When does CRYPTARK get good?

Give it 4 hours. In the first 2 hours almost 1 in 3 reviews are negative (29%); after 15h it's 1 in 25 (4%). Fully opens up by hour 15.

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ActionAdventureIndieStrategy

CRYPTARK

Jun 20, 2017 Steam: Very Positive

Give it 4 hours

Gets good by 4h then rated almost like by veterans

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

Started playing 11% of owners

Steam reviews 82% positive of 1,957

What the data shows

In the first 2 hours almost 1 in 3 reviews are negative (29%); after 15h it's 1 in 25 (4%).
Fully opens up by hour 15.
Only 11% 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 1,972 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 63 reviews: 13.3h for positive, 3.3h 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 (11.1% of owners), so people who bought the game and never launched it don't count.

Story milestones aren't labeled yet; all achievements are listed below.

All achievements (27)

Processed Ore Appears in +4 level ships. Keep Repair system. 100%
Assimilated Outsider Appears in Rogue level 1 96%
Cybernetic Prosthetic Appears in any ship class. Keep Nuclear Defense system. 96%
Alien Artwork Appears in any class. Keep the Shuffle system intact. 86%
Exploratory Probe Appears in any ship class. Keep Jammer system. 83%
Ancient Support Strut Appears in Stockade. Destroy Sentry systems. 78%
Reclamation Grinder Appears in Rogue level 2 76%
Exhausted Fuel Rod Appears at end of Campaign. 61%
Fossilized Skeletal Remains Appears in level 5+ ships. Keep Drone Armouring system. 59%
Collection of Alien Skulls Appears in level 4+ Factory ships. Keep Factory systems. 59%
Scarred Armour Plate Appears in Miner-class ships level 3+. Kill 5 Juggernauts. 56%
Residual Fungus Appears in Rogue level 3 54%
Artificial Intelligence Chip Appears in Rogue level 3 53%
Stasis Fluid Sample Appears in Cryptark. Destroy all systems. 52%
Auto-Nav Log Requires Probe artifact to appear. Appears in level 4+ ships. Max hull of 3. 46%
Star Map Fragment Appears in level 2-3 Warship ships. Max loadout of 35k. 46%
Assimilated Outsider Appears in Rogue level 4. Requires Outsider Remains artifact 44%
Fleet Manifest Appears at end of Rogue Mode 43%
Engine Components Appears in Colony Ark level 4+ ships. No repair kits. 41%
Hardwired Operator Appears in Rogue level 4 41%
K-Fox the Outrider Appears in Rogue level 4 41%
Teleportation Array Appears in Rogue level 5 41%
Religious Icon Requires Cybernetic Prosthetic. Appears in level 5+ ships. Max loadout of 60k. 39%
Live Alien Specimen The final artifact. Found in Cryptark Excavation. 38%
Alloy Core Samples Requires star map to appear. Appears in level 3-5 ships. Max loadout of 15. 37%
Core Cerebral Tissue Appears in Rogue level 4. Requires AI Chip artifact. 37%
Cortex Wave Scan Appears in Rogue level 5 32%

Steam page Updated: 2026-10-19.