Bendy and the Ink Machine ▶ Trailer
Bendy and the Ink Machine screenshot 1Bendy and the Ink Machine screenshot 2
ActionAdventureIndieStrategyHorrorFirst-PersonSingleplayerPuzzleCartoony

88 playing

Peak in the last 24 hours: 219

Peak in the last 7 days: 338

Bendy and the Ink Machine Steam store

Game description

Bendy and the Ink Machine® is the first person puzzle action horror game that will forever ruin your childhood love of cartoons.

Basic info

DeveloperJoey Drew Studios
PublisherJoey Drew Studios
PlatformsWindows
Steam DeckVerified
Release dateApr 27, 2017
Price

Prices by IsThereAnyDeal

Minimum specs

OS10
Processor64
Memory8 GB
Graphics4GB Dedicated
Storage2 GB
steamyze

Review Analysis Score

Based on 419 reviews from the past 1 year

79.6/ 100
Bottom 50%

Steam rating: Very Positive (89%)

Review analysis summary (Reviewed Oct 25, 2026)

A cartoon horror game with a retro animation look, Bendy and the Ink Machine scores 79.6 from 419 analyzed reviews.

👍 Strengths

102 reviews praise the visuals and unique retro art style, and some single out the lighting. 93 admire the world and its atmosphere, nostalgic and creepy at once, and some say the soundtrack and sound design keep them on edge. 77 say they enjoy it and recommend it, and a few say it is still as fun as it was years ago. Visuals & Sound ranks 298th of 1249, and Story & World ranks 552nd of 1096.

👎 Where it falls short

71 reviews report bugs, such as quests that refuse to progress, stuck characters and corrupted saves. 33 say the tension and challenge fade, with boring boss fights and primitive combat, and a few say it is not very scary. 29 find it repetitive, with drawn-out fetch quests across chapters. Gameplay ranks 1216th of 1396, Content Volume ranks 982nd of 1351, and Tech & Support appears in 30% of analyzed reviews and ranks 1110th of 1399.

Representative reviews Original reviews ↗

“unique art style and setting” · 102 reviews
“atmosphere nostalgic and terrifying, carefully crafted hand-drawn scenery” · 93 reviews
“recommends the game, especially for fans of the series and nostalgia” · 77 reviews

How it holds up

−50+5

Controls, difficulty, progression and depth
Mentioned in 44% of reviews · Bottom 20% of the games we've analyzed

Controls & feel -1.48 · Responsiveness, precision, and how the menus handle
Negative “Combat feels clunky, just running with axe or pipe” · 21 reviews
Positive “hitbox is so precise it feels like playing Dark Souls” · 1 review

Progression 4% · Difficulty 26% · Onboarding 14% · Freedom 3% · Strategy 5%

Plot, characters and the world
Mentioned in 69% of reviews · Bottom 50% of the games we've analyzed

World +3.27 · Lore, atmosphere, and how immersive the setting is
Positive “atmosphere nostalgic and terrifying, carefully crafted hand-drawn scenery” · 93 reviews

Story 49% · Characters 13%

How much there is to do, variety and replay value
Mentioned in 35% of reviews · Bottom 30% of the games we've analyzed

Variety -2.24 · Fresh content and situations versus repetition
Negative “missions sometimes feel drawn out and boring” · 29 reviews
Positive “excellent variety of gameplay styles surprises in similar genre” · 1 review

Volume 18% · Replayability 7%

Graphics, art style, music and sound
Mentioned in 47% of reviews · Top 30% of the games we've analyzed

Visuals +3.79 · Graphics, art style, and animation
Positive “unique art style and setting” · 102 reviews
Negative “design is not impressive, game feels outdated” · 3 reviews

Audio 17%

Playing with others, the community and servers

Not enough data — only 2% of reviews mention this.

Community +1.46 · Who you play with — how many, and how friendly

Playing together 0% · Servers & Connection 0%

Pricing, cheaters, balance and matchmaking
Mentioned in 8% of reviews · Top 40% of the games we've analyzed

Balance -0.06 · Whether classes, weapons, and builds are evenly matched
Negative “chapter 4 bullets are broken, don't move, ruins horror feel” · 1 review

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

Bugs, performance and developer support
Mentioned in 30% of reviews · Bottom 30% of the games we've analyzed

Stability -0.56 · Crashes, freezes, save loss, and game-breaking bugs
Negative “bugs and quests that refuse to progress” · 71 reviews

Performance 7% · Developer support 8%

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

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