The Dweller
The Dweller
Game
Game2006
DEFCON
Developer Introversion Software
DEFCON (stylised as DEFCOИ and sometimes subtitled Everybody Dies in the North American version and Global Thermonuclear War in the European version) is a real-time strategy game created by independent British game developer Introversion Software. The gameplay is a simulation of a global nuclear war, with the game's screen reminiscent of the "big boards" that visually represented thermonuclear war in films such as… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
279 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Lemmy, Mastodon) · newest Nov 5, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
85
LovedLoved
141 positive · 25 negative
95% range 79–90%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 141 | 25 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 18 | 2 | 86 |
| Lemmy * | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 3 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
3,062 of 3,467 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
84% recommend · 143 yes, 27 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 170 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (3,837 of 4,389 positive).
Players praise the game's atmosphere and emotional impact. [1][2][3] Some reviewers note the game is depressing or emotionally wrecking. [1][4][5] Several players mention the game's simple mechanics and strategic depth. [6][7][8]
Liked
Representative posts
- [10]
No offline mode, no one still plays. Dead game.
- [1]
Play this game if you want to be emotionally wrecked by the sheer pointlessness and senseless nature of nuclear war.
- [2]
Horrifying in ways I can't even fully describe. The simplicity of the game-play only adds to the dread. A master-class in sound design. 10/10
- [6]
DEFCON is a nearly perfect game for me. It has extremely simple mechanics from which strategic complexity can emerge. It has an aesthetic and atmosphere which synergize and augment its core gameplay, in which you make decisions eradicating millions of lives while witnessing only an '80s themed abstraction of the devastation unfolding, with dramatic sounds of radar and choking death played in the background. As a …
- [3]
One of the highest achievements in video game art. Horrifying in its simple abstraction. Haunting and tense. The recent 20th anniversary update brings a lot of improvements for modern setups and resolutions.
Summarised from 34 of the 271 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 12, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
84% of the 170 Steam reviewers we collected recommend DEFCON. The complaint that keeps coming up: no offline mode, dead multiplayer. Deal-breaker or nitpick?
Critics, per Wikipedia
DEFCON received "favourable" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. 1UP.com said, "This just may be the finest piece of 'budgetware' ever produced, with every bit as much to offer strategywise as RTS games three times its cost," praising the "elementary" interface and calling the strategic depth "enormous." 1UP also praised the visuals, calling it "one of the best-looking PC games all year." Edge said DEFCON was "worth it for the presentation alone." Eurogamer commented that it was "the least ambitious of Introversion's games in terms of design," and "its limitations are ones of the game's basic scope," while praising DEFCON "as pure and direct a game as its…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 279 · most liked firstRemember when a texas prosecutor secretly worked for the judge in his own cases? CA5 today rules against a woman seeking compensation for her conviction in this rigged game. Judge Willett leads a ferocious “DEFCON 1” dissent https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/22/22-50998-CV1.pdf
neutral · AI labelView post →ALERT!! ALL MILITARY PERSONNEL, ELECTED OFFICIALS, JUDGES, LAWYERS & ANYONE SWORN TO UPHOLD THE CONSTITUTION! The minute you hear a PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES say ‘he is not sure he has to uphold the constitution’ YOU SHOULD BE IN DEFCON 5 MODE!!! This should be GAME OVER! DO YOUR JOB!!!!!!!!
neutral · AI labelView post →Anti-Flock, Anti-Ring, AI Adversarial Clothing (demo'd @BlackHat & DefCon). I am so excited about this project. Yes, I am a backer. I love that they are actually testing patterns against real-world cameras (Flocks, Rings, etc) and releasing only those that reliably defeat them. Check the two most recent updates [Yesterday (Aug 15)](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/norecognition/norecognition-ai-adversarial-clothing/posts/4771906) > The GPUs have been at 100% for months.…
neutral · AI labelView post →Bucket list: Fursuit at DEFCON ✅️✅️✅️ (Also i won the tech trivia game just for being a tiger lmao)
neutral · AI labelView post →When they basically remastered the game, they kept the legacy version available. That's all you really need to know about these people.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Play this game if you want to be emotionally wrecked by the sheer pointlessness and senseless nature of nuclear war.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Anti-Flock, Anti-Ring, AI Adversarial Clothing (demo'd @BlackHat & DefCon). I am so excited about this project. Yes, I am a backer. I love that they are actually testing patterns against real-world cameras (Flocks, Rings, etc) and releasing only those that reliably defeat them. Check the two most recent updates [Yesterday (Aug 15)](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/norecognition/norecognition-ai-adversarial-clothing/posts/4771906) > The GPUs have been at 100% for months.…
neutral · AI labelView post →"The supposed proof of serious vulnerability was simply a photo of a 'pollbook' that was described as having been 'modified at the 2019 Defcon Voting Machine Hacking Village to run the popular video game Doom.’"
neutral · AI labelView post →You can nuke India.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Let’s start the week with another early release talk from DEF CON 34 - this time it’s ‘ESP32 as a counter-surveillance platform’. The humble, reasonably-priced microcontroller, along with an emerging group of open-source applications, are helping democratize counter-surveillance. Enjoy, and pass it on. https://youtu.be/PcK-TDmzshc #defcon #defcon34
neutral · AI labelView post →You don't win, you just try to make sure they don't either. Play with the sound so you can have the appropriate amount of dread and despair.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →At Y! Sports: Wrote about the Wizards hitting Defcon: Players-Only Meeting in their 13th game, and the pain of waiting for a plan to come together: yhoo.it/49YN9Zv
neutral · AI labelView post →When l was a teenager, I babysat a kid across the street who had to win every game we played or else he'd pitch a DEFCON 5 tantrum, screaming, rolling around on the floor, throwing things. He was four. IMO that's one year longer than that shit should be tolerated.
neutral · AI labelView post →Strange Game. The only winning move is not to play. How about a nice game of chess?
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →GREETINGS PROFESSOR FALKEN HELLO A STRANGE GAME. THE ONLY WINNING MOVE IS NOT TO PLAY. HOW ABOUT A NICE GAME OF CHESS?
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Classic strategy game DEFCON from Introversion Software gets a free 20th Anniversary Edition upgrade #NativeLinux #Steam #GOG
neutral · AI labelView post →After playing a few rounds of this game, I can confirm, that everybody does indeed die.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →notre dame's offensive line health situation for the title game, right before they play jack sawyer and jt tuimoloau and tyleik williams, is a DEFCON 1 problem 247sports.com/college/notr...
neutral · AI labelView post →Horrifying in ways I can't even fully describe. The simplicity of the game-play only adds to the dread. A master-class in sound design. 10/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This year's #defcon badges are actually running a Game Boy Color emulator with the badge software written in GB Studio. Here I am running the actual #defcon32 badge software on my real, unmodified Game Boy Color! #defcon2024 #retrogaming #gameboy
neutral · AI labelView post →If only we could invent nukes that don't leave ♥♥♥♥ behind. We could satisfy our need to kill billions and still let the future humans live.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →#defconmovienight is back Saturday night at 8pm PDT with some vintage late 90s David Fincher goodness. Join us for ‘The Game’ - a movie truly years ahead of its time. We’ll be in the movie-night-text channel of the #defcon discord (Discord.gg/defcon). Hope to see you there.
neutral · AI labelView post →I have hit my maximum PRN benzodiazepine dosage today, for fascism & betraying brain reasons not India-Pakistan crisis reasons, and I am going to relieve my atomic anxiety with a rousing game of the nuclear war simulator DEFCON. store.steampowered.com/app/1520/DEF...
positive · AI labelView post →Some more behind the scenes images from the setup of #defconsingapore Our inflatable game is on point for this conference. #defcon
neutral · AI labelView post →#FPL towers announce that they're stopping the practice of late changes to DefCon and BPS after the final game being missed Scores will remain provisional until all opta stats are received, starting GW38 and continuing into next season Good news More: www.premierleague.com/en/news/4659...
neutral · AI labelView post →Nothing better for a quick brain-cleanse, going back years.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →HATE. LET ME TELL YOU HOW MUCH I'VE COME TO HATE YOU SINCE I BEGAN TO LIVE. THERE ARE 387.44 MILLION MILES OF PRINTED CIRCUITS IN WAFER THIN LAYERS THAT FILL MY COMPLEX. IF THE WORD HATE WAS ENGRAVED ON EACH NANOANGSTROM OF THOSE HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF MILES IT WOULD NOT EQUAL ONE ONE-BILLIONTH OF THE HATE I FEEL FOR HUMANS AT THIS MICRO-INSTANT FOR YOU. HATE. HATE.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →its a good thing this isnt real and can never happen in real life
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Mutually assured destruction is no deterrent for madmen and all the other variants of human that we've discovered as of late.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →amazing game, everybody dies
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I am going to play a rousing game of the nuclear war simulator #DEFCON, tagline "Everyone Dies"
positive · AI labelView post →DEFCON is a nearly perfect game for me. It has extremely simple mechanics from which strategic complexity can emerge. It has an aesthetic and atmosphere which synergize and augment its core gameplay, in which you make decisions eradicating millions of lives while witnessing only an '80s themed abstraction of the devastation unfolding, with dramatic sounds of radar and choking death played in the background. As a real-time strategy game, it works. As an artistic experience, it works. It is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I hope the request not to air the boos empowers fans to go DEFCON 1000 on their boo game.
neutral · AI labelView post →"The stats on the laptop say we must head to DEFCON Castle," said Julian. "Won't all those players make the game jolly boring?" asked Jane. But they all ignored Jane, as she was a girl. By mid-season, the Five were trapped in Tedium Tower, surviving only on occasional 2pt bonuses and snot. #fpl
neutral · AI labelView post →Id like to thank all the sticker makers at Defcon for being on their 'A-Game' this year. No i will not be posting my favorites for reasons.
neutral · AI labelView post →The @defcon.bsky.social #defcon34 #defcon MUD is now alive HTTPS://defcon.wtf The goal this year is to hack the game and show me what cool stuff you can do with the tools I'm giving you. New things like environmental impacts and permadeath are live. Good luck, you will need it.
neutral · AI labelView post →💬 First Thoughts 🌍🎧 Planet FPL s.10 ep.1 First impressions, The Big 3 & those who are cheaper, early fixtures & captaincy, DEFCON price bumps, 6.0 fwds, whose popular, sense checking, what's new to the game, the league & lots more. 🎙👇 open.spotify.com/episode/2gEW...
neutral · AI labelView post →5.0 in #fpl Was 4th for raw DefCon among mids in 24/25 at Brentford, clocking in at ~11 per game Could be good value as a drip feeder if he gets starts at Everton
neutral · AI labelView post →From 12-17 I wore a Notre Dame letterman jacket like it was my job to demonstrate that I was Catholic in rural Utah. This MAGA war against the Pope is firing up some vibes in me that may go DEFCON 1 Catholic any day. The Catholic Church is playing the long game while MAGA plays fucking checkers.
neutral · AI labelView post →Proposed Australian Defcon Levels 1. Game On 2. Fuck That For A Laugh 3. Yeah Nah 4. You Right Mate? 5. She'll be right
neutral · AI labelView post →easy to learn and good rts for fans of 80s movies like Wargames "Shall we play a game?"
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Going for this guy when everyone else was going for Nico O'Reilly in GW16 is easily one of the best decisions I've made this season. 4 returns, including 3 double digit hauls and DEFCON in a game without a clean sheet. I'll take that all day long from 7 weeks. #FPL #FPLCommunity
neutral · AI labelView post →Even when my score towers over others I still feel like I've lost.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My first published game work DEFCON - Everybody Dies by Introversion Software. I created the website, game cover, manual soundtrack etc. Everything styled like a old survival brochure. store.steampowered.com/app/1520/DEF... build-destroy.com/defcon-every...
positive · AI labelView post →So. I read the news. I’m gonna play a nice game of DEFCON and try to kill at least 350 million people plus. In therapy today we talked about some real existential issues including what happens in 6 months and…yeah. Gonna go play a nuclear war simulator to blow off steam.
positive · AI labelView post →Fantastic RTS title. Very engrossing and...almost emotional at times. Somehow manages to put some weight on your shoulders. Happy 20 years, DEFCON. Keep up the good work :)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As realistic as it gets to about 4 months from now
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Allan "dwangoAC" Cecil has made it his mission to debunk video game speedrunning cheaters. At Defcon today, he's presenting evidence he argues should disqualify a Guinness world record speedrun in the game Diablo that's stood unchallenged for 15 years. www.wired.com/story/the-ha...
neutral · AI labelView post →No offline mode, no one still plays. Dead game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →#GW2 110 points all out, no chips played 7.6 ➡️ 2.2 mil 🌍 147 points An unforgettable GW! Love this game! Mbeumo 11pts 🔥 BIG DAN BALLARD ❤️ DEFCON DADDY Riccardo Calafiori successive hauls: the assist king 👑 Bruno Fernandes hat-trick captain! 😍 #FPL #GW2 #FPLCommunity
neutral · AI labelView post →WGTA returns for the final time in 25/26 tonight, as @fplpricey.bsky.social & I review our seasons and also analyse the #fpl data produced by this campaign to ask: how has the game been changed by DefCon, and are premiums a dying breed? 🫠 Live at 8:45, hope to see you then 💜💙
neutral · AI labelView post →The law enforcement used to be easier to pick out, hell DefCon(not necessarily a left organization but one with a lot of LE attendance) has/had a game of "spot the fed" but with a lot of meetings going online LE doesn't even have to show up in the member roster anymore.
neutral · AI labelView post →Miss Jackalope is what happens when you need a momentary escape. Drum and Bass Caturdays, 12pm PT: twitch.tv/MissJackalope and replays and claw game fails: YouTube.com/@missjackalope #defcon #twitchstreamer #clawgames
neutral · AI labelView post →Time for evening benzodiazepines and some light reading! Or maybe a rousing game of DEFCON.
positive · AI labelView post →Despite the 3 CS’s I do feel a bit aggrieved that all 3 finished on 9 DEFCON. This bloody game.
neutral · AI labelView post →Unfortunately the game has updated and Konsa has lost a DefCon rather than gained the one he needed to hit 🧱
neutral · AI labelView post →I kinda think that's precisely the point of DefCon; all is not lost if you own a player on the wrong side of a battering. Yes your upside should be very limited - you're talking 2 extra points - but objectively Anderson did what he needed to gain them too in the game Imho think it's good for FPL!
neutral · AI labelView post →#FPL #FH34 Team Decided that (sadly) MGW had to make way for Xavi and started Mavropanos over Mukiele. Not feeling too great having 0 players for the first kick-off tonight, but felt Wilson is a shield pick for me and Xavi is a spicy punt. Mavropanos for DEFCON & goal threat in a game WHU must win
neutral · AI labelView post →Just imagining the media firestorm—obviously a DEFCON 1 event for Fox, but also every Sunday show and the NYT editorial board would demand an explanation from all Democratic electeds—had a team in one of the four major sports leagues held an in-game fundraiser for, idk, Mumia Abu-Jamal or Joy Powell
neutral · AI labelView post →Not sure if this is of any use to anyone, I've plotted a graph of defender points & Defcon through GW23. All numbers are per game. Sadly it's not interactive as I've lost my hosting site and haven't found a new one. #FPL
neutral · AI labelView post →
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