When does SimplePlanes get good?

Give it 3 hours. In the first 2 hours 1 in 3 reviews are negative (39%); after 15h it's 1 in 45 (2%). Fully opens up by hour 7.

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IndieSimulation

SimplePlanes

Dec 17, 2015 Steam: Very Positive

Give it 3 hours

Gets good by 3h almost every game dips in hours 2–3

Fully opens up by 7h rated like by long-time players

Started playing 55% of owners

Steam reviews 93% positive of 10,935

What the data shows

In the first 2 hours 1 in 3 reviews are negative (39%); after 15h it's 1 in 45 (2%).
Fully opens up by hour 7.
The game has no story achievements, so drop-off points can't be measured.
Only 55% 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 10,963 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 294 reviews: 14h for positive, 4.7h 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 (55% 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 (72)

story milestone ending side

Test Pilot Download a plane from SimplePlanes.com. 100%
Hair On Fire Reach a speed of Mach 2 or beyond (1,522 miles per hour). 74%
They Got Us Damage your plane with your own guns. 55%
Pilot's License Complete all tutorial and training exercises. 48%
Ace Defeat at least 5 opponents in dogfights. 27%
Short Takeoff Successfully complete the 'Short Takeoff' challenge. 24%
Carrier Landing Successfully complete the 'Carrier Landing' challenge. 20%
Max Ground Speed Successfully complete the 'Max Ground Speed' challenge. 17%
Gun Training Successfully complete the 'Gun Training' combat exercise. 15%
Dogfighter Successfully complete the 'WW2 Dogfight' combat mission. 15%
Crosswind Landing Successfully complete the 'Crosswind Landing' challenge. 14%
Cheater You know what you did... 14%
Ocean Speedway Win against the AI opponent in the 'Ocean Speedway' race. 13%
Short Landing Successfully complete the 'Short Landing' challenge. 12%
Going the Distance Successfully complete the 'Going The Distance' challenge. 11%
BridgeBasher Successfully complete the 'Bridge Demolition' combat mission. 10%
Convoy Assault Successfully complete the 'Convoy Assault' combat mission. 10%
WW2 Torpedo Bomber Successfully complete the 'WW2 Torpedo Bomber' combat mission. 9.1%
It's Complicated Build something consisting of at least 50 unique parts. 8.9%
Missile Training Successfully complete the 'Missile Training' combat exercise. 8.7%
Contributer Upload a plane to SimplePlanes.com. 8.2%
Danger Zone Successfully complete the 'SAM Evasion' challenge. 7.8%
Airstrip Drag Win against the AI opponent in the 'Airstrip Drag' race. 6.7%
Rocket Training Successfully complete the 'Rocket Training' combat exercise. 6.5%
Riding Dirty Win against the AI opponent in the 'Riding Dirty' race. 6.4%
Typhoon Circuit Win against the AI opponent in the 'Typhoon Circuit' race. 6.0%
Bomb Training Successfully complete the 'Bomb Training' combat exercise. 5.8%
Guardian Successfully complete the 'Bomber Escort' combat mission. 5.5%
Gold Prix Win against the AI opponent in the 'Gold Prix' race. 4.7%
Combat Ready Successfully complete bomb, gun, missile, and rocket training. 4.4%
Bandit Run Win against the AI opponent in the 'Bandit Run' race. 4.4%
Eagle Pass Win against the AI opponent in the 'Eagle Pass' race. 4.2%
LunarArc Win against the AI opponent in the 'Lunar Arc' race. 4.2%
Daredevil Win against the AI opponent in the 'Daredevil' race. 4.0%
Shark Tooth Win against the AI opponent in the 'Shark Tooth' race. 4.0%
Trench Run Win against the AI opponent in the 'Trench Run' race. 3.8%
The Dragon Win against the AI opponent in the 'The Dragon' race. 3.1%
Indy Air Race Win against the AI opponent in the 'Indy Air Race' race. 3.1%
Dust Devil Descent Win against the AI opponent in the 'Dust Devil Descent' race. 3.1%
Yeti Scramble Win against the AI opponent in the 'Yeti Scramble' race. 2.9%
Featherfall Squall Win against the AI opponent in the 'Featherfall Squall' race. 2.9%
Sandsift Drift Win against the AI opponent in the 'Sandsift Drift' race. 2.9%
Loopty Loop O Win against the AI opponent in the 'Loopty Loop O' race. 2.9%
Snow Crawl Win against the AI opponent in the 'Snow Crawl' race. 2.9%
Stealthy Complete the 'Bridge Demolition' combat mission without drawing the attention of the anti-aircraft tanks. 2.7%
Riding Dirty Expert Successfully complete the 'Riding Dirty' race in under 95 seconds. 2.5%
Typhoon Circuit Expert Successfully complete the 'Typhoon Circuit' race in under 3:15. 2.5%
Motor Mirage Win against the AI opponent in the 'Motor Mirage' race. 2.5%
Airstrip Drag Expert Successfully complete the 'Airstrip Drag' race in under 75 seconds. 2.4%
Eagle Pass Expert Successfully complete the 'Eagle Pass' race in under 5:00. 2.4%
Gold Prix Expert Successfully complete the 'Gold Prix' race in under 65 seconds. 2.2%
Ocean Speedway Expert Successfully complete the 'Ocean Speedway' race in under 1:50. 2.0%
Bullseye Score a perfect bullseye (within 10 feet) in the 'Bomb Training' combat exercise. 1.8%
Gun Expert Destroy at least 15 drones in the 'Gun Training' combat exercise. 1.8%
Missile Expert Destroy at least 12 targets in the 'Missile Training' combat exercise. 1.8%
Rocket Expert Destroy at least 10 tanks in the 'Rocket Training' combat exercise. 1.8%
Featherfall Squall Expert Successfully complete the 'Featherfall Squall' race in under 0:45. 1.8%
Daredevil Expert Successfully complete the 'Daredevil' race in under 1:50. 1.8%
Bandit Run Expert Successfully complete the 'Bandit Run' race in under 2:40. 1.8%
Bomb Expert Score at least 600 points in the 'Bomb Training' combat exercise. 1.6%
The Dragon Expert Successfully complete the 'The Dragon' race in under 2:00. 1.6%
Yeti Scramble Expert Successfully complete the 'Yeti Scramble' race in under 2:15. 1.6%
Lunar Arc Expert Successfully complete the 'Lunar Arc' race in under 0:45. 1.6%
Shark Tooth Expert Successfully complete the 'Shark Tooth' race in under 2:00. 1.6%
Trench Run Expert Successfully complete the 'Trench Run' race in under 2:30. 1.6%
Snow Crawl Expert Successfully complete the 'Snow Crawl' race in under 120 seconds. 1.6%
Dust Devil Descent Expert Successfully complete the 'Dust Devil Descent' race in under 1:25. 1.6%
Ace of Aces Defeat at least 352 opponents in dogfights. 1.5%
Sandsift Drift Expert Successfully complete the 'Sandsift Drift' race in under 1:25. 1.5%
Loopty Loop O Expert Successfully complete the 'Loopty Loop O' race in under 0:40. 1.5%
Motor Mirage Expert Successfully complete the 'Motor Mirage' race in under 80 seconds. 1.5%
Indy Air Race Expert Successfully complete the 'Indy Air Race' race in under 70 seconds. 1.5%

Steam page Updated: 2026-10-18.