The Game Census
Skul: The Hero Slayer cover art

Skul: The Hero Slayer

SOUTHPAW GAMES · NEOWIZ · 2021-01-20

SteamPlayStation StoreEpic Games StoreAmazonMicrosoft Store

ActionIndie

Modes: Single player

Releases: Oct 21, 2021 (Xbox One), Oct 20, 2021 (PlayStation 4), Jun 04, 2024 (Android), Jun 04, 2024 (iOS), Oct 21, 2021 (Nintendo Switch), Jan 20, 2021 (Linux)

Guide 'Skul' on his quest to single-handedly take on the Imperial Army and rescue his King from captivity, in an action-packed rogue-lite 2D platformer for the ages.

319
playing now
93%
positive of 58k reviews
Very Positive
steam rating
1,000,000–2,000,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
0
twitch viewers (latest)
81/100
critic score (3 outlets, IGDB)
67/100
IGDB user rating (34 ratings)
39h
to beat · rushed 20h · completionist 62h
platinum
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
$19.99
steam price (US)

319 players in-game as of 2026-08-30 01:00 UTC (census sample)

Skul: The Hero Slayer is a roguelike-action platformer developed by SouthPAW Games and published by Neowiz. The game was released on January 21, 2021 for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux, and launched on October 21, 2021 for Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4. A version for Android and iOS was released on June 4, 2024. In the game, players control a skeleton named Skul as he attempts to save demonkind from their enemies, the heroes. The player can swap Skul's head for different skulls, granting new combat abilities across randomly-generated levels. The game received positive reviews on release.

Health check

Healthy
  • · 319 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 1,500 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~188/week).
  • · Review velocity down 28% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Current weekly pace is under 5% of the all-time peak week (4,258 reviews).
  • · Top 4% of 10,791 Action games in the census by review count.
Estimated sales: 1.2M–2.6M copies

Review-multiple estimate from 57,551 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

lowest across shops (ITAD)$19.99
Microsoft Store$19.99

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $9.99 at Steam (2023-01-12)via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $19.99 · on sale 34 of 69 observed days · $10.00 above the all-time low (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
4.0k4.0k20202026Week of 2020-02-01: 1,714 positiveWeek of 2020-02-01: 132 negativeWeek of 2020-03-01: 1,304 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 67 negativeWeek of 2020-04-01: 349 positiveWeek of 2020-04-01: 27 negativeWeek of 2020-05-01: 444 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 27 negativeWeek of 2020-06-01: 497 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 42 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 741 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 52 negativeWeek of 2020-08-01: 319 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 20 negativeWeek of 2020-09-01: 608 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 33 negativeWeek of 2020-10-01: 205 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2020-11-01: 738 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 19 negativeWeek of 2020-12-01: 310 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 3,954 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 304 negativeWeek of 2021-02-01: 2,891 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 178 negativeWeek of 2021-03-01: 1,937 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 137 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 915 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 69 negativeWeek of 2021-05-01: 633 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 50 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 760 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 94 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 1,139 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 107 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 647 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 45 negativeWeek of 2021-09-01: 475 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 33 negativeWeek of 2021-10-01: 697 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 59 negativeWeek of 2021-11-01: 2,590 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 68 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 767 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 62 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 697 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 61 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 958 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 110 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 627 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 76 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 421 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 38 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 589 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 65 negativeWeek of 2022-06-01: 595 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 99 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 505 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 44 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 742 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 65 negativeWeek of 2022-09-01: 576 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 47 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 423 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 36 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 459 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 28 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 500 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 35 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 1,726 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 231 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 645 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 79 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 768 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 66 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 589 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 63 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 377 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 34 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 374 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 28 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 360 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 19 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 334 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 24 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 298 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 19 negativeWeek of 2023-10-01: 399 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 30 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 1,336 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 86 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 771 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 93 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 872 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 75 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 562 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 46 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 626 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 34 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 704 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 74 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 508 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 53 negativeWeek of 2024-06-01: 414 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 31 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 526 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 45 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 332 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 34 negativeWeek of 2024-09-01: 339 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 26 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 286 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 20 negativeWeek of 2024-11-01: 318 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 21 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 347 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 36 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 308 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 40 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 255 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 21 negativeWeek of 2025-03-01: 368 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 20 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 253 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 14 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 297 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 25 negativeWeek of 2025-06-01: 290 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 18 negativeWeek of 2025-07-01: 307 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 32 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 215 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 22 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 172 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 25 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 171 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 16 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 215 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 15 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 196 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 18 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 227 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 22 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 158 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 19 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 185 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 16 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 135 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 17 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 150 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 18 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 160 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 155 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 14 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 125 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 12 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

9172402026-08-06 21:00 — 253 players2026-08-07 05:00 — 520 players2026-08-07 13:00 — 825 players2026-08-07 21:00 — 266 players2026-08-08 05:00 — 660 players2026-08-08 13:00 — 834 players2026-08-08 21:00 — 311 players2026-08-09 05:00 — 708 players2026-08-09 13:00 — 903 players2026-08-09 21:00 — 292 players2026-08-10 05:00 — 524 players2026-08-10 14:00 — 875 players2026-08-10 22:00 — 240 players2026-08-11 06:00 — 535 players2026-08-11 14:00 — 917 players2026-08-12 21:00 — 281 players2026-08-14 05:00 — 480 players2026-08-15 13:00 — 805 players2026-08-16 21:00 — 304 players2026-08-18 04:00 — 410 players2026-08-19 12:00 — 650 players2026-08-20 19:00 — 278 players2026-08-22 03:00 — 402 players2026-08-23 10:00 — 666 players2026-08-24 18:00 — 320 players2026-08-26 02:00 — 314 players2026-08-27 09:00 — 439 players2026-08-28 17:00 — 420 players2026-08-30 01:00 — 319 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).

Price history

$19.99$9.992020-02-192026-08-272020-02-19 — best price $14.392020-07-07 — best price $17.992020-10-25 — best price $17.992021-01-27 — best price $15.992021-04-10 — best price $19.992021-09-17 — best price $19.992021-11-24 — best price $17.992022-01-24 — best price $14.992022-04-13 — best price $17.992022-06-10 — best price $14.992022-08-05 — best price $13.992022-09-26 — best price $12.992022-11-23 — best price $15.992023-01-12 — best price $9.992023-03-09 — best price $11.992023-04-14 — best price $11.992023-05-30 — best price $11.992023-07-18 — best price $15.992023-08-25 — best price $15.992023-11-22 — best price $10.992024-01-15 — best price $11.992024-02-24 — best price $19.992024-04-10 — best price $10.992024-05-16 — best price $9.992024-07-13 — best price $19.992024-08-17 — best price $19.992024-09-20 — best price $11.592024-10-25 — best price $9.992024-12-05 — best price $9.992025-01-20 — best price $9.992025-03-03 — best price $9.992025-04-16 — best price $19.992025-07-11 — best price $19.992025-09-03 — best price $11.422025-11-21 — best price $10.002026-01-23 — best price $19.992026-04-01 — best price $19.992026-06-16 — best price $9.992026-08-03 — best price $9.992026-08-27 — best price $19.99
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Attention

45152026-05-29 — 24 pageviews2026-06-01 — 31 pageviews2026-06-04 — 25 pageviews2026-06-07 — 30 pageviews2026-06-10 — 44 pageviews2026-06-13 — 26 pageviews2026-06-16 — 38 pageviews2026-06-19 — 30 pageviews2026-06-22 — 28 pageviews2026-06-25 — 28 pageviews2026-06-28 — 33 pageviews2026-07-01 — 36 pageviews2026-07-04 — 31 pageviews2026-07-07 — 30 pageviews2026-07-10 — 39 pageviews2026-07-13 — 39 pageviews2026-07-16 — 33 pageviews2026-07-19 — 42 pageviews2026-07-22 — 42 pageviews2026-07-25 — 35 pageviews2026-07-28 — 30 pageviews2026-07-31 — 27 pageviews2026-08-03 — 26 pageviews2026-08-06 — 24 pageviews2026-08-09 — 34 pageviews2026-08-12 — 30 pageviews2026-08-15 — 29 pageviews2026-08-18 — 24 pageviews2026-08-21 — 33 pageviews2026-08-24 — 38 pageviews2026-08-25 — 30 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Twitch viewers

1302026-08-27 01:34 — 4 viewers2026-08-27 04:34 — 6 viewers2026-08-27 07:33 — 2 viewers2026-08-27 10:34 — 0 viewers2026-08-27 13:34 — 10 viewers2026-08-27 16:34 — 5 viewers2026-08-27 19:34 — 1 viewers2026-08-27 23:34 — 4 viewers2026-08-28 02:34 — 0 viewers2026-08-28 05:34 — 0 viewers2026-08-28 08:34 — 0 viewers2026-08-28 11:34 — 1 viewers2026-08-28 14:34 — 0 viewers2026-08-28 17:34 — 0 viewers2026-08-28 20:34 — 0 viewers2026-08-28 23:34 — 12 viewers2026-08-29 02:34 — 1 viewers2026-08-29 05:34 — 0 viewers2026-08-29 08:34 — 3 viewers2026-08-29 11:34 — 0 viewers2026-08-29 14:34 — 1 viewers2026-08-29 17:34 — 0 viewers2026-08-29 20:34 — 13 viewers2026-08-29 23:34 — 0 viewers2026-08-30 02:34 — 0 viewers2026-08-30 05:34 — 2 viewers2026-08-30 08:34 — 0 viewers2026-08-30 11:34 — 0 viewers2026-08-30 14:34 — 0 viewers2026-08-30 16:35 — 0 viewers
Hourly Twitch viewers (census snapshots).

Completion

60+
achievements tracked
91.2%
earned "The Legend Begins"
27.5%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsmacOSLinuxFull controller supportSingle-playerFull controller supportSteam CloudRemote Play on PhoneRemote Play on TabletRemote Play on TVFamily Sharing2 DLC

11 supported languages: English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, German, French, Spanish - Spain, Russian, Traditional Chinese, Portuguese - Brazil, Polish

Console footprint

PlatformPlayers trackedCompletionTrophies/achievements
PS4 (PlayStation)20,9515%24
Steam (Steam)16,7011%101
Xbox One, Windows (Xbox)11,6182%23
Switch (Nintendo)980%0

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

2DIndieActionAdventureDifficultPlatformerRogue-likeRogue-liteMetroidvaniaSingleplayer

Census log

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

Players also track

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Similarity via IGDB.

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