Bucket Detective
Skip · Narrative · 2017
The verdict
SKIP IT.
It scores 49, under the fair line, at $3.99.
- Length
- 0.6h 2.1h to 100%
- Value
- $6.65/hr
- Reviews
- 86% of 274 positive
Watch this gameOne alert at a price you pick.
Buy now or wait
Not discounted in any of its last 8 seasonal sales. Last cut ended 886 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
A dark comedy/horror game by Jesse Barksdale, creator of the static speaks my name. Help a cult complete a ritual in exchange for divine inspiration to finish writing your terrible novel. A story-focused experience which takes around 45 minutes to complete.
Minimum specs
Minimum on the Steam store: 4 GB of memory, GTX 940M, Intel HD 5000, or comparable, 1 GB of storage. Runs on Windows, macOS.
The value story
It has been discounted 32 times in the 10 years tracked here. The median cut across all of them is 31 percent, about 8 weeks apart. Today it is at full price, and its last discount ended about 127 weeks ago.
On value it sits in the top 22 percent of its genre. It is cheaper than 73 percent of its genre, and better reviewed than 79 percent. Among the games that feel like it, THRESHOLD ($9.99, scores 50) beats it on value, while it beats [Chilla's Art] Night Delivery | 例外配達 ($2.99, scores 48).
More about Bucket Detective
Inside the two-hour refund window, 83 percent of the 153 reviews written there were positive, against 86 percent overall, and those are 68 percent of everything written about it.
Finishing takes 0.6 hours; clearing it takes 2, which is 3.5 times the campaign.
The drop-off
35% start to 17% 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
I really liked that one. It's a shame that the whale husband didn't do any more games.
2 more reviews, 1 not recommended
Bucket Detective is a jarring game. It'll make you laugh on occasion also, but the game is worlds better at priming queasiness and discomfort. Compared to the developers previous game (The Static Speaks My Name), Bucket Detective feels like a much more cohesive idea. Not just in length, but in story feeling and overall vibe.
this game is for people interested in dark, crass humor. [*] shouldn't laugh at that i guess - the determining point of your enjoyment of this game is whether or not you enjoy the dev's style of humor, which explores dark and serious subjects. if you like the trailer, you will probably like the story and humor delivery of the game just fine. this game isn't for people looking for horror, environmental storytelling...
Steam reviews, mixed to its ratio and rotated daily. Opinions are theirs.
No data upstream: critic score (Metacritic).
Cite this score
Bucket Detective scores 49/100 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/461170/bucket-detectiveReviews 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.