The Game Census
Precipice of Darkness, Episode One cover art

Precipice of Darkness, Episode One

Hothead Games · 2008-05-21

Steam

AdventureRPG

Franchise: Penny Arcade · Modes: Single player

On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One is the first installment in the RPG-Adventure game series based on the web comic Penny Arcade. Create your character in the classic comic style, and join Gabe and Tycho in the alternate 1920s universe of New Arcadia, where you'll combat savage enemies, solve mysteries, meet bizarre new...

1
playing now
89%
positive of 536 reviews
Very Positive
steam rating
100,000–200,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
80/100
critic score (2 outlets, IGDB)
6h
time to beat (IGDB)
$7.99
steam price (US)

1 players in-game as of 2026-08-30 06:00 UTC (census sample)

The game begins with the narrator reading the first verse of a poem, later called The Quartet for the Dusk of Man. The player then designs a character of their choosing; with an introduction in the 1920s suburban neighborhood of the Player. A mysterious voice instructs the Player, whose home is quickly destroyed by a giant robot (a steampunk version of Fruit Fucker Prime), while smaller steampunk Fruit Fuckers attack. After a brief tutorial, the player teams up with Tycho Brahe, a scholar of Apocalyptic Studies turned detective, and his exceedingly violent partner who fought with the devil, Jo(Storyline via IGDB)

Health check

Insufficient data
  • · Not enough review history collected yet to judge health.
  • · Top 39% of 11,486 Adventure games in the census by review count.
Estimated sales: 21k–43k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 536 total reviews — how this is computed.

Players online

202026-08-11 17:00 — 0 players2026-08-12 09:00 — 0 players2026-08-13 01:00 — 0 players2026-08-13 16:00 — 0 players2026-08-14 08:00 — 0 players2026-08-15 00:00 — 1 players2026-08-15 16:00 — 0 players2026-08-16 08:00 — 1 players2026-08-17 00:00 — 1 players2026-08-17 16:00 — 1 players2026-08-18 07:00 — 0 players2026-08-18 23:00 — 1 players2026-08-19 15:00 — 0 players2026-08-20 07:00 — 1 players2026-08-20 23:00 — 1 players2026-08-21 14:00 — 0 players2026-08-22 06:00 — 0 players2026-08-22 22:00 — 0 players2026-08-23 14:00 — 1 players2026-08-24 05:00 — 2 players2026-08-24 21:00 — 0 players2026-08-25 13:00 — 0 players2026-08-26 05:00 — 0 players2026-08-26 22:00 — 0 players2026-08-27 14:00 — 0 players2026-08-28 06:00 — 0 players2026-08-28 22:00 — 1 players2026-08-29 14:00 — 0 players2026-08-30 06:00 — 1 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).

Details

WindowsSingle-playerSteam AchievementsFamily Sharing

1 supported languages: English

Census log

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

Players also track

Immortal: UnchainedBorderlands 3Omensight: Definitive EditionEternity: The Last UnicornONINAKITorchlight III

Similarity via IGDB.

Official site ↗Wikipedia ↗