When does The Red Stare get good?

Hooks you almost right away. In the first 2 hours 1 in 6 reviews are negative (16%); after 3h it's 1 in 6 (16%). The opening is criticised less than in 81% of games we track.

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ActionFree To PlayIndie

The Red Stare

Jul 31, 2017 Steam: Very Positive

Hooks you almost right away

Gets good by 1h almost every game dips in hours 2–3

Started playing 33% of owners

Steam reviews 88% positive of 476

What the data shows

In the first 2 hours 1 in 6 reviews are negative (16%); after 3h it's 1 in 6 (16%).
The opening is criticised less than in 81% of games we track.
Only 33% 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 480 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 300 reviews: 1.3h for positive, 0.4h 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 (32.9% 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 (17)

Voyeurism Photograph the same suspect in their apartment 5 times 100%
She's a keeper Keep Karla alive after assignment 3 52%
Dinner Time! Get yourself some pizza! 36%
No, you hang up first... Hang up on your boss too many times 31%
Speedy Spy Complete Mission R in under 45 minutes 31%
Helping the Motherland Complete Mission R with the 'Bad Ending' 25%
Lifesaver Complete Mission L 22%
Late Night Stake-Out Start or Continue your investigation between 0100 and 0500 hours in the morning 21%
That's another Hitchcock movie! Photograph a bird and fax it 21%
Certified Secret Agent Complete Mission R with the 'Good Ending' 15%
It's healthy, right? (disclaimer: not really) Light and Smoke 10 cigarettes at the same time 14%
I can stop whenever I want! Take 100 cigarettes out of the cigarette box 9.7%
A Good Neighbour is Worth More than... Photograph every neighbour you are observing during Mission R and Mission L 8.5%
Make the boss proud Complete Mission R with the 'Good Ending', and impress your boss 7.6%
Endless Calling Call the DeskFax number twice and listen to his story till the end 6.4%
Sloppy agent Do an incredibly poor job completing mission R 6.1%
Is it a--- no really... what is that? Photograph the mysterious man on the train 5.8%

Steam page Updated: 2026-10-21.