The Game Census
Running on Empty cover art

Running on Empty

T.F.A.N.C.S. · 2022-09-09

Steam

AdventureCasualIndieRPGSimulation

Modes: Single player

Releases: Sep 10, 2022 (PC (Microsoft Windows))

Running on Empty is a minimal yet deep post-apocalyptic role-playing game with resource management mechanics (in 64x64 retro pixel graphics!)

Running on Empty is an Adventure, Casual, Indie, and RPG game priced at $3.99 and released in 2022, with an owner estimate of 50,000 .. 100,000 and a Positive sentiment (96% of 25 reviews).

1
playing now
96%
positive of 25 reviews
Positive
steam's rating (official)
50,000–100,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
Unknown
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: 0
$3.99
steam price (US)

1 players in-game as of 2026-10-14 20:00 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 down 23% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 72% of 28,739 Adventure games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-09-02

All-time low: $1.59 at Steam (2024-03-14)via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $3.99 · on sale 4 of 8 observed days (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
6620222026Week of 2022-09-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 1 positive
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

102026-09-15 05:00 — 0 players2026-09-16 13:00 — 0 players2026-09-17 21:00 — 0 players2026-09-19 04:00 — 0 players2026-09-20 12:00 — 0 players2026-09-21 19:00 — 0 players2026-09-23 03:00 — 0 players2026-09-24 10:00 — 0 players2026-09-25 18:00 — 0 players2026-09-27 01:00 — 0 players2026-09-28 09:00 — 0 players2026-09-29 16:00 — 0 players2026-10-01 00:00 — 0 players2026-10-02 07:00 — 0 players2026-10-03 15:00 — 0 players2026-10-04 23:00 — 0 players2026-10-06 07:00 — 0 players2026-10-07 14:00 — 0 players2026-10-08 22:00 — 0 players2026-10-10 05:00 — 0 players2026-10-11 13:00 — 0 players2026-10-12 20:00 — 0 players2026-10-14 04:00 — 0 players2026-10-14 20:00 — 1 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).

Price history

$3.99$1.592022-09-102026-07-092022-09-10 — best price $2.692022-11-29 — best price $2.992023-01-05 — best price $2.992023-02-06 — best price $2.992023-03-23 — best price $2.992023-07-17 — best price $3.992023-09-18 — best price $3.992023-11-28 — best price $3.992024-01-04 — best price $3.992024-02-05 — best price $3.992024-03-21 — best price $3.992024-05-27 — best price $3.992024-07-11 — best price $3.992024-09-30 — best price $3.992024-12-04 — best price $3.992025-01-02 — best price $3.992025-02-24 — best price $3.992025-03-20 — best price $3.992025-04-07 — best price $3.992025-07-10 — best price $3.992025-10-06 — best price $3.992026-01-05 — best price $3.992026-03-16 — best price $3.992026-03-26 — best price $3.992026-07-09 — best price $3.99
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Completion

25
achievements tracked
7.6%
earned "Bloodbath"
3.5%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsSingle-playerSteam AchievementsSteam CloudSteam LeaderboardsFamily Sharing

1 supported languages: English

Player tags

2DRPGRetro1990'sArcadeCartoonShooterSurvivalMinimalistRogue-like

Census log

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

Players also track

Star Control®: OriginsSurvivalistTanziaForce of NatureWeapon Shop FantasyTech Support: Error UnknownDungeon Of Dragon KnightCHANGE: A Homeless Survival Experience

Similarity via IGDB.