Shadowrun Returns

Shadowrun Returns pairs a grim Seattle investigation with turn-based tactical battles where team roles and abilities matter. If you want a solo RPG blending magic, technology, and flexible character growth, Kinguin offers it for ≈ $1.05 at your tracked low. At $14.99 from Kinguin, Shadowrun Returns is at your tracked historical low; its tactical battles and solo campaign suit players looking for a single-player adventure.

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88%Steam Reviews9.5K reviews76Metacritic/10074OpenCritic/100

Released: Jul 25, 2013

RPG · Cyberpunk · Turn-Based · Isometric · Sci-fi

KinguinShadowrun Returns Steam CD Key·Platform:·Checked 2026-10-19~~~ $16.87~~-94%from~ $1.05(~ €0.93)ALL-TIME LOWSave $13.94 vs SteamBuy now

GAMIVOShadowrun Returns EN/DE/FR/IT/RU/ES Global·Platform:·Checked 2026-10-19-90%from~ $1.54(~ €1.37)Buy now

EnebaShadowrun Returns Steam Key GLOBAL·Platform:·Checked 2026-10-19-88%from~ $1.76Buy now

K4GShadowrun Returns Standard Edition Steam CD Key·Platform:·Checked 2026-10-19~~~ $11.24~~-79%from~ $2.37(~ €2.11)Buy now

GOGShadowrun Returns·Platform:·Checked 2026-10-19~~~ $11.67~~-76%from~ $2.84(~ CN¥19.00)Buy now

GameBilletShadowrun Returns·Platform:·Checked 2026-10-19~~~ $14.99~~-16%from~ $12.59Buy now

Fanatical·Platform:·Checked 2026-10-14~~~ $14.99~~-11%~ $13.39Buy now

GamesPlanet US·Platform:·Checked 2026-10-14~~~ $14.99~~-10%~ $13.49Buy now

All-time low ~ $1.49across Steam & third-party storesat the recorded all-time low

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Price History

Past 36 months · Updated daily

Historical Low~ $1.512026-07Current Low Across Stores~ $13.39Kinguinvs. Historical Low+787%

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.

Editions

EditionShadowrun Returns DeluxeView prices →

EditionShadowrun Returns Upgrade to Deluxe (add Anthology + Soundtrack)View prices →

EditionShadowrun: Dragonfall - Director's CutView prices →

01About Shadowrun Returns

In Shadowrun Returns, a search for a mysterious killer draws you through 2054 Seattle, where magic, technology, and corporate power collide. The Steam PC version is a single-player RPG with turn-based tactical combat. Your team combines combat, technology, and magic, while a classless skill system allows varied character development. Steam player rating: 88% from 9,530 reviews. Released July 25, 2013.

Credits

LEAD DESIGNER

Jordan Weisman

American game designer, author, and serial entrepreneur (1960-)

NotableShadowrun Returns

Developer

Harebrained Schemes

Publisher

Paradox Interactive

Steam player reviews

88%positiveVery Positive9,530 Steam reviews

Lowest recorded in 36 months

$1.512026-07-30 · KinguinBase game · same records as the chart above; USD history, not a regional Steam low.

Language support

Language	Interface	Subtitles	Audio
English	Yes	—	—
French	Yes	—	—
Italian	Yes	—	—

Show 3 more languages

Language	Interface	Subtitles	Audio
Spanish	Yes	—	—
German	Yes	—	—
Russian	Yes	—	—

Steam PC edition data · 2026-10-19

02Before you buy

Play mode

Shadowrun Returns is a single-player RPG with turn-based tactical combat. Its team brings together combat, technology, and magic abilities.

Interface languages

The Steam PC version lists English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Russian interface support.

03Frequently asked questions

What is the story about?

The story follows a search for a mysterious killer through Seattle, from its slums to powerful megacorporations.

How does combat work?

Combat is turn-based, with tactical choices such as moving to cover, charging into melee, and using weapons or spells.

Can I shape my character freely?

Its classless skill system lets you develop your character in different directions from a chosen archetype.

Latest news about Shadowrun Returns

5 More Games Including Shadowrun Join Xbox Game Pass Core, Expanding the Lineup3mo ago

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

04/27/2015

Now I've never played a Shadowrun game before, however I'm not exactly new to turn based/strategy RPG games, having played games in a similar vein like the Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor series and Fire Emblem. However, I'll be the first to admit I'm far from a veteran in the genre. One of the key things I think Returns did right, is the tricky task of drawing me into the story immediately. It's pretty simple: your friend is dead, he's left you a "dead man's switch" - a recorded message promising a hefty reward if you can find the killer. OK. I'm in. As for the ease of playing the game... as someone who's often daunted by complex RPG interfaces with endless choices, decisions, and items to equip, I thought Shadowrun's interface is a breeze. It clearly shows you your weapon slots, inventory slots, and which body parts you can equip on armor or modifications. As for playing the game itself, you can simply click on your HUD to switch between weapons or end turns, but there are hotkeys for the more practiced player, too. You encounter many characters on your way to solve your friend's murder, and you get to pick and choose your own team of Shadowrunners to go on every mission with you. Each has their own specialty - summoning mechs, specializing in "decking" (hacking), melee combat, guns, magic, and so on, and I had a great time testing out all the different classes. All of the characters have their own specialties, but the game is forgiving, and you could probably get by just using guns on everyone. I realized one of my runners had a healing ability 3/4 of the way through the game, and had been getting by just fine without knowing that. So if you're worried about difficulty or complexity, don't be. Another positive for me is the game is heavily text based. There is a lot more discovery and reading than combat. You can also save anywhere except an NPC turn in combat, or in conversation. So I could get up to answer the door or grab some food without bothering to pause, or quit at a moment's notice if my friends asked me to play a multiplayer game. I know I'm writing a review no one will ever read, for a two year old game, but it gets an easy recommendation from me, especially if you're a busy person who can only enjoy games in bits and pieces before you're on the go again.Show moreShow less

11 hours at review671 people found this helpful

Not recommendedSteam player

08/04/2013

Pros: -Some good writing -Turn based combat is great, slightly better than Fallout with cover system. -Beautiful hand drawn world -Game editor and User Generated Content. (from what I read, the editor is quite restricted.) Cons: -Clunky user interface, clearly meant for touchscreens -No voiceover. -Non interactive world. Everything that you can interact with is highlighted with the hand icon. Anything not highlighted is just a background. Makes the world feel empty. -Non practical inventory system: cannot trade items between party members. You can only manage your inventory during start of a mission and at the safehouse. -Too little choice of weapon and armor. -No lootable corpse. Perished enemy will simply disappear into the thin air. -Moving and clicking is a bit off, particularly because it's a tablet game in the first place. -Extremely linear campaign and no sidequests. On tablet this game easily score an 8 out of 10. The game was designed for tablets in mind, making the developers overlooked some of its flaws and ignored many of the aspect of a good RPG other than writing. In fact, Harebrained Schemes (HBS) is a tablet game developer, has only released mobile games. Bear in mind that Shadowrun Returns comes with an editor and a default campaign made by HBS. The campaign is restricting and painfully linear. You cannot go back to previously visited place and there's only a few sidequest that you can do for extra cash. Right now there is some user made campaign available on the workshop which was designed better than the campaign made by the devs. Shadowrun Returns is a disappointing RPG lacking of real depth with so many unfullfilled potentials. If you're really looking up for this title and has already run out of RPGs to play, just wait for a sale. Score: 6/10 Edit: You can now save anywhere in this game. And they lower the price too.Show moreShow less

18.3 hours at review491 people found this helpful

RecommendedSteam player

10/31/2013

Strongest point of Shadowrun Returns is its writing. In best tradition of older RPGs, game describes what you character sees in flowery language. Character introductions, location descriptions and dialogues are smart and charming. The setting of Shadowrun is a blend of cyberpunk and urban fantasy - don't think I knew something like this exists before. I wouldn't mind experiencing Shadowrun Returns in book or graphical novel form. As a game, however, it is not so magnificent. SR was made by relatively inexperienced developers on tight budget using Unity and it shows. Graphics are mixed bag - wonderful character portraits, bright and detailed, if somewhat cartoony 2D backgrounds, but awful character models and awkward animations. Sound direction feels cheap overall - music are fine, but forgettable and there is absolutely no voice acting. Combat mechanics ripped straight off X-COM: Enemy Unknown. The biggest flaw of SR is its linearity. I just didn't have the opportunity to explore the world of Shadowrun - game kept railroading me on one story after another, with brief breaks in same small hub. All two side missions are one chance affairs - go on them right now or miss it forever. While writing itself is great, spending points to improve charisma and get new dialogue options felt like total waste - game is too short and there is almost no opportunity to use your mad speech skills - I think I used each etiquette only once or twice in whole game. Story starts as a noir-like murder mystery, but after halfway point abruptly turns into "save the world" scenario and ends with series of boring battles against bugs. Absolutely unnecessary twist, in my opinion. My final impression: SR is an enjoyable short RPG; not without flaws but if you are able to overlook them, you will have a great time playing it.Show moreShow less

15.9 hours at review411 people found this helpful

Not recommendedSteam player

11/30/2013

A huge disappointment. I was really looking forward to this game since it showed up on Kickstarter. Fallout 1 & 2 are among my favorite games ever, and this was touted as a return to that style of RPG. It...isn't. I find the combat enjoyable. It's basically a simplified version of XCOM: Enemy Unknown. One problem with it is that once combat starts, it doesn't end until you move to another map, even if there are no enemies around. So after a fight ends, you'll have to move your party through the map in turn-based mode until you get to an exit. The story is good by video game standards. You receive a recorded message from an old friend who's been murdered and are tasked with tracking down his killer. For the most part, dialogue is well-written. There's no voice acting, which some may take issue with, but it allows for more robust dialogue. Unfortunately, this game doesn't take advantage of that benefit. The game is extraordinarily linear. There's exactly one path through the story. A handful of situations where you may be able to get from point A to point B by a slightly different route exist (i.e., bluff your way past a guard vs. hacking through an unguarded door), but these are so few and so insignificant that they don't make any real difference overall. Dialogue is pretty much the same no matter what: Ask about story-related stuff, ask about general backround/setting information. Very little opportunity to employ your character's personality. Sidequests are almost nonexistent, and the few that the game does have are simple "go over there and get me that thing," or "while you're on this run, see if you can find a thing I want" sorts of things. The whole game is designed entirely around mobile devices and it suffers for it. The UI is a bit clunky and unintuitive for PC, limited to what would work on a touch-based interface. The save system is simply unacceptable. The game has no manual save option. Not even a save and quit function. It's entirely based on reaching checkpoints. This is supposed to be fixed with the DLC scheduled for January 2014, but until then, if you screw up a fight at the end of a mission? You're replaying the whole mission. Have to leave before you finish a mission? You're replaying the whole mission. As I understand it, this is because the game cannot save the current map state, which explains some of the linearity. When you return to a location, you're actually loading a completely different map of the location with its own triggers, different versions of NPCs with dialogue appropriate to that point in the story, etc. This means that the player can't affect any change in the game as every change or combination of changes to a location would require its own unique map, and I'm not even sure if the game is able to load different versions of the same map based on variables. I can't really speak to the user-generated content as I haven't used the editor or played any user-made campaigns yet, but from what I've heard from those who have, the editor is very, very limited in what it can do. As a result, a lot of people who were planning on making content for the game have given up. Maybe the upcoming DLC will improve the editor, maybe (probably) it won't. Either way, I wouldn't suggest paying more than about $5 for Shadowrun Returns.Show moreShow less

7.8 hours at review338 people found this helpful

RecommendedSteam player

11/19/2013

** My full reaction is here on my blog should you want it http://riksreaction.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/riks-reaction-to-shadowrun-returns-pc.html ** I thought this was great, from start to finish. Excellent. It is difficult to know what else to say... I just thought this was great. I'll just ramble as follows. As an RPG it was the perfect amount of complexity, deep but easy to understand. The artwork is lovely, everything is well animated and it is just generally a really attractive game. It is VERY well written IMHO, the characters come to life through the text and written dialogue, it's great! I honestly felt like I was enjoying an interactive book, which is a feeling I tend to get when I am fully engaged. The locations, the people, the story.. all of it is vivid and believable, not so much due to the on screen action, but more through the filter of my imagination which the writing nutures throughout, things playing out in my mind's eye as I read the next interchange between characters, or digested the description of the place I'd just arrived at. The narrative is solid, and makes sense (within the world it is told) and pans out well, I thought the pacing was excellent. Some might dislike the linear nature of the game, I personally love it. Side missions are available, but they are in direct relevance to the main storyline at all times which keeps things moving, and therefore aren't always available for you to come back to tidy up and complete later, so bear that in mind. I am a fan of a well told story, and "sandbox" games are never as good as experience for me as being told a well crafted story. Shadowrun Returns nails this. I really enjoyed this game, took me 17.2 hours to complete but it felt like a lot less purely because I was enjoying every minute of it and was just waiting to turn the next page in this electronic short story and learn what was going to happen next. Like a good book, it was tough to put down. It has it's flaws here and there, like checkpoint saves (due to be changed in a patch or via the next DLC I understand), some sections keeping you in turn based combat mode when there aren't any enemies about and on some of the longer battles the combat music can get a little tiring, but those are small complaints. Excellent and I'm looking forward to see what they do next! Recommended.Show moreShow less

17.2 hours at review198 people found this helpful

Not recommendedSteam player

06/23/2015

I love the Shadowrun universe, so I was pretty excited about the Kickstart campaign and the eventual release of this game. As an old school gamer, my gaming history is based on games like Fallout(1&2), Shadowrun(original), XCOM(originals) and many other genre-defining legends, my expectations were pretty high, I must confess. Once I finished the game (about 10h or so) I couldn't believe it was over, it felt like something was missing. And then i realised that the experience I hoped for was never going to be delivered. The game is not a total waste but it's tremendously shallow, as linear as it could possibly be. Character creation doesn't feel deep enough: generic 3D models, character photos don't match your char model, lack of customisation options, lack of classes information... During the course of the game you won't interact with the world, but instead with overlays on the GUI. You will never go up or down a stair, you will interact with the overlay near the stair and then you are going to be transported to another map. Levelling up feels boring, most of the time you don't feel like getting stronger. Also, the possibility to wait for a stat check barrier (the game tells what values are needed) to spend your karma points feels too exploitable. All around, it's an excessively minimalist game: graphical engine, art, interface, world, combat, skills, progression... everything. If this was a mobile game it would've been a fair accomplishment, but at this point in gaming history, a "return" to the Shadowrun universe on PC shouldn't have looked like this. This game lacks the depth of the Shadowrun universe. Two good aspects about it though: - story: Does a good job immersing you on the plot. - content creating community: The level editor and the content created by the community can keep you entertained if you happen to like the game-play. The community made a lot of other adventures for you to run if you so wish. For me, unfortunately, that is not enough. And most importantly, not what I was expecting of a Shadowrun "return". Therefore, for people with high expectations in a game on the Shadowrun universe, I truly cannot recommend it.Show moreShow less

47.8 hours at review105 people found this helpful

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