DRAINUS on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information

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This is a side-scrolling shooting game in which you take control of the "Drainus", the Kharlal Empire's most cutting-edge fighter with the ability to absorb energy bullets, and take down the enemy ships zipping through space.

DRAINUS is a action, shoot 'em up and indie game developed by Team Ladybug and WSS playground and published by WSS playground.
Released on May 22nd 2022 is available only on Windows in 13 languages: Japanese, English, Simplified Chinese, French, Italian, German, Spanish - Latin America, Thai, Turkish, Portuguese - Brazil, Traditional Chinese, Korean and Russian.

It has received 947 reviews of which 910 were positive and 37 were negative resulting in an impressive rating of 9.0 out of 10. 😍

The game is currently priced at 12.49€ on Steam.

The Steam community has classified DRAINUS into these genres:

Action Shoot 'Em Up Indie Shooter Singleplayer 2D Female Protagonist Bullet Hell Pixel Graphics Side Scroller Arcade Sci-fi Anime

Media & Screenshots

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

DRAINUS screenshot
DRAINUS screenshot
DRAINUS screenshot
DRAINUS screenshot
DRAINUS screenshot
DRAINUS screenshot
DRAINUS screenshot
DRAINUS screenshot
DRAINUS screenshot
DRAINUS screenshot
DRAINUS screenshot

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 2000 / XP / Vista / 7 / 8 / 10
  • Processor: Intel Core2 Duo or higher
  • Memory: 4 GB RAM
  • Graphics: Open GL compliant video card
  • Storage: 200 MB available space

User reviews & Ratings

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

Feb. 2025
A really solid shmup that's reasonably difficult. You don't have to be an expert at them to have fun with it. Really good mix of pixel and 3D art. Has several fun references to Gradius. Also does a lot with the forced perspective, really visually impressive.
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Feb. 2025
---see where this game landed on my SHMUP tier list beneath this review!--- A fantastic SHMUP! This one uses a shield mechanic; You need to hold on/off the shield button frequently to pass through bullets and lasers. The shield recharges quickly and It reflects the bullets back when you release the button (often incentivizing or forcing you to move into the bullets). The game has some interesting scrolling level designs and well-made bosses with multiple phases that feel different from one another. I played another game from the same dev recently: Blade Chimera and it wouldn't surprise me if they used the same soundtrack for both of them (probably didn't, but it has that same, lively-but-filler vibe). As is common in this genre, it's a little too short. Which is my only real complaint with the game. This is why my favourite SHMUP is the survivor-roguelite hybrid: Gunlocked . I think genre mashups of that nature will eventually be the future of SHMUPs (for me, at least). ===================== My SHMUP Tier List ===================== -Simply personal taste. I’m excluding roguelikes, boss rushes and genre mash ups- Loved: Jamestown | ZeroRanger | Super Hydorah | Tyrian 2000 | Great: Drainus | Super Galaxy Squadron EX Turbo | Decent: Steel Empire | G-Darius | Ganablade | Dogfight | Angel at Dusk* | Meh: Nanoforce | Steel Rain | Eigengrau* | Zenzizenzic* | Steel Vampire | Natsuki Chronicles | Nebula Fighter | Zangeki Warp | Awful: Ginga Force | ===================== -Probably played another 100+ Shmups, but I only started this list recently and am sticking mostly to modern releases -Not including any 'flying anime girl shmups' as they don't appeal to me. Believe me, I've tried. * = Felt like I was on the same screen the entire time, which I dislike.
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Feb. 2025
Ladybug have found a way to subvert the trope of "platformer with a lackluster shmup level somewhere in the middle" by making the shmup its own game, and by making it an actually fun one. Definitely on the easy side as far as the genre goes at least on normal difficulty, but fun, and the mechanical gimmicks feel good. It's a nice variant on the traditional Gradius formula that punishes you for taking a hit, but doesn't do so in a way that damns your run. I'm not sure how much this would appeal to the kind of person who can no-miss clear a Touhou game, but for a more casual player like me, it's definitely worth buying on sale.
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Sept. 2024
This game has a lot of good going for it, including a kickass soundtrack and a cool sleek visual style to it. This game is pretty easy to understand through the tutorial and is the kind of game where you can upgrade your ship with gems earned while playing. It's a little bit odd though in that you can pause at any time and mess with your upgrades as you see fit. This alone makes the game very manageable and highly unusual for a SHMUP. This directly means that this is not a good game to get for those that want an arcade experience, but for those that like shop mechanics in other shmups and design elements akin to that of Gradius, Satazius, and other horizontal SHMUPs of those kind there's some cool set pieces in this game. The main gimmick of the game involves using an energy shield to absorb any energy based attacks and counterlaser damage back to enemies. It is integrated as a forced part of the game where you must absolutely use this or you will not be able to survive. As a result, many parts are designed around this and what gives the game it's unique feel. Ultimately pretty manageable to get through due to all of the options available to the player to customize your ship practically any way you want. Weapon order, main weapon, subshot, rear pod, options, ship speed, wall bumper toggle (this actually has upsides and downsides whether it is on or off) and some stat buffing are all at the player's fingers through the upgrade system to make the ideal ship of their vision. The game's hardest difficulty Ridiculous is locked behind a playthrough which takes about 2 hours, and this is the mode where you die in one hit and comes much more in line for those looking for an arcade experience. Once you enable this, the game does legitimately get a bunch harder and shields become more valuable as an option to tank hits you didn't dodge or defend against correctly. I can see why the devs didn't want people to beeline straight to this difficulty without having seen the game through once first since enemies become notably more tanky to the point that dying is an extreme detriment and your reflector is the thing that will be your saving grace in any situation as a result. On a regular playthrough I would get hit occasionally and feel like I had no idea what hit me so there might be some visibility issues with bullets, enough so that by the end I was a little concerned about trying a Ridiculous playthrough right away. This game is an amazingly good pickup for those that like shop mechanics in SHMUPs and want to play something that doesn't feel overwhelmingly difficult starting off. Edit: Arcade difficulty is also unlocked at the same time as Ridiculous, the main difference in this mode being that you can only pause once in the middle of a run to sort out upgrades and you have a 90 second time limit to do all of your things in that window. Otherwise you can only access the upgrades screen at the end of each level with a 90 second time limit. Honestly after playing after my first playthrough, Arcade mode is more or less what I expected this game to be going in and balances out the overpowering nature of being able to normally change your weapons on the fly at any given time in a normal/1st playthrough. I can generally recommend this game for anyone out there that is a fan of hori shmups.
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July 2024
A very interesting mix of Gradius, R-type, and original ideas, with a good selection of difficulties to pick from. Relatively lengthy, with a full run taking nearly 2 hours. Excellent presentation, great loadout customisability, fun mechanics, and the story is not that bad for a SHMUP.
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Frequently Asked Questions

DRAINUS is currently priced at 12.49€ on Steam.

DRAINUS is currently not on sale. You can purchase it for 12.49€ on Steam.

DRAINUS received 910 positive votes out of a total of 947 achieving an impressive rating of 9.02.
😍

DRAINUS was developed by Team Ladybug and WSS playground and published by WSS playground.

DRAINUS is playable and fully supported on Windows.

DRAINUS is not playable on MacOS.

DRAINUS is not playable on Linux.

DRAINUS is a single-player game.

There is a DLC available for DRAINUS. Explore additional content available for DRAINUS on Steam.

DRAINUS does not support mods via Steam Workshop.

DRAINUS does not support Steam Remote Play.

DRAINUS 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 DRAINUS.

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 07 June 2025 08:26
SteamSpy data 13 June 2025 01:56
Steam price 14 June 2025 20:29
Steam reviews 14 June 2025 23:50

If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about DRAINUS, 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 DRAINUS
  • SteamCharts - Analysis of DRAINUS concurrent players on Steam
  • ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck DRAINUS compatibility
DRAINUS
12.49€
9.0
910
37
Game modes
Features
Online players
1
Developer
Team Ladybug, WSS playground
Publisher
WSS playground
Release 22 May 2022
Platforms
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