The Game Census
Precipice of Darkness, Episode One cover art

Precipice of Darkness, Episode One

Hothead Games · 2008-05-21

SteamXbox

AdventureRPG

Franchise: Penny Arcade · Modes: Single player · Perspectives: Bird view / Isometric

Releases: May 21, 2008 (PC (Microsoft Windows)), May 21, 2008 (Linux), Jan 22, 2009 (PlayStation 3), May 21, 2008 (Mac), May 21, 2008 (Xbox 360)

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...

Precipice of Darkness, Episode One is an Adventure, RPG game released in 2008, priced at $7.99, with an estimated 100,000 .. 200,000 owners and a Very Positive review sentiment (89% of 536 reviews).

0
playing now
89%
positive of 536 reviews
Very Positive
steam's rating (official)
100,000–200,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
80/100
critic score (2 outlets, IGDB)
60/100
IGDB user rating (8 ratings)
6h
time to beat (IGDB)
platinum
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
$7.99
steam price (US)

0 players in-game as of 2026-10-14 16:00 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

Quiet
  • · 0 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 15 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~2/week).
  • · Review velocity up 88% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 19% of 28,739 Adventure games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-31

Estimated sales: 21k–43k copies

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

All-time low: $1.24 at GamersGate (2012-12-23) · bundled 2×via IsThereAnyDeal

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
5520152026Week of 2015-01-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2015-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2015-02-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2015-04-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2015-05-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2015-06-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2015-07-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2015-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2015-11-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2015-12-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2015-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2016-01-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2016-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2016-02-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2016-03-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2016-04-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2016-05-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2016-06-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2016-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2016-07-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2016-08-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2016-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2016-09-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2016-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2016-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2016-11-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2016-12-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2017-01-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2017-02-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2017-04-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2017-05-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2017-06-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2017-09-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2017-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2017-10-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2017-11-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2018-01-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2018-02-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2018-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-09-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2019-01-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2019-07-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2019-08-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2019-08-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-11-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2020-01-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2020-02-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-11-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-03-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 1 positive
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

102026-09-15 01:00 — 0 players2026-09-16 09:00 — 0 players2026-09-17 17:00 — 0 players2026-09-19 00:00 — 1 players2026-09-20 08:00 — 0 players2026-09-21 15:00 — 0 players2026-09-22 23:00 — 0 players2026-09-24 06:00 — 0 players2026-09-25 14:00 — 0 players2026-09-26 21:00 — 0 players2026-09-28 05:00 — 0 players2026-09-29 12:00 — 0 players2026-09-30 20:00 — 0 players2026-10-02 03:00 — 0 players2026-10-03 11:00 — 0 players2026-10-04 19:00 — 0 players2026-10-06 03:00 — 1 players2026-10-07 10:00 — 0 players2026-10-08 18:00 — 0 players2026-10-10 01:00 — 1 players2026-10-11 09:00 — 1 players2026-10-12 16:00 — 0 players2026-10-14 00:00 — 0 players2026-10-14 16:00 — 0 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).
200Jul 2012Jan 2023Jul 2012 — avg 20 · peak 51Oct 2012 — avg 4 · peak 15Jan 2013 — avg 7 · peak 27Apr 2013 — avg 6 · peak 23Jul 2013 — avg 7 · peak 25Oct 2013 — avg 16 · peak 104Jan 2014 — avg 12 · peak 68Apr 2014 — avg 4 · peak 13Jul 2014 — avg 3 · peak 11Oct 2014 — avg 7 · peak 43Jan 2015 — avg 2 · peak 14Apr 2015 — avg 2 · peak 7Jul 2015 — avg 2 · peak 8Oct 2015 — avg 1 · peak 6Jan 2016 — avg 1 · peak 7Apr 2016 — avg 1 · peak 6Jul 2016 — avg 1 · peak 5Oct 2016 — avg 1 · peak 5Jan 2017 — avg 1 · peak 5Apr 2017 — avg 1 · peak 5Jul 2017 — avg 1 · peak 4Oct 2017 — avg 1 · peak 5Jan 2018 — avg 1 · peak 4Apr 2018 — avg 1 · peak 6Jul 2018 — avg 1 · peak 4Oct 2018 — avg 0 · peak 4Jan 2019 — avg 1 · peak 5Apr 2019 — avg 0 · peak 3Jul 2019 — avg 1 · peak 4Oct 2019 — avg 1 · peak 3Feb 2020 — avg 1 · peak 4May 2020 — avg 1 · peak 3Aug 2020 — avg 1 · peak 3Nov 2020 — avg 0 · peak 3Apr 2021 — avg 1 · peak 3Jan 2023 — avg 1 · peak 3

No change (0) in avg players vs prior month — Jan 2023

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

Price history

$11.99$1.992015-01-012023-03-232015-01-01 — best price $4.952019-01-04 — best price $11.992019-01-09 — best price $7.992022-12-22 — best price $1.992023-01-05 — best price $7.992023-03-16 — best price $1.992023-03-23 — best price $7.99
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Completion

12
achievements tracked
90.3%
earned "Stray Cat"
25.5%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsSingle-playerSteam AchievementsFamily Sharing

1 supported languages: English

Player tags

RPGFunnyComedyAdventureTurn-BasedSingleplayer

Census log

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

Players also track

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

Similarity via IGDB.

Official site ↗Wikipedia ↗