The Game Census
Commander Keen cover art

Commander Keen

id Software · Bethesda Softworks · 2007-08-03

SteamGOG

Action

Modes: Single player

Releases: Dec 14, 1990 (PC (Microsoft Windows))

Commander Keen: Invasion of the Vorticons: Episode 1: Marooned on Mars (Dec. 14th 1990) Episode 2: The Earth Explodes (1991) Episode 3: Keen Must Die! (1991) Commander Keen's very first adventure, and the debut of id's groundbreaking side-scrolling technology.

6
playing now
93%
positive of 1.6k reviews
Very Positive
steam rating
100,000–200,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
80/100
IGDB user rating (11 ratings)
platinum
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
$4.99
steam price (US)

6 players in-game as of 2026-08-30 05:00 UTC (census sample)

Commander Keen is a series of side-scrolling platform video games developed primarily by id Software. The series consists of six main episodes, a "lost" episode, and a final game; all but the final game were released for MS-DOS in 1990 and 1991, while the 2001 Commander Keen was released for the Game Boy Color. The series follows the eponymous Commander Keen, the secret identity of the eight-year-old genius Billy Blaze, as he defends the Earth and the galaxy from alien threats with his homemade spaceship, rayguns, and pogo stick.

Health check

Quietly active
  • · 6 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 43 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~5/week).
  • · Review velocity down 12% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 28% of 10,862 Action games in the census by review count.
Estimated sales: 63k126k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 1,572 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

GOG$1.99-60%

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $0.90 at Steam (2019-06-10)via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $4.99 · on sale 19 of 34 observed days · $1.09 above the all-time low (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
10810820172026Week of 2017-12-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2017-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-01-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2018-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-02-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2018-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-03-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2018-04-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2018-05-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2018-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-06-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2018-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-07-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2018-08-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2018-08-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-09-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2018-10-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2018-11-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2018-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-12-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-01-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2019-02-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2019-03-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2019-04-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-06-01: 108 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2019-07-01: 65 positiveWeek of 2019-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-08-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2019-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-09-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2019-10-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-12-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-01-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2020-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-02-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2020-04-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-08-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-11-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 1 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

1302026-08-11 17:00 — 9 players2026-08-12 09:00 — 4 players2026-08-13 01:00 — 6 players2026-08-13 16:00 — 6 players2026-08-14 08:00 — 1 players2026-08-15 00:00 — 4 players2026-08-15 16:00 — 5 players2026-08-16 08:00 — 1 players2026-08-17 00:00 — 4 players2026-08-17 16:00 — 6 players2026-08-18 07:00 — 0 players2026-08-18 23:00 — 4 players2026-08-19 15:00 — 3 players2026-08-20 07:00 — 3 players2026-08-20 23:00 — 7 players2026-08-21 14:00 — 2 players2026-08-22 06:00 — 3 players2026-08-22 22:00 — 7 players2026-08-23 14:00 — 4 players2026-08-24 05:00 — 2 players2026-08-24 21:00 — 13 players2026-08-25 13:00 — 5 players2026-08-26 05:00 — 4 players2026-08-26 21:00 — 8 players2026-08-27 13:00 — 3 players2026-08-28 05:00 — 4 players2026-08-28 21:00 — 5 players2026-08-29 13:00 — 1 players2026-08-30 05:00 — 6 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).

Price history

$4.99$0.902015-01-012026-08-302015-01-01 — best price $2.492015-07-27 — best price $4.992016-06-23 — best price $2.492017-01-02 — best price $4.992017-11-22 — best price $1.242018-02-19 — best price $4.992018-11-21 — best price $1.242019-02-11 — best price $4.992019-07-23 — best price $2.492020-01-02 — best price $4.992020-08-04 — best price $1.492021-01-05 — best price $4.992021-05-09 — best price $2.492021-08-23 — best price $4.992021-12-01 — best price $4.992022-04-29 — best price $1.492022-06-23 — best price $1.492022-08-30 — best price $4.992023-03-16 — best price $1.992023-08-16 — best price $4.992024-01-30 — best price $1.992024-05-09 — best price $4.992024-08-21 — best price $4.992024-12-19 — best price $1.992025-02-13 — best price $1.992025-04-03 — best price $4.992025-07-10 — best price $4.992025-08-26 — best price $1.992025-10-07 — best price $1.992025-11-05 — best price $4.992025-12-11 — best price $1.992026-02-02 — best price $1.992026-06-17 — best price $1.992026-08-14 — best price $4.992026-08-30 — best price $1.99
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Attention

7842562026-05-27 — 354 pageviews2026-05-30 — 256 pageviews2026-06-02 — 329 pageviews2026-06-05 — 327 pageviews2026-06-08 — 364 pageviews2026-06-11 — 264 pageviews2026-06-14 — 315 pageviews2026-06-17 — 328 pageviews2026-06-20 — 486 pageviews2026-06-23 — 406 pageviews2026-06-26 — 391 pageviews2026-06-29 — 383 pageviews2026-07-02 — 291 pageviews2026-07-05 — 315 pageviews2026-07-08 — 581 pageviews2026-07-11 — 425 pageviews2026-07-14 — 369 pageviews2026-07-17 — 297 pageviews2026-07-20 — 320 pageviews2026-07-23 — 300 pageviews2026-07-26 — 317 pageviews2026-07-29 — 309 pageviews2026-08-01 — 338 pageviews2026-08-04 — 294 pageviews2026-08-07 — 434 pageviews2026-08-10 — 404 pageviews2026-08-13 — 371 pageviews2026-08-16 — 366 pageviews2026-08-19 — 364 pageviews2026-08-22 — 297 pageviews2026-08-24 — 373 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Details

WindowsSingle-playerSteam CloudFamily Sharing

1 supported languages: English

Player tags

2DRetro1990'sActionSci-fiClassicAdventureNostalgiaOld SchoolPlatformer

Census log

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

Players also track

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Similarity via IGDB.