The Game Census
Essays on Empathy cover art

Essays on Empathy

Deconstructeam · Devolver Digital · 2021-05-18

SteamGOG

CasualIndieRPG

Modes: Single player

Releases: May 18, 2021 (PC (Microsoft Windows))

A curated compilation of Deconstructeam's best efforts in seeking new narrative experiences in games. Explore 10 unique, offbeat tales including "De Tres al Cuarto," a brand new short experience exclusive to the compilation about a couple of two-bit comedians trying to make it big.

79%
positive of 209 reviews
Mostly Positive
steam's rating (official)
0–20,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
5h
to beat · rushed 4h · completionist 7h
gold
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Playable
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: Playable
$12.99
steam price (US)
Essays on Empathy is a 2021 video game compilation by Spanish independent developer Deconstructeam and published by Devolver Digital. The game contains ten short "interactive stories", including one new title, De Tres al Cuarto, developed specifically for the compilation. Following the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, which negatively impacted the development team, the compilation was created as a side project to provide greater focus for the studio's previous shorter titles, many created for game jams. Upon release, Essays on Empathy received generally favorable reviews, with critics praising the game's ambitious narrative approach, treatment of complex themes, and additional making-of features, whilst critiquing the short duration of games and the absence of bugfixes and quality of life features.

Health check

Quiet
  • · 19 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~2/week).
  • · Review velocity up 46% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 33% of 15,197 Casual games in the census by review count.
Estimated sales: 4.2k–9.4k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 209 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

Fanatical$1.94-85%
Gamesplanet$1.95-85%
Humble Store$2.59-80%
lowest across shops (ITAD)$2.59-80%
GOG$3.89-70%

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $1.94 at Fanatical (2026-08-24)via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $12.99 · on sale 81 of 112 observed days · at its all-time low (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
202020212026Week of 2021-05-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-11-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-09-01: 1 positive
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Price history

$12.99$1.652021-05-182026-09-152021-05-18 — best price $12.992021-09-13 — best price $8.702021-12-22 — best price $7.792022-02-09 — best price $10.912022-04-11 — best price $8.702022-05-17 — best price $12.992022-07-09 — best price $12.992022-08-31 — best price $10.912022-11-04 — best price $12.992022-12-12 — best price $7.792023-02-07 — best price $12.992023-03-29 — best price $12.992023-05-24 — best price $12.992023-07-09 — best price $10.782023-08-22 — best price $6.392023-10-10 — best price $7.792023-12-18 — best price $6.492024-01-29 — best price $6.492024-03-05 — best price $6.492024-04-12 — best price $12.992024-05-31 — best price $6.492024-07-18 — best price $5.502024-09-04 — best price $4.542024-10-21 — best price $4.542024-12-07 — best price $12.992025-02-03 — best price $10.992025-03-20 — best price $12.992025-05-07 — best price $12.992025-06-28 — best price $3.822025-09-11 — best price $4.542025-10-22 — best price $12.992025-12-11 — best price $3.892026-03-05 — best price $3.892026-04-30 — best price $5.192026-06-16 — best price $12.992026-08-14 — best price $3.892026-09-07 — best price $2.592026-09-15 — best price $1.95
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Attention

1202026-06-17 — 5 pageviews2026-06-20 — 3 pageviews2026-06-23 — 5 pageviews2026-06-26 — 7 pageviews2026-06-29 — 5 pageviews2026-07-02 — 4 pageviews2026-07-05 — 9 pageviews2026-07-08 — 6 pageviews2026-07-11 — 2 pageviews2026-07-14 — 1 pageviews2026-07-17 — 4 pageviews2026-07-20 — 3 pageviews2026-07-23 — 5 pageviews2026-07-26 — 4 pageviews2026-07-29 — 0 pageviews2026-08-01 — 1 pageviews2026-08-04 — 3 pageviews2026-08-07 — 5 pageviews2026-08-10 — 4 pageviews2026-08-13 — 2 pageviews2026-08-16 — 6 pageviews2026-08-19 — 0 pageviews2026-08-22 — 5 pageviews2026-08-25 — 2 pageviews2026-08-28 — 2 pageviews2026-08-31 — 3 pageviews2026-09-03 — 5 pageviews2026-09-06 — 5 pageviews2026-09-09 — 11 pageviews2026-09-12 — 4 pageviews2026-09-14 — 3 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Completion

20
achievements tracked
61.5%
earned "Unconventional weapon"
15%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsSingle-playerSteam AchievementsSteam Trading CardsCommentary availableFamily Sharing

1 supported languages: English

Console footprint

PlatformPlayers trackedCompletionTrophies/achievements
Steam (Steam)37325%20

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

Player tags

2DRPGCasualComedyPuzzleTypingAbstractStylizedAdventureAtmospheric

Census log

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

Players also track

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Similarity via IGDB.

Official site ↗Wikipedia ↗