PAPERHEAD
PAPERHEAD screenshot 1PAPERHEAD screenshot 2
ActionIndieFPSFast-PacedGoreBoomer ShooterHorror

45 playing

Peak in the last 24 hours: 59

Peak in the last 7 days: 104

PAPERHEAD Steam store

Game description

In the cute cardboard world, something went horribly wrong... Use the magical pencil, a good old shotgun, and various other weapons as well as the strength of your mighty boots, to uncover the dark truth and find out WHY WOULD CARDBOARD... BLEED?

Basic info

DeveloperPaperhead te4m
PublisherHypeTrain Digital
PlatformsWindows
Steam DeckVerified
Release dateOct 9, 2026
Price

Prices by IsThereAnyDeal

Minimum specs

OSWindows 7 64-bit or later
ProcessorRequires a 64-bit processor and operating system
Memory2 GB
GraphicsGeForce 9800GT Or Equivalent
Storage2 GB
steamyze

Review Analysis Score

Based on 218 reviews from the past 1 year

89.1/ 100
Top 20%

Steam rating: Overwhelmingly Positive (95%)

Review analysis summary (Reviewed Oct 15, 2026)

Chaotic action in a gorgeous cardboard style is fun for 79 reviewers of PAPERHEAD; it scores 89.1, top 20% of games we analyzed.

👍 Strengths

79 reviews say they enjoy it, and the most upvoted calls it fantastic, adrenaline filled chaos. Visuals & Sound appears in 44% of analyzed reviews and ranks 170th of 1249: 27 praise the visual style, which the most upvoted calls gorgeous and consistent, and 25 praise the music and sound design. Others describe a surreal atmosphere and story, and some say its brutal challenge feels fair and rewarding to overcome. Gameplay ranks 236th of 1396, and Story & World ranks 563rd of 1096.

👎 Where it falls short

17 reviews find the difficulty unfair at times, some citing one shot deaths from missed stomps. 11 report frame rate dips, some when many enemies are on screen. 11 report bugs, and the most upvoted hit a texture clipping bug that blocked progress and forced a level restart. Content Volume ranks 548th of 1351, with some reviews saying it feels like an incomplete demo. Others criticize how the story treats historical events. Tech & Support ranks 655th of 1399, and Pricing & Fairness ranks 579th of 1399.

Representative reviews Original reviews ↗

“fantastic, adrenaline filled chaos, great game” · 79 reviews
“cardboard visual style is gorgeous and consistent” · 27 reviews
“excellent adrenaline-fueled atmosphere, story and surrealism, author respected” · 15 reviews

How it holds up

−50+5

Controls, difficulty, progression and depth
Mentioned in 53% of reviews · Top 20% of the games we've analyzed

Controls & feel +3.28 · Responsiveness, precision, and how the menus handle
Negative “mixed input support causes camera to flick randomly” · 7 reviews

Progression 4% · Difficulty 21% · Onboarding 7% · Freedom 5% · Strategy 9%

Plot, characters and the world
Mentioned in 46% of reviews · Bottom 50% of the games we've analyzed

World +3.51 · Lore, atmosphere, and how immersive the setting is
Positive “excellent adrenaline-fueled atmosphere, story and surrealism, author respected” · 15 reviews

Story 35% · Characters 3%

How much there is to do, variety and replay value
Mentioned in 24% of reviews · Top 50% of the games we've analyzed

Replayability +2.54 · Reasons to play again — runs, randomness, New Game+
Positive “has necessary replayability and endless mode” · 1 review

Volume 16% · Variety 9%

Graphics, art style, music and sound
Mentioned in 44% of reviews · Top 20% of the games we've analyzed

Visuals +3.92 · Graphics, art style, and animation
Positive “cardboard visual style is gorgeous and consistent” · 27 reviews

Audio 30%

Playing with others, the community and servers

Not enough data — only 1% of reviews mention this.

Playing together -1.00 · Fun of playing with friends, teammates, or rivals

Community 0% · Servers & Connection 0%

Pricing, cheaters, balance and matchmaking
Mentioned in 7% of reviews · Top 50% of the games we've analyzed

Balance -0.10 · Whether classes, weapons, and builds are evenly matched
Negative “registration of hits has issues, sometimes unfair” · 1 review

Anti-cheat 0% · Pricing 3% · Matchmaking 0%

Bugs, performance and developer support
Mentioned in 17% of reviews · Top 50% of the games we've analyzed

Stability -0.13 · Crashes, freezes, save loss, and game-breaking bugs
Negative “texture clipping bug caused progression block, required level restart” · 11 reviews

Performance 7% · Developer support 6%

Grey means too few reviews mention it to trust. — means almost no reviews mention it.

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