When does FTL: Faster Than Light get good?

Give it 10 hours. In the first 2 hours 1 in 5 reviews are negative (19%); after 20h it's 1 in 35 (3%). Fully opens up by hour 20.

All games

IndieSimulationStrategy

FTL: Faster Than Light

Sep 14, 2012 Steam: Overwhelmingly Positive

Give it 10 hours

Gets good by 10h then rated almost like by veterans

Fully opens up by 20h rated like by long-time players

Started playing 45% of owners

Steam reviews 95% positive of 79,018

What the data shows

In the first 2 hours 1 in 5 reviews are negative (19%); after 20h it's 1 in 35 (3%).
Fully opens up by hour 20.
The opening is criticised less than in 76% of games we track.
The game has no story achievements, so drop-off points can't be measured.
Only 45% of owners have even the first achievement — the rest barely played.

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 79,222 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 299 reviews: 32.8h for positive, 10.2h 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 (45% of owners), so people who bought the game and never launched it don't count.

This game has no story achievements, so we can't tell where players quit.

All achievements (51)

story milestone ending side

Just Getting Started Get to sector 5. 100%
Federation Base in Range Get to sector 8. 86%
Technophobia Get to sector 8 without using drones. 72%
No Redshirts Here Get to sector 8 without losing a crewmember. 71%
Rule Ten: Greed is Eternal Collect 10,000 scrap across all games. 66%
Ballistophobia Get to sector 8 without using missiles/bombs. 63%
I hardly lifted a finger With the Engi Cruiser, destroy an enemy ship using only drones (no weapons). 59%
Federation Victory (Easy) Beat the boss on Easy. 58%
Robotic Warfare With the Engi Cruiser, have 3 drones functioning at the same time. 53%
Full Arsenal Have 11 systems installed on the Kestrel Cruiser at one time. 52%
On a Wing and a Prayer Get to sector 5 without repairing at a store. 50%
Shields Holding Destroy a ship before it gets through the Zoltan Shield. 50%
Victory through Asphyxiation Empty the oxygen (Net level less than 5 percent) of a non-automated, hostile enemy ship. 46%
The guns... They've stopped Have 4 enemy systems or subsystems ioned at the same time while using the Engi Cruiser. 46%
Slice and Dice Hit every room of a ship with at least one beam in under 5 seconds. 45%
Tough Little Ship As the Kestrel Cruiser, repair back to full health when it only has 1 HP remaining. 40%
Master of Patience Use only the Artillery Beam to destroy an enemy ship while taking no hull damage. 39%
Artillery Mastery Get to sector 5 in the Federation Cruiser without upgrading your Weapons system. 38%
The United Federation Have six unique aliens on the Kestrel Cruiser simultaneously. 36%
Astronomically Low Odds Fail to evade 5 shots in a row with a fully powered and upgraded engine. 33%
They never saw it coming Use the Weapon Pre-Igniter augmentation to destroy an enemy ship in one volley before the enemy can get a single shot off. 28%
Avast, ye scurvy dogs! Kill 5 enemy crew in a fight without taking hull damage or losing a crewmember while using the Mantis Cruiser. 28%
Trustworthy Auto-Pilot Defeat an enemy ship with all of your crew aboard it. 27%
Warlord Defeat 1000 ships across all playthroughs. 26%
Manpower Get to sector 5 without upgrading your reactor in the Zoltan Cruiser. 26%
Take no prisoners! Kill the crew of 20 ships by sector 6 in the Mantis Cruiser. 26%
I don't need no stinkin' upgrades! Get to sector 5 with no system/reactor upgrades. 24%
Federation Victory (Normal) Beat the boss on Normal. 23%
Givin' her all she's got, Captain! With the Zoltan Cruiser, have 29 power in systems at the same time. 22%
Diplomatic Immunity While using the Federation Cruiser, use your crew in 4 special blue event choices by sector 5. 22%
Defense Drones Don't Do D'anything! While using the Rock Cruiser, destroy an enemy ship which has a defense drone deployed using only missiles. 21%
Bird of Prey Destroy a ship at full health during a single cloak in the Stealth Cruiser. 21%
Advanced Mastery Have Hacking, Mind Control and the Battery active at once. 20%
Tactical Approach With the Stealth Cruiser, get to sector 8 without jumping to a beacon with an environmental danger. 20%
Some people just like to watch ships burn Have every square of an enemy ship on fire simultaneously. 19%
Home Sweet Home Jump to 30 nebula locations before sector 8. 19%
Scrap Hoarder Have at least 600 scrap in your ship storage. 18%
Phase Shift With the Stealth Cruiser, avoid 9 points of damage during a single cloak. 18%
Disintegration Ray While using the Slug Cruiser, kill 3 enemy crewmembers with one shot from the Anti-Bio Beam. 18%
Battle Royale While using the Mantis Cruiser, kill the last enemy with your last crewmember on their ship. 17%
Is it warm in here? Have your crew kill a burning enemy on their ship while using the Rock Cruiser. 17%
We're in Position! While using the Slug Cruiser, have vision of every room of the enemy ship without functioning sensors. 15%
Your Own Fleet Unlock the Type A layout for every playable ship. 14%
Sweet Revenge Destroy an enemy ship with a shard from the Crystal Vengeance augment (unique to the Crystal Cruiser). 12%
Loss of Cabin Pressure Get to sector 8 without your ship's net oxygen levels exceeding 20 percent (starts after the first jump). 12%
No Escape While using the Crystal Cruiser, trap 4 enemy crew in a single room using the Crystal Being power or a Lockdown Bomb. 12%
Ancestry Find the secret sector with the Rock Cruiser. 9.1%
Coming in for my Pacifism run! Get to sector 5 without firing a shot, using an offensive drone, or teleporting. 7.8%
BOARDING OBJECTIVE SUCCESSFUL Have a single boarding drone kill 4 crewmembers on one ship. 6.2%
Living off the Land Get to sector 8 without buying at a store (Repairs are ok). 6.0%
Clash of the Titans Destroy 10 Rock Ships (pirates count) using the Crystal Cruiser. 5.8%

Steam page Updated: 2026-10-18.