htoL#NiQ: The Firefly Diary
Skip · Strategy · 2016
Steam Deck PlayableThe verdict
SKIP IT.
It scores 21, under the fair line, at $9.99.
- Length
- 6.9h 11.8h to 100%
- Value
- $1.45/hr
- Reviews
- 68% of 636 positive
Watch this gameOne alert at a price you pick.
Buy now or wait
Discounted in 7 of its last 8 seasonal sales. Last cut ended 11 days ago.
- Next sale
- Winter Sale, Dec 17 to Jan 4
Sources: IsThereAnyDeal, Valve.
What drives the score
How to read this
Grades run S to D, read from the buyer's side. ▲ marks a lift, ▼ a drag or a dock, ? an input we do not have, • a fact this genre's score does not use. How the grades work
About the game
In the depths of a labyrinthine ruin, a young girl named Mion rises from a deep sleep. Lost, alone, and with no memory of how she got here or where her parents are, she is greeted by two fireflies—one composed entirely of light, and another who lurks among the shadows.
Minimum specs
Minimum on the Steam store: 2 GB of memory, Intel HD Graphics Family, 2 GB of storage. Windows only.
The value story
It has been discounted 72 times in the 10 years tracked here. The median cut across all of them is 75 percent, about 6 weeks apart. Today it is at full price, and its last discount ended 11 days ago.
It is pricier than 69 percent of its genre, and less well reviewed than 76 percent. The games it most resembles do better on the same math. Celeste ($4.99, scores 97) and Little Misfortune ($19.99, scores 59) both outscore it.
More about htoL#NiQ: The Firefly Diary
Of the 257 Steam-purchase reviews this site sampled, 1 comes from a buyer who refunded the game, sampled from reviews written March 2020 to August 2026.
The drop-off
64% start to 3% rarestNo achievement in this game marks the ending, so there is no finish rate. The curve runs from the most-unlocked achievement to the rarest, and its shape is where players stop. Steam global achievements
What players say
Don't be fooled by the cute outlook, this game is unforgiving. And also slow paced. Slow paced and unforgiving is a combination to really test your patience. I'm not sure I will have enough patience to finish it and get all achievements, not in one sitting for sure, but I still think it's a good game. Puzzles and levels are varied, shadow and light mechanics are interesting, graphics are very nice. Controls are...
2 more reviews, 1 not recommended
A really creepy and hard puzzle game, the mechanic where the girl is really slow and clumsy is't made really well to annoy me, honestly a well made game. 8/10
If I had a nickel for every time I huffed, sighed, clicked my tongue, rolled my eyes, and said something along the lines of "No, Mion." or "Wait, Mion." I think I'd be a rich man. My Experience A young girl wakes up in a mysterious ruin, and has to find out how to escape from there with the assistance of two fireflies. Hotaru No Nikki is Puzzle platformer where you try to lead the girl around threats and...
Steam reviews, mixed to its ratio and rotated daily. Opinions are theirs.
No data upstream: critic score (Metacritic).
Cite this score
htoL#NiQ: The Firefly Diary scores 21/100 on the BANG Score (a skip) as of Oct 19, 2026. The BANG Score rates what a game is worth for the money. Via Steam BANGERS. https://steambangers.com/game/368640/htol-niq-the-firefly-diaryReviews 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 Sep 28, price as of Oct 18. A number here look wrong? Tell me and I will check the inputs.