When does Alan Wake get good?

Give it 10 hours. In the first 2 hours 1 in 5 reviews are negative (22%); after 15h it's 1 in 20 (5%). Fully opens up by hour 15.

How many players finish Alan Wake?

32% of players who start reach the ending.

All games

ActionAdventure

Alan Wake

Feb 16, 2012 Steam: Very Positive

Give it 10 hours

Gets good by 10h then rated almost like by veterans

Fully opens up by 15h rated like by long-time players

Reach the ending 33% of players who started

Started playing 83% of owners

Steam reviews 90% positive of 60,514

What the data shows

In the first 2 hours 1 in 5 reviews are negative (22%); after 15h it's 1 in 20 (5%).
Fully opens up by hour 15.
32% of players who start reach the ending.
The biggest drop-off is between “Follow the Light” (Take a night course of light education) and “Nordic Walking”: from 100% to 68% of starters.
83% of owners got the first achievement.

When it gets good

Share of positive reviews by how many hours the reviewer had played when writing the review.

before it gets good opening up fully opened up

Based on all 60,728 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 299 reviews: 11.5h for positive, 4.5h for negative. Almost every game is rated lower in the first 2–3 hours: that window includes refunds and quick first impressions. What matters is how deep the dip is and how fast the game recovers.

Where players quit

Share of players who started the game and reached each story milestone. 100% is the most common achievement (82.8% of owners), so people who bought the game and never launched it don't count.

Started playing 100%
Follow the Light Take a night course of light education. 100%
Nordic Walking Take a walk through the logging area, meet one of the quirky locals. Most players quit here 68% −32
Bright Falls' Finest Call for help. 68% −1
Under a Thin Layer of Skin Defy the park ranger. 59% −8
Park Ranger Enjoy the sounds and sights of Elderwood National Park. 48% −11
Wheels Within Wheels Meet the kidnapper. 39% −9
Iron Horse Encounter a steam engine. 35% −4
Gatekeeper Cut the power to the transformer yard. 34% −1
The Lady of the Light Discover the secret she guards. 34%
Tornado Wrangler Defeat the tornado. 33% −1
Departure Complete the game on Normal difficulty. 33%

story milestone ending biggest drop-off

Story milestones were labeled by AI from achievement names and descriptions; mistakes are possible.

All achievements (67)

story milestone ending side

Follow the Light Take a night course of light education. 100%
Let There Be Light Get a generator running. 85%
Float Like a Butterfly Perform a cinematic dodge. 79%
Nordic Walking Take a walk through the logging area, meet one of the quirky locals. 68%
Bright Falls' Finest Call for help. 68%
Under a Thin Layer of Skin Defy the park ranger. 59%
Paging Mr. Wake Find 25 manuscript pages. 49%
Park Ranger Enjoy the sounds and sights of Elderwood National Park. 48%
Back! Back, I Say! Save yourself with a flare. 47%
Finders Keepers Discover 5 hidden chests. 47%
Damn Good Cup of Coffee Discover 25 coffee thermoses. 42%
Sound and Fury Kill four Taken with a single flashbang. 41%
They're Heeeeeere! Inanimate objects shouldn't move of their own accord. Put a stop to this affront, oh, say, 20 times. 40%
The Six-Gun Scribe Defeat 100 Taken with the revolver. 40%
Missed by a Mile Perform a cinematic dodge 20 times. 39%
Wheels Within Wheels Meet the kidnapper. 39%
Collateral Carnage Defeat 20 Taken with indirect means. 37%
Two For the Price of One Kill two Taken with a single shotgun blast. 36%
Thunder and Lightning Defeat 50 Taken with flashbang grenades. 36%
Perchance to Dream Take a moment to reflect on past events. 35%
Iron Horse Encounter a steam engine. 35%
It's Not Just a Typewriter Brand Defeat 50 Taken with a shotgun. 35%
Gatekeeper Cut the power to the transformer yard. 34%
The Lady of the Light Discover the secret she guards. 34%
Energized! Use 100 batteries. 33%
Heavy Metal Survive the bulldozer attack. 33%
Tornado Wrangler Defeat the tornado. 33%
Departure Complete the game on Normal difficulty. 33%
Right of Way Drive over 15 Taken. 29%
Come One, Come All Kill four Taken with a single shot from the flaregun. 28%
Hardboiled Writer Complete the game on Hard difficulty. 25%
Boob Tube See what's on TV. 18%
Drink 'Em Both Up Put de lime in de coconut twice. 16%
If It Flies, It Burns Burn 1,000 birds. 16%
KBF-FM Listen to all of the radio shows. 16%
Child of the Elder God Have a rock'n'roll moment without dropping to a low health state. 14%
What Light Through Yonder Window Defeat 50 Taken with the flaregun, the way Shakespeare intended. 13%
Taken Season Defeat 50 Taken with the hunting rifle. 12%
A Friend in Need Special 1: Find someone to help you. 12%
A Friend Indeed Special 1: Follow the signal to its conclusion. 11%
Carny Knock over five can pyramids. 11%
Ding! Special 2: Complete the elevator ride. 11%
Kill Your Darlings Special 2: Defeat the final obstacle between you and your goal. 10%
Medical Opinions Listen to Hartman's recordings. 9.3%
Heartbreaker Special 2: Have some poison poured in your ear. 8.9%
An Idyllic Small Town Make it through ''Night Life in Bright Falls'' in one go without dying or restarting even once. 8.6%
Couch Potato Watch every single TV show. 7.9%
Iron Will Special 2: Survive the final encounter without being seriously hurt. 6.2%
Go Gentle Into That Good Light Special 2: Make it through the approach to the lighthouse without firing a weapon. 5.4%
Words Will Never Harm You Special 1: Trigger all of the furnaces in the basement. 4.2%
Cardboard Companions Special 1: Discover all of the cardboard standees. 4.0%
Picking Up After Yourself Find all of the manuscript pages in Normal mode. 3.7%
License Revoked Special 1: Complete the episode without using a single vehicle. 3.7%
Alan, Wake Up Complete the game on Nightmare difficulty. 3.6%
Meet the Deadline In ''Mirror Peak,'' make it from the Coal Mine Museum to Cauldron Lake in 30 minutes. 3.5%
Gunless Wonder Make it to Cauldron Lake without firing a single shot in ''On the Road to Cauldron Lake.'' 3.5%
Every Nook and Cranny Discover all of the hidden chests. 3.5%
Bright Falls Aficionado Absorb every bit of local history and culture. 3.4%
Fast and Furious Special 1: Make it through the final battle in less than 1 minute and 30 seconds. 3.4%
Tick Tock Special 1: Discover 10 hidden alarm clocks. 3.4%
Whirlwind Special 2: Make your way past the tornado in under 60 seconds. 3.4%
Creative Space Special 2: Discover the secret area. 3.4%
Hypercaffeinated Discover all coffee thermoses. 3.3%
Licensed Properties Special 2: Discover 10 Night Springs video games. 3.3%
Collector's Edition Find all of the manuscript pages in the game, including the ones in Nightmare mode. 3.1%
Run-On Sentence Special 1: Complete the episode without reloading the game or restarting a checkpoint. 3.1%
No Punctuation Special 2: Complete the episode without reloading the game or restarting a checkpoint. 2.9%

Steam page Updated: 2026-10-18.