Oxygen Not Included ▶ Trailer
Oxygen Not Included screenshot 1Oxygen Not Included screenshot 2
IndieSimulationColony SimBase BuildingSurvivalResource ManagementBuilding

6,506 playing

Peak in the last 24 hours: 9,736

Peak in the last 7 days: 11,700

Oxygen Not Included Steam store

Game description

Oxygen Not Included is a space-colony simulation game. Deep inside an alien space rock your industrious crew will need to master science, overcome strange new lifeforms, and harness incredible space tech to survive, and possibly, thrive.

Basic info

DeveloperKlei Entertainment
PublisherKlei Entertainment
PlatformsWindows · macOS · Linux
Steam DeckVerified
Release dateJul 30, 2019
Price

Prices by IsThereAnyDeal

Minimum specs

OSWindows 10 version 21H1 or later
ProcessorDual Core 2 GHz
Memory8 GB
GraphicsIntel HD 4600 (AMD or NVIDIA equivalent)
Storage3 GB
steamyze

Review Analysis Score

Based on 420 reviews from the past 1 year

89.6/ 100
Top 20%

Steam rating: Overwhelmingly Positive (97%)

Metacritic: 85 /100

Review analysis summary (Reviewed Oct 21, 2026)

Behind the cute colonists sits a demanding physics simulation, and Oxygen Not Included scores 89.6 from 144,739 Steam reviews.

👍 Strengths

185 reviews call it deeply engaging and rewarding, saying each small breakthrough feels earned and hours slip away. 64 praise its strategic depth, with interconnected systems, many ways to solve each problem and mastery that comes from understanding the rules. Content Volume ranks 12th of 1351, and Gameplay ranks 469th of 1396. 16 admire the visuals, from the distinctive art style to lively animation. Visuals & Sound ranks 422nd of 1249.

👎 Where it falls short

107 reviews describe a steep learning curve, saying the game teaches through failure and sends new players to wikis and videos to learn its systems. 33 find it hard, with heat and resource problems that force full rebuilds and colonies that collapse for reasons only clear later. 15 report late game performance trouble, as large bases stutter and the frame rate sinks into a slideshow. Tech & Support ranks 432nd of 1399.

Representative reviews Original reviews ↗

“every small breakthrough gives achievement sense, incredibly engaging and rewarding” · 185 reviews
“deep systems with emergent complexity reward understanding and long-term mastery” · 64 reviews
“art style and level design show high technical craftsmanship” · 16 reviews

How it holds up

−50+5

Controls, difficulty, progression and depth
Mentioned in 74% of reviews · Top 40% of the games we've analyzed

Strategy +4.19 · Depth of builds, tactics, and meaningful choices
Positive “deep systems with emergent complexity reward understanding and long-term mastery” · 64 reviews
Negative “duplicants ignore priorities and pathfind into deadly situations constantly” · 5 reviews

Progression 21% · Difficulty 27% · Onboarding 39% · Freedom 15% · Controls & feel 2%

Plot, characters and the world
Mentioned in 17% of reviews · Top 50% of the games we've analyzed

World +3.24 · Lore, atmosphere, and how immersive the setting is
Positive “cry with duplicants, emotional connection to world” · 6 reviews

Story 2% · Characters 4%

How much there is to do, variety and replay value
Mentioned in 31% of reviews · Top 1% of the games we've analyzed

Volume +4.33 · How much there is to play, including endgame, for the price
Positive “hundreds or thousands of hours of deep automation and colony management” · 15 reviews
Negative “time sink, 75 hours and still nothing done, huge time commitment” · 5 reviews

Variety 6% · Replayability 10%

Graphics, art style, music and sound
Mentioned in 15% of reviews · Top 40% of the games we've analyzed

Visuals +3.38 · Graphics, art style, and animation
Positive “art style and level design show high technical craftsmanship” · 16 reviews
Negative “visual style may not appeal to everyone” · 2 reviews

Audio 1%

Playing with others, the community and servers

Not enough data — only 4% of reviews mention this.

Community +2.64 · Who you play with — how many, and how friendly

Playing together 1% · Servers & Connection 0%

Pricing, cheaters, balance and matchmaking
Mentioned in 7% of reviews · Top 30% of the games we've analyzed

Balance -0.03 · Whether classes, weapons, and builds are evenly matched
Negative “nerfs to gecko and fish egg roll lack clear justification” · 4 reviews

Anti-cheat 0% · Pricing 7% · Matchmaking 0%

Bugs, performance and developer support
Mentioned in 17% of reviews · Top 40% of the games we've analyzed

Developer support +0.16 · Updates, patches, and how devs respond to players
Positive “amazing ongoing support for 7 years with continuous updates and no significant bugs” · 9 reviews
Negative “lazy developer, no official Brazilian Portuguese translation, community left to handle mods” · 4 reviews

Stability 5% · Performance 7%

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

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