The Game Census
Orcs Must Die! cover art

Orcs Must Die!

Robot Entertainment · 2011-10-11

SteamXboxMicrosoft Store

ActionIndieStrategy

Modes: Single player · Perspectives: First person, Third person

Releases: Oct 05, 2011 (Xbox 360), Oct 05, 2011 (PC (Microsoft Windows))

Slice them, burn them, skewer them, and launch them - no matter how you get it done, orcs must die in this fantasy action-strategy game from Robot Entertainment.

Orcs Must Die! is an Action, Indie, Strategy game released in 2011, priced at $9.99, with an estimated 1,000,000 .. 2,000,000 owners and an Overwhelmingly Positive review sentiment (96% of 8516 reviews).

15
playing now
96%
positive of 8.5k reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
steam's rating (official)
1,000,000–2,000,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
86/100
critic score (4 outlets, IGDB)
71/100
IGDB user rating (116 ratings)
12h
to beat · rushed 11h · completionist 30h
platinum
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Playable
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: Playable
$9.99
steam price (US)

15 players in-game as of 2026-10-14 11:00 UTC (census sample)

Orcs Must Die! is an action-tower defense video game developed and published by Robot Entertainment and Mastertronic. It is a tower defense game that eschews the traditional top-down view of similar games, instead using a third-person action-oriented viewpoint. The game was released for Xbox Live Arcade and Windows PCs in October 2011.

Trailer

Orcs Must Die! trailer thumbnail

Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap - Launch Trailer

≈487,063 YouTube results for this game's trailer search

Health check

Quietly active
  • · 15 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 160 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~20/week).
  • · Review velocity down 14% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 5% of 27,649 Action games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-28

Estimated sales: 341k–683k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 8,532 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

Steam$2.49-75%
Microsoft Store$14.99

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $0.99 at Steam (2016-02-23) · bundled 1×via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $14.99 · on sale 80 of 84 observed days (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
666620182026Week of 2018-01-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2018-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-02-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2018-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-03-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2018-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-04-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2018-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-05-01: 43 positiveWeek of 2018-05-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2018-06-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2018-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-07-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2018-08-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2018-09-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2018-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-10-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2018-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-11-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2018-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-12-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-01-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2019-01-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2019-02-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2019-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-03-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2019-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-04-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2019-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-05-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2019-06-01: 38 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-07-01: 37 positiveWeek of 2019-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-08-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2019-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-09-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2019-10-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 42 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-12-01: 38 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-01-01: 39 positiveWeek of 2020-01-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-02-01: 33 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-04-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2020-04-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2020-05-01: 48 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-06-01: 30 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-08-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-09-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-10-01: 34 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-11-01: 45 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-12-01: 29 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-02-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-03-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-05-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 66 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 66 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 55 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2021-09-01: 31 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-10-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 56 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 48 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 37 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 42 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 31 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 38 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 46 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 46 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 46 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-10-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 32 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 32 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-11-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 54 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 29 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 30 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-03-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 29 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-06-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 27 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 29 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 2 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

3862026-09-15 12:00 — 17 players2026-09-16 20:00 — 18 players2026-09-18 04:00 — 9 players2026-09-19 11:00 — 16 players2026-09-20 19:00 — 22 players2026-09-22 02:00 — 12 players2026-09-23 10:00 — 8 players2026-09-24 17:00 — 22 players2026-09-26 01:00 — 24 players2026-09-27 08:00 — 17 players2026-09-28 16:00 — 27 players2026-09-29 23:00 — 13 players2026-10-01 07:00 — 20 players2026-10-02 14:00 — 23 players2026-10-03 22:00 — 33 players2026-10-05 06:00 — 13 players2026-10-06 14:00 — 25 players2026-10-07 21:00 — 28 players2026-10-09 05:00 — 14 players2026-10-10 12:00 — 21 players2026-10-11 20:00 — 27 players2026-10-13 03:00 — 6 players2026-10-14 11:00 — 15 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).
1.4k15Jul 2012Aug 2026Jul 2012 — avg 1,350 · peak 4,548Dec 2012 — avg 166 · peak 681May 2013 — avg 113 · peak 421Oct 2013 — avg 42 · peak 168Mar 2014 — avg 98 · peak 788Aug 2014 — avg 127 · peak 527Jan 2015 — avg 45 · peak 103Jun 2015 — avg 43 · peak 126Nov 2015 — avg 49 · peak 177Apr 2016 — avg 64 · peak 190Sep 2016 — avg 29 · peak 64Feb 2017 — avg 35 · peak 73Jul 2017 — avg 40 · peak 92Dec 2017 — avg 32 · peak 75May 2018 — avg 54 · peak 181Oct 2018 — avg 18 · peak 49Mar 2019 — avg 24 · peak 96Aug 2019 — avg 21 · peak 42Jan 2020 — avg 24 · peak 56Jun 2020 — avg 24 · peak 67Nov 2020 — avg 34 · peak 82Apr 2021 — avg 19 · peak 44Sep 2021 — avg 29 · peak 60Feb 2022 — avg 22 · peak 48Jul 2022 — avg 24 · peak 53Dec 2022 — avg 49 · peak 169May 2023 — avg 17 · peak 40Oct 2023 — avg 17 · peak 36Mar 2024 — avg 17 · peak 39Aug 2024 — avg 26 · peak 73Jan 2025 — avg 27 · peak 60Jun 2025 — avg 18 · peak 58Nov 2025 — avg 15 · peak 33Apr 2026 — avg 17 · peak 41Aug 2026 — avg 21 · peak 59
Monthly average players (source: steamcharts.com) — history via steamcharts.com; live census sampling since Aug 2026.

Price history

$14.99$0.992015-01-012026-10-092015-01-01 — best price $2.502015-11-02 — best price $9.992016-11-23 — best price $2.492017-12-15 — best price $9.992018-10-30 — best price $2.492019-03-18 — best price $9.992019-11-26 — best price $1.992020-05-04 — best price $9.992020-11-16 — best price $1.872021-05-17 — best price $1.872021-11-15 — best price $1.872022-04-28 — best price $1.872022-08-02 — best price $8.222022-09-28 — best price $8.982022-11-28 — best price $1.872023-01-07 — best price $7.892023-03-13 — best price $9.992023-05-06 — best price $2.052023-06-29 — best price $2.492023-08-10 — best price $9.992023-11-06 — best price $2.242024-01-05 — best price $7.892024-03-18 — best price $7.652024-05-23 — best price $7.892024-07-11 — best price $2.252024-08-29 — best price $9.992024-10-08 — best price $6.472024-12-12 — best price $6.472025-02-19 — best price $9.992025-05-29 — best price $8.892025-07-20 — best price $9.992025-08-30 — best price $6.472025-12-12 — best price $9.992026-03-16 — best price $9.992026-05-21 — best price $2.342026-08-14 — best price $2.492026-09-01 — best price $2.242026-09-30 — best price $2.492026-10-09 — best price $14.99
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Attention

57242026-05-30 — 35 pageviews2026-06-03 — 52 pageviews2026-06-07 — 48 pageviews2026-06-11 — 32 pageviews2026-06-15 — 50 pageviews2026-06-19 — 35 pageviews2026-06-23 — 34 pageviews2026-06-27 — 45 pageviews2026-07-01 — 32 pageviews2026-07-05 — 43 pageviews2026-07-09 — 37 pageviews2026-07-13 — 53 pageviews2026-07-17 — 47 pageviews2026-07-21 — 44 pageviews2026-07-25 — 43 pageviews2026-07-29 — 42 pageviews2026-08-02 — 52 pageviews2026-08-06 — 46 pageviews2026-08-10 — 41 pageviews2026-08-14 — 57 pageviews2026-08-18 — 50 pageviews2026-08-22 — 51 pageviews2026-08-26 — 36 pageviews2026-08-30 — 47 pageviews2026-09-03 — 31 pageviews2026-09-07 — 39 pageviews2026-09-11 — 47 pageviews2026-09-15 — 40 pageviews2026-09-19 — 44 pageviews2026-09-23 — 42 pageviews2026-09-27 — 32 pageviews2026-10-01 — 36 pageviews2026-10-05 — 43 pageviews2026-10-08 — 39 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Completion

27
achievements tracked
93.3%
earned "Perfect 10!"
14.4%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsSingle-playerSteam AchievementsPartial Controller SupportSteam CloudStatsSteam LeaderboardsFamily Sharing2 DLC

8 supported languages: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish - Spain, Russian, Japanese, Polish

Post-launch support: 2 DLC released, first 2011-10-25, latest 2011-11-08 (Steam store data)

Console footprint

PlatformPlayers trackedCompletionTrophies/achievements
Steam (Steam)44,7835%27
Xbox 360 (Xbox)6,3597%12

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

FunnyIndieMagicActionComedyFantasyCartoonyStrategyMultiplayerScore Attack

Census log

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

Players also track

BastionAarklash: LegacyUnclaimed WorldENDLESS Legend™GET EVENZigguratThe Jackbox Party Pack 3Judgment: Apocalypse Survival Simulation

Similarity via IGDB.

Official site ↗Wikipedia ↗