The Game Census
Need to Know cover art

Need to Know

Monomyth Games · 2018-08-28

SteamGOG

AdventureIndieSimulation

Modes: Single player · Perspectives: First person, Text

Releases: Aug 28, 2018 (Mac), Aug 28, 2018 (Linux), Aug 28, 2018 (PC (Microsoft Windows))

Welcome to the Department of Liberty. Ascend the ranks of the NSA-like surveillance agency and decide: will you stand up for privacy, or help create an unstoppable police state? Spy on people’s deepest secrets, pick apart their private lives and decide their fate in this modern surveillance thriller.

Need to Know is an Adventure, Indie, and Simulation game released in 2018, priced at $14.99, with an owner estimate of 20,000 .. 50,000 and a Mixed review sentiment (67% of 297 reviews).

1
playing now
67%
positive of 297 reviews
Mixed
steam's rating (official)
20,000–50,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
50/100
IGDB user rating (4 ratings)
1
Nexus mods (2 downloads)
Unknown
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: 0
$14.99
steam price (US)

1 players in-game as of 2026-10-14 07:00 UTC (census sample)

Health check

Quiet
  • · 1 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 10 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~1/week).
  • · Review velocity up 11% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 25% of 28,763 Adventure games in the census by review count.
Estimated sales: 7.4k–18k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 297 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

GOG$14.99

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $7.49 at Steam (2025-03-13)via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $14.99 · on sale 33 of 88 observed days · $7.50 above the all-time low (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
181820182026Week of 2018-08-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2018-08-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2018-09-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2018-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-10-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2018-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-11-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2018-11-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-12-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-01-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2019-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-02-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2019-03-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-07-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2019-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-08-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2019-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-11-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-12-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-01-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2020-01-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-02-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2020-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-03-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-04-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-06-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-11-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-09-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-07-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 1 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

202026-09-15 07:00 — 0 players2026-09-16 16:00 — 0 players2026-09-17 23:00 — 0 players2026-09-19 07:00 — 1 players2026-09-20 14:00 — 1 players2026-09-21 22:00 — 0 players2026-09-23 05:00 — 0 players2026-09-24 13:00 — 1 players2026-09-25 20:00 — 1 players2026-09-27 04:00 — 0 players2026-09-28 11:00 — 0 players2026-09-29 19:00 — 1 players2026-10-01 02:00 — 1 players2026-10-02 10:00 — 0 players2026-10-03 18:00 — 2 players2026-10-05 02:00 — 0 players2026-10-06 09:00 — 0 players2026-10-07 17:00 — 0 players2026-10-09 00:00 — 0 players2026-10-10 08:00 — 0 players2026-10-11 15:00 — 0 players2026-10-12 23:00 — 0 players2026-10-14 07:00 — 1 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).
231Sep 2018Jul 2024Sep 2018 — avg 23 · peak 110Nov 2018 — avg 3 · peak 17Jan 2019 — avg 5 · peak 22Mar 2019 — avg 3 · peak 12May 2019 — avg 2 · peak 8Jul 2019 — avg 2 · peak 10Sep 2019 — avg 2 · peak 9Nov 2019 — avg 3 · peak 10Jan 2020 — avg 3 · peak 11Mar 2020 — avg 4 · peak 13May 2020 — avg 3 · peak 9Jul 2020 — avg 4 · peak 15Sep 2020 — avg 2 · peak 6Nov 2020 — avg 2 · peak 9Jan 2021 — avg 2 · peak 11Mar 2021 — avg 2 · peak 8May 2021 — avg 1 · peak 5Jul 2021 — avg 2 · peak 6Nov 2021 — avg 1 · peak 5Mar 2022 — avg 1 · peak 3Jun 2022 — avg 2 · peak 7Mar 2024 — avg 1 · peak 4Jul 2024 — avg 2 · peak 6

No change (0) in avg players vs prior month — Jul 2024

Monthly average players (source: steamcharts.com) — history via steamcharts.com; live census sampling since Aug 2026.

Price history

$14.99$7.492018-08-282026-10-142018-08-28 — best price $10.792018-11-27 — best price $14.992019-01-29 — best price $14.992019-06-18 — best price $14.992019-12-01 — best price $8.992020-01-22 — best price $9.892020-05-07 — best price $9.892020-09-21 — best price $14.992021-02-11 — best price $9.742021-10-28 — best price $10.042022-11-16 — best price $10.042023-03-20 — best price $8.992023-10-25 — best price $8.992024-02-14 — best price $8.992024-06-04 — best price $10.042024-09-05 — best price $8.992025-01-14 — best price $10.042025-03-20 — best price $14.992025-08-07 — best price $8.992025-10-22 — best price $14.992026-01-09 — best price $8.992026-02-12 — best price $8.992026-04-23 — best price $14.992026-06-17 — best price $8.992026-08-28 — best price $14.992026-09-05 — best price $14.992026-09-13 — best price $14.992026-09-21 — best price $14.992026-09-29 — best price $8.992026-10-07 — best price $14.992026-10-14 — best price $14.99
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Completion

10
achievements tracked
94%
earned "On Probation"
18.1%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsmacOSLinuxSingle-playerSteam AchievementsSteam Trading CardsSteam CloudFamily Sharing1 DLC

1 supported languages: English

Post-launch support: 1 DLC released, first 2018-10-22 (Steam store data)

Console footprint

PlatformPlayers trackedCompletionTrophies/achievements
Steam (Steam)47311%10

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

Player tags

IndiePuzzleAdventurePoliticalSimulationStory RichPoint & ClickPolitical Sim

Census log

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

Players also track

Star Control®: OriginsSupreme Ruler UltimateSurvivalistWeapon Shop FantasyAncient CitiesBronze Age - HD EditionTech Support: Error UnknownCHANGE: A Homeless Survival Experience

Similarity via IGDB.

Official site ↗