systems, where you can have a bunch of your dudes wiped out in a single turn because you have to waste your first turn moving to a place where you can see…”
6 of the 81 reviews raise this · 4 of them still recommend the game.
“It suffers from the same "Alpha Strike" issue as all IGOUGO game systems, where you can have a bunch of your dudes wiped out in a single turn because you have to waste your first turn moving to a place where you can see…”
“A fun indie game. It is a big hard to get started, but once you get the rythem its fun”
5 of the 81 reviews raise this · 2 of them still recommend the game.
“game is an ux hell.. like at the first mission my soldier got bleeding and it got an icon in its card. but there isn't even a tooltip to say wtf is bleeding and what does it do? no tooltip or info on enemies either. I…”
“56 hrs ingame, tried it 2x. The game has some problems. The worst for me is the troop selection. In one menu, you have to select what troops on what dropship. In another menu, you have to select the items. But often the…”
4 of the 81 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“56 hrs ingame, tried it 2x. The game has some problems. The worst for me is the troop selection. In one menu, you have to select what troops on what dropship. In another menu, you have to select the items. But often the…”
3 of the 81 reviews raise this · 2 of them still recommend the game.
Counted across 81 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 86.7% positive rating · as of 2026-05-12
“In brief: highly competent remake of Gollop's X-COM with solid community mod support. An understated classic, though probably too old-school for the younger generation. Way back in 1994, an up-and-coming game designer named Julian Gollop led the independent Mythos Games studio…”
— a player, Steam review · 392 hrs played“Rock hard and unforgiving, but you want a challange...right??”
— a player, Steam review · 15 hrs played“Solid game, playing it again to completion before checking out Xenonaughts 2”
— a player, Steam review · 103 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 (2026-10-22). 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.
Launcher Update
Hello everyone - today's update is just a minor update that shouldn't affect gameplay in any way! As Xenonauts 2 will be launching into Early Access in the next couple of months, we've just replaced t
Xenonauts-2 Kickstarter: 72 hours left!
Another quick update to let everyone know that the Kickstarter for Xenonauts-2 has entered its final three days. You can see it here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/69341191/xenonauts-2-strategi
Xenonauts-2 Kickstarter is live!
If you played and enjoyed the original Xenonauts, you may be interested to know that the Kickstarter for the sequel Xenonauts-2 has now gone live: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/69341191/xenonau
Cloud Saves & Xenonauts: Community Edition
Two things to discuss in this announcement - cloud saves and the Community Edition of Xenonauts. We've now enabled cloud saves for Xenonauts. Steam should save your save games and you should now be ab
Cloud Saves & Xenonauts: Community Edition
Two things to discuss in this announcement - cloud saves and the Community Edition of Xenonauts. We've now enabled cloud saves for Xenonauts. Steam should save your save games and you should now be ab
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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 | Indie, Simulation, Strategy |
| Player tags | Turn-Based Strategy · Turn-Based Tactics · Turn-Based Combat · Base-Building · Grand Strategy · Management · Singleplayer · Strategy · Tactical · Aliens · Sci-fi · Indie (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Steam Trading Cards · Family Sharing |
| Languages | English * * |
| Official site | http://www.xenonauts.com |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: OS *: Windows 8 / 7 SP1 / Vista SP2 Processor: Intel 2 GHz Memory: 1 GB RAM Graphics: Integrated Graphics Hard Drive: 3 GB HD space Sound: Integrated Monitor: 1280x720 pixels minimum