Californium
Skip · Strategy · 2016
The verdict
SKIP IT.
It scores 28, under the fair line, at $6.99.
- Length
- 2.4h 3.6h to 100%
- Value
- $2.91/hr
- Reviews
- 70% of 412 positive
Watch this gameOne alert at a price you pick.
Buy now or wait
Discounted in each 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
Taking the form of a first-person experience of a bad trip, Californium pays homage to sci-fi legend Philip K. Dick by transporting you into the life of a writer searching for his own identity. Explore, solve the riddles and conduct your investigation. Will you find what’s behind the simulacra ?
Minimum specs
Minimum on the Steam store: 4 GB of memory, DX9 (shader model 2.0), 2 GB of storage. Runs on Windows, macOS.
The value story
Across all 61 discounts in the 11 years tracked, the median cut is 85 percent, about 6 weeks apart. Today it is at full price, and its last discount ended 11 days ago.
It is less well reviewed than 68 percent of its genre. The games it most resembles do better on the same math. Umurangi Generation ($7.49, scores 74) and Hyperbolica ($12.99, scores 49) both outscore it.
More about Californium
Steam's global achievement data puts 34 percent of players at this game's ending achievement. The median game this site can measure sits at 15.
The drop-off
53% start to 34% finishSteam counts a larger share of its players at the ending achievement than it does for most games this site can measure. Steam global achievements
What players say
All about the atmosphere. You start in the middle of the character's life and explore to understand what's going on. The unusual style drew me to the game. Maybe I'd perceive it differently if I knew the things it references...either way going in blind was a memorable experience. The puzzles are not that difficult but I did get stuck at one point and used a guide.
2 more reviews, 1 not recommended
Pretty interesting game with unique mechanics and nice art style. I'd get it on sale.
This game was a pain to get through. The gameplay was abysmal and repetitive and the story was just barely enough to keep me going. I felt like it was a waste of two hours. I honestly feel like I would have had a better experience just looking at the screenshots and imagining the game for myself.
Steam reviews, mixed to its ratio and rotated daily. Opinions are theirs.
Cite this score
Californium scores 28/100 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/402060/californiumReviews 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 29, price as of Oct 18. A number here look wrong? Tell me and I will check the inputs.