Darwinia on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information

Quick menu

Darwinia blends real-time strategy, action, and puzzles with a unique gesture-based control system. Save the Darwinians, battle viruses, and restore order in a retro-inspired digital world. Winner of multiple prestigious awards, including the Seumas McNally Grand Prize at IGF 2006.

Darwinia is a indie, tactical rpg and shoot 'em up game developed and published by Introversion Software.
Released on December 01st 2005 is available on Windows, MacOS and Linux in 5 languages: English, German, French, Italian and Spanish - Spain.

It has received 1,080 reviews of which 864 were positive and 216 were negative resulting in a rating of 7.6 out of 10. 😊

The game is currently priced at 11.79€ on Steam, but you can find it for less on Eneba.

The Steam community has classified Darwinia into these genres:

Indie Tactical RPG Shoot 'Em Up Wargame Real Time Tactics Puzzle PvE RTS God Game Arcade Strategy Surreal Story Rich 3D Abstract Colorful Pixel Graphics Stylized Sci-fi Singleplayer

Media & Screenshots

Get an in-depth look at Darwinia 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 later
Processor: Intel Core i5 (Westmere) or better
Memory: 4GB of RAM
Graphics: 4GB of VRAM
Graphics API (ANGLE): Direct3D 11+ or Vulkan 1.2.160+
Graphics API (OpenGL): OpenGL 3.3+

MacOS

OS: macOS 11.0 Big Sur or later
Processor: Apple M1 or Intel Core i5 (Westmere) or newer
Memory: 4GB of RAM
Graphics: 4GB of VRAM, Metal support required

Linux

OS: Ubuntu 20.04 or newer distro
Processor: Intel Core i5 (Westmere) or better
Memory: 4GB of RAM
Graphics: 4GB of VRAM
Graphics API (ANGLE): Vulkan 1.2.160+
Graphics API (OpenGL): OpenGL 3.3+

User reviews & Ratings

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

Nov. 2025

Darwinia, developed and published by Introversion Software, stands as one of the most creative and distinct independent games ever made. It merges the structure of a real-time strategy game with elements of action, puzzle solving, and digital simulation, wrapped in a visual style that feels like a living homage to the early days of computing. The story unfolds within a massive virtual theme park known as Darwinia—a digital world created to simulate the evolution of artificial life. When a viral infection spreads through this artificial ecosystem, the player is tasked with helping the Darwinians, tiny pixelated inhabitants of the world, fight for survival and rebuild their fragile society. What makes the experience special is how it blends nostalgic computer aesthetics with an emotional sense of discovery and preservation, turning what could have been an abstract idea into something surprisingly moving. The world of Darwinia is striking from the very first moment. Everything is presented in a stylized, low-poly visual design reminiscent of classic vector graphics, but with a vibrant color palette and dynamic lighting that breathe energy into its simplicity. Each area feels like a digital diorama, filled with geometric landscapes, abstract structures, and glowing lines that represent circuits and code. Despite the minimalist presentation, the world feels alive and beautiful, constantly humming with movement and light. The visual style isn’t just for show—it reinforces the concept of entering a simulated environment, a computer world that feels both familiar and alien. It’s a rare case where the art direction defines the tone so completely that it becomes inseparable from the game’s identity. Combined with a subtle, ambient soundtrack that hums like a machine at work, the atmosphere is hypnotic and strangely serene even amid chaos. Gameplay in Darwinia is an intricate blend of strategy and direct control. Players interact with the environment by deploying “programs” such as squads, engineers, and officers—each represented by simple but functional polygons. Squads serve as your combat units, clearing out viral infections and defending the Darwinians. Engineers recover digital souls from fallen creatures and repair key infrastructure, while officers help organize the movement of the population. The game cleverly balances high-level management with hands-on control, allowing you to switch between overseeing the battlefield and directly steering units in real-time combat. This hybrid system gives the game a unique rhythm: one moment you’re managing population logistics and production, and the next you’re personally fighting off a swarm of enemies with laser fire. It captures the thrill of action while retaining the cerebral satisfaction of strategy. As the campaign progresses, the depth of Darwinia’s design becomes apparent. Each level introduces new challenges—whether it’s reclaiming infected territory, guiding survivors across dangerous terrain, or reconstructing the virtual world’s systems. There’s a gentle learning curve that rewards experimentation and persistence, and every victory feels earned. The sense of progress doesn’t come from unlocking flashy upgrades but from watching the digital world come back to life. The more you save the Darwinians and rebuild their environment, the more vibrant and self-sustaining the world becomes. This creates a powerful emotional loop where your actions have tangible, visible results. Despite the abstract visuals, the game manages to evoke genuine empathy for its tiny inhabitants, making their survival feel meaningful. The story of Darwinia is minimalist yet profound. It doesn’t rely on cutscenes or heavy exposition, instead using environmental storytelling and the natural evolution of gameplay to communicate its ideas. The premise—that you are helping a creator restore a broken digital ecosystem—is simple but layered with thematic resonance. It explores ideas about artificial intelligence, creation, digital decay, and the ethics of intervention in a simulated world. The Darwinians, though made of polygons and simple animations, become symbols of resilience and adaptation. The narrative’s subtlety invites interpretation, and players often find themselves reflecting on the nature of life and technology as they guide these artificial beings toward a new future. Darwinia’s one notable limitation lies in its brevity and learning curve. The campaign is relatively short, and while its pacing feels tight, some players may wish it lasted longer or offered more complex scenarios. The gesture-based interface for summoning units can also feel cumbersome at first, though it becomes second nature with practice. Yet these imperfections are part of what gives the game its charm—it feels handcrafted and experimental, the product of vision rather than formula. Its concise length means it never overstays its welcome, and the sense of wonder remains intact from beginning to end. Even years after its release, Darwinia remains an exceptional achievement in independent game design. It’s both a technical experiment and an artistic statement, proving that innovation doesn’t require massive budgets or photorealistic graphics. Introversion Software succeeded in creating a world that feels alive, mysterious, and deeply personal—a digital space where strategy meets empathy. Its blend of retro aesthetics, clever mechanics, and emotional subtlety makes it a timeless experience that still feels original today. For players seeking something different, something that feels like a cross between an old-school computer dream and a modern meditation on creation, Darwinia is a journey worth taking—strange, beautiful, and unforgettable. Rating: 7/10

Nov. 2025

Took the game about 10 minutes to win me over, if you enjoyed creeper world this is right up your alley. Charming and worth twice what their asking for

Sept. 2025

A simple, fun and very basic game. Not for everyone. Super old school feel but I liked it.

Sept. 2025

Darwinia is a nice little RTS which reminded me a lot of the movie TRON. It is not an overly long game, and you could probably beat it in around 10 hours, less if you try to get through as speedily as possible. The writing is decent. The gameplay is decent. The soundtrack is okay. It should be noted that the game is single-player only, unlike most well-known RTS games. You can tell that a lot of care went into this game. It runs well, did not have any noticeable bugs, and also includes some nice extras like a map editor. I really appreciated the work that went into the game's startup screens, which are all very nice and fun to watch. Some of them even reveal background information about the game's story. The number of different startup screens really surprised me. I finished the game over many sessions, and I had already finished just over half the game before I saw a startup screen repeated. It is certainly unusual to see so much effort put into something that most people would probably consider an extremely minor part of a game these days. I have no more to say on the graphics, writing, soundtrack, etc. They are nothing too remarkable, but they are all decent. The gameplay is where my main concern is. Darwinia's gameplay is, honestly, pretty slow-paced. There were a lot of times when I was waiting for my units to get from one place to another. This issue is exacerbated by the fact that this game has the lowest unit cap I have ever seen in an RTS, three units! This is upgradable to five. That's it. Sure, the Darwinians don't count towards that cap, but they are not very useful except for manning fortifications and objectives, which they are required for. The upshot is that building units other than Darwinians is instant and takes no resources, so if you lose a unit you can instantly reconstitute it at the nearest spawn point. Another complaint I have is that the tutorial does not seem complete. Sure, you get walked through a few things, but some very important basic mechanics are omitted from the tutorial. In particular, the transmission dishes which serve as bridges between parts of levels were not explained to me by the game, and I ended up only finding out about them when they were mentioned by another player. This is a central mechanic that exists on every map and is essential for the later missions! I am not sure why something so critical is not in the tutorial, especially considering that there is such a bridge in the tutorial level, though using it is not required to finish that level or the other early levels. This would not be quite so bad were it not for the fact that this mechanic is non-obvious, as the transmission dishes appear to be part of the level as opposed to something you can control. There are some other, less critical omissions as well, like how to switch a squad's weapons. The game does have a well-executed Linux port, which I very much appreciate. The game runs natively on Linux, and it runs well. It is refreshing to see a native Linux port which works just fine and has no issues that I noticed. If you like single-player RTS and computer-themed stuff, this is a good pick.

May 2025

You don't need 1 hour to tell this game is a masterpiece. From the nonexistent pathfinding to the NPC Darwinians, Darwinia is a game where you have to do things yourself. That's the reason for 200 of these bad reviews. I have to say, this is probably the most underrated game of all time. It's legitimately a masterpiece, especially in 2022 after the full remaster. I am never disappointed by an Introversion game :) Please, don't listen to the bad reviews, and at least try the game in the demo before not buying it.

Similar games

View all

Super Killer Hornet: Resurrection 'Things will explode, things will die, you will dodge, you will do maths...Yes maths!' Super Killer Hornet Resurrection is an intense vertical shooter with a brain train twist. Through the chaos and explosion try to answer the falling math problems to increase your multiplier and power up your ship.

Similarity 51%

Price -86% 0.42€

Rating 6.1

Release 05 Feb 2014

View

Frequently Asked Questions

Darwinia is currently priced at 11.79€ on Steam.

Darwinia is currently not on sale. You can purchase it for 11.79€ on Steam.

Darwinia received 864 positive votes out of a total of 1,080 achieving a rating of 7.63.

😊

Darwinia was developed and published by Introversion Software.

Darwinia is playable and fully supported on Windows.

Darwinia is playable and fully supported on MacOS.

Darwinia is playable and fully supported on Linux.

Darwinia is a single-player game.

Darwinia does not currently offer any DLC.

Darwinia does not support mods via Steam Workshop.

Darwinia does not support Steam Remote Play.

Darwinia 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 Darwinia.

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	27 January 2026 19:17
SteamSpy data	27 January 2026 02:38
Steam price	30 January 2026 20:47
Steam reviews	30 January 2026 11:52

If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about Darwinia, 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.