The Game Census
GemCraft - Chasing Shadows cover art

GemCraft - Chasing Shadows

Game in a Bottle · Armor Games Studios · 2015-04-30

Steam

ActionIndieStrategy

Modes: Single player

Releases: Mar 04, 2015 (PC (Microsoft Windows))

An epic, challenging tower defense game with an emphasis on strategy and replayability. Summon gems of immense magical potency and harness their unique abilities against a seemingly endless horde of monsters. The archdemon seeks to swallow the world, and you must journey to stand against her.

GemCraft - Chasing Shadows is a $9.99 Action, Indie, Strategy game released in 2015, estimated to have 200,000 .. 500,000 owners, with a Very Positive review sentiment (95% of 4410 reviews).— census verdict as of 2026-09-20

79
playing now
95%
positive of 4.4k reviews
Very Positive
steam's rating (official)
200,000–500,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
70/100
IGDB user rating (7 ratings)
gold
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Playable
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: Playable
$9.99
steam price (US)

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

Health check

Quietly active
  • · 79 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 132 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~17/week).
  • · Review velocity up 23% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 7% of 28,108 Action games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-29

Estimated sales: 110k–265k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 4,410 total reviews — how this is computed.

All-time low: $0.49 at Fanatical (2021-09-15) · bundled 17×via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $9.99 · on sale 22 of 39 observed days (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
10410420182026Week of 2018-01-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2018-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-02-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2018-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-03-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2018-04-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2018-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-05-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2018-06-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2018-07-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2018-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-08-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2018-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-09-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2018-10-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2018-11-01: 41 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2019-01-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2019-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-02-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2019-03-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2019-04-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 104 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-07-01: 77 positiveWeek of 2019-08-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2019-10-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2019-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-11-01: 83 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-12-01: 73 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-01-01: 58 positiveWeek of 2020-02-01: 38 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 34 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-04-01: 34 positiveWeek of 2020-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-05-01: 43 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-06-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-08-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-09-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-10-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-12-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-02-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-05-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-09-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-11-01: 31 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-06-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-06-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 30 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-03-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-06-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 1 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

139682026-09-16 06:00 — 82 players2026-09-17 13:00 — 96 players2026-09-18 21:00 — 118 players2026-09-20 04:00 — 84 players2026-09-21 12:00 — 98 players2026-09-22 20:00 — 127 players2026-09-24 03:00 — 83 players2026-09-25 11:00 — 86 players2026-09-26 18:00 — 139 players2026-09-28 02:00 — 78 players2026-09-29 09:00 — 78 players2026-09-30 17:00 — 95 players2026-10-02 00:00 — 94 players2026-10-03 08:00 — 75 players2026-10-04 16:00 — 129 players2026-10-05 23:00 — 103 players2026-10-07 07:00 — 83 players2026-10-08 14:00 — 97 players2026-10-09 22:00 — 110 players2026-10-11 05:00 — 89 players2026-10-12 13:00 — 100 players2026-10-13 21:00 — 115 players2026-10-15 04:00 — 79 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).
63690May 2015Aug 2026May 2015 — avg 441 · peak 1,026Sep 2015 — avg 216 · peak 406Jan 2016 — avg 636 · peak 1,601May 2016 — avg 194 · peak 311Sep 2016 — avg 160 · peak 270Jan 2017 — avg 199 · peak 360May 2017 — avg 165 · peak 265Sep 2017 — avg 168 · peak 293Jan 2018 — avg 177 · peak 283May 2018 — avg 155 · peak 256Sep 2018 — avg 158 · peak 278Jan 2019 — avg 156 · peak 261May 2019 — avg 183 · peak 341Sep 2019 — avg 160 · peak 251Jan 2020 — avg 187 · peak 327May 2020 — avg 151 · peak 309Sep 2020 — avg 113 · peak 192Jan 2021 — avg 138 · peak 222May 2021 — avg 113 · peak 174Sep 2021 — avg 110 · peak 167Jan 2022 — avg 121 · peak 202May 2022 — avg 117 · peak 198Sep 2022 — avg 111 · peak 176Jan 2023 — avg 124 · peak 206May 2023 — avg 103 · peak 163Sep 2023 — avg 113 · peak 187Jan 2024 — avg 118 · peak 199May 2024 — avg 96 · peak 158Sep 2024 — avg 186 · peak 527Jan 2025 — avg 116 · peak 189May 2025 — avg 106 · peak 166Sep 2025 — avg 93 · peak 148Jan 2026 — avg 98 · peak 157May 2026 — avg 94 · peak 163Aug 2026 — avg 97 · peak 167
Monthly average players (source: steamcharts.com) — history via steamcharts.com; live census sampling since Aug 2026.

Price history

$9.99$1.002015-04-302026-08-172015-04-30 — best price $8.992015-12-01 — best price $9.992016-03-29 — best price $9.992017-01-26 — best price $9.992017-09-25 — best price $4.992018-01-25 — best price $9.992018-11-21 — best price $4.992019-06-25 — best price $4.992019-12-09 — best price $4.992020-02-25 — best price $9.992020-05-25 — best price $9.992020-06-12 — best price $9.992020-07-09 — best price $9.992021-01-06 — best price $9.992021-01-24 — best price $9.992021-02-11 — best price $4.992021-03-07 — best price $9.992021-03-25 — best price $9.992021-04-18 — best price $9.992021-05-07 — best price $9.992021-06-08 — best price $1.002021-09-06 — best price $9.992021-11-25 — best price $7.342022-02-04 — best price $8.892022-10-31 — best price $7.342023-01-05 — best price $9.992023-05-29 — best price $3.992023-11-13 — best price $2.992024-02-01 — best price $9.992024-07-03 — best price $8.892024-08-06 — best price $8.892024-12-02 — best price $9.992025-03-20 — best price $9.992025-10-06 — best price $9.992026-02-20 — best price $1.992026-05-30 — best price $8.892026-07-11 — best price $8.892026-08-17 — best price $7.48
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Completion

60+
achievements tracked
88.9%
earned "First Blood Spilled"
57%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsFull controller supportSingle-playerSteam AchievementsFull controller supportSteam Trading CardsDualShock Controller SupportSteam CloudFamily Sharing

1 supported languages: English

Console footprint

PlatformPlayers trackedCompletionTrophies/achievements
Steam (Steam)12,2923%419

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

2DIndieMagicActionPuzzleClassicFantasyStrategyTacticalTop-Down

Census log

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

Recent updates

Players also track

Star Control®: OriginsSupreme Ruler UltimateSurvivalistReverse CrawlMedieval Kingdom WarsOctogeddonBronze Age - HD EditionApsulov: End of Gods

Similarity via IGDB.

Official site ↗Reddit ↗Wikipedia ↗