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You Have to Win the Game

You Have to Win the Game

You Have to Win the Game is a free exploration platformer with a retro 1980s PC aesthetic.

Released May 6, 2014 Developer Minor Key Games Platforms Windows · Mac · Linux MetroidvaniaFree to PlayRetroPlatformerIndie
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.

92.9%positive5,675 reviews
Recommended · 3 found this helpful

“Best platformer Ive ever played, recommend getting high for this one, as if youre not a platformer player.. youre gonna have a tough one.. 7.8/10 (kinda buggy)”

— a player, Steam review · 6 hrs played
Recommended · 0 found this helpful

“Really nice and fun game. Just keep in mind that if you press up or down when running you speed goes down.”

— a player, Steam review · 4 hrs played
Recommended · 0 found this helpful

“A charming little metroidvania with fun, tight controls that has some tough platforming and "bullet hell" sections. An in-game map would have been extremely useful as navigating the many screens can get quite confusing. You really have to memorize this one or you'll find…”

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

Player activity

Monthly average concurrent players. Live count fetched 2026-07-11 12:10 UTC · history via SteamCharts.

2playing at last check
724-hour peak
578all-time peak
0 100 200 2015 2017 2019 2021 2023 2025 141 avg · May 2014

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.

15achievements
11.3%median completion
0.8%rarest: If Our Eyes Aren't Real
94.4% of players 56.8% of players 41.6% of players 28.9% of players 26.9% of players 18.4% of players 16.3% of players 11.3% of players 6.8% of players 5.6% of players 5.1% of players 3.3% of players 2.8% of players 2.5% of players 0.8% of players 94.4% 0% most earned rarest
Almost everyone has
94.4%First of Many — Died once.
56.8%Kind of Blue — Acquired the Cerulean Aura.
41.6%Rouge-like — Acquired the Crimson Aura.
Rarest badges of honor
0.8%If Our Eyes Aren't Real — Hidden achievement
2.5%#yolo #swag #nbd — Won the game while wearing sunglasses.
2.8%Nap Time — Won the game as a cat.

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.

May 06, 2022
It's been ten years, ya'll,

!dehsilbup neeb sah etadpu na

Dec 20, 2018
❄ Winter Sale 2018 ❄

It's time once again for the Steam Winter Sale, and the Minor Key Games catalog is heavily discounted! Eldritch: 90% off! Super Win the Game: 80% off! NEON STRUCT: 90% off! Gunmetal Arcadia Zero: 50%

Nov 25, 2016
itch.io launch and Steam keys for account ownership

Hi y'all, I've had a few requests over the years for a way to bind You Have to Win the Game to your account so it will still appear in your library when uninstalled. Steam doesn't normally support thi

Nov 25, 2016
itch.io launch and Steam keys for account ownership

Hi y'all, I've had a few requests over the years for a way to bind You Have to Win the Game to your account so it will still appear in your library when uninstalled. Steam doesn't normally support thi

Nov 15, 2016
Gunmetal Arcadia Zero now on Steam

If you've enjoyed You Have to Win the Game, you may be interested to know that the latest in my series of retro-CRT-sim games, Gunmetal Arcadia Zero, is now available on Steam: http://store.steampower

Games like You Have to Win the Game

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

La-Mulana La-Mulana 81.2% · 1,857 reviews shares Metroidvania, Classic, Side Scroller, Great Soundtrack Gato Roboto Gato Roboto 94.4% · 2,600 reviews shares Metroidvania, Side Scroller, Great Soundtrack, Open World Lone Fungus Lone Fungus 84.2% · 860 reviews shares Metroidvania, Precision Platformer, Side Scroller, Old School Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 93.0% · 2,447 reviews shares Metroidvania, Classic, Side Scroller, Great Soundtrack VVVVVV VVVVVV 96.3% · 7,272 reviews shares Metroidvania, Precision Platformer, Great Soundtrack, Open World Kero Blaster Kero Blaster 94.7% · 1,023 reviews shares Classic, Side Scroller, Great Soundtrack, Difficult METAL SLUG X METAL SLUG X 85.6% · 1,213 reviews shares Classic, Side Scroller, Old School, Great Soundtrack Unbound: Worlds Apart Unbound: Worlds Apart 85.4% · 693 reviews shares Metroidvania, Precision Platformer, Side Scroller, Open World

Screenshots

Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.

Facts & details

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

GenresAction, Indie
Player tagsMetroidvania · Free to Play · Retro · Platformer · Indie · 2D · Pixel Graphics · Difficult · Singleplayer · Precision Platformer · Action · Adventure (SteamSpy community voting)
FeaturesSingle-player · Steam Achievements · Full controller support · Steam Cloud · Stats
LanguagesEnglish
ControllerFull support
Achievements15
Estimated owners200,000 – 500,000 (SteamSpy)
Official sitehttp://www.piratehearts.com/blog/games/you-have-to-win-the-game/
Minimum system requirements (PC)

Minimum: OS *: Windows XP SP2 DirectX: Version 9.0c Storage: 20 MB available space Additional Notes: 32-bit executable