Styx: Master of Shadows
Give it 10 hours
What the data shows
- In the first 2 hours 1 in 2 reviews are negative (48%); after 20h it's 1 in 13 (8%).
- Fully opens up by hour 20.
- 21% of players who start reach the ending.
- The biggest drop-off is between “Reminiscences” (Finish the introduction) and “Akenash's Atrium” (Finished mission 1): from 86% to 54% of starters.
- Only 50% 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 11,796 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 299 reviews: 21.4h for positive, 9.8h 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 (49.9% of owners), so people who bought the game and never launched it don't count.
- Started playing 100%
- Reminiscences Finish the introduction 86% −14
- Akenash's Atrium Finished mission 1 Most players quit here 54% −31
- Master key Finished mission 2 40% −15
- Deliverance Finished mission 3 33% −6
- The creator Finished mission 4 30% −3
- The architect Finished mission 5 27% −3
- Conflagration Finished mission 6 25% −2
- Renaissance Finished mission 7 21% −3
story milestone ending biggest drop-off
Story milestones were labeled by AI from achievement names and descriptions; mistakes are possible.
All achievements (33)
story milestone ending side
- Born in the shadow Extinguish 30 torches 100%
- Reminiscences Finish the introduction 86%
- Sudden silence… Kill 50 enemies without making noise 64%
- Passkey Unlock 20 doors 61%
- Watch out below! Kill two or more enemies by making a chandelier drop on them 55%
- Akenash's Atrium Finished mission 1 54%
- Wrong turn Kill an enemy with a covered kill 50%
- Indigestion Kill an enemy by poisoning the food 50%
- Outstanding duelist Kill 20 enemies in duel 49%
- Serial killer Eliminate 200 enemies 45%
- Army of clones Create 30 clones 40%
- Master key Finished mission 2 40%
- Expendable Let 15 clones die 37%
- Goblin-tossing Kill an enemy with an aerial kill 35%
- Unquenched thirst Drink 20 vials of amber 35%
- Tidy up your room! No body found during a mission 34%
- Deliverance Finished mission 3 33%
- The creator Finished mission 4 30%
- Sticky-fingered Pick pocket 15 guards 30%
- The architect Finished mission 5 27%
- Sharpshooter Kill more than 40 guards with throwing knives 27%
- Goblin snack Give an orc one of your clones to eat 27%
- Conflagration Finished mission 6 25%
- Renaissance Finished mission 7 21%
- Dodge this Kill an enemy who was bound by a clone 19%
- Suicide mission Eliminate a guard with a booby trapped clone 15%
- Dose of his own medicine Kill a torturer in a duel 14%
- My precious Gather all the treasures 8.6%
- Pretentious Do not use any item during a mission 8.0%
- Music Lover You looked at the World Tree a bit too long... 7.4%
- Great power... Unlock all skills 7.2%
- Like looking through a wall Manage to disable three guards, or more, inside a clone's smoke bomb 6.4%
- Unseen, unknown Unlock the Insignia of the Shadow for each mission 5.6%