You Have to Win the Game
Worth it · Action · 2014
Steam Deck VerifiedThe verdict
PLAY IT.
Worth it, and it costs nothing.
- PriceS
- Free to play
- ReviewsS
- 93% of 5,731
- Genre rank
- Top 1% Action
Holding it back: Reach
Time and effort
- Main story
- 1.6h
- To 100%
- 4.7h 2.9x the story
- Finish
- 11% reach the ending
- Achievements
- 15
Players and genre
- Online
- 3 now
- Better reviewed
- 98% of its genre
Price and player charts
The drop-off
93% start to 11% finishA normal fall-off for a game this long. Steam global achievements
The value story
The value story
Against its own genre its score lands in the top 1 percent. It is better reviewed than 98 percent of its genre. Among the games that feel like it, VVVVVV ($4.99, scores 96) beats it on value, while it beats La-Mulana 2 ($24.99, scores 71).
Its player count is falling. 6 were online at the highest of our weekly checks over 35 days, 3 at the last one, on Nov 2, 15:46 UTC.
More about You Have to Win the Game
Steam's global achievement data puts about 11 percent of players at this game's ending achievement. On a 1.6-hour game, that is a lot of evenings the rest never spend.
The main story runs 1.6 hours. Doing everything runs 5, 2.9 times as long.
Valve rates it Steam Deck Verified, and at 1.6 hours it is short enough to finish on one.
Buy now or wait
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
About the game
You Have to Win the Game is a free exploration platformer with a retro 1980s PC aesthetic.
Minimum specs
Runs on Windows, macOS, Linux.
No data upstream: critic score (Metacritic).
Cite this score
You Have to Win the Game scores 82/100 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/286100/you-have-to-win-the-gameReviews set the ceiling, and the size of the player base moves the BANG Score inside it. How it works, and where it is weak → Steam reviews as of Oct 17. A number here look wrong? Tell me and I will check the inputs.