The Game Census
htoL#NiQ: The Firefly Diary cover art

htoL#NiQ: The Firefly Diary

Nippon Ichi Software, Inc. · NIS America, Inc. · 2016-05-18

Steam

AdventureStrategy

Modes: Single player · Perspectives: Side view

Releases: Feb 24, 2015 (PlayStation Vita), May 18, 2016 (PC (Microsoft Windows))

In the depths of a labyrinthine ruin, a young girl named Mion rises from a deep sleep. Lost, alone, and with no memory of how she got here or where her parents are, she is greeted by two fireflies—one composed entirely of light, and another who lurks among the shadows.

htoL#NiQ: The Firefly Diary is an Adventure and Strategy game released in 2016, priced at $9.99, with an estimated 50,000 to 100,000 owners and a Mixed review sentiment (68% of 635 reviews).

1
playing now
68%
positive of 635 reviews
Mixed
steam's rating (official)
50,000–100,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
62/100
critic score (5 outlets, IGDB)
50/100
IGDB user rating (3 ratings)
platinum
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Playable
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: Playable
$9.99
steam price (US)

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

The story begins on December 31, 9999, when a young amnesiac girl by the name of Mion wakes at the bottom of a dark ruins within a desolate world. Following a desire to let Mion escape the rubble and see the outside world, the firefly Hotaru leads her on a journey upwards through the ruins. On her journey outwards, she finds unmanned machines, distorted vegetation, and bodies of dead children.(Storyline via IGDB)

Health check

Quiet
  • · 1 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 15 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~2/week).
  • · Review velocity down 40% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 17% of 29,025 Adventure games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-31

Estimated sales: 16k–38k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 635 total reviews — how this is computed.

All-time low: $1.99 at Steam (2020-09-10)via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $9.99 · on sale 12 of 24 observed days (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
252520172026Week of 2017-09-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2017-09-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2017-10-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2017-11-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2017-11-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2017-12-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2017-12-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2018-01-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2018-01-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-02-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2018-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-03-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2018-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-04-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2018-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-05-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2018-06-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2018-07-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2018-07-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2018-08-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2018-09-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2018-10-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2018-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-11-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2018-11-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2018-12-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-01-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2019-01-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2019-02-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2019-02-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2019-03-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2019-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-04-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2019-04-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2019-05-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2019-06-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2019-07-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2019-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-09-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2019-10-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2019-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-11-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2019-12-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-01-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2020-01-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2020-02-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2020-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-03-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-04-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2020-04-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2020-05-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2020-06-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-08-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-10-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2020-11-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2020-12-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-02-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-03-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-09-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-10-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-11-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-06-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-09-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-09-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-11-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-06-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-07-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 2 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

302026-09-15 19:00 — 1 players2026-09-17 03:00 — 0 players2026-09-18 11:00 — 0 players2026-09-19 18:00 — 1 players2026-09-21 02:00 — 0 players2026-09-22 09:00 — 1 players2026-09-23 17:00 — 0 players2026-09-25 00:00 — 0 players2026-09-26 08:00 — 0 players2026-09-27 15:00 — 2 players2026-09-28 23:00 — 1 players2026-09-30 06:00 — 0 players2026-10-01 14:00 — 0 players2026-10-02 21:00 — 0 players2026-10-04 05:00 — 1 players2026-10-05 13:00 — 2 players2026-10-06 21:00 — 0 players2026-10-08 04:00 — 1 players2026-10-09 12:00 — 1 players2026-10-10 19:00 — 1 players2026-10-12 03:00 — 1 players2026-10-13 10:00 — 0 players2026-10-14 18:00 — 0 players2026-10-15 10:00 — 1 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).

Price history

$14.99$1.992016-05-182026-07-092016-05-18 — best price $13.492016-10-03 — best price $14.992016-12-19 — best price $9.892017-04-03 — best price $14.992017-07-20 — best price $9.992017-11-20 — best price $5.992018-01-29 — best price $9.992018-04-17 — best price $9.992018-07-16 — best price $9.992018-10-26 — best price $4.492019-01-01 — best price $9.992019-03-22 — best price $3.992019-06-01 — best price $9.992019-09-11 — best price $3.992019-11-21 — best price $2.492020-01-16 — best price $2.492020-03-26 — best price $9.992020-06-02 — best price $4.992020-08-21 — best price $2.492020-12-07 — best price $1.992021-02-20 — best price $4.992021-05-03 — best price $1.992021-07-15 — best price $9.992021-12-01 — best price $9.992022-02-05 — best price $9.992022-06-06 — best price $1.992022-10-31 — best price $9.992023-01-03 — best price $9.992023-05-05 — best price $1.992023-08-25 — best price $9.992023-12-21 — best price $1.992024-05-21 — best price $9.992024-09-02 — best price $9.992024-12-13 — best price $2.002025-05-03 — best price $9.992025-08-05 — best price $1.992025-11-24 — best price $1.992026-05-06 — best price $9.992026-07-09 — best price $9.99
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Completion

24
achievements tracked
63.9%
earned "Chapter 1 Cleared"
12.5%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsFull controller supportSingle-playerSteam AchievementsFull controller supportSteam Trading CardsSteam CloudFamily Sharing2 DLC

2 supported languages: English, Japanese

Post-launch support: 2 DLC released, first 2016-10-25 (Steam store data)

Console footprint

PlatformPlayers trackedCompletionTrophies/achievements
PS Vita (PlayStation)1,42626%25
Steam (Steam)8619%24

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

Player tags

2DCuteAnimeHorrorPuzzleStrategyAdventureDifficultAtmosphericSingleplayer

Census log

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

Players also track

Don't Knock TwiceToby: The Secret MinePLANET ALPHARusty Lake: RootsForgotton AnnePikunikuSemblanceDream Alone

Similarity via IGDB.

Official site ↗Wikipedia ↗