Anodyne

Anodyne suits single-player players who want puzzles, combat, and an unusual dream world in a compact adventure. The Steam PC version includes Anodyne Remastered and Classic Anodyne, while the current price is ≈ $2.90 at Kinguin. Full controller support helps with exploration, and the confirmed interface languages should match your preference before buying. An upcoming Steam sale is another possible opportunity, but it does not promise a discount for this game. The purchase through Steam covers the Standard edition; Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, and Klarna are verified for this transaction.

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86%Steam Reviews990 reviews75Metacritic/10069OpenCritic/100

Released: Mar 22, 2013

Action-Adventure · Nonlinear · Exploration · Surreal · Psychological

KinguinAnodyne PC Steam CD Key·Platform:·Checked 2026-10-12-81%from~ $2.90(~ €2.59)Save $12.09 vs SteamBuy now

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All-time low ~ $0.99across Steam & third-party stores

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Price History

Past 36 months · Updated daily

Historical Low~ $0.992024-01Current Low Across Stores~ $3.69GOGvs. Historical Low+273%

Prices cover Steam and 39 authorized stores; only legitimate offers are counted. The chart shows weekly market-wide lows and Steam's official price across the past 36 months.

01About Anodyne

Anodyne takes you through Young’s surreal subconscious dream. Explore forests, cliffs, hotels, temples, caves, and abstract spaces; talk with strange characters; and search large dungeons and mazes. Use a broom to defeat enemies, solve puzzles, and open portals to other lands. Mysterious Cards unlock deeper areas, while health upgrades help you survive farther reaches of the dream. Steam PC players rate it 86%% positive from 990 reviews. Available interface languages: Simplified Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Portuguese-Brazil, and Italian. Released on March 22, 2013.

Credits

Developer

Melos Han-Tani · Marina Kittaka

Publisher

Analgesic Productions

Steam player reviews

86%positiveVery Positive990 Steam reviews

Lowest recorded in 36 months

$0.992024-01-12 · GOGBase game · same records as the chart above; USD history, not a regional Steam low.

Language support

Language	Interface	Subtitles	Audio
Simplified Chinese	Yes	—	—
English	Yes	—	—
Japanese	Yes	—	—

Show 4 more languages

Language	Interface	Subtitles	Audio
Korean	Yes	—	—
Spanish	Yes	—	—
Portuguese-Brazil	Yes	—	—
Italian	Yes	—	—

Steam PC edition data · 2026-10-13

02Before you buy

Language and audio

The Steam PC version supports interface languages including English, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Italian, Polish, and Traditional Chinese. Full audio is not listed.

Play mode and controller

Anodyne is a single-player action-adventure with full controller support. The Steam PC version includes Anodyne Remastered and Classic Anodyne.

03Frequently asked questions

What places can you explore?

You explore forests, cliffs, hotels, temples, caves, and abstract areas.

How does progression work?

The broom defeats enemies, while Cards and health upgrades open or support access to deeper areas.

What happens in the dungeons?

Dungeons combine puzzles and combat and contain portals, treasures, and items.

What is the story about?

The story follows Young through a surreal dream world and asks whether he can awaken.

Popular Steam reviews

Native-language selection · 10 reviews

Selected helpful reviews in this language show both recommendations and criticisms. This selection does not represent the overall positive rating; opinions reflect the version reviewed.

RecommendedSteam player

12/23/2014

It's basically existentialist Zelda on acid with less combat. This is a weird game. It's got the appearance of a classic zelda game, but there are more areas where you just wander around and talk to random people. You also don't so much unlock sexy new combat abilities and weapons, but just unlock new areas with new traps and puzzles to deal with. There are still boss fights, some of which will give you a challenge, but don't expect the non-stop action of a zelda game. This is much more of an exploration of the mildly dark and mildly bizarre. Not for everyone, but I think many people will find it worthwhile.Show moreShow less

9.3 hours at review206 people found this helpful

Not recommendedSteam player

11/26/2013

The Legend of Zelda is without any shred of doubt one of the most important and influential games ever made. Nintendo’s landmark release has inspired hundreds of games and mechanics within them, and you can't take two steps without hearing a developer site it as one of their biggest inspirations when developing their own games. Indie game Anodyne is one such example of a very close replication of LoZ's core gameplay, which isn't necessarily a bad thing in and of itself, but unfortunately fails to bring anything new to a very crowded table that results in but another poor attempt to recapture the magic of a classic. You take control of Young, a man who wakes up in an unknown realm called the Nexus. You are told that you must protect Briar from the darkness, but first must prove your worth by scouring the land for cards. And, that’s pretty much all you need to know. The story unravels in a nonlinear way, leaving much for you to deduce for yourself and numerous questions without straight answers. Unfortunately this initial air of mystery falls apart after you've progressed further into the game and come to realize the developers have no intention of ever answering or even elaborating on the many threads making up its haphazard plot. You run into a lot of characters during your travels, but none of them have anything relevant or useful to say. One of my biggest issues I had is that the dialog aspires to far more lofty and philosophical heights than it has any hope of reaching, ending up feeling pointless and pretentious, while at the same time completely throwing off the tone of the game. A lot of heavy subjects are brought up, from antisocial paranoia, to self worth and parental neglect, but they are never expanded upon or even discussed beyond a cursory overview (which comes across as forced and in poor taste). It’s clear this was a very personal experience for the writer behind the dialog, but putting all of your problems and insecurities into your game is a sure fire way to lose your audience. Adding to the disjointed tone is a bundle of worthless profanity that was unneeded and serves absolutely no purpose. I'm not sure why the developer felt the need to include random four letter words, as it doesn’t jell at all with the rest of the game, and even as someone not typically bothered by profanity felt a tad disgusted when presented with it in this context. The ending is the final nail in the coffin, coming completely out of left field and not giving even a remote sense of resolution. I will be the first person to advocate artistic expression, but the story fails on so many levels it had me wishing it hadn’t been included at all. From a gameplay perspective Anodyne fairs a bit better, but on the whole still fails to do enough with what it attempts. You spend your time split between exploring an overworld, collecting cards and filling out your map, and then dipping into dungeons which comprise some basic puzzles and the occasional boss fight. It's a formula that works, but in this case quickly becomes repetitive as you neither gain any new abilities, nor encounter consistently interesting puzzles to solve. So much of the game is comprised of nothing but wandering, that many areas feel like nothing but filler, featuring no purpose but to elongate your adventure and keep you away from the handful of smartly designed dungeons that could have made for a much tighter experience on their own. The extensive backtracking also contributes to much of your time feeling like a grind, occasionally even breaking the game as paths close and you become forced to retread even more ground taking the long way to wherever you were headed. Simply put, it's poor design that frustrates and belittles the player, dragging the experience on longer than it needed to be and making the enjoyable sections a lot farther apart. It's a shame because at times I really felt Anodyne was onto something, but each time my hopes were shot down as I cursed the many aggravating design decisions the developers made. Truth be told, there were moments when I actually did enjoy my time with the game. The true problem is, to reiterate, the fact that Anodyne does absolutely nothing we haven’t already seen and not well enough to compensate for its lack of innovation. It has it’s moments, but by and large feels all too familiar, and ultimately had me wondering why I was playing it instead of so many other games. I never felt compelled to continue, and I doubt it will be finished by most. If Anodyne does anything right, it’s the game’s music and art. The graphics wholly envelope the 16-bit era, with a wonderful pixel style that is both beautiful and varied. Each dungeon has it’s own look, from a noir inspired town, to a neon maze it is constantly evolving and giving you something new to look at. It may not all flow together, but it was the one thing that made me want to search out new dungeons. The other half of the presentation is the music, which does a great job of selling the somber, lonely tone of the story, even when the dialog can’t. From gentle piano melodies, to a pounding jungle beat, it is just a great set of songs, and some I could actually see myself listening to outside the game. They are that good, and easily the best part of the game. In the end though Anodyne left me wanting. Wanting for better levels, a better story, a better ending, but mostly, a better game. When I first began, I had little idea what to expect and was actually enjoying myself more than I would have expected. But as time went on, the gameplay never evolved, and the story only strayed farther and farther off course making me want to jump ship before it had completely sunk (which by the end it had definitely done. By the time the credits had rolled, I was all too happy to be able to wash myself of the experience. I don't say that lightly, and hate to have to be so critical, but I simply cannot advise anyone to play what was one of the most disappointing games I've experienced in a long time.Show moreShow less

5.1 hours at review133 people found this helpful

RecommendedSteam player

12/30/2013

Can I give a thumbs-sideways? The word "anodyne" in a literary sense can mean "soothing" or "blandly agreeable," and I can certainly give the game the bland part. For the better part of three hours playing the game I did not know if I could stomach finishing it. I'm getting ahead of myself. It's a Legend of Zelda-like with a ton of strange thematic choices, poor writing, too much dialogue and tonal shifts that will give a player whiplash. What few inventive game mechanics it employs are spread throughout an atrociously long and dull climb to nowhere. You might pass through seven screens just to get to the next place: no enemies, no obstacles to speak of, just a march. As if the designers (credited indie devs Sean Hogan Jonathan Kittaka) couldn't be bothered, having come up with the overall map of an area, to fill it in with things. This becomes very apparent when retracing your steps. You will find a checkpoint at the beginning of an area, putting you on guard for the trials ahead. Then those trials never manifest and seven screens later there's another checkpoint. To what end? Was my adversary through that place boredom? Will checkpoints at the beginning and end of a stretch really help me combat that adversary? The few basic enemies you encounter are all laughably simplistic. Many pose no threat at all. Some cannot even harm you. This led me to think perhaps they were more of a rhetorical device than a game object, really. The only rhetorical question that sprang to mind was "why am I still playing this?" Then later I encountered fire-breathing lions and they shot my dandy theory to hell. But I do know the answer to that rhetorical question, as the game is a little more than a poorly-written, bland, easy Zelda clone. First, even though the various mechanics are spread out way too far, the few that the game offers are very neat. Even with all the crummy verbosity, the game does not tutorialize, rather giving you the tools and letting you figure things out. A good bit of design. The nugget of a good game. I would never have thought that piles of dust could have so many uses, but there you go. Second, there is at least one boss in the game that requires a neat bit of fooling and approaches a reasonable challenge. Shame that I can only honestly say that about one of perhaps eight or so bosses, but that one is very good and fun. Third, there are a few counter-intuitive design choices that I won't spoil that I do admire as choices. It is this last point that keeps my thumb pointing up with all I've said about the game to this point. What I will say is that it's a shame you only get the full, mechanically complete game after playing through the whole thing. Heck I guess that's a second way it reminds me of Fez. The first was the music and sound effects. Which I didn't mention. Okay. The music is fine if you're into chiptunes and oscilloscopes. Tones, mostly sine waves. Some triangle. There are several good tones. Which is more than I can say about the jokes. Those are all tonedeaf. And just grating given everything else that happens. I want to say that, as a rule, you don't get to make crappy puns about bicycles with names in the same game where you murder a man and jump into his corpse-portal to go commit an abortion on a tentacle monster. Which is part of what I mean when I say the game is tonally all over the place. Anything vaguely interesting as a narrative point just gets dropped somewhere; crushed away by screen after screen of nothing happening. Things I didn't like: bad jokes boring, longwinded dialogue blandness useless screens lack of difficulty Things I did like: inventive mechanics post-game elements certain specific challenges cute enemy names no navi Buy it on sale. At the time of this writing it is half-off the ten dollar list price, which still feels like a bit much for what you're getting. Do not pay ten dollars for this game, at any rate.Show moreShow less

6.1 hours at review206 people found this helpful

Not recommendedSteam player

06/12/2017

I've got one major problem with this game. It doesn't seem to make any sense. It really drew me in with its ominous atmosphere of "something odd is going on here" and for a while I thought it's making its way to some kind of a point. Unfortunately, it really seems to be just some random dialogue cobbled together for the sole purpose of being cryptic and obscure. I don't think you can reasonably sort it out without inventing some deeper meaning that's simply not there. Not entirely bad, there's a lot to enjoy here, but it left me disappointed.Show moreShow less

10.8 hours at review76 people found this helpful

RecommendedSteam player

03/29/2014

This is a top down action adventure game ala the original Zelda or more specifically the game feels like Zelda: Link's Awakening with the simple color pallet, and music. The screen doesn't scroll. When you get to the edge, you go into a new screen, just like Zelda. Its very simple, with an attack button, movement buttons and a menu button. It has simple combat with a good variety of enemies, but there are also good puzzles that feel unique to this game. Things like using a broom to collect dust to place that dust to block things. Again, its very simple and easy. There is no hand holding with this game and you are free to figure things out yourself, BUT when new things are introduced they will bluntly tell you yes you can do this. Such as when you attack dust, it tells you, you've collected dust, attack again to place the dust. It will spoon feed you new things as most good games do, but it doesn't force you to do several tutorials. Once to test a new skill and that's it. The game lets you loose. It doesn't feel like you'll get lost, areas are pretty confined and you have a Zelda 1 like map, there are portals that let you quick travel. Like all Zelda games, there are keys that you'll need. Not just normal keys that open most locked doors, but specific keys to enter new areas. If that wasn't enough, you'll be collecting enemy cards. Enough of these cards will unlock specific gates with numbers on them. Along the way, you'll also find fairies or red insects that will not only fill your health, but also increase your health overall. The atmosphere of the game is very surreal or creepy, which is awesome, its a different flavor to Zelda that makes it feel unique. You're a janitor in a dark, surreal world. In fact, I think the game is trying to subtly hypnotize you with its music and sound effects like clicking, tick tocking and chimes. Nothing is really explained, it just is and I'm okay with that. I don't need a story, even if there are NPCs every so often to talk with. One drawback to the game on PC is that the screen is tall and narrow like an old school arcade cabinet. This tall resolution is because Anodyne is also an Android OS game. A fun Android game, but it doesn't help it on PC. In all, this game feels good and enjoyable. If you're into simple puzzles, action adventure and a SIMPLE old school Zelda that lets you explore a lot; this is for you. If you're into a complex, deep Zelda experience with a rich story, this game isn't for you.Show moreShow less

2.8 hours at review37 people found this helpful

Source: original Steam user reviews. Helpful votes are an archived snapshot, not live data. Last collected: 08/15/2026.