The Game Census
Cave Story+ cover art

Cave Story+

Nicalis, Inc. · 2011-11-22

SteamGOGEpic Games StoreAmazon

ActionAdventureIndie

Modes: Single player · Perspectives: Side view, Text

Releases: Dec 13, 2011 (Linux), Nov 22, 2011 (Mac), Jun 20, 2017 (Nintendo Switch), Nov 22, 2011 (PC (Microsoft Windows))

Run, jump, shoot, fly and explore your way through a massive action-adventure reminiscent of classic 8- and 16-bit games.

Cave Story+ is an Action, Adventure and Indie game released in 2011, priced at $14.99, with an estimated 200,000 .. 500,000 owners and a Very Positive review sentiment (93% of 8326 reviews).

14
playing now
93%
positive of 8.3k reviews
Very Positive
steam's rating (official)
200,000–500,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
85/100
critic score (2 outlets, IGDB)
87/100
IGDB user rating (97 ratings)
platinum
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Playable
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: Playable
$14.99
steam price (US)

14 players in-game as of 2026-10-15 04:00 UTC (census sample)

Cave Story is a 2004 Metroidvania game developed by Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya. It was released on December 20, 2004 for Microsoft Windows. The game revolves around Quote, a robot who wakes up suffering from amnesia and explores in diverse cavernous areas in order to uncover his backstory and escape from the cave. The character gains access to new areas as he powers up his weapons by collecting triangular experience crystals and solves various platforming puzzles. Quote speaks to non-player characters scattered around the game world in order to learn more about the world and its inhabitants. Cave Story features 2D platform mechanics and is reminiscent of the games Amaya played in his youth, such as Metroid and Castlevania.

Trailer

Cave Story+ trailer thumbnail

Cave Story+ | Launch Trailer

≈1,000,000 YouTube results for this game's trailer search

Health check

Healthy
  • · 14 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 403 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~50/week).
  • · Review velocity up 116% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 5% of 28,080 Action games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-26

Estimated sales: 333k–666k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 8,326 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

GOG$14.99

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $1.49 at Steam (2026-06-25) · bundled 3×via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $14.99 · on sale 6 of 63 observed days · $13.50 above the all-time low (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
11011020182026Week of 2018-01-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2018-01-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2018-02-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2018-02-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2018-03-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2018-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-04-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2018-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-05-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2018-06-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2018-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-07-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2018-07-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2018-08-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2018-09-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2018-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-10-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2018-10-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2018-11-01: 36 positiveWeek of 2018-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-12-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-01-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2019-01-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2019-02-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2019-02-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2019-03-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2019-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-04-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2019-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-05-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-06-01: 35 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2019-07-01: 43 positiveWeek of 2019-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-08-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2019-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-09-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-10-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 38 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2019-12-01: 42 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2020-01-01: 33 positiveWeek of 2020-01-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2020-02-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2020-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-03-01: 30 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-04-01: 35 positiveWeek of 2020-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-05-01: 30 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2020-06-01: 35 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 90 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2020-08-01: 34 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-09-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2020-10-01: 35 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2020-11-01: 40 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 15 negativeWeek of 2020-12-01: 44 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 16 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 34 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-02-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2021-03-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 33 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2021-05-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 34 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-09-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-10-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 47 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 40 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-06-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 30 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2022-09-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 29 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 34 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-10-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 30 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-06-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 55 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 45 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-03-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-06-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-07-01: 42 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 29 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 54 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 35 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 60 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 110 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 19 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 9 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

3972026-09-16 06:00 — 12 players2026-09-17 13:00 — 8 players2026-09-18 21:00 — 23 players2026-09-20 04:00 — 19 players2026-09-21 12:00 — 12 players2026-09-22 19:00 — 29 players2026-09-24 03:00 — 17 players2026-09-25 10:00 — 9 players2026-09-26 18:00 — 35 players2026-09-28 01:00 — 22 players2026-09-29 09:00 — 7 players2026-09-30 16:00 — 16 players2026-10-02 00:00 — 27 players2026-10-03 07:00 — 15 players2026-10-04 16:00 — 21 players2026-10-05 23:00 — 25 players2026-10-07 07:00 — 12 players2026-10-08 14:00 — 12 players2026-10-09 22:00 — 11 players2026-10-11 05:00 — 24 players2026-10-12 13:00 — 17 players2026-10-13 20:00 — 24 players2026-10-15 04:00 — 14 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).
1988Jul 2012Aug 2026Jul 2012 — avg 198 · peak 924Dec 2012 — avg 109 · peak 617May 2013 — avg 56 · peak 134Oct 2013 — avg 30 · peak 69Mar 2014 — avg 25 · peak 61Aug 2014 — avg 34 · peak 69Jan 2015 — avg 26 · peak 57Jun 2015 — avg 26 · peak 63Nov 2015 — avg 40 · peak 150Apr 2016 — avg 24 · peak 59Sep 2016 — avg 21 · peak 53Feb 2017 — avg 23 · peak 61Jul 2017 — avg 27 · peak 69Dec 2017 — avg 27 · peak 79May 2018 — avg 16 · peak 43Oct 2018 — avg 12 · peak 32Mar 2019 — avg 13 · peak 39Aug 2019 — avg 12 · peak 29Jan 2020 — avg 15 · peak 44Jun 2020 — avg 20 · peak 80Nov 2020 — avg 18 · peak 51Apr 2021 — avg 17 · peak 39Sep 2021 — avg 11 · peak 24Feb 2022 — avg 14 · peak 29Jul 2022 — avg 14 · peak 31Dec 2022 — avg 12 · peak 38May 2023 — avg 9 · peak 23Oct 2023 — avg 10 · peak 23Mar 2024 — avg 10 · peak 30Aug 2024 — avg 9 · peak 25Jan 2025 — avg 21 · peak 71Jun 2025 — avg 10 · peak 35Nov 2025 — avg 10 · peak 21Apr 2026 — avg 43 · peak 143Aug 2026 — avg 25 · peak 57
Monthly average players (source: steamcharts.com) — history via steamcharts.com; live census sampling since Aug 2026.

Price history

$14.99$2.992015-01-012026-10-152015-01-01 — best price $9.992015-06-12 — best price $9.992015-12-01 — best price $14.992016-05-09 — best price $14.992016-11-29 — best price $14.992017-11-01 — best price $14.992018-01-04 — best price $14.992018-11-01 — best price $14.992019-02-12 — best price $14.992019-11-01 — best price $14.992020-01-27 — best price $14.992020-11-02 — best price $14.992021-01-05 — best price $14.992021-07-08 — best price $14.992021-12-24 — best price $14.992022-05-19 — best price $7.492022-07-04 — best price $14.992022-10-31 — best price $7.492022-11-29 — best price $14.992023-07-13 — best price $14.992023-11-29 — best price $14.992024-03-02 — best price $14.992024-07-11 — best price $10.042024-12-19 — best price $2.992025-03-19 — best price $10.042025-07-10 — best price $14.992026-01-05 — best price $14.992026-04-23 — best price $14.992026-08-29 — best price $14.992026-09-04 — best price $14.992026-09-10 — best price $14.992026-09-16 — best price $14.992026-09-22 — best price $14.992026-09-28 — best price $14.992026-10-04 — best price $14.992026-10-10 — best price $14.992026-10-15 — best price $14.99
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Attention

5472062026-06-04 — 244 pageviews2026-06-08 — 274 pageviews2026-06-12 — 400 pageviews2026-06-16 — 423 pageviews2026-06-20 — 275 pageviews2026-06-24 — 381 pageviews2026-06-28 — 398 pageviews2026-07-02 — 386 pageviews2026-07-06 — 409 pageviews2026-07-10 — 329 pageviews2026-07-14 — 294 pageviews2026-07-18 — 315 pageviews2026-07-22 — 317 pageviews2026-07-26 — 274 pageviews2026-07-30 — 246 pageviews2026-08-03 — 280 pageviews2026-08-07 — 234 pageviews2026-08-11 — 257 pageviews2026-08-15 — 267 pageviews2026-08-19 — 264 pageviews2026-08-23 — 278 pageviews2026-08-27 — 242 pageviews2026-08-31 — 284 pageviews2026-09-04 — 237 pageviews2026-09-08 — 245 pageviews2026-09-12 — 315 pageviews2026-09-16 — 276 pageviews2026-09-20 — 249 pageviews2026-09-24 — 256 pageviews2026-09-28 — 305 pageviews2026-10-02 — 263 pageviews2026-10-06 — 240 pageviews2026-10-10 — 232 pageviews2026-10-13 — 279 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Completion

60+
achievements tracked
87.3%
earned "Pea Shooter"
22.6%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsFull controller supportSingle-playerMulti-playerSteam AchievementsFull controller supportDualSense Controller SupportDualSense Controller SupportSteam CloudRemote Play TogetherFamily Sharing

2 supported languages: English, Japanese

Console footprint

PlatformPlayers trackedCompletionTrophies/achievements
Steam (Steam)35,9721%76
Switch (Nintendo)2040%0
Switch (Nintendo)230%0
Switch (Nintendo)80%0

Players tracked by Exophase (achievement/trophy trackers) — a sample of the player base, not total sales.

Where its players are

Share of Steam reviews by language (top languages measured) — a proxy for where the player base lives.

Player tags

2DIndieRetroActionClassicAdventureDifficultPlatformerStory RichExploration

Census log

Computed from census-recorded observations only — dates are observation dates.

Recent updates

Players also track

ChasmChildren of MortaImmortal: UnchainedBorderlands 3Momodora: Reverie Under The MoonlightPLANET ALPHACitadel: Forged with FireCeleste

Similarity via IGDB.

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