Penumbra Overture
Worth it · Action · 2009
Steam Deck PlayableThe verdict
BUY IT.
Worth it at $9.99.
- Cost per hour▼
- $1.82/hr
- ReviewsA
- 90% of 4,221
- Critics
- 73 players 17 higher
- Genre rank
- Top 3% Action
Holding it back: Cost per hour
Why
Watch this gameOne alert at a price you pick.
Time and effort
- Main story
- 5.5h
- To 100%
- 7.3h 1.3x the story
Price and sales
- Sales
- 34 on record
- Typical cut
- 80% off
- Steam low
- $0.99 December 2018
- Sale every
- 46d last August 2026
Players and genre
- Online
- 14 now
- Cheaper than
- 24% of its genre
- Better reviewed
- 96% of its genre
Price and player charts
The value story
The value story
It has never been cheaper than $0.99. That was December 2018. 34 discounts in the 14 years on record, a median of 80 percent off across all of them, roughly 7 weeks apart.
Its score puts it in the top 3 percent of the games it competes with. It is pricier than 76 percent of its genre, and better reviewed than 96 percent. Among the games that feel like it, Amnesia: The Dark Descent ($19.99, scores 71) beats it on value, while it beats MADiSON ($34.99, scores 47).
More about Penumbra Overture
Critics scored it 73. Players sit 17 points higher at 90 percent, which usually means a game that plays better than it reviews.
This site sampled 517 of its Steam-purchase reviews; none were written by buyers who refunded it, sampled from reviews written March 2020 to October 2026. Inside the two-hour refund window, 79 percent of the 502 reviews written there were positive, against 90 percent overall, and those are 13 percent of everything written about it.
Buy now or wait
Buy now or wait
Not discounted in any of its last 8 seasonal sales.
- Next sale
- Winter Sale, Dec 17 to Jan 4
Sources: IsThereAnyDeal, Valve.
What drives the score
Grades: S best, D weakest
S is the best grade and D the weakest, judged as a buyer. ▲ raises the score, ▼ lowers it, ? is an input we do not have, • is a fact this genre's score does not use. How the grades work
What players say
It's interesting to see where it all began for Frictional Games. You can feel the beginnings of what would eventually become Amnesia throughout. The mournful, oppressive sound design, the physics puzzles, the note-based storytelling, the frantic chase sequences, it's all hear in more or less rough form. Even more than The Dark Descent, you can see the connection back to classic 90s puzzle/adventure games, with a lot...
2 more reviews
While it has its frustrating moments (I'm looking at you, spider-cave,) it's still my favorite installment in the series. Not by much, though. Black Plague is phenomenal, and there isn't a single segment in that game that tries my patience or irritates me. It's best experienced blind, but I did not mind replaying it either. I guess, duh, everything tends to be better experienced the first time around. I don't really...
An outstandingly refreshing experience in spite of its age. The plot is an alluring intrigue and the setting an abyssal enticement of dark caverns and concrete corridors deep beneath the desolate arctic permafrost. The gameplay requires engagement from the player in a way that engrosses you on its own terms but it does not make demands in obscurity. The mechanics serve the world they exist in and are realized...
Steam reviews, mixed to its ratio and rotated daily. Opinions are theirs.
About the game
Penumbra: Overture is a first person survival horror game, emphasizing on survival and problem solving instead of mindless violence and gore.
Minimum specs
Minimum on the Steam store: 256 MB of memory, Radeon 8500 / Geforce 3(MX4 Not supported), 799 MB of storage. Runs on Windows, macOS, Linux.
No data upstream: achievement curve (Steam global achievements).
Cite this score
Penumbra Overture scores 68/100 on the BANG Score (worth it) as of Nov 8, 2026. The BANG Score rates what a game is worth for the money. Via Steam BANGERS. https://steambangers.com/game/22180/penumbra-overtureReviews set the ceiling, and price against real length moves the BANG Score inside it. How it works, and where it is weak → Steam reviews as of Nov 1, price as of Nov 7. A number here look wrong? Tell me and I will check the inputs.