The Game Census
The Messenger cover art

The Messenger

Sabotage · Devolver Digital · 2018-08-30

SteamGOGPlayStation StoreEpic Games StoreMicrosoft Store

ActionIndie

Modes: Single player · Perspectives: Side view

Releases: Jun 25, 2020 (Xbox One), Mar 19, 2019 (PlayStation 4), Aug 30, 2018 (Nintendo Switch), Jan 23, 2025 (PlayStation 5), Aug 30, 2018 (PC (Microsoft Windows))

As a demon army besieges his village, a young ninja ventures through a cursed world, to deliver a scroll paramount to his clan’s survival. What begins as a classic action platformer soon unravels into an expansive time-traveling adventure full of thrills, surprises, and humor.

The Messenger is an Action and Indie game released in 2018, priced at $19.99, with an estimated 500,000 .. 1,000,000 owners and a Very Positive review sentiment (93% of 13266 reviews).

29
playing now
93%
positive of 13k reviews
Very Positive
steam's rating (official)
500,000–1,000,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
87/100
critic score (8 outlets, IGDB)
79/100
IGDB user rating (192 ratings)
3
Nexus mods (1.7k downloads)
4.70★
PlayStation Store rating (4,327 ratings)
16h
to beat · rushed 15h
gold
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Verified
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: Playable
$19.99
steam price (US)

29 players in-game as of 2026-10-14 11:00 UTC (census sample)

The Messenger is a 2018 action platformer video game developed by Canadian developer Sabotage Studio and published by Devolver Digital. The player controls the eponymous ninja, who is appointed by a great hero to deliver a scroll. As the Messenger explores levels and defeats enemies, he gains a currency called Time Shards used to purchase useful upgrades and abilities. The game begins as a linear adventure featuring elements of time travel, with the audio and visuals changing from an 8-bit style to 16-bit to represent the ninja's journey from the past to the future. In the second half, The Messenger becomes a Metroidvania-style game where the player revisits previous levels to find key items.

Trailer

The Messenger trailer thumbnail

The Messenger - Official Theatrical Trailer - Oscilloscope Laboratories

≈1,000,000 YouTube results for this game's trailer search

Health check

Healthy
  • · 29 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 515 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~64/week).
  • · Review velocity down 33% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 4% of 27,667 Action games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-28

Estimated sales: 332k–796k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 13,266 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

Fanatical$3.99-80%
GOG$3.99-80%
Gamesplanet$3.99-80%
Steam$3.99-80%
GOG$3.99-80%
Microsoft Store$3.99-80%

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $3.36 at 2game (2025-11-20) · bundled 1×via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $19.99 · on sale 130 of 155 observed days · $0.63 above the all-time low (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
41141120182026Week of 2018-08-01: 63 positiveWeek of 2018-08-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2018-09-01: 411 positiveWeek of 2018-09-01: 24 negativeWeek of 2018-10-01: 103 positiveWeek of 2018-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-11-01: 341 positiveWeek of 2018-11-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2018-12-01: 200 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2019-01-01: 230 positiveWeek of 2019-01-01: 13 negativeWeek of 2019-02-01: 89 positiveWeek of 2019-02-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2019-03-01: 70 positiveWeek of 2019-03-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2019-04-01: 89 positiveWeek of 2019-04-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2019-05-01: 51 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2019-06-01: 258 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2019-07-01: 318 positiveWeek of 2019-07-01: 21 negativeWeek of 2019-08-01: 63 positiveWeek of 2019-08-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2019-09-01: 64 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2019-10-01: 59 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 184 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2019-12-01: 157 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2020-01-01: 131 positiveWeek of 2020-01-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2020-02-01: 86 positiveWeek of 2020-02-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2020-03-01: 131 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2020-04-01: 226 positiveWeek of 2020-04-01: 13 negativeWeek of 2020-05-01: 200 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 21 negativeWeek of 2020-06-01: 133 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 171 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 12 negativeWeek of 2020-08-01: 76 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2020-09-01: 63 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2020-10-01: 59 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2020-11-01: 109 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-12-01: 127 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 146 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2021-02-01: 110 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2021-03-01: 85 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 92 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2021-05-01: 131 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 78 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 147 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 79 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2021-09-01: 57 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-10-01: 49 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2021-11-01: 88 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 125 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 14 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 119 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 78 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 42 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 32 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 100 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2022-06-01: 73 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 96 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 52 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2022-09-01: 58 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 56 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 65 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 67 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 71 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 62 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 66 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 62 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 141 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 19 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 66 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 114 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 75 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 221 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 26 negativeWeek of 2023-10-01: 82 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 99 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 148 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 19 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 175 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 15 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 117 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 79 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 14 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 106 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 12 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 148 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2024-06-01: 95 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 114 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 21 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 132 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 20 negativeWeek of 2024-09-01: 58 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 93 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2024-11-01: 99 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 124 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 111 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 15 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 81 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2025-03-01: 105 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 13 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 63 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 69 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2025-06-01: 79 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2025-07-01: 131 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 15 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 133 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 17 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 63 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 14 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 77 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 13 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 66 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 60 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 62 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 39 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 62 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 42 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 42 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 70 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 16 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 64 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 13 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 43 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 7 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

65172026-09-15 12:00 — 36 players2026-09-16 20:00 — 50 players2026-09-18 04:00 — 35 players2026-09-19 11:00 — 45 players2026-09-20 19:00 — 65 players2026-09-22 03:00 — 41 players2026-09-23 10:00 — 33 players2026-09-24 18:00 — 33 players2026-09-26 01:00 — 38 players2026-09-27 09:00 — 28 players2026-09-28 16:00 — 33 players2026-09-30 00:00 — 45 players2026-10-01 07:00 — 17 players2026-10-02 15:00 — 30 players2026-10-03 22:00 — 36 players2026-10-05 06:00 — 25 players2026-10-06 14:00 — 48 players2026-10-07 21:00 — 32 players2026-10-09 05:00 — 21 players2026-10-10 12:00 — 53 players2026-10-11 20:00 — 64 players2026-10-13 04:00 — 33 players2026-10-14 11:00 — 29 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).
1760Jan 2018Aug 2026Jan 2018 — avg 0 · peak 5Sep 2018 — avg 176 · peak 404Dec 2018 — avg 108 · peak 252Mar 2019 — avg 47 · peak 97Jun 2019 — avg 79 · peak 190Sep 2019 — avg 62 · peak 182Dec 2019 — avg 54 · peak 118Mar 2020 — avg 60 · peak 239Jun 2020 — avg 117 · peak 320Sep 2020 — avg 50 · peak 98Dec 2020 — avg 65 · peak 137Mar 2021 — avg 43 · peak 82Jun 2021 — avg 44 · peak 117Sep 2021 — avg 34 · peak 70Dec 2021 — avg 64 · peak 123Mar 2022 — avg 26 · peak 63Jun 2022 — avg 40 · peak 89Sep 2022 — avg 36 · peak 95Dec 2022 — avg 44 · peak 83Mar 2023 — avg 38 · peak 86Jun 2023 — avg 32 · peak 67Sep 2023 — avg 158 · peak 371Dec 2023 — avg 97 · peak 176Mar 2024 — avg 59 · peak 139Jun 2024 — avg 58 · peak 130Sep 2024 — avg 40 · peak 82Dec 2024 — avg 71 · peak 143Mar 2025 — avg 57 · peak 121Jun 2025 — avg 53 · peak 132Sep 2025 — avg 43 · peak 103Dec 2025 — avg 48 · peak 110Mar 2026 — avg 41 · peak 98Jun 2026 — avg 54 · peak 128Aug 2026 — avg 36 · peak 135
Monthly average players (source: steamcharts.com) — history via steamcharts.com; live census sampling since Aug 2026.

Price history

$20.53$3.102018-08-172026-10-142018-08-17 — best price $19.992018-12-18 — best price $13.992019-06-10 — best price $11.992019-09-27 — best price $14.992019-12-12 — best price $11.992020-01-30 — best price $18.492020-04-20 — best price $18.252020-08-08 — best price $19.992020-12-05 — best price $9.992021-04-06 — best price $9.992021-07-22 — best price $7.992021-12-04 — best price $19.992022-02-21 — best price $19.992022-05-05 — best price $7.992022-08-08 — best price $19.992022-11-04 — best price $9.992023-01-02 — best price $16.992023-04-10 — best price $9.992023-06-24 — best price $19.992023-08-20 — best price $8.232023-12-13 — best price $4.992024-03-14 — best price $3.992024-06-13 — best price $19.992024-09-09 — best price $3.102024-11-27 — best price $3.992025-02-08 — best price $3.102025-04-17 — best price $3.102025-06-26 — best price $3.992025-09-18 — best price $3.992025-12-11 — best price $3.992026-04-02 — best price $3.992026-05-17 — best price $19.992026-08-10 — best price $3.992026-09-04 — best price $3.992026-09-29 — best price $3.992026-10-14 — best price $3.99
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Attention

181652026-05-30 — 95 pageviews2026-06-03 — 79 pageviews2026-06-07 — 100 pageviews2026-06-11 — 105 pageviews2026-06-15 — 124 pageviews2026-06-19 — 111 pageviews2026-06-23 — 108 pageviews2026-06-27 — 128 pageviews2026-07-01 — 88 pageviews2026-07-05 — 87 pageviews2026-07-09 — 99 pageviews2026-07-13 — 71 pageviews2026-07-17 — 80 pageviews2026-07-21 — 95 pageviews2026-07-25 — 77 pageviews2026-07-29 — 84 pageviews2026-08-02 — 87 pageviews2026-08-06 — 74 pageviews2026-08-10 — 78 pageviews2026-08-14 — 75 pageviews2026-08-18 — 79 pageviews2026-08-22 — 76 pageviews2026-08-26 — 88 pageviews2026-08-30 — 95 pageviews2026-09-03 — 92 pageviews2026-09-07 — 136 pageviews2026-09-11 — 78 pageviews2026-09-15 — 80 pageviews2026-09-19 — 91 pageviews2026-09-23 — 84 pageviews2026-09-27 — 75 pageviews2026-10-01 — 79 pageviews2026-10-05 — 76 pageviews2026-10-08 — 94 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Completion

48
achievements tracked
90.4%
earned "Enter The Ninja"
31.6%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsFull controller supportSingle-playerSteam AchievementsFull controller supportSteam Trading CardsSteam CloudRemote Play on TVFamily Sharing5 DLC

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

Post-launch support: 5 DLC released, first 2018-08-16, latest 2019-07-11 (Steam store data)

Console footprint

PlatformPlayers trackedCompletionTrophies/achievements
Steam (Steam)15,4059%48
Xbox One (Xbox)12,8544%48
PS4 (PlayStation)10,10519%43
PS4 (PlayStation)5,83021%43
Windows (Xbox)2,9816%48
PS5 (PlayStation)1,18825%43
Switch (Nintendo)8720%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

2DFunnyIndieNinjaRetroActionDifficultPlatformerTime TravelMetroidvania

Census log

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

Players also track

Toby: The Secret MinePLANET ALPHAForgotton AnnePikunikuBlazing ChromeSemblanceDream AloneDegrees of Separation

Similarity via IGDB.

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