The Game Census
Northern Lights cover art

Northern Lights

MadGoat Studio · 2020-12-14

Steam

IndieSimulationEarly Access

Modes: Single player · Perspectives: First person

Releases: Dec 14, 2020 (PC (Microsoft Windows))

Northern Lights is an open world survival simulation set in the extreme conditions of the arctic tundra. Clinging to life, you must use real-life survival techniques to gather resources, craft, and hunt while tending to your health and sanity. Can you survive your way out of the mysterious island?

67%
positive of 299 reviews
Mixed
steam's rating (official)
0–20,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
50/100
IGDB user rating (0 ratings)
Unsupported
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: Playable
$11.99
steam price (US)

You play the role of a forest ranger who was sent on a rescue mission and ended up trapped on an island whose climate has suffered mysterious and drastic changes. Massive blizzards, freezing temperatures, and hungry predators are some of the dangers that threaten your survival. This is the core experience of Northern Lights. In less than a second, you find yourself helpless in front of the unforgiving Siberian wilderness. From being the hunter, you became the hunted. Stranded far from any human habitation, you have to endure the harsh arctic conditions, hunt for supplies, investigate the myst(Storyline via IGDB)

Health check

Quiet
  • · 14 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~2/week).
  • · Review velocity up 17% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Current weekly pace is under 5% of the all-time peak week (64 reviews).
  • · Top 31% of 30,039 Indie games in the census by review count.
Estimated sales: 6.0k–13k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 299 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

lowest across shops (ITAD)$11.99

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $3.59 at Steam (2026-05-11)via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $11.99 · on sale 10 of 20 observed days (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
323220202026Week of 2020-12-01: 32 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 32 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-02-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-03-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-05-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-06-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-09-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-09-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-03-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2026-09-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2026-09-01: 1 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Price history

$19.99$3.592020-12-142026-09-072020-12-14 — best price $16.992021-02-04 — best price $19.992021-05-12 — best price $14.992021-05-31 — best price $19.992021-10-28 — best price $13.992021-12-01 — best price $19.992021-12-22 — best price $13.992022-02-03 — best price $17.992022-04-24 — best price $17.992022-07-07 — best price $15.992022-09-05 — best price $8.792022-10-17 — best price $15.992022-12-12 — best price $7.992023-01-05 — best price $15.992023-03-09 — best price $7.992023-03-23 — best price $15.992023-05-29 — best price $7.992023-07-13 — best price $15.992023-11-28 — best price $15.992024-01-05 — best price $14.992024-03-14 — best price $7.492024-04-08 — best price $14.992024-06-27 — best price $5.992024-07-22 — best price $14.992024-10-21 — best price $5.092024-11-27 — best price $4.792024-12-16 — best price $11.992025-01-20 — best price $4.792025-03-10 — best price $11.992025-04-14 — best price $4.792025-06-02 — best price $11.992025-07-14 — best price $4.792025-09-01 — best price $11.992025-11-17 — best price $4.072026-01-05 — best price $11.992026-03-19 — best price $4.072026-04-06 — best price $11.992026-06-25 — best price $3.592026-07-20 — best price $11.992026-09-07 — best price $11.99
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Completion

24
achievements tracked
44.7%
earned "Egg Thief"
3.7%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsSingle-playerSteam AchievementsPartial Controller SupportSteam CloudFamily Sharing

13 supported languages: English, French, German, Portuguese - Brazil, Russian, Turkish, Spanish - Spain, Japanese, Romanian, Spanish - Latin America, Italian, Hungarian…

Console footprint

PlatformPlayers trackedCompletionTrophies/achievements
Steam (Steam)6770%5
Steam (Steam)582%24

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

Player tags

SandboxCraftingSurvivalRealisticOpen WorldSimulationAtmosphericExplorationEarly AccessFirst-Person

Census log

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

Players also track

Radiation IslandForce of NatureDude SimulatorDYSMANTLETribe: Primitive BuilderAstro ColonyGrand Emprise: Time Travel SurvivalOutpath

Similarity via IGDB.

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