Californium on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information

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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 ?

Californium is a psychedelic, sci-fi and experimental game developed by Darjeeling, Nova Production and ARTE France and published by ARTE France.
Released on February 17th 2016 is available on Windows and MacOS in 3 languages: English, French and German.

It has received 386 reviews of which 271 were positive and 115 were negative resulting in a rating of 6.7 out of 10. 😐

The game is currently priced at 5.99€ on Steam, but you can find it for less on K4G.

The Steam community has classified Californium into these genres:

Psychedelic Sci-fi Experimental Colorful Point & Click Surreal Interactive Fiction Exploration Adventure Investigation Indie Casual First-Person Hidden Object Atmospheric Singleplayer Choose Your Own Adventure Puzzle-Platformer Abstract Comic Book

Media & Screenshots

Get an in-depth look at Californium through various videos and screenshots.

System requirements

These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.

Windows

OS *: Windows 7 or Higher
Processor: Intel Core i3 2.00 GHz
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: DX9 (shader model 2.0)
Storage: 2 GB available space

MacOS

OS: 10.8
Processor: Intel Core i3
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: ATI Radeon 2400 or higher / NVIDIA 8600M or higher
Storage: 2 GB available space

User reviews & Ratings

Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.

Nov. 2025

it's incredible, I have crazy sensitive motion sickness but that's on me. The game play and execution are so charming I wanna overcome my nausea to finish it(and I WILL, just you wait) I installed it with 0 knowledge about it, just dive in head first and vibe(which means I also have never heard about Philip Kindred Dick before, might have to go check out his works after this) usually I don't get along well with first-person pov game so I tend to avoid it, but Californium's graphics hooked me in immediately, like I gotta try it even if it means I'll have to go puke after(fortunately I didn't, just almost) and DAMN! It wouldn't come out this perfect with any other pov, and even more perfect with the plot, with the protag's conditions, nice work, keep it up!

July 2025

This "game" isn't precisely a game. It's a journey. It only makes some sense if you know it is an elaborate tribute to the science fiction writer Philip K. Dick. The wacky pseudo-California world, the themes of oppression and rebellion, are all contained within many of his novels, and so too is the basic plot of a woman walking out on the main character, although it has been a long time since I read any of Dick's books, so I am not sure of that. Judging from my achievements, I played about half of this game in May of 2017 and didn't finish it until I got a better machine in July 2025. I am guessing I lost interest, as the game play is slow, and the finding of the symbols sometimes needlessly difficult. You definitely won't like this game if you are expecting action. Other than some mind-bending scene changes, very little actually happens!

July 2025

I liked it. Sort of a surreal, unique puzzle-esque game, that feels like a mix between Stanley Parable and Paradise Killer. Doesn't overstay its welcome - single play through was 3 hours for me, I got this on sale but wouldn't mind paying full price for it

May 2025

My impression of this game is quite mixed. Game's description is far more alluring than the actual game. Basically it's just a spacial puzzle with a bit of background story. At times it's hard to figure out what the game wants from you, but once you get the hang of looking for those glitches, it becomes quite easy. Chaos chapter was very cool. Graphics and music are quite pleasant. Overall experience is a somewhat boring and heavy. But so are bad trips. I might have gotten an actual vertigo from playing this. Still I'm going to choose "recommend" because authors obviously put their soul into this project, and I like weird. But it's definitely not for everyone. Don't believe the description. Do not expect anything dynamic. Do look into a guide when it gets too boring.

Feb. 2025

This is a "yes" with a LOT of asterisks next to it... It would be 100% recommend if it were given an update and some love after launch. To start with the good: - I enjoyed exploring the game, and unravelling the story. - Cool take on a hidden object/walking sim game - Quite satisfying to solve the puzzles - Philip K Dick references all over the shop! :) - Such a brilliant unique art style and premise! I really did sit going "how the heck did they do that" at times. - The world created, and seeing it through the lenses of each reality absolutely nailed the PKD science fiction approach, it was awesome seeing it in an exploreable environment. - I'm thrilled this game exists and couldn't put it down. And now for the less good things that could definitely have been fixed: - Made my relatively beefy PC struggle with frame rate and cranked my fans up to full... for reference, I can play GTA V at 60fps without an issue. - I needed a guide to do some hidden object puzzles, as quite a few were things I had found, but I just couldn't get the icon to appear without vanishing when I turned to click on it. I was using the guide as a "yes, you did find it, try standing in this really specific spot and looking at this angle" (sometimes this still didn't work and I'd end up doing weird things to make it work or reloading the level) - Needed to reload at a really climactic part of the game because the thing used to progress the level.... didn't actually appear until I reloaded. Kind of took me out the game a bit having to look that one up. - One of the achievements is flat-out broken (talk to all NPCs) - people tend to edit their save files to get this achievement. - You slide down stairs when standing stationary on them (I'd imagine this is quite an easy thing to fix depending on how movement is handled) So... all in all... I paid £0.67 for a really fun evening! Sure I have some hang-ups about how nice a patch would have been to resolve the things that irked me, but... even at £6.00 I'd have not felt cheated. I had a blast. :) Admittedly I'm a massive Philip K Dick fan, and love his books, but I'll be coming back to this more than once I think. :) You can see the conflict I have, as technically no probably not a great experience for people... but I had a ball. :)

Frequently Asked Questions

Californium is currently priced at 5.99€ on Steam.

Californium is currently not on sale. You can purchase it for 5.99€ on Steam.

Californium received 271 positive votes out of a total of 386 achieving a rating of 6.68.

😐

Californium was developed by Darjeeling, Nova Production and ARTE France and published by ARTE France.

Californium is playable and fully supported on Windows.

Californium is playable and fully supported on MacOS.

Californium is not playable on Linux.

Californium is a single-player game.

Californium does not currently offer any DLC.

Californium does not support mods via Steam Workshop.

Californium does not support Steam Remote Play.

Californium is enabled for Steam Family Sharing. This means you can share the game with authorized users from your Steam Library, allowing them to play it on their own accounts. For more details on how the feature works, you can read the original Steam Family Sharing announcement or visit the Steam Family Sharing user guide and FAQ page.

You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for Californium.

Data sources

The information presented on this page is sourced from reliable APIs to ensure accuracy and relevance. We utilize the Steam API to gather data on game details, including titles, descriptions, prices, and user reviews. This allows us to provide you with the most up-to-date information directly from the Steam platform.

Additionally, we incorporate data from the SteamSpy API, which offers insights into game sales and player statistics. This helps us present a comprehensive view of each game's popularity and performance within the gaming community.

Last Updates

Steam data	28 January 2026 07:23
SteamSpy data	27 January 2026 14:11
Steam price	29 January 2026 20:48
Steam reviews	28 January 2026 00:01

If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about Californium, we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.

SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about Californium
SteamCharts - Analysis of Californium concurrent players on Steam
ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck Californium compatibility