WARDOGS
WARDOGS
Game
Game2018
Kenshi
Developer Lo-Fi Games
Kenshi is a real-time strategy and action role-playing game developed and published by Lo-Fi Games for Windows. The game focuses on sandbox gameplay features that give the player freedom to do what they want in its world instead of focusing on a linear story. Kenshi's development was primarily led by a single person over the course of twelve years, and it was released on December 6, 2018. Kenshi takes place in a… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
602 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon, Lemmy) · newest Nov 5, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
92
LovedLoved
413 positive · 36 negative
95% range 89–94%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 413 | 36 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 41 | 1 | 79 |
| Mastodon * | 4 | 1 | 18 |
| Lemmy * | 2 | 0 | 7 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Overwhelmingly Positive
54,447 of 57,262 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
93% recommend · 247 yes, 20 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 267 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Overwhelmingly Positive (112,074 of 117,237 positive).
Players describe Kenshi as a brutally difficult but deeply rewarding sandbox that demands patience and creativity. [1][2][3] Many reviewers note the game's unique, open-ended design allows for emergent storytelling and player-driven goals. [4][5][6] Some players warn that the game feels incomplete or has clunky systems, but still recommend it for its originality. [4][7][8]
Liked
Representative posts
- [8]
Kenshi is a game that I had a really hard time trying to figure out whether to recommend or not. On the one hand, the game operates fine, has a lot of depth and systems to play around with and a large world filled with potential cool things to do and moments to have. On the other, its packed full of long stints of boredom, uninteresting repetition and gameplay systems that encourages the player to find and exploit …
- [2]
When I first got this game I started a new world, wandered around, tried to mine some copper, was mercilessly beat into the ground like a street dog by 30 starving losers, and bled to death. I then closed the game, didn't play it for 3 years, developed full sentience, and opened the game again. 2165 hours.
- [3]
**Recommended** I almost refunded Kenshi. For my first 50 hours I thought it was broken, empty, and unfair. 450 hours later... I sat down at 10 AM intending to play for an hour. I looked at the clock and it was 7 AM the next day. It started with Prince, a one armed man stranded in the desert. Prince almost didn't make it to his first meal. Literally collapsing twenty times before he reached the gates of Sho-Battai …
- [6]
I would recommend it because i'm not a a-hole, it's a genuinely good game, but it's not for me. Tried for 8 hours to enjoy myself and I just don't. I think you need a creative/RP mind to play this and enjoy it. It's a sandbox in the purest form. If you are able to really embody your character and just go on a blind adventure where you make your own story. You will love it. I just don't have the creative juice in me …
- [1]
You will either become addicted or bounce off. There is nothing else like it.
Summarised from 34 of the 399 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 9, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Kenshi sits at 92% positive across 449 opinionated reactions from 4 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Critics, per Wikipedia
Kenshi received "generally favorable reviews", according to review aggregator website Metacritic. PC Gamer's Robert Zak praised the game's giant size and scope, but noted that the game could get "grindy" and that the game's UI "can get cumbersome as your group's numbers grow." Rock, Paper, Shotgun noted the game's depth and compared Kenshi positively to Dwarf Fortress. In September 2020, Lo-Fi Games announced that Kenshi had sold over a million copies. By May 2026, the game sold 3 million copies.
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 602 · most liked firstI bought this game in beta back on 2012. I found it here on steam, and remembered buying it. i went back and checked my old email. I got the code that i was provided and tried plugging it into steam, and it worked. In the email, it said something about how the game would always be available on any platform if we bought it. They kept their word, which i thought was awesome
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Last year I made this 100 PC RPG iceberg, still think it's a good resource if you're want recomendations. The tiers are not popularity or quality, it's about how accessible each game is. For example, Kenshi is relatively famous but I would only recommend it to true sickos.
positive · AI labelView post →You will either become addicted or bounce off. There is nothing else like it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →When I first got this game I started a new world, wandered around, tried to mine some copper, was mercilessly beat into the ground like a street dog by 30 starving losers, and bled to death. I then closed the game, didn't play it for 3 years, developed full sentience, and opened the game again. 2165 hours.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Start new game. >running for life from bandits >run into dinosaur >eaten alive Start new game. >ooh, I might be able to hide in this foggy area >oh god, there's so many of them >tied to stake >eaten alive Start new game. >me and doggy pal find town >guards search my empty pockets >everyone insults me >can't afford food >so hungry >try to steal >caught, beaten up, jailed >serve my sentence then starve to death in the desert Start new game. >spawn in desert >beaten…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I want to thank the creators of this game for giving me the pleasure of torturing a misogynistic and racist religious leader and rich nobles. A girl can finally live her fantasies.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game often feels half baked and like it failed to use the many lessons learned by the gaming industry since 1990. Often the lore is inaccessible unless you really spend time looking for it. Often the systems are kind of shoddy, and I need to open the Shift-F12 edit mode to fix a bug with base building. Often my faction spends all day picking up an iron bar out of a box, and putting it back into the same box, because the AI logic is just lacking. That said: I. Do. Not. Care. Because this…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Kenshi is an unforgiving game. Thankfully anything you do, including walking, gives you XP. ...probably broken for Akari, who grows with XP rates. #sizesky #giantess #Kenshi
positive · AI labelView post →**Recommended** I almost refunded Kenshi. For my first 50 hours I thought it was broken, empty, and unfair. 450 hours later... I sat down at 10 AM intending to play for an hour. I looked at the clock and it was 7 AM the next day. It started with Prince, a one armed man stranded in the desert. Prince almost didn't make it to his first meal. Literally collapsing twenty times before he reached the gates of Sho-Battai with nothing but a dead mans chainmail shirt to pay for food. Eventually…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →got it because it looked interesting. played for an hour uninstalled. gave it another try a few weeks later. this game ruined me. as soon as i got what was going on it quickly became my favorite game of all time. when i say it ruined me i mean in the way that just no other game no matter what can scratch that Kenshi itch. almost 600 hours in and i still have not seen everything this game has to see. 10/10 Beeps
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I remember when I first played this game I had heard some of the wild stories of people spending hours working on their character just to die in some ridiculous manner so I went into the game with caution. I chose a standard start in border zone and carefully made my way to Squin. I met a Shek named Ruka who offered to join me in my effort of survival. I found some metal nodes just outside the city gates, so Ruka and I would spend our days mining so we could afford food in the evening. We…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I bought this game 6 days ago and I have already lost 33 hours to it, and I feel like I haven't scratched the surface yet. I started off with the goal of being a humble smith, levelled some stats, got some groupies, adopted a bonedog pup named Wonko, things were good. And then a group of hungry bandits beat me and my friends within an inch of our lives leaving us in an unconscious heap on the floor of my shack. They then killed and ate Wonko in front of me. I am now on a John Wick style murder…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Kenshi is one of the hardest games to properly explain to someone who doesn't know what it is. An engine to do whatever you want in it more than an RPG with the expected tropes that title entails; truly one of the most unique experiences you can get from any video game. As I said, Kenshi is more of an engine designed to let you control a group of individuals while the world keeps revolving, with or without your input. This comes with the caveat of the offered experience not being for…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Kenshi is a remarkable game, but it is not one that reveals itself quickly. It took me about two weeks just to understand what was happening, a month to feel competent, and only after a seven-month hiatus did I begin to understand how to actually make a difference in its world. That delay is not a flaw. It is part of what makes Kenshi honest. I like RPGs. I like science fiction, swords, crafting systems, and deep customization. Kenshi fits almost perfectly into that space, but it refuses to…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I launched a game in hardest difficulty. 3 hours in I tried to fight a dying slave missing an arm, low on health and with cuffs. I lost.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Many Ukrainians play your game, and we love it. The game doesn’t support our language. We understand that, until recently, not everyone in Ukraine needed or used Russian, but now we need a Ukrainian localization—if not in Kenshi, then in Kenshi 2. Please add Ukrainian.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Early Game: Also Known As “Your Villain Origin Story” You start as a guy who looks like he hasn’t eaten since the tutorial, wearing clothes that protect you from absolutely nothing. Your first fight? You lose it. Your second fight? You lose it harder. Your third fight? You’re unconscious before the enemies even reach you. And the game just stands there, watching, whispering: “Get up, loser. We’re not done.” Learning Skills by Suffering In any normal RPG, you level up by…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I would recommend it because i'm not a a-hole, it's a genuinely good game, but it's not for me. Tried for 8 hours to enjoy myself and I just don't. I think you need a creative/RP mind to play this and enjoy it. It's a sandbox in the purest form. If you are able to really embody your character and just go on a blind adventure where you make your own story. You will love it. I just don't have the creative juice in me to just give myself a goal or a story to do. It's like almost like…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Kenshi is a great, but an incomplete game. Considering this game was largely developed by one guy for the majority of its massive 12 year dev cycle, the fact this game exists is nothing short of a miracle. There's a lot of fun to be had, but there are caveats. Let me give you the pros and cons. Pros outweigh the cons so lets start with cons and get them out of the way. 1. This Is Not a Feature Complete Game. People in forums and on threads will tell you it is and there is nothing to add.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Had Kenshi in the backlog for a while...I regret not playing it sooner. This is one of those "why didn't I know about this game earlier?" titles. I have so much praise to give this game I don't know where to begin or how to summarize it without appearing insane or end up raving about it for hours. So I won't, let the newcomers discover how valuable of a gem this is on their own. I'll give it an analogy instead: This game is like an average looking person, but the more time you spend with them…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have played Kenshi for 144 hours now and feel I have enough understanding of the game to provide a decent review. Before I bought it, I'd read a lot of great reviews about the game. Most reviews said something to the effect of excellent game, but very hard and you have to put serious work in to get off the ground. My first impressions: I remember starting the game up eager to start mining different types of ore, cutting down trees, and figuring out how to get the materials to craft amazing…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →---{ Graphics }--- ☐ You forget what reality is ☐ Beautiful ☐ Good ☑ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS ---{ Gameplay }--- ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ It's just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Rather watch grass grow.... IN WINTER ☐ Just don't ---{ Audio }--- ☑ Eargasm ☐ Very good ☐ Good ☐ Not too bad ☐ Bad(Gave me pix-elated Vietnam flash backs) ☐ I'm now deaf ---{ Audience }--- ☐ Kids ☑ Teens ☑ Adults ☑ Grandma(maybe) ---{ PC Requirements }--- ☐ Check if you can run…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →bought the game and woke up a month later with 250 hours in game time
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I hated this game at first, all I did was die. Then I decided, man, you need to think like a maniac. So I did, I began robbing like a maniac. Soon I had stolen enough for a buddy, two is better than one right? Stealin' became my business. I explored the world just to rob. By the time I had stopped robbin' I had a gang of 8 guys. Thinkin' I am pretty tough. Tried fighting the hungry guys I usually just ran from. Got our asses beat. Back to drawing board. Decide to go legit, begin strengthmaxxing…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game was largely solo developed by one man for many years who was, later down the line, joined by 3 more people to finish developing the game and eventually created the masterpiece that is Kenshi. Kenshi is a unique and heavily addicting game that does not hold your hand. It's bleak and lawless world translates to the brutality of the gameplay systems and mechanics. This game is the epitome of a sandbox. You start as a nobody in a world that doesn't care about you and moves on without…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ masochistic masterpiece. Clearly one of the best games ever made. Buggy and kind of ugly and fairly difficult but my god what a game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Start off as a skeleton. Make my way up in the world with hard work and training and a crap load of beatings to and from bandits. Meet a variety of good companions I bring along. Train them up alongside me. Goes north of the hub as skeleton to scout. Gets teeth kicked in by men shouting nonsense about some big bad god they follow. Decides the game has now given me an enemy to handle. Proceed to raid these god-worshipping folk's nearby mines. Kidnaped a few paladins after leading…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Kenshi is... a wierd little game...no, scratch that, it is wierd huge game. Basicaly everyone and everything in this game exists only for the purpose of making your life harder... and yet, you will love it, you will love overcoming the challenges, escaping slavery, finally being able to solo a group of hungry bandits, surviving after being beaten up time and time again, exploring places that are way too dangerous for you only by runing for your life...maybe deciding to ditch the precious loot…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →cannot believe video games like this are still being made. a true reminder that creativity is not dead and people out there still love making video games
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's difficult to write a proper review for a game that's so unique, there's nothing similar in the market. After 146 hours of pure adventure, I think I did everything I wanted. Holy Nation - ded. United Cities - ded. Cat Lon - ded, now hanging on the cross in my base for decor. Four beasts you can find in the game - not ded, I brought their unconscious bodies to my base and trapped them in big fancy buildings to be my pokemon-like training dummies. I've research every tech, every…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →For a long time I was trying to understand who Kenshi is actually for. Ignoring the dated visuals, the learning curve, the lack of a traditional quest system, and the absence of a clear narrative, I eventually came to a simple conclusion: Kenshi is a game for players with a highly developed meta-skill of self-entertainment. The game gives you almost nothing to hold onto. It doesn’t tell you where to go, what to do, or why you should care. As a result, a beginner is practically forced to watch…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is difficult to get into. It drops you into a vast world basically naked and afraid. You start at level 1, the bottom of the barrel. You are not a hero, and you are not special. You're just another person in a vast canvas that is Kenshi. The tutorials give you the very bare necessities to get going, basic information to survive. But nothing more. There isn't an objective, no quest. You just exist to make of it what you want. It's like a living sandbox. It's daunting at first, I…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Do you like games that hate you? Good news! Kenshi is like an angry offline MMO RTS RPG emergent story sadness simulator sandbox. A game built strictly on pain and possibilities. 9⛓️/10🐈️
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I finally bought the game Kenshi. I fully expect to bounce off it, but I've been wanting to try it for years now.
neutral · AI labelView post →Kenshi is a game that I had a really hard time trying to figure out whether to recommend or not. On the one hand, the game operates fine, has a lot of depth and systems to play around with and a large world filled with potential cool things to do and moments to have. On the other, its packed full of long stints of boredom, uninteresting repetition and gameplay systems that encourages the player to find and exploit the gamey systems. 30 hours into the game, I was enjoying the direction I was…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Kenshi is unique. There's nothing like it. The simplicity, the brutality, the melancholy, all with a perfect placed gameplay that just... makes sense. Kenshi is so deep in what is proposed that at some point you realize you are not playing, but living its world, getting connected with it, hating it, laughing, fighting, mourning, planning, discovering, failling, conquering... A hard surviving game that, if you get into it, will mark you forever, because no other game offer what Kenshi does.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's worth it. Jump in and get beaten to death by starving bandits. Jump back in to get nearly beaten to death by bandits and become stronger. Become so strong you can 1v50 those bandits with your bare hands while naked and carrying the unconscious body of their leader then Naruto run that boy to the nearest city for a bounty. You can play this game in so many different ways that I keep coming back to try out a new idea for a playthrough. All of that is before you dip your toes into the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Kenshi is one of my favorite games ever made. When I first played it, I went in knowing nothing and was puzzled at the lack of direction (even with the small tutorial you get at the start). Like many others, I walked into the hub and tried talking to people, interacting with everything and not getting anywhere. Where were the quests? What was my next objective? The game simply seemed aimless. I eventually wandered out and found some copper nodes. By selling this copper I was able to buy some…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Loaded in with man and dog, march to civilization, not really civilization but a tribe, tribe cuts my legs off, tribe throw me in cell, tribe kill dog infront of me then eat it. 10/10 would play again
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This kind of game isn't my thing and I knew it pretty quickly, but it does something different that I can see being a lot of people's favorite game of all time, and so I have to recommend it. It's worth picking up for $12 on sale, trying to mind the 2 hour refund window, but not being all THAT mad if you went over, worst case scenario, know what I mean? I bounced off fast, but I've pissed away $12 on Steam on way, way, way dumber things, this would've felt like charity. I still may buy it back…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →You will like our indie game if you played these games: 🗡 Kenshi ⛏ Dwarf Fortress 🏡 The Sims 💰 The Guild
neutral · AI labelView post →There's this game called Kenshi where your character starts off with 1 in every stat. The weakest enemy in the game, the Hungry Bandit, spawn with 3 to 7 (randomized). As such, a recommended strategy for new players is to get enslaved, since it allows you to level up a handful of stats safely.
neutral · AI labelView post →I've played this game a little. Probably time to give it a thumbs up. It's janky and the game engine is very dated. But it captures something that keeps me coming back. Something precious and hard to define that is missing from most other games. Be warned, however, you either get Kenshi or you don't. You'll know where you stand fairly quickly. for me it's a beautiful, imperfect, spectacular, messy, imaginative, rough, brilliant, sadistically cruel, fantastically original, sublimely…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →- Bought the game because it was on sale - My terrible PC could somehow run it at a decent fps - Spawned in as a human and started a fight instantly - Got knocked out in seconds so i woke up and ran to the alien people town - The store owner called me a flatskin so I attacked him and got 1 shotted then thrown in a cell - Broke out but got caught x2 - Broke out and ran away from the town until I found a mining ore - A bonedog killed me while I wasn't looking 10/10 will play again
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →this game was so good i bought it after sinking 200 hours in the pirated version. I went through the hassle of re-installing all of the performance mods and switching to the steam version simply to say that i'm proud to own this game. i await kenshi 2.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pretty much, do what you want. If you cant do it, theres a mod that will let you. After 100 hours, I even started making my own mods/tweaks to fit my gameplay. Literally, endless RP opportunities. If you want to name yourself "Bob", and survive a world without arms and legs.. You can do it. Want to open a hashish cafe, sit around smoking a hookah, while waiting for customers? Yep, I did that too. Meanwhile a psychopath skeleton, who believes hes a human (wearing a skin suit), runs my slave…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Felt my Skeleton playthrough of Kenshi was getting too easy, it was my first run after all so I did take it slow. I started a new game today as a strictly solo Shek warrior & while I got the heck kicked out of me a LOT, it has only made me stronger over time & can take some groups by myself now
positive · AI labelView post →Great game, still no idea what i should be doing but honestly I'm making my way and that's all that matters
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →After 1k hours and finally getting past the noob stage I think it's fair to review. It's a pretty good game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →In my first 40 hours I got beaten up by hungry bandits, chased by cannibals, and almost gotten eaten alive. After some exploring I then ran into a new faction city. I then looked at a holy priest seductively and was charged with assault and terrorism by the holy nation. also I got kicked out of the bar because of my skin color. fun game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I just want to share how much Kenshi means to me. When I had a broken hand, I could only play using my left hand, but that didn’t stop me I played nonstop and had some of the best gaming adventures of my life. Kenshi isn’t just a game it’s a beautiful, immersive sandbox where every playthrough turns into a unique story. It kept my mind off the pain, helped me through the healing process, and gave me countless memorable moments. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves freedom, exploration, and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Kenshi is the only game, where getting your arms and legs chopped off, ends up making you stronger. 10/10, would get raided by the black dragon Ninja's for my last slice of dried meat again.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It is a daunting task to write a review for this game, and not for the reasons that you may think. Before we proceed with anything else, allow me to lay bare some important points - the game is not perfect. The unpolished dull edges come to light when you wash away the dust with both tears and sweat. The engine is as ancient as the world you dwell within this game, as the deserts that you roam from dusk till dawn. However, perfection only comes as an abstract ideal, a comparison to a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is about imagination, as in, you have to use a lot of imagination (and a ton of mods) to believe that the game is good, it's not a sandbox: it's a toy Really, I think the positive reviews are more about what the game could be, not about what it is, the setting is indeed original, the landscapes are otherworldly and distopyan, and the fact that this game was made by a handful of devs in their spare time is without a doubt a huge achievement The community will tell you that you can be…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game hates you and you hate this game, One loot run and I was beaten half to death and sold into Slavery and was locked in a cage for 26 in game hours. The NPC's are really racist and have prejudice to what race you pick within the customisation menu. 8/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Started off with one arm and no pants. Got beat up because of my race. Every time I regained consciousness, I would get beaten up again before I could move. Died in my own oil. Beautiful.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Kenshi inspired character commission for one of my players Charcters in our Pathfinder game #kenshi #TTRPG #pathfinder2e #commission
neutral · AI labelView post →first time playing i chose the man and his dog start, started off hungry, must find food for dog is my only goal.... see town in distance and decide to run through desert to get there, town=food for dog.... tell my irl in discord after i start streaming my game that my only goal is to let my dog live to an old age and relax...not ever 5 seconds later giant desert bug kills my dog and player... game over, total play time 20 minutes havent played another game since then and now 25 hours…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →At 40 hours in I remember I had died multiple times and had to start off anew. Around 100 hours in I finally got the hang of combat, when to retreat and what factions to align with. Approaching 200 hours, I began to work on my town. Nearly 50 hours after that I hit 170 people in my squad. Encroaching on 400 hours in and I still feel helpless to the world around me and still have so much to learn. It really does scratch an itch that so far only Project Zomboid has managed to do for me. This is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →BREAKING GAMES JOURNALISM: A game that released in ‼️2018‼️ made more in its lifetime than the reported sales number from the first few months of a game released in 2024! Kenshi is a fine game, dont drag it into this mudslinging nonsense
positive · AI labelView post →
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