Hard West
Hard West
Game
Game2022
Hard West 2
Developer Ice Code Games
Hard West 2 is a 2022 tactical role-playing game developed by Ice Code Games and published by Good Shepherd Entertainment for Windows. It is the sequel to Hard West. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
206 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Nov 4, 2026 · last updated Nov 4, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
79
LovedLoved
149 positive · 40 negative
95% range 72–84%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 149 | 40 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 4 | 0 | 9 |
| Mastodon * | 3 | 0 | 1 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
1,295 of 1,569 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
79% recommend · 146 yes, 39 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 185 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (2,655 of 3,238 positive).
Players praise the fast-paced, aggressive combat with the Bravado kill-chain mechanic. [1][2][3] Some reviewers note the game feels more like a puzzle than a traditional tactics game. [4][5][6] The western-supernatural setting and poker card progression are widely appreciated. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [4]
This is a fantastically made game with a lot of heart. A lot of love and care was put into making this game look and play well . . . However, I don't recommend it to others tactics players, because it *isn't* a tactics game in the way you'd expect, it's a puzzle game that just looks like a modern tactics game(and the core game elements prioritize the puzzle over tactics, such as required characters on missions, …
- [1]
This is an XCOM-like game, with a fun atmosphere and characters. The game is set in a spooky and somewhat dark version of the old American West. I really liked the characters and their little stories. A twist on the usual XCOM mechanics is that when one of your people kill an enemy, they get a refresh of all their action points, so you want to set up runs where one of your characters can kill, kill and kill again. …
- [2]
Hard West 2 delivers a stylish, fast-paced tactical strategy experience that puts a supernatural spin on the Wild West. The game drops you into a grim frontier filled with outlaws, occult forces, train robberies, and shootouts, creating an atmosphere that feels distinct from the usual XCOM-style tactical setting. Its dusty environments, dark supernatural themes, and memorable cast give the campaign a strong identity …
- [8]
I received this in the March (?) 2026 Humble Bundle. Overall, I give it a thumbs up for the price I paid (ca. 3 CAD since it was one of eight games for that month). I finished the game after ca. 30 hours, though involved some save-scumming. What I liked: Richot shots. Character advancement through poker card suites (9,10,J,Q,K,A) and better equipment. Interesting art and world-building. Adjustable difficulty levels. …
- [3]
It’s actually a pretty good sequel. While the original game was a bunch of somewhat connected bite-sized scenarios, this one’s a full campaign with about 20 missions. It includes the original’s chief gimmick, that is the stackable Luck resource you gain for missing and getting hit, and lose for hitting and getting missed. It builds upon that by adding the Bravado mechanic, which resets your action points upon kill. …
Summarised from 34 of the 203 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 10, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Players who liked Hard West 2 talk about bravado system rewards aggressive play and kill chains; those who didn't talk about later missions feel like puzzles with single solutions. Which matters more to you?
Critics, per Wikipedia
Hard West 2 was released for Windows on August 4, 2022. The game received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to the review aggregation website oMetacritic. Rick Lane of Rock Paper Shotgun said he enjoyed the game and its changes to the standard tactics game formula, though he criticized it for having arbitrary difficulty spikes and occasionally difficult controls. In his review for PC Gamer, Ian Evenden described Hard West 2 as "a superb tactics game" whose fun combat makes its other issues tolerable. IGN's reviewer, Jon Bolding, wrote, "Hard West 2 has plenty of little annoyances, but it's a supernatural western tactics game with a lot of style and the substance to back…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 206 · most liked firstThis is a fantastically made game with a lot of heart. A lot of love and care was put into making this game look and play well . . . However, I don't recommend it to others tactics players, because it *isn't* a tactics game in the way you'd expect, it's a puzzle game that just looks like a modern tactics game(and the core game elements prioritize the puzzle over tactics, such as required characters on missions, needing to chain kill a certain amount of enemies in a certain number of turns…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hard West 2 has lost something. Its cartoony and corny compared to its gritty dark predecessor. The original hard west was a dark tale of damnation and revenge from beyond the grave narrated by death himself. This is a cheesy ghost story with terrible voice acting. The original felt like being in the film unforgiven, this is more like a bad cartoon. The levels drag, they don't really have the strategic quality of the original, just more enemies to drag it out. All in all I'm very…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Bland writing, low enemy variety, middling to terrible voice acting and direction, and mechanics that feel closer to a puzzle game with how you have to chain kills than any kind of typical turn based tactics. Think Tactical Breach Wizards if it controlled worse, had enemies placed about scatter shot instead of in interesting locations, and had no rewind button so if you hit the 2 key one too many times you can get yourself killed mid kill chain. All this said it isn't an awful game it's just…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Sadly, it does nothing well. While the first missions offer a lot of different approaches, later missions seem to require a single specific solution. As many have said before, more a puzzle than a tactics game. I like completing all objectives, but I just don’t want to spend more time figuring out the seemingly single solution. Stopping point for me were the capture a train mission (which needs a character that can run 40 squares and/or deal ~35 damage in a single turn) and the steal blue…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Review I was so looking forward to playing hard west 2. Hoping the announcer would give us more unique stories to explore. Improved combat and new levels. Just to end up getting the most mid game ever. Gameplay An improvement is that luck is not a resource anymore to use abilities. Also, you don’t get random abilities anymore as you keep the same characters. Otherwise? Most obscure and esoteric weapons are gone. You now traverse an overworld map in small portions with side quests until you do…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What i love about the game. 1. bullets can bounce off objects depending on the type of weapon used and hit enemies around corners 2. the cover system where your character can futher increase their cover by ducking behide the cover their already hiding behind 3. different elevations where you get bonuse shooting from high ground 4. zoom in and out and changing camera angles 5. displays hit / miss / bulleyes / damage information etc... 6. easy and fun tutorial 7. story line and the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Happy to see that Hard West 2 is making the leap from PC to Xbox and PlayStation! I had a great time writing this game with Rafał Sadowski and working with the rest of the crew at Ice Code Games and Good Shepherd Entertainment. Go check it out! youtu.be/DFdpMoQ3b8c?...
positive · AI labelView post →Video gamers! My friends at Ice Code Games (I co-wrote Hard West 2 with them) just launched their latest game into Early Access on Steam. Go check out Nightmare Frontier! store.steampowered.com/app/3310950/...
neutral · AI labelView post →This review is specially made for those who like to get all the achievements in games. Some gameplay and story event spoilers ahead. Hard West 2 is a turn-based tactics game that is similar to Wasteland 3 but simpler and with a more limited arsenal and tactical options, but with a faster pace that rewards an aggressive approach. Based on this, I’d say it’s targeted more at casual players than hardcore tactics players. The story takes place in a sort of Wild West and Hell/Purgatory mix where…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Just not enough tactical options to try and set yourself up for advantages. Cover system and luck seem to not matter at all when enemies appear from the shadows and you can still miss shots with 100% hit chance. Only got to the second town but the first store had guns available with "slight" upgrades, decided to save my money and see if the next store would have anything better, but it didn't even carry the better weapons from before. The card system seems cool and maybe after more time you'd…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This was only game i wanted to play from humble bundle, but it's scam, it launched only once the first time i played it, after that nothing helps to launch it again.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3/5) For some reason, I’ve always liked westerns. Maybe it’s those cozy Sunday morning movies from childhood, or maybe it’s Ennio Morricone and his unforgettable soundtracks—I honestly don’t know. Either way, this turn-based western, which feels like a half-baked puzzle game trying to act like a tactics game, caught my attention. What It Gets Right ✅Theme: I was a bit skeptical about the supernatural-western combo, but the game keeps things relatively grounded. It doesn’t go…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Badly optimized game, sadly cannot recommend it. I've tried several times to play this game as I am a huge fan of XCOM and similar games. But apparently, my RTX 5070 and AMD Ryzen 7 5800X are not able to run this beast of a game. I constantly get 20-25 fps during all gameplay and no fix or workaround from Reddit works. Even running it in compatibility mode for Windows 7 or 8 doesn't fix anything. So, sadly I gotta ignore this game, even though it might have been great.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hard West 2 was an enormous success with very positive reviews & around 42k - 134.5k units sold. Unlike its predecessor, in Hard West 2 the experience shifts from the methodical, luck-based encounters of the first game to a faster, more aggressive puzzle-like combat system. #gamedev #indiegamedev
neutral · AI labelView post →Good idea, but very poor execution. Honestly, u have all the fundamentals of a good tactical game, EVEN THO the UI is so useless (no attack range indicator in a game with 18 tiles range, you'd be counting ♥♥♥♥ every turn on max difficulty). However, one thing ruined it for anyone who's got half a brain: No 100% hit rate, in a game where you got extremely limited turn count, PLUS multiple side objective(sometimes revealed half way) per stage. 1. Artificial difficulty introduced by 91% hit…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Compared to Hard West, this game is a huge disappointment. It feels like the developers really tried to copy the Wasteland 3 gameplay, but something didnt click like it should. It's not fun at all and the combat is extremely annoying. The game constantly forces you to rush forward with very strict turn limits (for extra rewards/achievements), and this is bad because you'll constantly fall into enemy ambushes with no way to counter them. The enemy team always knows exactly where you are, but you…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good game. Solid combat and good story. This is not a game with character classes, perks and skills, or weapon modding. The combat levels are much more of a puzzle than 'bring a team that overwhelms your opponent with your min/max setup." So, if you're looking for XCOM, this isn't it. That isn't to say that if you like XCOM you won't like this game (I am a big XCOM fan and still like HW II). Just know that it is different going in. Hope there is a III.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Cowboy XCOM where you can bounce bullets
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Got the game in a Humble Bundle so I checked it out. To me it was very boring and became too repetetive already an hour in. I wouldn't recommend
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is an XCOM-like game, with a fun atmosphere and characters. The game is set in a spooky and somewhat dark version of the old American West. I really liked the characters and their little stories. A twist on the usual XCOM mechanics is that when one of your people kill an enemy, they get a refresh of all their action points, so you want to set up runs where one of your characters can kill, kill and kill again. There is no levelling up exactly but you get cards that you can arrange into…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I honestly hate this game. I thought 'hard' meant like rugged or determined, like a hardened veteran. I didn't know it was the defining feature of the game. The action-point system is so frustrating. If the tile you want to move to is just one tile too far for it to cost 1 action point, then it will cost you 2 whole action points to go there. This means that you're constantly, pointlessly having to decide if you want to remain out of cover and shoot or spend the extra action point to go ONE…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I am a casual gamer and am not pretty good at shooters, This game should be good, I want this game to be good. But the learning curve is non existent, there is no "get used to it" period; youre being rudely thrown into the fray and that's that. The aesthetics are nice and the mechanics are interesting, reminiscent a bit of the "newer" fallout in it's rpg first person shooter style. But I can't find enjoyment playing a game where "there is no pattern to learn" (read darksoul). For this one,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hard West 2 delivered! 9/10 for me. it would be more perfect if the story can be long and additional several more chapter.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →>Studio makes 1 good game >Continues to do slop I don't get it. Their pirate game looks like something that belongs in Apple Store, and their newest game is AI slop with too much stats and other useless crap. I really liked small jokes here like the bacardi thing (if you know, you know). Word is pretty intresting but i feel like the characters don't have too many lines. Also the relationship meter could be more useful, if you fill it up fully you could get a special personal mission with…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Cool Bland Boring Even though I’m a big fan of turn-based tactics games, the gameplay in this one is pretty mehiocre. It’s basically just moving forward and going pew pew with not much anything interesting to interact with on the map. There’s barely any tactical depth or interesting mechanics.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I received this in the March (?) 2026 Humble Bundle. Overall, I give it a thumbs up for the price I paid (ca. 3 CAD since it was one of eight games for that month). I finished the game after ca. 30 hours, though involved some save-scumming. What I liked: Richot shots. Character advancement through poker card suites (9,10,J,Q,K,A) and better equipment. Interesting art and world-building. Adjustable difficulty levels. Every kill refills your action points, prompting you to look for kill…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I dont know, I should like it, but I dont
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fun turn based western (sort of) game, Wasteland 3 style. It has an unusual mechanics, in that characters don't level in the usual way. Instead you buff them by giving them a poker hand from cards you pick up. Tactics are important, and unlike my usual playing style, it rewards aggressive playing. Had a blast for the roughly 24 hours.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hard West 2 delivers a stylish, fast-paced tactical strategy experience that puts a supernatural spin on the Wild West. The game drops you into a grim frontier filled with outlaws, occult forces, train robberies, and shootouts, creating an atmosphere that feels distinct from the usual XCOM-style tactical setting. Its dusty environments, dark supernatural themes, and memorable cast give the campaign a strong identity and make each mission feel like part of a strange western adventure. Combat…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is an amazing turn-based game! It has a western cowboy theme with elements of arcane magic and poker cards game mechanics. It has almost an infinite replayability, thanks to the various skills and traits of the protagonist's posse members (a.k.a. his gang). Let me explain. You are Gin Carter, the protagonist. He robbed banks, killed many, you know the typical bad guy. One day, with his current gang, they tried to rob a train which belongs to the devil. He lost the fight and his soul.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game surprised me by getting better as it went. It starts off simple, but once you unlock more upgrades and gear, it starts allowing you to pull off more ambitious plans and combos, which in turn becomes more and more satisfying. It's not XCOM 2, but few games are. And this was a fun, worthy way to scratch the same itch.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of the times I've most wished Steam had a neutral option for reviews. Hard West 2 isn't a bad game necessarily; everything it does works fine and is decently enjoyable. Had this been my introduction to the series I'd absolute have loved it. But compared to the first game, it's just boring. The original Hard West is sometimes viewed as overly difficult and punishing, but I love it, jank and all. Every level felt like a puzzle, in a similar way to Hotline Miami. In Hard West 2 however, the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game would be great, if not for the Xcom-like. You miss a 75% and they hit what ever they want. I started the game on hard and quit the game on easy; because it's dumb and not balanced well. I rushed through the first game, because of the same issues
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →While game offers interesting story premise, good VO and nice visuals, it offeres very shallow combat system which is boring as hell. Each (of 6 total) chars offers only 1 signature ability and you'll unlock 2-3 upgrades to it via poker hands. That's it. So every single combat is the same, and some encounters are loooong. It's a shame, since 1st game offered far more tactical options.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Crashes immediately unless I delete the Audio folder entirely, but then the game launches and is mute. Bought this crap in a humble bundle so I can't even refund it. AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Right off the bat, its definetly the type of game that is not for everyone. I'd say I might be somewhere in between. I dont think I could say I really enjoy it, but I did have some fun. This game is like trying something new to the current gaming market and mixing it up. If you wanna get away from the typical games and try this Strategy game then go ahead. And YES—keep in mind... it is a STRATEGY GAME. Not really about the graphics or the character or art design. Mostly just the technique and…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It’s actually a pretty good sequel. While the original game was a bunch of somewhat connected bite-sized scenarios, this one’s a full campaign with about 20 missions. It includes the original’s chief gimmick, that is the stackable Luck resource you gain for missing and getting hit, and lose for hitting and getting missed. It builds upon that by adding the Bravado mechanic, which resets your action points upon kill. Given that you usually kill anywhere around 50 enemies per mission, the most…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I am a Hard West I "veteran" and my expectations regarding this game were quite high. Although they were not exactly met, I can still recommend this game especially on sale - if it is between 5-10 € it is a good buy. Setting is Hard West, a weird semi-apocalyptic wild west with supernatural phenomena going on. Story is somewhat memorable and characters are diverse (not in the forced-woke sense) and interesting. The background and interactions could have been done more in depth, but it does…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I just finished this game last night and enjoyed every moment of it. I love the ricochet feature in the game adding an extra layer of tactical element, also the chase sequences add a more unique play to it. Chasing down a train on horse in turn based sequences where you can board and dismount the trains at will adds to the tactical fun. I love the ability to chain combo attacks where by landing a killing shot/attack results in your AP resetting and allowing you to chain attacks until it has…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm back again I got three new games and I wanna take em out for a spin what we got here is Dicefolk, Inkbound and Hard West 2 let's see if there any good join me as I check these out www.twitch.tv/leondarktech #vtuber #gaming
neutral · AI labelView post →Good turn-based game. Not a great one, but definitely not bad. Average story, pretty good visuals, solid sound and music. The main feature is bravada and ricochet systems (If u play steamworld heist 1/2 it looks familiar). If Ice Code Games made Hard West 3 - i will buy that game, thx and good luck to everyone
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Much better polished and more fun than the first iteration. Hard West 2 plays really well, the bravado system in which you can in one turn wipe 20 enemies is awesome and makes you feel like a badass. The story is interesting enough to make you wonder how it will pan out and also wonder about the interesting world of fantasy wild west.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not much of a tactics game, more of a puzzle game. Will require either wasting a ton of time or save scrubbing since half the games mechanics involve knowing exactly when the game introduces new enemy waves and being in the correct spots. For what it is its ok, though by the end it was getting a little grating. Fun enough though, and worth it on sale.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great XCOM type game, roughly 20+ hours of gameplay to beat it the first time. Obviously longer if you want to hunt down every achievement. Not all achievements can be gotten in one playthrough, so you'd have to play through it multiple times. Game gives you 6 characters very quickly, and only rarely "forces" you to use one of them, mainly to learn them early in the game. Otherwise you are free to choose who you want to take on missions. Each character is really good at one weapon and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Go through the intro, seems pretty interesting. Finish the first mission and then the game breaks. Tried multiple times and it just keeps CTDing at this point. Great. Another developer sends another dud into the wild. 2/10
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Really well paced turn based combat game. Fighting your way through an interesting story, albeit playing on stereotypes - but it leans into it and is really engrossing. Haven't thought about coming home to put a game on in a long time but this has been on my mind all day to get back to. The playing card decks for buff loadouts adds a nice mechanic and something to think about, as do the different weapon setups and posse selections. Really well rounded game, thoroughly enjoying it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Isometric tactics game in weird horror American Wild West setting. Autobuy for tactics Xcom-likes and Malixfaux fans. This is a different dev from HardWest 1 so its less horror which is a shame.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →quite a departure from the first game, keeps the card mechanic as buffs you can use to hone your build as a "hand". adds an overworld map type of gameplay and some mostly text-based side quests. If you liked the first one you will like this. Recommended at Sale price.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Uninteresting. not bad but not satisfying in my taste. i quit after two battles. the way it plays: move freely in world mode -> talk, understand story by read text, many text, not real time interaction -> get some stuffs -> go to battle area. i dont expect to read a lot of text like that. map is unnecessarily complex. i can see house with stairs, floors, interior things. so many things that confuse you, and the battle is going on, so you dont want to go to explore but the same time you also…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hard West 2 - Console Announcement Trailer | https://pressakey.tube/135240 #HardWest2 #Indiegame #WildWest #RPG #Strategy
neutral · AI labelView post →This is a game that is lost within itself. The idea is good, but they simply couldnt realize it. The story wont catch your attention and everything else is kinda bland. I was expecting a turn based tactics like Wasteland or XCom and got a puzzle game with few ways to solve a stage. You feel limited all the time by he systems and wondering stuff like "Why cant I have a team with more the 4 dudes at once?" to navigate to levels that drag out too much.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →General pros: - Interesting storyline - Nicely developed characters - Immersive atmosphere and visuals - Dialogues don't feel "flat" Unique mechanics: - AP regain after each kill ("Bravado") - Unlocking skills with poker combinations from found cards Cons: - It took some time until the game hooked me, but after that it was a very good and enjoyable overall experience.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An exciting, fun and very challenging turn based game set in a unique Old West universe that combines melee, range and magical elements to enhance gameplay. There is an interesting narrative that continues to propel you forward and there are benefits to taking calculated risks. Once you start playing it is very hard to stop. Check it out you will not be disappointed.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What a game!!! This was an amazing experience. I will replay it once I have time available. My only complaint is the cheating at higher levels in which you for example get have 100% by positioning and the enemy dodges the bullet. In a game in which every shot count this irritating. I simply raged and abandoned a fight for excess "bad luck" that destroyed my characters. I ended spending a fortune in healing and not buying guns. Positioning became irrelevant.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Decent enough game. But it's very, very short, like demo length. Finished in three play sessions. Had to double check that I hadn't missed/skipped a chapter or area. Just about the time it starts being fun, it just ends. Don't pay full price for this!
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Completed #HardWest2 within 23h. What a ride and a worthy successor. Some interesting new game mechanics, awesome music and sound, plenty of splatter, pew pew and dead men walking - what's not to like ❤️ (Oh and on Linux PC, as usual)
positive · AI labelView post →kinda disappointed to be honest. I thought the game and setting had potential but it got tedious very quickly
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pretty good game, with some refreshing mechanics I haven't seen before. The Bravado one, especially, is very fun and adds a nice layer of strategy ; it can be super rewarding. The progression tied to card was interesting too, tough I would have liked a bit more clarity regarding how to get the super rare ones (I missed the two jokers). The narative is decent, it does the job. I consider this game a must play for any turn-based, squad-based fan.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Bug-free, good story, Kevin Conroy VA! This little gem had a great story, good inventory items, a lot of strategy and a lot of heart. I completed everything I wanted to do in 21 hours. That is fine for what I spent and I would recommend this game to anyone as fun, relaxing, and a great little story.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The separate scenarios in the first game are far more interesting than the story in this one. I also miss the resource management utilizing luck and action points from the first game. Luck is no longer used for dodging, nor is it used for special actions, but now increases hit chance. I haven't seen the Fate Trader from the first game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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