DEFCON on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information
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Inspired by the 1983 cult classic film, Wargames, DEFCON superbly evokes the tension, paranoia and suspicion of the Cold War era, playing on the fascinating aspects of psychological gameplay that occur during strategic nuclear warfare.
DEFCON is a tactical, pvp and online co-op game
developed and published by Introversion Software.
Released on September 29th 2006 is available on Windows, MacOS and Linux
in 5 languages: English, French, German, Italian and Spanish - Spain.
It has received 4,182 reviews of which 3,657 were positive and 525 were negative resulting in a rating of 8.4 out of 10. 😎
The game is currently priced at 9.75€ on Steam, but you can find it for 1.18€ on Gamivo.
The Steam community has classified DEFCON into these genres:
System requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
Recommended: Windows XP, P3-600-Geforce 2, 128 Mb RAM, 60 Mb Hard Disk, Internet connection for multiplayer games
MacOS
- OS: OS X version Leopard 10.5.8, Snow Leopard 10.6.3, or later.
- Processor: Intel Core Duo 1.66GHz+
- Memory: 1GB of RAM
- Graphics: 64MB of video memory
- Hard Drive:
Linux
- Processor: 1.8 Ghz
- Memory: 1Gb
- Graphics: 64Mb of memory
- Hard Drive: 70Mb
User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
A strange game. The only winning move is not to play. How about a nice game of chess?
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A good game to play during sex if you want the sex to end and everyone to become sad.
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In nuclear war, there is no winner. Except me who wiped out the opposition without any of my cities or units being destroyed.
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I wouldn't call this a game. It's more like a " see what nuclear war can do to an entire fucking continent and witness millions of people dying all because YOU decided to push the button" simulator A nuclear war cannot be won and must NEVER be fought. EVERY leader of EVERY nuke possessing nation on earth should be made to play this at least once. This game is DEPRESSING but it is also very educational. 9/10
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It’s July 2024, and I live in Europe. Nuclear war has been the spectre looming over my life for a couple years now, especially when, every month, and without fail, the air raid sirens are tested. Every month, they scream out across every city, town, and hamlet in the Netherlands, warning of the apocalypse that hasn’t yet arrived, but may. Living here with the potential dissolution of NATO riding on an election in which this country has no voice is a constant reminder of the insecurity of security, that rights and peace are not the default, but exist because of the struggle - past and ongoing - to attain them. We remain one bad decision from annihilation, and there is nothing you or I can do to stop it. We are all in the hands of those we trust less than ourselves. Defcon is a real-time strategy game simulating the outbreak of nuclear war. There are multiple modes to play, but I usually play the “launch nukes everybody dies” mode, for the obvious reason that it lets me nuke my friends into oblivion, and get nuked into oblivion in turn. Each player carefully places radar stations, air bases, nuclear siloes, and fleets to try and wipe out as much of their enemy as possible, gaining points based on the number of kills they get, and losing points based on the number of deaths they suffer. I play this game with my friends, and, as previously mentioned, I enjoy hurling nukes at them and watching the bright white lights flash over their cities. I cheer on the nukes over voice chat, urging them on to Sao Paolo, Chicago, New York, or wherever they’re bound in that particular game. Names like Khabarovsk and Belem take on new meanings as missile after missile reduces them to the memories of radioactive ash and rubble. We get excited as missile defense systems buzz in a cloud around a nuke, and cheer when the missiles land. There is all the satisfaction of seeing a good plan come to fruition combined with knowing it’s a friendly razzle between friends. The soundtrack is quiet in the background. Soft sobs intercut the music. 4.7 million dead in Chicago, and Berlin took a glancing blow. These are the brief interludes before I cheer on the missile bound for Los Angeles once again. My partner lives in Los Angeles. It’s not him I’m thinking about. In my [url=https://jannekeparrish.com/review_among-us] Among Us review , I discussed what it is video games actually let us do, and why they’re so compelling. Video games allow us to step outside our reality and into another. Whether that’s a grounded reality, like we might find in a small puzzle game, or some grand cyberpunk epic, we are able to experience a reality well outside our own, and in so doing, get a window into another version of ourselves. We can experience what it is to do or see things we would never otherwise be able to, and thus, better understand who we actually are. In my Among Us review, I put this in the context of an emotional abuse simulator, with the game providing an opportunity to learn and understand what it is to be a manipulator and abuser, but that’s just one example. We experience being another person, replete with the emotions and memories that entails. What Defcon presents is the experience of being disembodied and removed from all empathy, of looking at the world solely in terms of its population. Defcon provides the opportunity to play out the fantasy of being in the echelons of power, and from that vantage point, decide the fate of life on Earth. We masquerade as the psychopaths who view nuclear war as something winnable, and delight in doing so. It is a position we will never be in, and experience we will never have, and so perhaps, the thrill is in the novelty of it. There is a thrill in viewing deaths as a statistic, even as your conscience, waking brain understands the horror of it. I cheer as Los Angeles vanishes in a blaze of white light. San Francisco turns to glass. I’ve lost Manchester, but soon, they’ll lose Houston. It is possible to kill most of the population of my country with a single, well-placed missile. Dropped on its capital, the fireball would envelope its old buildings, souvenir shops, and merrily chiming tram lines, vaporising them in an instant. The shockwave would level centuries of history, crushing millions in the rubble of the buildings that have withstood everything but this. It would expand, demolishing all the surrounding cities, and causing third degree burns across every one of the millions of residents in this cluster of ancient cities. The shockwave would send glass and concrete spraying out across anyone not caught outside. The mushroom cloud would extend over the area of the entire country, bringing with it the rain that would end what remained of life, the sirens blaring over what remained. My city is too small to be in Defcon. We’re not a good enough target to merit a nuke. That doesn’t mean I don’t look outside at the clouds and envision what could be. From a game design perspective, Defcon is a lovely example of a strategy game that understands the assignment. It’s simple to learn, hard to master, and satisfying in how it requires its players to think about strategy. Diplomacy is as important as a player chooses to make it. Base positioning is key. Awareness of the circumstances and adapting is vital. It’s everything one would want in a quick war game. None of that is what brings me back to it, though. None of that is what keeps me fascinated as I watch nuclear missiles fly towards the deaths they will cause. I’m high on that sense of control, the idea that, when nuclear war comes, I will have some say in what happens. I am the arbiter of my own destiny in a world that is hostile and insistent I never can be. It’s up to me whether London, Paris, or Berlin is destroyed, and it’s up to me whether I survive the aftermath. I am, of course, wrong. Defcon, like every other game, gives a taste of a world that is not my own, and of a person I will never be. I have no control, and I have no say in how the future will play out. If the sirens come, I will die in an instant alongside everyone else. For all its ability to make nuclear war seem like something that can be won, Defcon also emphasises that, fundamentally, it cannot be. However many of the other team’s cities you nuke, your own will suffer alongside. The deaths are tallied in the millions, and the suffering remains incalculable. When the game ends, I am returned to my world. I glance out the window, checking for the mushroom cloud. My fate is not, and never will be, my own, and Defcon is a reminder of that. We are numbers in the minds of psychopaths, left at their mercy while our world burns. If you enjoyed this review, please check out the [url=https://jannekeparrish.com/reviews/defcon] full version and [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44626948-Loons/] my curator page. Thanks for reading!
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Frequently Asked Questions
DEFCON is currently priced at 9.75€ on Steam.
DEFCON is currently not on sale. You can purchase it for 9.75€ on Steam.
DEFCON received 3,657 positive votes out of a total of 4,182 achieving a rating of 8.44.
😎
DEFCON was developed and published by Introversion Software.
DEFCON is playable and fully supported on Windows.
DEFCON is playable and fully supported on MacOS.
DEFCON is playable and fully supported on Linux.
DEFCON offers both single-player and multi-player modes.
DEFCON offers both Co-op and PvP modes.
DEFCON does not currently offer any DLC.
DEFCON does not support mods via Steam Workshop.
DEFCON does not support Steam Remote Play.
DEFCON 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 DEFCON.
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 | 05 June 2025 04:05 |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 12 June 2025 14:49 |
| Steam price | 15 June 2025 04:47 |
| Steam reviews | 13 June 2025 23:59 |
If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about DEFCON, 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 DEFCON
- SteamCharts - Analysis of DEFCON concurrent players on Steam
- ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck DEFCON compatibility
Game modes
Multiplayer
Features
Online players
16
Developer
Introversion Software
Publisher
Introversion Software
Release
29 Sep 2006
Platforms
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