The Game Census
Layers of Fear (2016) cover art

Layers of Fear (2016)

Bloober Team SA · 2016-02-15

SteamGOGPlayStation StoreMicrosoft Store

AdventureIndie

Modes: Single player · Perspectives: First person

Releases: Oct 31, 2019 (iOS), Feb 15, 2016 (Mac), Feb 16, 2016 (PlayStation 4), Feb 16, 2016 (Xbox One), Feb 15, 2016 (Linux), Feb 15, 2016 (PC (Microsoft Windows))

A first-person psychological horror with a strong emphasis on atmosphere and storytelling. Explore an ever-shifting Victorian mansion as a painter seeking to complete his masterpiece, even at the cost of his own sanity.

Layers of Fear (2016) is an Adventure and Indie game released in 2016, priced at $1.99, with an owner estimate of 2,000,000 .. 5,000,000 and a Very Positive review sentiment (88% of 27724 reviews).

20
playing now
88%
positive of 28k reviews
Very Positive
steam's rating (official)
2,000,000–5,000,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
76/100
critic score (17 outlets, IGDB)
71/100
IGDB user rating (271 ratings)
4.46★
PlayStation Store rating (8,967 ratings)
2.9h
time to beat (IGDB)
platinum
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Playable
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: Playable
$1.99
steam price (US)

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

Layers of Fear is a 2016 psychological horror adventure game developed by Bloober Team and published by Aspyr. It was released on Linux, Microsoft Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One worldwide in February 2016.

Health check

Healthy
  • · 20 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 786 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~98/week).
  • · Review velocity up 208% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 2% of 28,739 Adventure games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-28

Estimated sales: 693k–1.7M copies

Review-multiple estimate from 27,724 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

GOG$19.99
Microsoft Store$19.99

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $1.99 at Steam (2024-11-27)via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $19.99 · on sale 56 of 85 observed days · $18.00 above the all-time low (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
33733720182026Week of 2018-01-01: 90 positiveWeek of 2018-01-01: 13 negativeWeek of 2018-02-01: 59 positiveWeek of 2018-02-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2018-03-01: 46 positiveWeek of 2018-03-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2018-04-01: 39 positiveWeek of 2018-04-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2018-05-01: 39 positiveWeek of 2018-05-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2018-06-01: 85 positiveWeek of 2018-06-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2018-07-01: 62 positiveWeek of 2018-07-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2018-08-01: 41 positiveWeek of 2018-08-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2018-09-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2018-09-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2018-10-01: 43 positiveWeek of 2018-10-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2018-11-01: 157 positiveWeek of 2018-11-01: 18 negativeWeek of 2018-12-01: 63 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2019-01-01: 49 positiveWeek of 2019-01-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2019-02-01: 54 positiveWeek of 2019-02-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2019-03-01: 55 positiveWeek of 2019-03-01: 13 negativeWeek of 2019-04-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2019-04-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2019-05-01: 94 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 13 negativeWeek of 2019-06-01: 133 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2019-07-01: 108 positiveWeek of 2019-07-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2019-08-01: 89 positiveWeek of 2019-08-01: 15 negativeWeek of 2019-09-01: 41 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2019-10-01: 82 positiveWeek of 2019-10-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2019-11-01: 115 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2019-12-01: 116 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 16 negativeWeek of 2020-01-01: 120 positiveWeek of 2020-01-01: 16 negativeWeek of 2020-02-01: 115 positiveWeek of 2020-02-01: 19 negativeWeek of 2020-03-01: 82 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2020-04-01: 96 positiveWeek of 2020-04-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2020-05-01: 82 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2020-06-01: 87 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 14 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 176 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 12 negativeWeek of 2020-08-01: 71 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2020-09-01: 127 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2020-10-01: 99 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2020-11-01: 152 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2020-12-01: 141 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 118 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 20 negativeWeek of 2021-02-01: 104 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2021-03-01: 68 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 47 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2021-05-01: 54 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 81 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 142 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 13 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 68 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2021-09-01: 78 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2021-10-01: 141 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 21 negativeWeek of 2021-11-01: 122 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 13 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 108 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 16 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 110 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 15 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 84 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 54 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 16 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 40 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 39 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2022-06-01: 33 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 33 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 36 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2022-09-01: 33 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 39 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 35 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 41 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 42 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 32 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 32 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 41 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 49 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 13 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-06-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-09-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-11-01: 77 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 20 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 337 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 88 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 122 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 18 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 70 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2025-03-01: 48 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 35 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-06-01: 44 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-07-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 224 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 33 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 102 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 25 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 97 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 29 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 90 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 18 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 49 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 53 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 14 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 34 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 9 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

48112026-09-15 11:00 — 40 players2026-09-16 20:00 — 24 players2026-09-18 03:00 — 15 players2026-09-19 11:00 — 39 players2026-09-20 18:00 — 27 players2026-09-22 02:00 — 15 players2026-09-23 09:00 — 32 players2026-09-24 17:00 — 47 players2026-09-26 00:00 — 11 players2026-09-27 08:00 — 35 players2026-09-28 15:00 — 40 players2026-09-29 23:00 — 14 players2026-10-01 06:00 — 37 players2026-10-02 14:00 — 43 players2026-10-03 22:00 — 26 players2026-10-05 06:00 — 28 players2026-10-06 13:00 — 35 players2026-10-07 21:00 — 19 players2026-10-09 04:00 — 19 players2026-10-10 12:00 — 30 players2026-10-11 19:00 — 38 players2026-10-13 03:00 — 15 players2026-10-14 10:00 — 20 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).
2.3k18Aug 2015Aug 2026Aug 2015 — avg 71 · peak 203Dec 2015 — avg 27 · peak 101Apr 2016 — avg 45 · peak 116Aug 2016 — avg 96 · peak 335Dec 2016 — avg 38 · peak 122Apr 2017 — avg 83 · peak 299Aug 2017 — avg 101 · peak 371Dec 2017 — avg 595 · peak 6,315Apr 2018 — avg 69 · peak 259Aug 2018 — avg 112 · peak 336Dec 2018 — avg 101 · peak 405Apr 2019 — avg 80 · peak 838Aug 2019 — avg 96 · peak 305Dec 2019 — avg 81 · peak 450Apr 2020 — avg 82 · peak 172Aug 2020 — avg 63 · peak 110Dec 2020 — avg 72 · peak 160Apr 2021 — avg 47 · peak 99Aug 2021 — avg 53 · peak 96Dec 2021 — avg 67 · peak 547Apr 2022 — avg 44 · peak 101Aug 2022 — avg 39 · peak 88Dec 2022 — avg 34 · peak 708Apr 2023 — avg 28 · peak 56Aug 2023 — avg 22 · peak 46Dec 2023 — avg 20 · peak 51Apr 2024 — avg 18 · peak 37Aug 2024 — avg 19 · peak 43Dec 2024 — avg 217 · peak 1,278Apr 2025 — avg 25 · peak 56Aug 2025 — avg 21 · peak 50Dec 2025 — avg 18 · peak 44Apr 2026 — avg 47 · peak 144Aug 2026 — avg 34 · peak 107
Monthly average players (source: steamcharts.com) — history via steamcharts.com; live census sampling since Aug 2026.

Price history

$19.99$1.992015-08-272026-10-142015-08-27 — best price $8.492016-03-03 — best price $14.192016-05-17 — best price $13.392016-07-12 — best price $19.992016-09-15 — best price $9.992016-12-16 — best price $9.992017-03-13 — best price $19.992017-07-22 — best price $17.152017-10-14 — best price $5.002017-12-12 — best price $4.992018-04-22 — best price $5.152018-07-18 — best price $6.002018-10-12 — best price $19.992018-11-27 — best price $19.992019-02-12 — best price $19.992019-04-26 — best price $4.062019-06-20 — best price $4.992019-09-04 — best price $4.992019-11-12 — best price $19.992020-01-14 — best price $15.612020-03-03 — best price $3.992020-04-17 — best price $19.992020-06-20 — best price $3.432020-08-25 — best price $4.992020-12-05 — best price $19.992021-02-05 — best price $3.262021-04-10 — best price $16.192021-06-07 — best price $3.992021-07-26 — best price $3.992021-09-13 — best price $19.992021-11-20 — best price $16.192022-01-08 — best price $19.992022-03-25 — best price $17.342022-05-20 — best price $3.992026-05-24 — best price $19.992026-09-02 — best price $1.992026-09-27 — best price $1.992026-10-14 — best price $19.99
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Attention

3461012026-05-30 — 140 pageviews2026-06-03 — 149 pageviews2026-06-07 — 346 pageviews2026-06-11 — 145 pageviews2026-06-15 — 154 pageviews2026-06-19 — 115 pageviews2026-06-23 — 158 pageviews2026-06-27 — 104 pageviews2026-07-01 — 116 pageviews2026-07-05 — 148 pageviews2026-07-09 — 110 pageviews2026-07-13 — 106 pageviews2026-07-17 — 165 pageviews2026-07-21 — 123 pageviews2026-07-25 — 118 pageviews2026-07-29 — 129 pageviews2026-08-02 — 126 pageviews2026-08-06 — 111 pageviews2026-08-10 — 128 pageviews2026-08-14 — 142 pageviews2026-08-18 — 141 pageviews2026-08-22 — 145 pageviews2026-08-26 — 144 pageviews2026-08-30 — 199 pageviews2026-09-03 — 170 pageviews2026-09-07 — 201 pageviews2026-09-11 — 168 pageviews2026-09-15 — 170 pageviews2026-09-19 — 163 pageviews2026-09-23 — 187 pageviews2026-09-27 — 218 pageviews2026-10-01 — 174 pageviews2026-10-05 — 193 pageviews2026-10-08 — 176 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Completion

27
achievements tracked
51.8%
earned "It's covered up for a reason"
5.6%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsmacOSLinuxSingle-playerSteam AchievementsSteam Trading CardsPartial Controller SupportSteam CloudRemote Play on TabletFamily Sharing2 DLC

11 supported languages: English, Italian, Polish, French, German, Spanish - Spain, Japanese, Portuguese - Brazil, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Turkish

Post-launch support: 2 DLC released, first 2016-08-02, latest 2016-10-28 (Steam store data)

Console footprint

PlatformPlayers trackedCompletionTrophies/achievements
Steam (Steam)32,7196%27

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

DarkIndieHorrorPuzzleAdventureStory RichAtmosphericExplorationMultiplayerPsychedelic

Census log

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

Players also track

Gone HomeAmnesia: A Machine for PigsThe Vanishing of Ethan CarterSOMADon't Knock TwiceRusty Lake HotelRusty Lake: RootsDream Alone

Similarity via IGDB.

Official site ↗Wikipedia ↗