Hydroneer

Mining sandbox with hydro-powered automation and hands-on base building

Foulball Hangover · Released May 8, 2020

Adventure Casual Indie Simulation Strategy

Reviews: Very Positive; 86% of 29K
Recent reviews: Mostly Positive; 78% of 146 in 30 days
Playing now: 187; peak 24h 237
Steam Deck: Playable
Last update: 4 months ago; May 8, 2026

What is Hydroneer?

An open-world mining and automation sandbox where you dig voxel terrain for gold and other resources. Build a base, route pressurized water through pipes, and use hydro-powered machinery to automate extraction and transport, alone or in shared-screen co-op.

For you if...

+you enjoy building water-powered mining and sorting systems
+you prefer open-ended sandboxes with self-directed goals
+you enjoy gradual progression from hand tools to automation

Not for you if...

−you dislike moving physical objects one at a time
−you want clear objectives and extensive endgame progression
−you prefer fast early progression with extensive guidance

What players say

86% of 28,503 reviews are positive · 78% of 146 in the last 30 days

Players praise designing water-powered mining systems and watching automated setups process resources. The most common complaints are the lack of an inventory, one-at-a-time item handling, clunky controls, limited guidance, and little to pursue once automation is established.

Screenshots and trailer

Hydroneer system requirements

As published by the developer.

Minimum

OS: Windows 10
Processor: Quad-Core 64-bit Intel or AMD processor, 2.4 GHZ CPU
Graphics: 1 GB DirectX 11 dedicated video card
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Storage: 10 GB available space

PC version details

DRM, required accounts, controller support and Steam features.

DRM: None declared on Steam
Controller: Keyboard and mouse
Platforms: Windows
Achievements: 78
Steam features: Workshop, Cloud saves, Family Sharing, Trading cards

Steam Deck: Playable

Default controller config not fully functional
Sometimes shows mouse, keyboard or non-Deck controller icons
Some text entry requires manually opening the on-screen keyboard
Some in-game text is small and may be hard to read
Default graphics settings perform well on Steam Deck
External controllers not supported local multiplayer

Multiplayer and co-op

Languages

Full audio: English. Text only: Russian, Portuguese - Brazil, French, German, Turkish, Dutch, Polish, Spanish - Spain, Romanian, Simplified Chinese, Czech, Italian, Korean, Arabic, Japanese, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish.