The Isle
The Isle screenshot 1The Isle screenshot 2
ActionAdventureIndieMassively MultiplayerSimulationDinosaursSurvivalOpen WorldMultiplayerHunting

19,574 playing#85 on Steam by players#85 on Steam

Peak in the last 24 hours: 20,843

Peak in the last 7 days: 25,014

The Isle Early Access Steam store

Game description

Experience fierce open world survival gameplay as you attempt to stay alive on an unforgiving island inhabited by dinosaurs! Hunt. Grow. Survive.

Basic info

DeveloperAfterthought LLC
PublisherAfterthought LLC
PlatformsWindows
Steam DeckPlayable
Release dateDec 1, 2015
Price

Prices by IsThereAnyDeal

Minimum specs

OSWindows 7 64-bit or later (64 Bit ONLY)
ProcessorQuad-core Intel or AMD processor, 3.0 GHz or faster.
Memory8 GB
GraphicsNVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 or AMD Radeon R9 280X series card or higher.
Storage25 GB
steamyze

Review Analysis Score

Based on 404 reviews from the past 1 year

69.9/ 100
Bottom 30%

Steam rating: Very Positive (80%)

Review analysis summary (Reviewed Oct 13, 2026)

Brutal dinosaur survival hooks 120 reviewers of The Isle, a few saying it hits harder than DayZ, and its 123,586 Steam reviews put it at 69.9.

👍 Strengths

Story & World ranks 299th of 1096, and 48 reviews praise the atmosphere and dinosaur mechanics. 48 rate the graphics and gameplay as good. Players describe harsh survival where every decision matters and growing up feels like a real achievement, and some praise creative gameplay ideas with fun dinosaurs.

👎 Where it falls short

Tech & Support ranks 1321st of 1399. 50 reviews report crashes, the most upvoted losing 15 hours of progress, and 37 criticize the development pace, citing over a decade in early access and broken promises. 29 report heavy performance drops even on solid hardware. Gameplay ranks 1278th of 1396, and others describe losing hours of growth to bugs, plus a steep learning curve with no explanation of mechanics. Content Volume ranks 1015th of 1351 and Pricing & Fairness 1187th of 1399.

Representative reviews Original reviews ↗

“I absolutely LOVE this game, intense moments hit harder than DayZ” · 120 reviews
“dinosaur mechanics and atmosphere are incredible” · 48 reviews
“graphics rated good with very good gameplay” · 48 reviews

How it holds up

−50+5

Controls, difficulty, progression and depth
Mentioned in 56% of reviews · Bottom 10% of the games we've analyzed

Onboarding -2.41 · How easy it is to learn — tutorials and the first hours
Negative “steep learning curve, game does not explain mechanics, requires trial and error” · 25 reviews

Progression 22% · Difficulty 23% · Freedom 10% · Strategy 10% · Controls & feel 8%

Plot, characters and the world
Mentioned in 26% of reviews · Top 30% of the games we've analyzed

World +3.36 · Lore, atmosphere, and how immersive the setting is
Positive “dinosaur mechanics and atmosphere are incredible” · 48 reviews
Negative “too dark during night” · 1 review

Story 1% · Characters 0%

How much there is to do, variety and replay value
Mentioned in 19% of reviews · Bottom 30% of the games we've analyzed

Variety -1.78 · Fresh content and situations versus repetition
Negative “tedious gameplay loops, long stretches of walking doing nothing” · 10 reviews

Volume 12% · Replayability 2%

Graphics, art style, music and sound
Mentioned in 25% of reviews · Top 50% of the games we've analyzed

Visuals +2.98 · Graphics, art style, and animation
Positive “graphics rated good with very good gameplay” · 48 reviews

Audio 7%

Playing with others, the community and servers
Mentioned in 40% of reviews · Bottom 30% of the games we've analyzed

Playing together +1.74 · Fun of playing with friends, teammates, or rivals
Negative “survival tedious, combat broken, group play devolves into griefing” · 7 reviews

Community 22% · Servers & Connection 9%

Pricing, cheaters, balance and matchmaking
Mentioned in 24% of reviews · Bottom 20% of the games we've analyzed

Anti-cheat -0.44 · How common cheaters are and how well they're stopped

Pricing 3% · Balance 14% · Matchmaking 3%

Bugs, performance and developer support
Mentioned in 44% of reviews · Bottom 10% of the games we've analyzed

Developer support -0.87 · Updates, patches, and how devs respond to players
Negative “11 years early access with minimal content progress and broken promises” · 37 reviews
Positive “game receives constant updates despite Steam showing old date” · 5 reviews

Stability 24% · Performance 19%

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

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