The Game Census
Stars in Shadow cover art

Stars in Shadow

Ashdar Games · Iceberg Interactive · 2017-01-19

SteamGOG

IndieStrategy

Modes: Single player · Perspectives: Bird view / Isometric

Releases: Jan 19, 2017 (PC (Microsoft Windows))

Stars in Shadow is a turn-based 4X strategy game and a vivid tribute to the genre classics. Compete with alien factions to explore and colonize nearby starsystems, build fleets to defend against rivals, negotiate or conquer them. Win by unifying the galaxy, through diplomacy or force.

Stars in Shadow is an Indie and Strategy game released in 2017, priced at $24.99, with an estimated 20,000 to 50,000 owners and a Mostly Positive review sentiment (78% of 837 reviews).

15
playing now
78%
positive of 837 reviews
Mostly Positive
steam's rating (official)
20,000–50,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
70/100
critic score (1 outlets, IGDB)
60/100
IGDB user rating (0 ratings)
platinum
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Unknown
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: 0
$24.99
steam price (US)

15 players in-game as of 2026-10-14 21:00 UTC (census sample)

Stars in Shadow is a turn-based, 4X science-fiction computer strategy game developed by Ashdar Games and published by Iceberg Interactive for Windows PC in 2017.

Health check

Quietly active
  • · 15 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 29 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~4/week).
  • · Review velocity up 45% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 12% of 49,602 Indie games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-31

Estimated sales: 21k–50k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 837 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

Steam$3.74-85%
GOG$4.49-82%
GOG$4.49-82%
GamersGate$4.50-82%

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $3.70 at 2game (2022-11-18) · bundled 4×via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $24.99 · on sale 117 of 150 observed days · $0.79 above the all-time low (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
222220172026Week of 2017-07-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2017-07-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2017-08-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2017-09-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2017-10-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2017-10-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2017-11-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2017-11-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2017-12-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2017-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-01-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2018-01-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2018-02-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2018-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-03-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2018-03-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2018-04-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2018-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-05-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2018-05-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2018-06-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2018-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-07-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2018-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-08-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2018-09-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2018-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-10-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2018-10-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2018-11-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2019-01-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2019-01-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2019-02-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2019-02-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2019-03-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2019-04-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2019-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-05-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-06-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2019-07-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2019-07-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2019-08-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-10-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2020-01-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2020-02-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2020-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-03-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-04-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2020-04-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2020-05-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-06-01: 8 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2020-09-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-10-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-11-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-12-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-02-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-05-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 7 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-06-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-06-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-09-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2024-11-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 5 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 1 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 3 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 2 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 1 positive
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

2222026-09-15 06:00 — 6 players2026-09-16 15:00 — 11 players2026-09-17 22:00 — 11 players2026-09-19 06:00 — 11 players2026-09-20 13:00 — 12 players2026-09-21 21:00 — 13 players2026-09-23 04:00 — 8 players2026-09-24 12:00 — 11 players2026-09-25 19:00 — 13 players2026-09-27 03:00 — 20 players2026-09-28 10:00 — 9 players2026-09-29 18:00 — 17 players2026-10-01 01:00 — 18 players2026-10-02 09:00 — 5 players2026-10-03 17:00 — 22 players2026-10-05 01:00 — 13 players2026-10-06 08:00 — 6 players2026-10-07 16:00 — 9 players2026-10-08 23:00 — 12 players2026-10-10 07:00 — 9 players2026-10-11 14:00 — 13 players2026-10-12 22:00 — 20 players2026-10-14 05:00 — 7 players2026-10-14 21:00 — 15 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).
790Jul 2016Aug 2026Jul 2016 — avg 0 · peak 3Nov 2016 — avg 6 · peak 21Mar 2017 — avg 23 · peak 67Jul 2017 — avg 20 · peak 64Nov 2017 — avg 27 · peak 73Mar 2018 — avg 23 · peak 78Jul 2018 — avg 16 · peak 39Nov 2018 — avg 18 · peak 46Mar 2019 — avg 23 · peak 77Jul 2019 — avg 24 · peak 53Nov 2019 — avg 26 · peak 76Mar 2020 — avg 17 · peak 38Jul 2020 — avg 18 · peak 44Nov 2020 — avg 29 · peak 82Mar 2021 — avg 16 · peak 32Jul 2021 — avg 15 · peak 32Nov 2021 — avg 19 · peak 34Mar 2022 — avg 16 · peak 32Jul 2022 — avg 13 · peak 26Nov 2022 — avg 14 · peak 28Mar 2023 — avg 13 · peak 33Jul 2023 — avg 13 · peak 30Nov 2023 — avg 13 · peak 29Mar 2024 — avg 12 · peak 24Jul 2024 — avg 13 · peak 28Nov 2024 — avg 14 · peak 32Mar 2025 — avg 12 · peak 26Jul 2025 — avg 11 · peak 26Nov 2025 — avg 15 · peak 35Mar 2026 — avg 13 · peak 28Jul 2026 — avg 14 · peak 26Aug 2026 — avg 13 · peak 26
Monthly average players (source: steamcharts.com) — history via steamcharts.com; live census sampling since Aug 2026.

Price history

$26.58$3.742016-09-152026-10-142016-09-15 — best price $19.992017-01-19 — best price $18.742017-07-17 — best price $14.992017-11-16 — best price $12.492018-03-19 — best price $9.992018-08-27 — best price $11.252018-12-14 — best price $6.972019-04-17 — best price $7.492019-07-26 — best price $8.492019-12-09 — best price $6.242020-04-07 — best price $20.882020-07-14 — best price $20.882020-09-14 — best price $19.942020-11-25 — best price $4.992021-01-30 — best price $19.992021-04-01 — best price $24.992021-05-30 — best price $21.132021-08-16 — best price $6.242021-11-06 — best price $19.992022-01-04 — best price $18.362022-03-10 — best price $22.492022-06-06 — best price $4.992022-09-29 — best price $24.992022-12-16 — best price $25.492023-03-14 — best price $4.992023-07-14 — best price $19.882023-11-01 — best price $4.992024-02-08 — best price $4.992024-05-05 — best price $21.242024-07-29 — best price $4.372024-10-19 — best price $24.992025-02-23 — best price $21.132025-06-09 — best price $4.502025-10-26 — best price $24.992026-02-20 — best price $3.742026-06-24 — best price $20.332026-09-02 — best price $4.492026-10-07 — best price $3.742026-10-14 — best price $4.49
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Attention

2302026-06-02 — 6 pageviews2026-06-06 — 5 pageviews2026-06-10 — 7 pageviews2026-06-14 — 3 pageviews2026-06-18 — 2 pageviews2026-06-22 — 4 pageviews2026-06-26 — 7 pageviews2026-06-30 — 9 pageviews2026-07-04 — 2 pageviews2026-07-08 — 2 pageviews2026-07-12 — 3 pageviews2026-07-16 — 6 pageviews2026-07-20 — 5 pageviews2026-07-24 — 6 pageviews2026-07-28 — 0 pageviews2026-08-01 — 2 pageviews2026-08-05 — 5 pageviews2026-08-09 — 4 pageviews2026-08-13 — 2 pageviews2026-08-17 — 3 pageviews2026-08-21 — 7 pageviews2026-08-25 — 6 pageviews2026-08-29 — 2 pageviews2026-09-02 — 3 pageviews2026-09-06 — 2 pageviews2026-09-10 — 1 pageviews2026-09-14 — 9 pageviews2026-09-18 — 4 pageviews2026-09-22 — 23 pageviews2026-09-26 — 2 pageviews2026-09-30 — 1 pageviews2026-10-04 — 9 pageviews2026-10-08 — 2 pageviews2026-10-12 — 3 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Completion

60+
achievements tracked
84.2%
earned "One Small Step"
15.1%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsSingle-playerFamily Sharing1 DLC

1 supported languages: English

Post-launch support: 1 DLC released, first 2017-10-19 (Steam store data)

Console footprint

PlatformPlayers trackedCompletionTrophies/achievements
Steam (Steam)8801%62

Players tracked by Exophase (achievement/trophy trackers) — a sample of the player base, not total sales.

Player tags

4XIndieSpaceSci-fiStrategyTurn-BasedTurn-Based CombatTurn-Based TacticsTurn-Based Strategy

Census log

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

Recent updates

Players also track

Star Control®: OriginsUnclaimed WorldENDLESS Legend™The Long Journey HomeSol 0: Mars ColonizationENDLESS Space™ 2PlanetbaseAge of Wonders: Planetfall

Similarity via IGDB.

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