The Game Census
Desert Child cover art

Desert Child

Oscar Brittain · Akupara Games · 2018-12-11

SteamGOGPlayStation StoreEpic Games StoreMicrosoft Store

ActionIndieRacingRPGSimulation

Modes: Single player, Multiplayer, Co-operative, Split screen · Perspectives: Side view

Releases: Dec 11, 2018 (PC (Microsoft Windows)), Dec 11, 2018 (Mac), Dec 11, 2018 (Nintendo Switch), Dec 12, 2018 (Xbox One), Dec 11, 2018 (PlayStation 4), Dec 11, 2018 (Linux)

You are a hungry, young hoverbike racer who needs to get off Earth before it E-X-P-L-O-D-E-S. Hunt bounties, throw races, and do whatever you can to get to Mars and win the Grand Prix.

Desert Child is a $11.99 Action, Indie, Racing, and RPG game released in 2018, estimated to have 20,000 .. 50,000 owners and a Mixed review sentiment (56% of 356 reviews).

0
playing now
56%
positive of 356 reviews
Mixed
steam's rating (official)
20,000–50,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
52/100
critic score (3 outlets, IGDB)
47/100
IGDB user rating (6 ratings)
3.64★
PlayStation Store rating (203 ratings)
pending
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Verified
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: Playable
$11.99
steam price (US)

0 players in-game as of 2026-10-14 06:00 UTC (census sample)

Health check

Quiet
  • · 0 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 3 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~0/week).
  • · Review velocity down 40% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Current weekly pace is under 5% of the all-time peak week (12 reviews).
  • · Top 24% of 27,667 Action games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-09-01

Estimated sales: 8.9k–21k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 356 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

GOG$4.19-65%
Microsoft Store$11.99

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $1.23 at GameBillet (2022-07-11) · bundled 3×via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $11.99 · on sale 154 of 200 observed days · $2.96 above the all-time low (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
111120182026Week of 2018-12-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-01-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2019-02-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2019-03-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2019-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-06-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-07-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2019-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-08-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2019-10-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-02-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2020-04-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-09-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-12-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-09-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 1 positive
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

202026-09-15 07:00 — 0 players2026-09-16 15:00 — 0 players2026-09-17 23:00 — 0 players2026-09-19 06:00 — 0 players2026-09-20 14:00 — 0 players2026-09-21 22:00 — 0 players2026-09-23 05:00 — 0 players2026-09-24 13:00 — 0 players2026-09-25 20:00 — 0 players2026-09-27 04:00 — 0 players2026-09-28 11:00 — 1 players2026-09-29 19:00 — 1 players2026-10-01 02:00 — 2 players2026-10-02 10:00 — 0 players2026-10-03 17:00 — 0 players2026-10-05 01:00 — 2 players2026-10-06 09:00 — 0 players2026-10-07 16:00 — 1 players2026-10-09 00:00 — 0 players2026-10-10 08:00 — 0 players2026-10-11 15:00 — 1 players2026-10-12 23:00 — 0 players2026-10-14 06:00 — 0 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).

Price history

$14.17$1.792018-12-112026-10-142018-12-11 — best price $11.992019-06-17 — best price $11.392019-10-30 — best price $11.752020-01-16 — best price $5.992020-03-07 — best price $9.992020-07-09 — best price $11.992020-10-12 — best price $5.392021-01-07 — best price $4.802021-05-19 — best price $11.992021-09-16 — best price $14.172021-11-26 — best price $4.072022-02-04 — best price $11.992022-05-06 — best price $2.992022-07-29 — best price $10.772022-10-08 — best price $10.532022-12-13 — best price $2.402023-02-22 — best price $9.492023-04-28 — best price $4.802023-06-24 — best price $11.992023-08-30 — best price $4.802023-11-20 — best price $2.272024-01-30 — best price $11.992024-03-25 — best price $11.992024-05-16 — best price $4.792024-07-17 — best price $8.992024-10-02 — best price $2.642024-12-11 — best price $3.412025-02-24 — best price $11.992025-04-24 — best price $4.792025-06-16 — best price $8.992025-08-16 — best price $11.992025-10-29 — best price $8.812025-12-11 — best price $2.392026-02-23 — best price $11.992026-04-29 — best price $11.992026-06-15 — best price $9.952026-08-30 — best price $4.192026-09-29 — best price $4.192026-10-14 — best price $4.19
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Completion

23
achievements tracked
39.8%
earned "Two Baboons at once"
4.2%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsmacOSLinuxFull controller supportSingle-playerMulti-playerPvPShared/Split Screen PvPShared/Split ScreenSteam AchievementsFull controller supportSteam Trading CardsAdjustable DifficultyGamepad Recommended1 DLC

9 supported languages: English, French, Italian, German, Japanese, Russian, Portuguese - Brazil, Simplified Chinese, Spanish - Latin America

Post-launch support: 1 DLC released, first 2018-12-11 (Steam store data)

Console footprint

PlatformPlayers trackedCompletionTrophies/achievements
PS4 (PlayStation)1,95225%24
Steam (Steam)1,9165%23
Xbox One (Xbox)48824%23
Switch (Nintendo)20%0

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

Player tags

2DAnimeFunnyIndieRetroSpaceRacingSci-fiShooterShoot 'Em Up

Census log

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

Players also track

Star Control®: OriginsSurvivalistImmortal: UnchainedCitadel: Forged with FireForce of NatureWeapon Shop FantasyEternity: The Last UnicornRebel Galaxy Outlaw

Similarity via IGDB.

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