The Game Census
Mainframe Defenders cover art

Mainframe Defenders

Synthetic Domain · 2020-02-25

SteamGOGPlayStation StoreMicrosoft Store

IndieRPGStrategy

Modes: Single player · Perspectives: Bird view / Isometric

Releases: Feb 25, 2020 (PC (Microsoft Windows)), Oct 22, 2021 (Nintendo Switch), Oct 22, 2021 (Xbox One), Feb 25, 2020 (Linux), Oct 21, 2021 (PlayStation 4)

MAINFRAME DEFENDERS - Turn-based tactics centered around gear and unit customization. It offers simple combat, high replayability, and tons of loot. Items don't just provide stats boost, but also offer distinct mechanics that can be combined into powerful builds.

Mainframe Defenders is an Indie, RPG, and Strategy game released in 2020, priced at $0.59, with an estimated 200,000 to 500,000 owners and a Very Positive review sentiment (88% of 793 reviews).

3
playing now
88%
positive of 796 reviews
Very Positive
steam's rating (official)
200,000–500,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
70/100
IGDB user rating (1 ratings)
3.93★
PlayStation Store rating (14 ratings)
pending
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Playable
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: Playable
$0.59
steam price (US)

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

Microlink Dynamics is leader in AI research area, who built first research complex fully ran by AI. But during one of the OS updates, most of networked units started to behave erratically, attacking everyone on sight. You control 4 prototype units left intact and help the AI to protect the complex.(Storyline via IGDB)

Health check

Quietly active
  • · 3 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 52 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~7/week).
  • · Review velocity down 19% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 12% of 49,699 Indie games in the census by review count.
Estimated sales: 16k–36k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 796 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

GOG$0.59-90%
Microsoft Store$11.99

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $0.53 at Humble Store (2024-12-19) · bundled 1×via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $5.99 · on sale 76 of 104 observed days · $0.06 above the all-time low (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
727220202026Week of 2020-03-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2020-04-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-11-01: 72 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-12-01: 52 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 61 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-02-01: 39 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-05-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-09-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-11-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-09-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-10-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-09-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-11-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-03-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-07-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 1 positive
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

902026-09-15 15:00 — 1 players2026-09-16 23:00 — 2 players2026-09-18 06:00 — 3 players2026-09-19 14:00 — 2 players2026-09-20 21:00 — 1 players2026-09-22 05:00 — 2 players2026-09-23 13:00 — 2 players2026-09-24 20:00 — 0 players2026-09-26 04:00 — 1 players2026-09-27 11:00 — 2 players2026-09-28 19:00 — 1 players2026-09-30 02:00 — 2 players2026-10-01 10:00 — 1 players2026-10-02 17:00 — 3 players2026-10-04 01:00 — 1 players2026-10-05 09:00 — 2 players2026-10-06 16:00 — 2 players2026-10-08 00:00 — 1 players2026-10-09 07:00 — 2 players2026-10-10 15:00 — 2 players2026-10-11 23:00 — 1 players2026-10-13 06:00 — 2 players2026-10-14 14:00 — 3 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).
2801Mar 2020Aug 2026Mar 2020 — avg 2 · peak 6Jun 2020 — avg 1 · peak 5Aug 2020 — avg 1 · peak 4Oct 2020 — avg 4 · peak 16Dec 2020 — avg 7 · peak 19Feb 2021 — avg 5 · peak 15Apr 2021 — avg 2 · peak 8Jun 2021 — avg 3 · peak 12Aug 2021 — avg 10 · peak 25Oct 2021 — avg 5 · peak 19Dec 2021 — avg 3 · peak 8Feb 2022 — avg 2 · peak 7Apr 2022 — avg 9 · peak 26Jun 2022 — avg 5 · peak 13Aug 2022 — avg 2 · peak 8Oct 2022 — avg 2 · peak 7Dec 2022 — avg 5 · peak 24Feb 2023 — avg 6 · peak 36Apr 2023 — avg 4 · peak 23Jun 2023 — avg 43 · peak 443Aug 2023 — avg 17 · peak 156Oct 2023 — avg 4 · peak 14Dec 2023 — avg 4 · peak 14Mar 2024 — avg 6 · peak 22May 2024 — avg 2 · peak 14Jul 2024 — avg 8 · peak 123Sep 2024 — avg 3 · peak 12Nov 2024 — avg 3 · peak 7Mar 2025 — avg 280 · peak 1,229Jun 2025 — avg 9 · peak 32Sep 2025 — avg 5 · peak 18Nov 2025 — avg 9 · peak 80Jan 2026 — avg 3 · peak 12Mar 2026 — avg 7 · peak 87Jul 2026 — avg 18 · peak 501Aug 2026 — avg 5 · peak 27
Monthly average players (source: steamcharts.com) — history via steamcharts.com; live census sampling since Aug 2026.

Price history

$9.99$0.532020-02-252026-10-142020-02-25 — best price $9.992020-12-01 — best price $9.992021-05-17 — best price $9.992021-10-25 — best price $9.992022-01-24 — best price $9.992022-05-10 — best price $9.992022-07-19 — best price $3.992022-09-23 — best price $5.992023-01-06 — best price $0.772023-03-23 — best price $5.992023-06-02 — best price $0.592023-07-28 — best price $5.992023-09-12 — best price $5.992023-11-07 — best price $0.592024-01-05 — best price $5.992024-03-01 — best price $5.992024-04-19 — best price $5.992024-06-14 — best price $1.192024-08-26 — best price $0.592024-10-14 — best price $5.992024-11-18 — best price $5.992025-01-10 — best price $3.592025-03-20 — best price $5.992025-05-11 — best price $5.992025-07-10 — best price $5.992025-09-23 — best price $5.992025-10-29 — best price $0.592025-12-17 — best price $5.992026-02-03 — best price $5.992026-03-19 — best price $0.592026-05-10 — best price $5.992026-08-12 — best price $5.992026-09-04 — best price $0.592026-09-14 — best price $5.992026-09-24 — best price $0.592026-10-04 — best price $0.592026-10-14 — best price $0.59
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Completion

14
achievements tracked
4.5%
earned "Mainframe Defenders"
1.9%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsLinuxSingle-playerSteam AchievementsSteam Trading CardsAdjustable Text SizeCustom Volume ControlsAdjustable DifficultyKeyboard Only OptionMouse Only OptionPlayable without Timed InputSave Anytime

13 supported languages: English, Russian, Hungarian, German, Portuguese - Portugal, French, Italian, Spanish - Spain, Polish, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Japanese…

Console footprint

PlatformPlayers trackedCompletionTrophies/achievements
Steam (Steam)2329%14
Xbox One (Xbox)50%14
PS4 (PlayStation)2100%15
PS4 (PlayStation)250%15
Switch (Nintendo)0—0

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

Player tags

2DRPGMechsSandboxMilitaryStrategyIsometricRogue-likeRogue-liteExploration

Census log

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

Players also track

Breach & ClearStar Control®: OriginsSurvivalistDead AgeBattle BrothersReverse CrawlTears of AviaLEGRAND LEGACY: Tale of the Fatebounds

Similarity via IGDB.

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