PortPlayStation 4LinuxPC (Microsoft Windows)MacXbox OneNintendo Switch2021

Sunless Skies: Sovereign Edition

Sunless Skies: Sovereign Edition is a Gothic Horror roleplay game with a focus on exploration and exquisite storytelling. Ready your star-faring engine, and venture into an expanse of hostile factions, lurking deities, forbidden knowledge, vast fortune, and fates worse than death.

Trailers

Screenshots

Very Positive

3,416 Steam reviews

Review History

Reviews

3,416 total

≥h

Steam User 7362STEAMRecommended

SKY LOCOMOTIVE

Mar 27, 2026·7h·Verified

Steam User 8778STEAMNot recommended

Good Book, Bad Game.

Since I'm a fan of the game Space Rangers (it's hard to even imagine how much time I spent in the 1st and 2nd parts), I immediately paid attention to the Sunless series, and then there's Victorian London + Lovecraft, what are you talking about, give me two, and we have two games)

But, unfortunately, as I understand it, we have a great scriptwriter here, but a terrible game designer. A terrible idea to integrate a roguelike system into a meditative, text-based RPG. That's actually why I droped Sunless Sea.

But in Sunless Skies, a normal mode with saves and so on appeared.
So I decided to give the game a chance, even several. I actually talked myself into playing it because it was enjoyable to read. But the game stubbornly refuses to let me play it; it resists, no matter how hard I try.

1. The lore and text in the game are interesting, but you have to look hard to find such graphomania; the stream of useless and absurd words gets tiresome after just a couple of hours. The text either needed to be made simpler, shorter, or more meaningful.
2. The speed, it's almost as if the author is mocking me, thinking that I have a lot of time to just fly in the void. I understand that this is intended for the atmosphere of horror and a feeling of loneliness, but this is the most stuffy element of the game, in which, for a second, there are about 10 ways to die on the journey.
3. You died:
- Because you ran out of fuel
- Because you ran out of supplies
- Because horror accumulated
- Because you were killed by a marauder
- Because you were killed by an infected Shoemaker
- Because something exploded in your hold
- Because one of the local Gods became angry with you
- Because you were transporting something dangerous in your hold
- Because you went mad
- Because your crew mutinied
- Because your crew died

Any of the above events can happen to you between literally 2 port points, and you'll have to fly through this stuffy air again from your last save. So what's so special about that? It's random, after all. You could have 5+ different events in five different save reloads.
4. Again, randomness is so random that sometimes even strong leveling or the presence of items does not guarantee a 100% result. This is cool in principle, but it is terrible when such an event due to randomness that is not on your side, you can again be thrown back for 30 minutes+ of the played time.
5. No manual saves (only in ports)
6. The combat is pathetic

Overall, the game is a total turn-off, annoying, and irritating, no matter how hard you try. For some reason, the developer thinks you have plenty of free time to wade through all these conventions and stuffiness. I don't recommend it.

Mar 24, 2026·17h·Verified

Steam User 9586STEAMRecommended

Beautiful game. I strongly recommend playing on merciful mode. It would be very nice if there were a mode that reloads your captain with no consequences if you die.

Mar 23, 2026·192h·Verified

Steam User 0292STEAMRecommended

fly in a train in eldritch space. what's not to like

Mar 22, 2026·4h·Verified

Steam User 6955STEAMRecommended

雅思之空，感觉应该不会出精翻汉化了，用ai汉化玩的。体验算是无光之海的全面升级，剧情说实话玩的时候半懂不懂的，之后参考The Fifth City wiki才大体上有了印象，不过跑商-攒钱-换更好的船和装备-实现野心的流程也足够有意思了。只不过玩到后期船和装备升级到顶级后，那些跑腿任务就显得有些枯燥了，尤其是摄政王之杯野心的跑腿任务，实在让人有些厌烦。

Mar 20, 2026·63h·Verified

Steam User 5366STEAMRecommended

Great game

Mar 13, 2026·50h·Verified

Steam User 3521STEAMNot recommended

I loved sunless seas. I love the settings of these games (I even played fallen london). I love sunless skies. I can't recommend this game. No manual save reeks of the whole "play the game it's meant to be played" snobbery, but I can live with that. Travel time though is way too long and tedious. I can't imagine a single one of my friends being willing to stomach this, I'm just a weirdo.

Mar 11, 2026·71h·Verified

Steam User 0744STEAMNot recommended

[h3] TLDR: Game is very interesting and neat to look at, but playing is a slog. [/h3]

I really [i] really [/i] tried to love this game, as the 23 Hours of playtime at the time of review would show, but MAN it is rough. This game is such a mixed bag it's driving me up the wall.

Pros are that this game is visually stunning and, and stylistically inspired and inspiring. Exploring and seeing all the amazing visual locations and designs for enemies that I could was my major driving force. I cannot gush about how much I love the visuals of this game from backgrounds to objects. And the writing is the next big one, reading the diverse and lengthy descriptions was always exciting. Some of the things you encounter are AMAZING and I loved it, 10/10 easily on this stuff I could eat it all day.

Cons are... the game. I'm not gonna say this is the worst game, or even really bad per se. What it is is such a massive time sink slog of just MEH it hurts. The gameplay is just driving from place to place repeatedly, either looking for actual interesting content or ferrying the mass amount of cargo to make ANY money to actually get anywhere in this game. You're expected to do so much just banal trading I do not get it, as the game is very punishing to you by design. You have to manage various stats and the game loves to randomly damage them in random events, which I get it it's a dice roll rng game it happens but those same events get so stale so fast. There's only a few variations for the random things you find 75% of the time, so it gets even more frustrating when its just more punishing events or useless ones. Combat is also very clunky but serviceable, it's just kinda okay I guess. The annoying bit is how soft you are at the start of the game and how LONG it takes to not be, so being forced into clunky combat is even more irritating. It's very hard to disengage once you're in it, and the enemies are a LOT better and more maneuverable than you so it can just get tedious before long. It just takes so long and so much work to get to the actual good stuff in the game, it's so draining. I have spent 23 hours in the first area of the game and it's not even done yet, and there are like three more. God. I even used cheats later on to make it less punishing and more enjoyable, and it [i] still [/i] takes eons to get anything done. The character creation concept is cool, I like the idea of moving on to different captains when you lose one. But actual character creation is kinda... meh after the start. The facets system is neat, but they end up being more about stats than actually building a backstory if you wanna get anything done. Since some things require SUCH high stats. Plus, this is a game without manual saves, and only available at docks. And like, okay I guess but it really kinda hampers a lot of experimentation I might have done otherwise. Also there's no minimap so I hope you enjoy spamming your Tab key to open the map so you can navigate the super narrow corridors for the fiftieth time you need to deliver wood to the middle of nowhere across the MAP to get enough gold to DRIVE BACK.

Look I really do like this game but it's impossible for me to recommend to anyone without high patience and tolerance. I want to come back to this game, but I haven't finished it and I really need a break from it already. It's a really hard sell and honestly very flawed imo, you might be better off just watching a video essay because this is a really interesting book but a slog of a game.

Mar 5, 2026·23h·2

Steam User 6023STEAMRecommended

Recommend for its unique atmosphere and beautiful writings. A great novel ruined by its gameplay. Doing chores to earn resources that unlocks some lore you like and, more chores nobody likes.
Don't get fooled by the game trailer. It appears to be focusing exploring and battle. But it's not true. Most of your time is spent reading things at ports and doing repetitive fetching quests. Battles occur way less often than it looks in the trailer. And it's not fun because you're forced to use the weakest weapons and ships in the first 5 to 8 hours ! Traveling in exotic areas is fun, but not fun when you go here and there delivering the same goods over years just for a tier 2 cannon.

Mar 4, 2026·9h·1·Verified

Steam User 8262STEAMRecommended

pretty game but infuriating - constant cries of 'what the..' as you lose crew food and cannot shrug off insanity until the game closes you down. retry concentrating on insanity and works well

Feb 25, 2026·87h·Verified

Steam User 3659STEAMRecommended

It's everything industrial fantasy should be.

Feb 24, 2026·132h·Verified

Steam User 5890STEAMRecommended

A game about driving around in the sky with your locomotive -as you do- and visiting other ports to trade commodities and goods, with a crew of various people with their own needs, while you try to outrun your enemies, your supplies and your fuel.

There is a lot of text in this game, and at first I was reading it all. And then I realized hardly any of it mattered, so I decided to just skip it all. I know it's a cardinal sin, but at least it speeds up an otherwise already slow game. It's fine the game is slow when you're out and about, exploring uncharted territory, but when you just want to get from a known point A to a known point B, it can get very tedious. Especially when you learn you can mostly outrun your enemies and don't have to worry too much about them.

And then I found out that with Cheat Engine you can set a speedhack for the game. I set it to 3x speed and been playing it like that ever since. It absolutely makes it more bearable and I can disable it when I'm in areas I've not explored yet to keep some of the tension that's otherwise lost.

The graphics in this game are amazing and it has a very Dark Souls-atmosphere. One playthrough of a captain took me 30 hours. I don't think I have the energy to pursue 6 more careers. For now I've had enough of the sunless skies.

22/31 achievements, one playthrough (wealth ambition).

Feb 19, 2026·30h

Steam User 1071STEAMRecommended

Look I'm late to the party but this is...maybe the best game I have ever played?

It's gorgeous. It's complex, the writing is sharp and funny/devastating as required.

It's not AAA but so many AAA games could learn from how well the designers understand how to construct a game.

Feb 7, 2026·177h·4·Verified

Steam User 9354STEAMRecommended

Great game.

Feb 7, 2026·140h·1·Verified

Steam User 4079STEAMRecommended

I wish Sunless Sea as a whole lived up to the writing as much as it does here. Sunless Skies is phenomenal, a must-play for dedicated RPG fans.

Jan 31, 2026·40h·Verified

Steam User 9087STEAMRecommended

Incredible. Never played much or been into text-heavy games, but this game is the exception. I was initially drawn in by the survival elements of managing combat, navigation and supplies, inventory stuff as well as the economy aspects.

But the visuals, music, setting and characters are all so good, this game, and the world i takes place in really has a special place in my heart. Also one of the few games where i really take in the soundtrack. And pretty much the only game i own on both PC and switch.

Jan 26, 2026·150h·Verified

Steam User 1565STEAMRecommended

Beautiful background art, genuinely fun exploring and amazing lore

Jan 23, 2026·183h·Verified

Steam User 0992STEAMRecommended

A worthy sequel to Sunless Sea in every respect. Sunless Skies has some of the best writing you'll find and possibly my favorite art/visuals of any game, period. Don't try it unless you're patient and willing to experience what this world has to offer, or you will be frustrated. 10/10

Jan 22, 2026·105h·Verified

Steam User 5748STEAMRecommended

Good god this game is good, graphics are beautiful, hand drawn apparently and the mechanics are awesome

Jan 22, 2026·913h·4·Verified

Steam User 9335STEAMRecommended

топчик но душит в конце

Jan 11, 2026·82h·Verified

Steam User 9006STEAMRecommended

Very slow paced, gets old quickly. Case in point, I really only finished one save file out of four. Downloading the Monarch Mod for the game eases this issue somewhat, but is still a pain.

That being said, the setting is THE most unique I have ever had the privilege of experiencing. The writing is beautiful and distinctive. The atmosphere is unmatched, especially when you're just starting out and you gawk with wide-eyed wonder at every new port in the Reach. Good show, good show indeed!

Jan 11, 2026·126h·Verified

Steam User 7223STEAMRecommended

在无光之海的基础上设定的整体演变让人感觉非常有趣，在数值和各种机制上也做了不少优化，开船和战斗的部分甚至也做出了一点独特的游戏性，不像无光之海里开船那样无趣了，个人体验上比无光之海还要好。

Jan 9, 2026·50h·Verified

Steam User 5473STEAMNot recommended

The first game, i want to play, but have to use a cheat engine.

Sound -> very nice and brings you in the right mood
Combat -> engaging
Story -> I want to see more of this world
Pacing -> WTF?

If you want to buy it, do it. But download the cheat engine and look for the very simple set up for Sunless Skies. The developer decided that feeling the void, the loneliness, you have to travel. And that is okay for some time.
But it is a major part of the game. I left the first region of the game after 21h. Perhaps 4h where ...nothing? Travel from A to B.
And there is no real way to improve on this.

Cheat Engine allows me to triple the game speed. Not a nice method! But i have no unlimited time myself.
At the moment, i cannot see myself playing this again after i finish the first campain.

Jan 3, 2026·38h·7·Verified

Steam User 7836STEAMRecommended

Great game. Very fun/immersive.

Dec 31, 2025·11h

Steam User 4153STEAMRecommended

Sunless sea, Cultist simulator, Sunless Skies, Book of Hours - за все эти вещи ответственен, как я понял, по большей части один человек.

И он гений.

Это такой очень своеобразный сеттинг на все 4 игры, просто "стимпанк лавкрафт" тут совсем не подходят. Богатый, развитый, и очень-очень необычный - но не абсурдный, а складный и логичный в своей всратости.

Это уровень Морровинда и Вангеров по проработке сеттинга; геймплей между теми же Вангерами и Диско Элизиум.

И это офигенно. Надо брать, ребята.

Dec 30, 2025·41h·2·Verified

Steam User 6873STEAMRecommended

awesome game!! Space train adventure awaits with killer storytelling, but beware! the stars make you crazy! the mining drill is a must have, buy it first. cure your terror, eat your crew, and steal the curator's egg! over all, worth every penny.

Dec 29, 2025·135h

Steam User 3562STEAMNot recommended

Not for me. The game is way too slow movement-wise and as others have pointed out, very text-heavy. The gameplay loop of going back the the center to be able to sell your goods is also an odd choice for an exploration-centric game

Dec 28, 2025·9h·2

Steam User 6247STEAMNot recommended

I've tried to like this game over and over and over. Its tedious, confusing. easy and hard. The hardest part is remembering where everything is and bringing just what you need to specific locations.

Its the gameplay, its just not nice. Its more of an artistic "game" imo. I want to like it, but after having tried it over and over and over i lose interest in less than 30 minutes every single time.

Dec 26, 2025·6h·6·Verified

Steam User 3676STEAMRecommended

我们需要中文，请推出中文

Dec 26, 2025·Verified

Steam User 2096STEAMRecommended

Vast improvement of Sunless Sea 10/10

Dec 23, 2025·83h·3·Verified

Steam User 0502STEAMRecommended

Sunless Skies is a beautiful game with a dark world that's like Alice in Wonderland meets H.P. Lovecraft. I love the storytelling, weird characters, and the mysteries. The atmosphere, music, and art style all feels unique.

I’d definitely recommend it to players who enjoy reading fictional stories, deep lore, and casual gameplay.

Dec 21, 2025·120h·4·Verified

Steam User 3153STEAMRecommended

I played for a few hours and had fun

Dec 18, 2025·149h·2·Verified

Steam User 1105STEAMRecommended

It took me a couple of tries to warm up to Sunless Skies the first time, but once I did, I found it to be quite the enthralling adventure. The follow-up to Sunless Seas, you take on the role of a sky-faring locomotive captain(?) where your responsibilities include shuttling trade goods between ports for a profit, managing resources but also sanity, fighting abominable eldritch horrors, and having intimate relations with an immense bat, just to name a few. So, if this sounds splendid and/or intriguing (and, let’s be honest, why wouldn’t it?) then let me extoll upon you my thoughts about this game.

Sunless Skies, to me, can be broken down into two parts. In one part, you’re flying your locomotive through the two-dimensional sky, exploring new areas, firing a variety of weapons into the hides and hulls of your enemies, and managing your fuel and food supplies in order to make it to your next destination. I think I found this part of the game most compelling when I found myself in difficult circumstances and having to answer questions like, do I have enough fuel to continue looking for the undiscovered port or do I need to turn back and, if I turn back, will I make it? Or, when my hull has been devastated, being held together with bobby pins and glue, and I need to make it back to the one port on the map that can offer repairs, but the shortest route is through skies known to be a haven for renegades and the mad. It’s during those tense moments, and the relief you feel when pulling through, that the flying section can be the most fun.

The other part of the game is where the story and world take shape. Mostly happening in ports (though not entirely), you’ll be presented with a text prompt and then given options on what to do in response. It’s here, in the text, that you learn about the world, your crew, and yourself. Your captain has four stats and these stats are often tested (via a dice roll) in this section, with success, partial success, and failure being your available outcomes. There are a lot of beautifully written words in this game. So much so that I often found myself skimming a lot of the text when I had progressed deep into the game.

The game looks fantastic. I think the best part is the environs you’ll fly through, coming across some quite striking set pieces in the process. Portraits for characters and other iconography looks good as well. Similarly, the text boxes and menus are very stylish. I would say they’re a significant upgrade from what you had in Sunless Seas. I don’t have many complaints about the sound either. Sound effects are clear, identifiable, and appropriate. The music is done well and used well. It doesn’t play all the time, allowing you, the player, to sit there with only the sound of your chugging locomotive to keep you company. But then, when it does play, it can be comforting or discomforting, depending on where you are. I think it controls just fine using keyboard and mouse. I haven’t tried playing with a controller.

Sunless Skies is not flawless, however. You might find flying from port to port boring, especially if you’re treading known paths. As I mentioned, it can get quite wordy, so be warned if you’re not that into reading. The later sections of the game, depending on which goal you set for yourself at the outset, can be something of a slog wherein you’re facing many tough enemies while flying and challenging skill checks when in port. Also, there is a quest log that, while passable, could be improved.

There’s a bunch of stuff I didn’t touch on in my review for you to discover for yourself, such as your character progression, your crewmates, and the death mechanic, among others. Ultimately, I whole-heartedly recommend Sunless Skies, especially if you’re into a good story and flying trains. It might take a while to grow on you, but once you’re in, you’ll be in for a good time.

Dec 17, 2025·238h·6·Verified

Steam User 7768STEAMRecommended

i like trains

Dec 16, 2025·61h·2·Verified

Steam User 0345STEAMRecommended

Amazing game, written extremely well. Really pulls you into their universe. Hoping Failbetter puts out a new one because I'd 100% purchase

Dec 14, 2025·161h·Verified

Steam User 5837STEAMRecommended

Это игра про космические паровозики, что ещё сказать?

Dec 14, 2025·27h·Verified

Steam User 6233STEAMNot recommended

I enjoyed Sunless Seas a good deal in spite of its flaws. This game fixes none of those flaws, but otherwise just feels a bit less interesting. The world feels comparatively empty and getting around is much more annoying than in Sunless Seas. The game also has shockingly poor controls if you prefer to play with a controller (not sure how the keyboard controls feel, but some of the issues like the annoying way the dodge is implemented are probably bad in either).

It's not all bad. The game shares the same storytelling and vibes of the previous game which is generally good, but this one just didn't grab me the same way.

Dec 14, 2025·7h·3·Verified

Steam User 2114STEAMRecommended

It's pretty good once you get that cheat table up with the 2x speedhack.

Dec 13, 2025·16h·7·Verified

Steam User 5061STEAMNot recommended

nah

Dec 12, 2025·16h·Verified

Steam User 9868STEAMNot recommended

sunless seas was kinda grindy but you never went far before finding another port

in sunless skies the map is way smaller
but there is ♥♥♥♥ all in terms or ports
you just sail around barren rocks as your crew wastes away or eats each other

dodging is super weak and its annoying it shares a bar with firing
maneuvering in gernal just feels sluggish
even tho its in 0-G
story is cool i guess

but it just takes to damn long to get anwhere
if i pull up a youtube vid mid game
you know its cooked, cuz it cannot hold my attention

Dec 8, 2025·5h·1·Verified

Steam User 5755STEAMRecommended

This is a unusual trucking simulator with heavy RPG element. Do not come to the game expecting a story-driven rpg with shooting and scooting. Expect a trucking sim with a story.

+ Excellent and original worldbuilding
+ Interesting characters in world
+ Beautiful and varied regions
+ Gameplay value: there is a lot of places to explore and vibe in

- Slow start: you know very little and are poor at the start. Try and bear the first few hours and the game will open to you.
- Can get samey if you are mono focused on getting bank. Take your time, feel the game out, play. Earlier or later you will figure out that the game is not about the money but about the roleplay. Roleplay is where it shines and without that its a rote game.

Dec 4, 2025·62h·1·Verified

Steam User 1768STEAMRecommended

Tread not thee lightly in these horrifying skies!

Having hugely enjoyed while being slightly over-whelmed by it's predecessor Sunless Seas, I've committed mine own soul and that of all my crew to this, it's really excellent.

It's a kinda uniquely presented roguelike explorer, extremely heavy in story and Lovecraft-adjacent lore, with many many choices and consequences along the way, and one of the best implemented die-and-improve mechanics I've come across. Every little element of this game, including your demise, evolves around the deep and spectacularly well written background story and ever-evolving events.

I wasn't kidding on my first line though. There is NO short way to play this game, you are looking at dozens of (thankfully absorbing and addictive) hours to get anywhere, although your reward is just how much content there is and how big this game becomes compared to your starting point.

The amount of different things that need you attention and management just to stay safe and alive remains somewhat overwhelming at times, and caution in planning is always recommended, but mechanically it's a big improvement on Seas.

Thoroughly recommended for those who dont mind depth and spending time and effort, not great for ADHD moments or if you're allergic to Victorian literary styles or high fantasy

Dec 2, 2025·187h·14·Verified

Steam User 5872STEAMRecommended

Great Game!

Nov 29, 2025·113h·Verified

Steam User 3844STEAMRecommended

Great narrative, intriguing mechanics

Nov 26, 2025·38h·2·Verified

Steam User 1541STEAMRecommended

excellent game with very good storytelling and mechanics

Nov 23, 2025·202h·2·Verified

Steam User 7710STEAMRecommended

An outstandingly beautiful game with excellent grahpics, great music, and a delightfully open and elaborate story line. Fly around this alternate universe exploring, trading, fighting, and inevitably, dying.

Nov 22, 2025·1736h·6·Verified

Steam User 1122STEAMRecommended

The writing is this game is impeccable, intense and hilarious. The world created is wonderfully bizarre and terrifying at the same time, filled with colorful characters and unique locations.
The music and art style are perfectly executed and together all of this createst one of the most atmospheric games I've ever had the pleasure experiencing.

The game isn't without its flaws, though. The pacing can be very slow, late game balancing is not all that great. Often times you will need stats or items you simply do not have and cannot (feasibly) acquire. Also the game is essentially a walking simulator, if that isn't your cup of tea, stay away.

Oh, and bring a dictionary. Otherwise, hard recommend.

Nov 19, 2025·147h·Verified

Steam User 5989STEAMRecommended

첫 항해때 날아다니는 우주기차(관짝)를 타고 여기저기 모험다니는 재미는 진짜 다른겜에서 찾아볼 수 없음 문제는 로어를 파려고 다회차 플레이를 할 경우 선리스 씨처럼 재미없는 부분이 늘어난다는 정도

선리스 씨에서의 무역을 안좋게 봤는지 바자 시스템을 통해서 우주배달부로 만들어놓은건 호불호 갈리는 부분일듯

그래도 날아다니는 증기기관차에 게틀링건달고 비밀을 파헤치는 재미가 있다

Nov 15, 2025·68h·Verified

Steam User 3641STEAMRecommended

good story

Nov 15, 2025·74h·1·Verified

Steam User 7674STEAMRecommended

it reminds me of Sid Meier's Pirates, great influence to take up on, physics and graphics are awesome too—lovely little indie title.

Nov 14, 2025·19h·4

Steam User 2897STEAMRecommended

I like reading everything at the stations and then being stricken with immediate fear when I realize I gotta now move to a new station

Nov 13, 2025·40h·8·Verified

Steam User 1310STEAMRecommended

--E GRIND THE GRIND THE GRIND THE GRIND TH--

Nov 11, 2025·142h·6·Verified

Steam User 3002STEAMRecommended

Some of the best writing and world-building I've seen anywhere. This game permanently rewired my brain. I have the star chart framed above my desk.

Nov 8, 2025·83h·8·Verified

Steam User 6270STEAMRecommended

sunless seas may have all the maritime perfection of the setting, but this is truly the apex of the series. Every facet is improved, and the environments are so lush you'll enjoy getting lost

Nov 5, 2025·245h·2·Verified

Steam User 5068STEAMNot recommended

Great game ruined by long spells of boredom. Honestly, I really like everything about this game, except it takes forever to travel across the map. When initially exploring, it's largely tolerable, but when going between places you already have mapped out, it's simply tedious. If I'm literally starting to nod off, or splitting my attention with my phone, then it's a sign (to me, at least) that the game isn't engaging. The devs adding an option to speed up the game (x1.5, x2 etc.) would solve this entirely. I know that Cheat Engine can be used to add this, but I'm not messing about with that to enjoy a game. Not sure how the play testers managed to stay awake, TBH. Like I said, it's otherwise a great game, but there's zero chance I'm going to finish it.

Nov 4, 2025·26h·7·Verified

Steam User 3311STEAMNot recommended

I looked for the ports described in the first two quests and went NNW and NNE pretty far and never found them. Whole bunch of wandering around aimlessly while my money just disappears because I can't keep up on fuel and supplies because I can't get quests done. It also doesn't explain very well what the mirrors and other things are, even though I kind of have an idea because it shows a specific icon for specific events.
"Oh but you can just look up a map and a guide for the things you don't understand"
I shouldn't have to look up a guide someone else made. I should just be able to play the game and have fun.

Nov 4, 2025·2h·3·Verified

Steam User 8151STEAMRecommended

An absolute gem of a game. I was a big fan of Sunless Sea, and I think I've been enjoying Sunless Skies even more!

Nov 3, 2025·42h·2

Steam User 9474STEAMRecommended

I've seen some of the most milk toast critiques from people who clearly are just lying. If you have played sunless seas, this game is a major improvement. Sunless sea story was just as good as this game (not better or worse as others keep saying), however the gameplay was a slog, here on the other hand, is a direct improvement.

Your trains can dodge, shoot, and move so smoothly. The art style of the game is beautiful, and the story is quite good. Yes, certain things in dialogue are explained to you more, in sunless seas you often didn't really understand what certain choices, even repeatable dialogue needed to get certain goods. Here, they are properly explained, but when it comes to story choices you will of course not be explicitly told what certain things do. Also, for one particular complaint I've seen, yes, you are almost always told when your characters life is at stake in dialogue, because dying to a dialogue box that was explained poorly sucks. There are still an instance or two where this can happen, but dying in this game is no where near as punishing as sunless seas. You lose some stuff, sure, but can keep levels, and different things I won't explain.

Anyway, the game is great, worth your money, and ignore the Salt lickers you complain that it isn't hard enough or the story isn't as good or whatever.

Nov 2, 2025·101h·1·Verified

Steam User 9434STEAMRecommended

It's not for everyone, but if you want a slow, pretty, atmospheric and sometimes thrilling game, and you don't mind doing a decent amount of reading, it is very good.

Oct 24, 2025·119h·1·Verified

Steam User 2086STEAMNot recommended

I saw some reviews that said "hey, the travel between locations takes a bit, and it's tedious" and I thought this was the game for me. I've got a much larger tolerance for walking through zones I've already been through- sometimes I walk from farming patch to patch in Oldschool Runescape to just soak up the scenes I've seen many, many times before. But... it is really tedious. I haven't even died, so the permadeath situation of needing to replay the game isn't even a factor in my decision to stop playing the game here.

I think the breaking point for me was going through a long, extendedly-winding tunnel with plenty of things to attack me to finally arrive to a mushroom town full of senior citizens, and realizing that the trip back was going to be the exact same thing but in reverse as it was just a one-way tunnel.

To be safe, I looked up general opinions to see if the upgrades make the experience that much smoother, and while it's been a while since I looked, it seemed to only adjust the experience a smidge. So as much as I want to love the setting and experience, I have to throw in the towel.

Oct 21, 2025·4h·6·Verified

Steam User 1798STEAMRecommended

Sunless Skies, developed and published by Failbetter Games, is a darkly poetic journey through the stars, a narrative-driven exploration game that transforms the vastness of space into something intimate, melancholy, and deeply human. As a spiritual successor to Sunless Sea, it retains the studio’s signature storytelling depth but trades the ocean’s cold, unknowable waters for the boundless wilderness of the heavens. You command a steam locomotive that drifts through the void, ferrying passengers, cargo, and secrets across the remnants of a shattered cosmos. Every voyage is perilous, each destination filled with strange beauty and lurking dread, and beneath the game’s intricate systems lies a profound reflection on ambition, mortality, and madness. Failbetter’s distinctive blend of text-based storytelling and survival mechanics makes Sunless Skies feel as much like a gothic novel as a game—one that lures players with the promise of discovery, then quietly breaks them with the weight of consequence.

The world of Sunless Skies is one of baroque absurdity and cosmic wonder. Humanity has taken to the heavens, colonizing the stars in the wake of the fall of London, now a floating metropolis adrift in the void. The skies are not a serene frontier but a dangerous wilderness filled with monstrous celestial beasts, deranged pirates, and fractured empires vying for dominion. You play as a Captain at the helm of a locomotive—a marvel of Victorian industrial design that drifts through the void like a ship lost between worlds. Exploration is the core of the experience: every journey reveals new ports, stories, and fragments of lore, each one richly written with the studio’s characteristic wit and melancholy. The game’s writing transforms the smallest encounters into works of literary art, filled with haunting prose and strange, evocative imagery that rewards careful reading. It is a world of bureaucratic angels, socialist devils, sentient suns, and secrets so ancient they warp the minds of those who uncover them.

Gameplay unfolds as a hybrid of exploration, survival, and narrative decision-making. The player must manage fuel, supplies, and the sanity of their crew while navigating the vast expanse of the High Wilderness. Running out of resources leads to starvation, mutiny, or worse—madness that manifests in beautifully written tragedies. The mechanics are unforgiving but fair, emphasizing careful planning and risk assessment rather than sheer difficulty. Combat, while not the centerpiece, provides bursts of tension against marauders, abominations, or other skyfarers, where every misstep can result in catastrophe. The locomotive’s movement feels weighty, its engines groaning as it drifts through debris and storms. The act of travel itself becomes a meditative rhythm of slow progress punctuated by bursts of chaos. Though the expanses between ports can feel lonely or tedious, that emptiness reinforces the game’s atmosphere—a reminder that the skies are vast, indifferent, and eternal.

The writing remains the heart of Sunless Skies, and Failbetter’s mastery of language is undeniable. Every port, event, and encounter is imbued with distinct personality and purpose. The stories are not merely quests but moral crossroads that challenge players to shape the identity of their captain through choice and consequence. Do you assist a cult of celestial worshippers seeking to resurrect their fallen god? Do you smuggle forbidden cargo to a city consumed by hunger? Each decision alters the world in small but meaningful ways, often with no clear sense of right or wrong. Failbetter’s prose is lush and intelligent, laced with dark humor and existential dread. It reads like the diary of an explorer who has gone too far into the unknown, where every revelation feels both enlightening and damning. The game’s tone shifts gracefully between tragic introspection and sardonic absurdity, often in the same sentence, making every line of text a small work of craft.

Compared to its predecessor, Sunless Skies is a significant evolution. The pacing is improved, with smoother navigation and less punishing survival mechanics. The interface is clearer, and the overall structure encourages deeper exploration without the constant threat of immediate failure. Yet, while these refinements make the experience more accessible, the game retains the oppressive atmosphere that defines Failbetter’s world. It is still a place where progress is measured in inches, where triumph feels fleeting, and where every victory comes at the cost of something dear. The improved map design—split into regions like Albion, Eleutheria, and the Blue Kingdom—creates a sense of scale and progression as players uncover new territories and uncover the histories behind them. The Sovereign Edition, released as the definitive version, adds more polish, content, and performance stability, ensuring that the experience is as rich and cohesive as possible.

Visually, Sunless Skies is stunning in its restraint. The art direction favors muted tones and painterly textures that evoke both the grandeur of space and the grime of industrial machinery. The floating ruins of old empires, glowing nebulae, and ominous celestial bodies form a backdrop that feels both beautiful and unsettling. The user interface resembles an antique compass and chart, reinforcing the feeling of being an explorer lost in time. The soundtrack complements this atmosphere perfectly—somber piano pieces and low orchestral tones drift through the silence of space, punctuated by the mechanical hum of your ship and the whispers of unseen horrors. It’s a game that doesn’t need to shout; its atmosphere seeps into the player slowly, settling like fog in the mind.

If Sunless Skies has flaws, they stem mostly from its deliberate pacing and narrative density. The slow travel between destinations, while thematically fitting, can test the patience of players accustomed to constant stimulation. The repetition of certain mechanics, such as resource gathering and combat, occasionally dulls the tension during long expeditions. Still, these issues are part of the game’s design philosophy—it wants the player to feel the grind of survival, the passage of time, and the quiet weight of isolation. The game’s structure rewards introspection and curiosity rather than speed or efficiency, and for those willing to surrender to its rhythm, the result is deeply rewarding.

Ultimately, Sunless Skies is a masterpiece of atmosphere and storytelling. It captures the sensation of exploration not as conquest but as existential peril—the feeling of being small and transient in a universe vast beyond comprehension. It is a meditation on discovery, madness, and the cost of knowledge, dressed in the finery of Victorian gothic science fiction. Failbetter Games once again demonstrates their unique ability to merge literature and gameplay into something singular and unforgettable. For players who crave depth over immediacy, beauty over spectacle, and mystery over mastery, Sunless Skies offers a journey that is as haunting as it is enlightening. It is a game about the human desire to reach beyond the horizon, and the quiet terror that follows when we finally do.

Rating: 8/10

Oct 10, 2025·10h·1

Steam User 4487STEAMRecommended

press "X"

Oct 9, 2025·91h·2·Verified

Steam User 4982STEAMRecommended

A ball to play, very relaxing and quietly terrifying at times. Great writing too.

Oct 9, 2025·65h·1·Verified

Steam User 1885STEAMRecommended

A great rpg, great soundtrack, adequate gameplay. A very text-heavy title, with some unreasonably irritating rng moments. Some events are downright bs, and without careful planning and map knowledge some areas are a death sentence.

Oct 7, 2025·212h·Verified

Steam User 7858STEAMRecommended

Any game that allows me to recruit a brigade of talking rats with derringers as my flying space train's engineer deserves only the most heartfelt recommendation.

If you like space trucking sims this is a fun little twist on the formula. Fallen London's dense lore seems impenetrable at first but it's full of weird little talking animals and creepy eldritch horrors that I never get tired of meeting. Play if you're literate and like exploring.

Oct 5, 2025·19h·5·Verified

Steam User 1039STEAMRecommended

i can already tell that i really dislike the gameplay

but at the same time i could tell before i even bought it so its not a knock against the game at all.
i bought it not for gameplay or story but to explore and use the game as an art study
and as much as i would love a mode where almost everything is disabled and you just get to aimlessley explore i know thatd take a lot out of it for some and i am also by far not the intended audience
but seeing as ive gotten exactly what i paid for i cant knock the game for that

Oct 4, 2025·1h·1·Verified

Steam User 8765STEAMNot recommended

Crashed after 10 Minutes of utmost boring Exploration of a REALLY Beautiful World.

Oct 3, 2025·Verified

Steam User 4572STEAMRecommended

Sep 30, 2025·120h·Verified

Steam User 7618STEAMRecommended

the shadows in the clouds keep telling me to eat my crew members :(

Sep 13, 2025·29h·7·Verified

Steam User 2345STEAMRecommended

Очень долго ждал приличный русификатор. Пока в процессе прохождения. Всё нравится, механики и геймплей по сравнению с Sunless Sea остались практически без изменений, атмосфера всё так же атмосферна, музыка хороша (хотя разнообразия в ней поубавилось). Обязательно допройду и постараюсь выбить если не все, то большую часть достижений.
Из минусов, лично для меня:
- Смена сеттинга классная, но я бы предпочёл чтобы это было в формате отдельного мира как DLC к основной игре, а важнейшим звеном также оставались бы эти мрачные зелёные лавкрафтовские пучины, благо придумать тварей и сюжетов там можно немало.
- Игра стала "светлее", страх исчез совсем, осталась лишь та же тревога, когда не знаешь можно ли здесь проплыть меж скал, не встретится ли тебе какая скотина, что снесёт последнее здоровье, хватит ли топлива и не будет ли какого случайного события из-за чего ужас улетит в небеса, а команда поднимет бунт с закономерным гейм овером. Это всё так же классно, но ранее, особенно при первом исследовании ты погружался во мрак и некоторые локации действительно были жуткие, ты проникался атмосферой и было страшновато. В общем смена сеттинга не пошла на пользу, если смотреть глобально.
- Тексты. Они хороши, особенно если учитывать что немало наверняка потеряно при переводе, но я поймал себя на том, что наиграв несколько десятков часов стал читать по диагонали обращая внимание лишь на расходы предметов и потенциальную выгоду. Да, в Sunless Sea они тоже были атмосферны и часто большую часть делала твоя фантазия, так как написано всё было по-хорошему бредово и в крайне общих чертах, но как будто качество было немного выше. Возможно мне просто стоит взять паузу, однако за 100 часов в прошлой части желания пропускать реплики не возникало.
- Система сохранений. Они теперь происходят лишь в порту, а потому очень тяжело устоять от соблазна нажать alt+F4, когда видишь, что дело пахнет керосином и попробовать заново. Да даже на экране смерти игра тебе это косвенно позволяет! Предыдущая сохранялась постоянно и если уж ты играешь в классическом режиме, будь осторожен в принятии решений, ведь переиграть выйдет лишь новым капитаном и чем дальше, тем с большими потерями.

В остальном всё здорово, желаю студии развития, обязательно приобрету следующую игру от них, особенно если в ней будет больше от первой части, либо какой новый интересный сеттинг, либо группировка их с миром побольше.

Sep 11, 2025·52h·2·Verified

Steam User 3452STEAMRecommended

Sunless Sky is a beautiful divine hell in both the literary and illustrative senses. For the first run you will consistently be saying to yourself "What the f__k is that?" by the terrifying wonders of the heavens. The gameplay is fun to an extent but Sunless Sky is definitely more art than game.

The story telling is the driving factor of interest in this game and they absolutely kill it. There are monolithic creatures to fight, and cosmic creatures to marvel at. The lore never stops being of interest and once you start to understand it many of the (at first quirky) stories of the game starts to click together. You'll be assisting a god in the trash heap only to have it lead to a piece of the puzzle you picked up 30 hours ago and couldn't place until now.

Combat and movement feel great. The locomotive tilts in an almost Newtonian physics system that allows for fun drifts. The enemies are often fascinating and horrifying. The biggest issue with the locomotives are that they're slow, it's not painful until late game but these trains move like turtles even with the fastest engines.

The mechanical aspect of the game is where engagement hitches. Despite the fact that you're rather limited in ability to earn skills, some ship armaments require min-maxing. I spent a number of hours to acquire the most powerful weapon in the game only to find out it required skills I never specialised in, and could never due to my advanced level.

The strongest engine in the game is acquired through a questline and is in fact slower than 2nd best engine. There's no late game resource sink either, so there will come a time in this game where the player no longer engages in any way with it's gameplay. The best locomotive in the game can also be purchased in the area you start in (The Reach) which makes moving to other territories of heaven feel so much more pointless. The player simply drifts from one port to another to read more text.

This design philosophy is truly baffling. It occasionally comes across that there was work put into the game to make it less fun. The cherry on the cake is that this game is designed to be played in roguelike style (when you die, you continue with another character). Yet you do not carry on any stats, there is no property to pass down, if you've successfully completed a campaign your further captains receive no reward. They do pass down some items such as your current map, XP from all uncovered landmarks, your train, anything in your bank, and what your train had equipped.

Ultimately Sunless Sky is gorgeous, the combat is fun and fluid, the stories are entirely unforgettable, and I never got tired of doing doughnuts in my locomotive over unfathomable cosmic horrors. Mechanically it's only serviceable, the trains are far slower than they ought to be and the mechanical aspects of the game fight the players enjoyment

Sep 9, 2025·101h·Verified

Steam User 7088STEAMRecommended

It's neat.

Sep 6, 2025·30h·Verified

Steam User 9158STEAMNot recommended

I loved Sunless seas once i finally gave it the chance to pull me in for an entire playthrough so i was excited to see what they did with this quite well reviewed sequel.
All i can say is: They tried.
Turning a game so maticulously crafted for quests and different types of loot to pay off just enough to keep you going until you finally break the ceiling, into an rpg that has constantly respawning side quests, a need for xp to have any chance of equipping higher tier equipment and a general disconnect between story and gameplay is just really sad to see.
Id reccomend just leaving it to the side.

Sep 5, 2025·35h·5·Verified

Steam User 0879STEAMRecommended

Sunless sea has better writing but this has much better gameplay. I really liked it and wish it was a bit longer.

Sep 3, 2025·148h·12

Steam User 5634STEAMNot recommended

i like the idea behind this game. And if you dont mind ALOT of reading i guess this could be an enjoyable experience. This game could really benefit from some voiceacting. It just seems like you have to read text for every and any interaction in the game, besides when you shoot enemies. But even events like looting expect you to read a bunch of text to make a simple decision like whether you want to loot for items or salvage the wreck to repair your hull. It feels like alot of the Text in the game could be extremely simplified. They should propably put some of the Reading into the trailer, because all you see in the Trailer is Gameplay and my First Hour of the game had definitely more then 50% reading. Games are a Visual Medium and while i definitely dont oppose having to read in games, i dont see the point of for example describing visually how a place looks, when you could just display it visually. This game feels more like a Novel was superimposed onto some gameplay then it feels like an actual game. At least the gameplay doesnt appear front and center of the game, rather the stories and written language. Maybe its more in the Beginning of the game but i just cant bring myself to play it, i sit down and try, im excited to get into the gameplay but get pulled from my immersion because moments after i will have to read a whole ass fiction novel which i could just do instead if i wanted to read a novel and not play a game lol

Sep 2, 2025·1h·2·Verified

Steam User 7132STEAMRecommended

The sunless duology along with a house of many doors are still the games that gave me the most sense of "amazement", sure, going from x to y can get a bit boring, but even there, you can find stories, discover something
I really really love these games, i played about 2OO hours of sunless skies pirated, and i loved so much the game that i bought it and went for a hundred more

Aug 31, 2025·102h·Verified

Steam User 8228STEAMNot recommended

Something about the text formatting/layout makes it harder to read and get absorbed in. Not a bad game, but doesn't clear the high bar set by Sunless Sea and A House of Many Doors.

Aug 27, 2025·80h

Steam User 0210STEAMRecommended

I played this game ages ago and parts of the narrative still drift into my consciousness. Parts of the story just stick with you. That, I think, is the hallmark of a really exceptional RPG. This game is great, and I can't wait to see what they do next. I struggled with Sunless Sea, never really got into it. This game blows the first game out of the water (har har). Every system was improved from the combat, narrative, and the sounds and pretty pictures. 10/10, would visit the Sun again.... the Sun... THE SUN.... THE SUN! THE SUN! THE SUN!

Aug 27, 2025·80h·3·Verified

Steam User 0027STEAMRecommended

amawing game!

Aug 26, 2025·109h·Verified

Steam User 2465STEAMRecommended

amazing

Aug 23, 2025·90h

Steam User 1859STEAMNot recommended

An interesting setting held together with slow (3-5 minutes+ real time), tedious trips between places where something actually happens. The RPG elements also could use work, as the "facets" you choose directly determine stats, leading to out of character choices based only on numbers. Writing is generally good, but with some immersion-breaking moments (i.e. Incognito Princess descriptions).

If you play, don't choose permadeath. The lineage system is a good idea poorly executed, and the prospect of replaying ten hours of the same missions but starting with better stuff doesn't make me want to continue.

Aug 23, 2025·1352h·14·Verified

Steam User 3822STEAMNot recommended

Türkçe yok böyle bir oyun için yeterli bir sebep önermemem için.

Aug 20, 2025·8h

Steam User 2867STEAMRecommended

great

Aug 16, 2025·30h·Verified

Steam User 5608STEAMRecommended

A beautiful and bizarre world set in a possible future of the browser game Fallen London (speaking of which, this game causally discusses ideas and lore that are among the deepest secrets of Fallen London's lore, so spoilers abound. you've been warned!). Sunless Skies is space adventure in the old style, when the line between science fiction and fantasy hadn't been quite established yet, and Outer Space was virtually indistinguishable from Fairyland for how much we knew about it or what might be possible there. The High Wilderness is very much the kind of outer space that John Carter of Mars could be expected to pop up in; the infamous Dr. Moreau would be right at home in New Winchester as a disciple of the Red Science.

Aug 6, 2025·14h·Verified

Steam User 1300STEAMRecommended

Divertido, mas bem mais simples que o jogo anterior

Aug 5, 2025·47h·1·Verified

Steam User 6316STEAMRecommended

Suns are overrated anyway.

Aug 4, 2025·84h·3

Steam User 1972STEAMRecommended

One of the best games I've ever played. I never wanted it to end. I really enjoyed every minute of 130+ hours and unlocked every achievement. The story is incredible and atmosphere is phenomenal. Really looking forward to new Sunless game, Sunless Deeps maybe :))

Aug 3, 2025·131h·4·Verified

Steam User 3167STEAMRecommended

Wonderful visuals, atmosphere, and writing.

Aug 3, 2025·258h·Verified

Steam User 3136STEAMRecommended

TRAINS... IN..... SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!!!!!!

Jul 31, 2025·35h·1·Verified

Steam User 9917STEAMRecommended

yeah i'd rate it like 10 crowbars

Jul 22, 2025·145h·1·Verified

Steam User 6384STEAMRecommended

Really interesting world and beautiful game

Jul 22, 2025·6h·4

Steam User 4974STEAMRecommended

Magnificent

Jul 21, 2025·134h·1·Verified

Steam User 8107STEAMRecommended

Геймплей и боевка по сравнению с бессолнечным морем стали гораздо динамичнее и интереснее, нарративная составляющая (за которой мы все и пришли) остается на высоте, одна сюжетка крысиной бригады и союза чего стоит! Прекрасные виды, медитативные путешествия по небесам убитого Солнца, увлекающие истории и образы которые надолго останутся в памяти - все это про Sunless Skies. Огромная благодарность разработчикам и отдельное спасибо автором русификатора, дай им Бог здоровья

Jul 20, 2025·22h·1·Verified

Steam User 0313STEAMRecommended

Forgot I've never review this game.
I pretty nice awesome sequel to Sunless Sea, with the advantage of having a more dynamic combat and a full fledged factions system which helps roleplay.
Setting and lore are still up there if not more original and you can end the game in a ton of ways.
Remember also that [spoiler] You can kill a star. [/spoiler]
10/10

Jul 20, 2025·120h·1·Verified

Steam User 8275STEAMRecommended

The stories and writing in this game are very good and well crafted, and genuinly leave me wanting to know and learn more! More than that though, the gameplay itself is very enjoyable for me!!! I will just open this game just to play my little shipping game or fight some monsters. the art is also incredibly beautiful!!!

Jul 18, 2025·337h·1·Verified

Steam User 4945STEAMRecommended

I love this game with every fiber of my soul.

Jul 18, 2025·94h·2·Verified

Steam User 1635STEAMNot recommended

Ставил лайк со 100% шансом на игру, но сработал частичный успех.

Jul 17, 2025·167h·1·Verified

Steam User 0579STEAMRecommended

I am not beating the autism allegations after this one.

I have more hours played on my other account

Jul 16, 2025·1

Steam User 5822STEAMRecommended