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Niklas Notes
@niklasnotes.bsky.social
54 followers 86 following 72 posts
Find out what players love and hate about any Steam game—in seconds. AI-powered summaries from thousands of reviews.
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niklasnotes.bsky.social
Weekly Steam analysis Nov 3-9 on Niklas Notes!

- Strategy week with big UI lessons.
- EU5 launches strong but UI frustrates.
- Football Manager 26 crashes to 22% positive with new interface

Plus: Tavern Keeper's 10yr dev pays off and much more!

#gamedev #indiedev #steam
November 12, 2025 at 12:13 PM
niklasnotes.bsky.social
I recently added upvote estimation to analyses on Niklas Notes!

The screenshot is from Borderlands 4.

Read more about it here: www.patreon.com/posts/new-fe...

#gamedev #indiedev #steam
November 7, 2025 at 9:36 AM
niklasnotes.bsky.social
Weekly Steam analysis for Oct 27 - Nov 2 is up!

- ARC Raiders becomes instant mega-hit
- Outer Worlds 2 arrives with better companions
- Battlefield's F2P Battle Royale struggles <50%

Plus: Master of Command at 90%+, Escape Simulator 2, CK3 expansion

#gamedev #indiedev #steam
November 6, 2025 at 10:57 AM
niklasnotes.bsky.social
I summarized the steam reviews of over 80k games on Steam to create actionable and useful information for gamers and indiedevs.
Would be amazing if you checked it out! This is from Star Wars: The Old Republic

#gamedev #indiedev #steam
November 3, 2025 at 10:04 PM
niklasnotes.bsky.social
Weekly Niklas Notes for Oct 20-26:
- RV There Yet hits 1.3M sales.
- Vampire Bloodlines 2 at 55% positive after 18 years of waiting

Plus: Ninja Gaiden 4 pre-orders strong, Dispatch's episodic gamble, 5 Early Access graduates

#gamedev #indiedev #steam
October 30, 2025 at 2:32 PM
niklasnotes.bsky.social
New feature available over at Niklas Notes! Playtime Distribution showing player rating depending on how much they've played.

Great for seeing how well a game managed expectations and how long they play the game: www.patreon.com/posts/142165...

#gamedev #indiedev #steam
October 27, 2025 at 6:22 PM
niklasnotes.bsky.social
Weekly Steam analysis for Oct 13-19 is up on Niklas Notes!
- Escape From Duckov (extraction shooter with ducks) hits Overwhelmingly Positive.
- BALL x PIT at 95% positive.
- Plus 30+ demos from Next Fest analyzed.

#SteamNextFest #gamedev #indiedev #steam
October 22, 2025 at 5:32 PM
niklasnotes.bsky.social
Weekly analysis at Niklas Notes (Oct 06-12): Battlefield 6 hit 700k concurrent players at launch.

Little Nightmares III disappointed at 45% Mixed after going co-op.

Also: HoMM Olden Era demo, narrative indie CARIMARA, and 4 Early Access graduates.

#gamedev #indiedev #steam
October 15, 2025 at 7:37 AM
niklasnotes.bsky.social
Weekly Niklas Notes (Sep 22-28)
- Hades II graduates from Early Access.
- Sonic Racing hits 96% positive (finally a Mario Kart alternative for PC?).
-Silent Hill f divides horror fans.
- Plus 4 more Early Access grads

Link below!
#gamedev #indiedev #steam
September 30, 2025 at 9:32 PM
niklasnotes.bsky.social
Top Steam Releases (Sep 15-21):

- Dying Light: The Beast brings Kyle Crane back.
- Eight games graduate from Early Access.
- Jump Space launches to very positive reviews.

From zombie parkour to monastery breweries - quite the variety this week.

#gamedev #indiedev #steam
September 23, 2025 at 11:00 AM
niklasnotes.bsky.social
Weekly Steam analysis on Niklas Notes (Sep 08-14):

Borderlands 4 launches at 64% positive amid performance complaints. Plus: Chinese FMV games continue rising, and there's another game about digging holes.

#gamedev #indiedev #steam
September 16, 2025 at 11:14 AM
niklasnotes.bsky.social
This week on Steam: Hollow Knight Silksong finally launched after years of waiting. Crashed multiple storefronts from demand.

Chinese reviews sit at 38% due to localization issues, while other regions rate it highly.

This and more in the latest notes!

#gamedev #indiedev #steam
September 9, 2025 at 10:42 AM
niklasnotes.bsky.social
Last week on Steam: Metal Gear Solid Δ succeeds while Gears of War stumbles at 54% (missing split-screen co-op).

Meanwhile, Shinobi somehow gets 92% from English players but only 65% from Chinese players. Same game, completely different reception.

#gamedev #indiedev #steam
September 2, 2025 at 7:46 AM
niklasnotes.bsky.social
The "Gamescom Effect" kept releases light this week. Developers likely waited for Cologne's spotlight to fade.

Career climbing combat and Chinese narrative games still found their audiences though. Sometimes timing can tell you a lot of the market.

Link to this weeks' notes below!

#gamedev #steam
August 25, 2025 at 9:57 PM
niklasnotes.bsky.social
The Bazaar launched with monetization controversy while OFF made its official Steam debut after 17 years as a cult classic.

Dawn of War got the "definitive" treatment, and Swedish studio DoubleMoose launched their shooter Abyssus.

Link in thread below!
#gamedev #indiedev #steam
August 19, 2025 at 6:50 PM
niklasnotes.bsky.social
I analyzed over 80,000 Steam games so you can search by vibe instead of genre.

Want 'noir pixel art'? ✓
Need 'nordic dark fantasy'? ✓
Craving 'neon cyberpunk aesthetic'? ✓

Maybe sometimes you just want games that FEEL a certain way.

#gamedev #indiedev #gaming #indiegames #steam
August 13, 2025 at 7:53 AM
niklasnotes.bsky.social
Mafia: The Old Country returned this week with signature storytelling and familiar performance problems.

Meanwhile, Is This Seat Taken? hit 98% positive by managing expectations perfectly - players knew exactly what they were getting and loved it.

#gamedev #indiedev #steam
August 12, 2025 at 9:06 AM
niklasnotes.bsky.social
Grounded 2, Titan Quest II, NINJA GAIDEN. Last week was sequel- and nostalgia-heavy.

Performance issues hit the first two hard, while NINJA GAIDEN: Ragebound nailed it with 93% positive reviews.

Link in post below to the weekly notes!
#gamedev #indiedev #steam
August 5, 2025 at 7:11 AM
niklasnotes.bsky.social
Last week's Steam releases: WUCHANG had a 75% Metacritic score but only 36% positive on Steam. Killing Floor 3 had similar issues. Both stunted by performance problems.

Meanwhile, smaller games like The King is Watching won players over with solid execution.
#gamedev #indiedev
July 29, 2025 at 8:37 AM
niklasnotes.bsky.social
This week on Steam (July 14–20):

- Destiny 2 struggles (~44%)
- NWN2 Enhanced stumbles at launch
- Eriksholm (made here in Gothenburg) shines with 93%
- Stronghold Crusader gets the AoE treatment
+ stealth indies, word games, and pixel noir

Link below!
#steam #gamedev #indiedev
July 22, 2025 at 7:42 AM
niklasnotes.bsky.social
I built "Attention Lists" for Steam's Q2 instead of global charts.
Global winners completely missing from key markets.

PEAK was everywhere except China (no localization)
Oblivion same (poor translation)
Stellar Blade missing from Russia (region locked).

Regional data > global charts 🧵

#gamedev
July 18, 2025 at 8:15 AM
niklasnotes.bsky.social
Just published my breakdown of Q2 Releases. I built regional Attention Lists to track what actually got players talking on Steam.

Clair Obscur? On top everywhere.
DELTARUNE, PEAK, DOOM, Stellar Blade? Depends on where you look.

Link in the post below!

#gamedev #indiedev #steam
July 17, 2025 at 4:36 AM
niklasnotes.bsky.social
Ever needed to find a short FPS that runs great on Steam Deck?

I did - and couldn’t.
So I built my own search system inside Niklas Notes.

Now I can ask:

FPS
100+ reviews
Under 8 hours
Steam Deck strong audience

…and get instant results.

Still testing, but coming soon.

#gamedev #indiedev #steam
July 15, 2025 at 8:31 AM
niklasnotes.bsky.social
The Steam Summer Sale ended - and releases picked up immediately.

This week’s Niklas Notes covers RimWorld: Odyssey, Mycopunk, PATAPON 1+2 Replay, Brickadia, Tony Hawk 3+4, and a short horror surprise called Last Report.

Link in post below!

#gamedev #steam #indiedev
July 14, 2025 at 4:49 AM
niklasnotes.bsky.social
Steam was quiet last week, but a few interesting drops:

- Tiny Aquarium (cozy idle)
- Persona 5: The Phantom X (F2P, mixed)
- System Shock 2 Remaster (still holds up)
- Ship, Inc. (wholesome shipping sim)

Full breakdown: niklasnotes.com/dashboard/bl...

#Steam #GameDev #indiedev #systemshock
June 30, 2025 at 2:37 PM