868-BACK: steam reviews

Back in the heyday of the 2010s there used to be people who were paid to play videogames and write about them. Entire websites were dedicated to listing these "reviews". Some would even assign a numeric score to each game, and then - I know this sounds weird but I was there and I swear it's true - there was a site called Megacritic that would display the average of these numbers as though it meant something! Unfortunately this profession has gone the way of the farrier and the spargelblancher, and now we rely solely on the Steam Users to understand whether a game is any good.

To assist you in navigating this complex and uncharted world of modern videogames, I've gathered together a few common themes from the reviews that have been granted my game 868-BACK. I think it might help to shine some light on the situation. By the way, if you look closely at where I wrote 868-BACK you will see that it is coloured orange: this means that you can click it with your mouse pointer to take you directly to a shop where you can purchase the game for your personal use. Please do so at the first opportunity.

Here is another piece of orange text: 868-BACK Steam reviews. This one will take you to a very tall page where you can read all of the writing quoted here in full.

Without further ado, here are the facts that I believe can be deduced from these reviews, with supporting quotes:

This game is quite good.

• "This is, no hyperbole, the best video game ever made." - Personman
• "868-BACK is the best roguelike ever made." - jonah.ostroff
• "Potentially best roguelike I've ever played. " - Zenryoku
• "Hands down one of the best indie games out there" - Shakerbaby
• "a once-in-a-decade strategy experience." - drewww
• "GOTY 2026" - tozac
• "One of the best games to come out in the recent years, for sure!" - berandro
• "without doubt one of the greatest video games I've ever played" - Aiwass
• "40 hours in, i'm thinking it belongs in that sacred tier of roguelikes, with the spelunkys, spires, noitas, quds, etc" - goldee
• "This is not only the greatest roguelike I've ever played, but one of the best games I've ever played, period. Seriously, this game is a masterpiece of the highest tier. Stuff this good comes along like once a decade." - Misery
• "This is one of the greatest roguelikes I've ever played. Period." - Jakey Snakey
• "An absolute triumph. Richly thematic, terrifically compelling, impossibly deep. If you like turn-based tactical games or roguelikes, it doesn't get better than this." - avianism
• "Unbelievably good." - shiftyarmx
• "this is one of the best designed games I've ever played" - Gandalf
• "GOTY an it's not even close." - Tea Party Crasher
• "Best modern interpretation of cyberpunk AND best modern roguelike." - Kalir
• "It's truly an astounding game. The music haunts my dreams. The story is surprisingly affecting for a game I expected literally 0 story from. I implore you to get it." - Tome
• "This is one of the all-time greats already." - Toni

This is something new.

• "Roguelikes have gotten a little rote. 868-BACK is a breath of fresh air with a family of ideas that regularly take my breath away with their unexpectedness, novelty, and subtlety." - drewww
• "It feels like I've never really played a real roguelike before. Like the world knew only checkers, and then someone came and invented chess." - Nozomu
• "The basic layer of the hacking gameplay would be varied and thoughtful enough to carry a game by itself, but the addition of the overarching "campaign" creates a texture and flow unlike anything I've played. Many games exist where you'll play through a long series of missions or battles, broken up by visits to a home base or overworld map where you prepare for the next one; this is the only game I've played where those two layers feel completely inseparable, and where neither is the inferior." - kriptosporidium
• "It's hard to think of another game that's bursting with this many exciting ideas" - metanet_raigan

This is a large and substantial game.

• "this is the densest, richest chocolate cake i've ever tasted. this is the neutron star of game design" - Delta
• "An absurd amount of videogame. " - Sam Barlow
• "I'm blown away by what I've played of 868-BACK so far. The game feels _so much larger_ than anything he's released before." - HarassmentPanda
• "the game feels generous and full of surprises. I've only played a few hours and during each run I've discovered new parts of the game that I didn't know existed. Not sure how long this feeling is going to last, but at the moment I can't say for sure what the game actually is or how deep it goes, and I don't know when I'll know. And I love that!" - MarechalBanane
• "This game has a shocking amount of depth: a vast trove of items with subtle interactions and combos" - sdenton4
• "Simply amazing. A worthy successor to 868-HACK, that does not only expand the concept but adds so many fresh ideas on top of it, it's so ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ insane." - Toni

(In addition to the things they say: many of these reviews show hundreds of hours played! I think it must be true.)

This is challenging but accessible.

• "The very elegant onboarding. The tutorial does not overstay its welcome, voluntarily eludes a lot, only giving you the starting tools and encouraging you to set off and explore the game by yourself, trusting you'll be smart enough to figure it out. It introduces a bit of friction, but a desirable one that spurs curiosity, joyful experimentation and produces empowerment." - MarechalBanane
• "Great game. Easy to pickup, absurd amounts of depth and complexity to discover as you play." - Xcalibur
• "After being scared off by the look of the original 868-HACK for so many years, I must say that this is surprisingly approachable" - lorandbehold
• "This game is hard, but there isn't any burden of knowledge involved. Everything is on the screen in front of you. There's very little, if anything, that you need to memorise or learn other than how to play the game and what you can get away with." - Cat-Gonk

This is a good entry point to my work.

• "Michael's games have been my favorites for years, but this is the first one that I think is truly accessible to any fan of turn-based tactics & strategy games. An amazing tutorial." - Personman
• "This game takes that signature broughlike formula and cranks everything to the extreme. After his hiatus I am so happy to say he has not lost his touch, and this is his magnum opus. " - Chloyster
• "So fun! Ive played and like 868-Hack but never got too deep into it, and i assumed this would be overwhelmingly more. It is more, much more, but its also more FUN! Feels like more of an adventure and a romp than just pure strategy. This sequel has managed to add much more choice without somehow adding more AP. I don’t know how, but its just expressive as heck and so engaging." - derftymutt
• "I liked the first one so much I got a tattoo about it. this one's better." - squidlarkin

This game is thematic.

• "overall not just a very solid roguelike, but also one of the most evocative expressions of cyberpunk-style hacking i've seen in games as a whole " - lemon
• "Also the music is FIRE and the graphics have a very cool style to them. I feel badass playing this game" - warp_pipe
• "The game convinces you that this is a Living World that is much larger than what you're seeing with a bunch of deft touches" - h_zeera
• "Aesthetics and art design are top tier. Music is other worldly. Michaels best game to date." - GizaPlateau

This all sounds rather positive, but in the absence of Megatron Megacritic providing an averaged rating, how can we really be sure? Maybe you will have to check for yourself. Several people are saying it is the most significant Game Of All The Year ("goaty" for short) - it would surely be embarrassing not to play it soon! You still have time. Remember, look for the orange text.

• "Most of all, this a game filled with joy, and that wants to give joy." - zippyzip