Darwin's Demons

Arcade space shooter where enemies evolve to counter your tactics

Polymorphic Games · Published by Polymorphic Games, University of Idaho · Released Feb 13, 2017

Reviews: Very Positive; 89% of 57
Recent reviews: Not enough recent
Players: 0; daily peak, Oct 30, 2026
Steam Deck: Untested
Last update on Steam: 8 years ago; May 13, 2018
Minimum PC: DX9 (shader model 3.0); 4 GB RAM · 1 GB disk; Full requirements

What is Darwin's Demons?

A free-to-play arcade space shooter about defending the galaxy from the Protean Swarm. You choose a ship, weapons, and defenses to survive successive enemy generations, with the most successful aliens passing their traits to their offspring. You can fight alongside up to three other players locally or change mutation rates, population size, and other evolutionary settings in Experiment mode.

For you if...

+you enjoy short sessions of straightforward, old-school arcade shooting

Not for you if...

−you prefer steady difficulty over increasingly challenging enemy waves

What players say

89% of 57 reviews are positive

Players praise the evolutionary system for making familiar shooting increasingly challenging in ways specific to their play style. A reviewer criticizes the ship choices and other options for making little difference to how the game plays.

Screenshots and trailer

Darwin's Demons system requirements

Minimum: DX9 (shader model 3.0), 4 GB RAM, 1 GB of disk space.

As published by the developer.

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Minimum

OS: Windows XP SP2+
Processor: SSE2 instruction set support
Graphics: DX9 (shader model 3.0) or DX11 with feature level 9.3 capabilities
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Storage: 1 GB available space
DirectX: Version 11

Does Darwin's Demons have co-op or multiplayer?

Yes: co-op split-screen; PvP split-screen. It also has a single-player mode. With Remote Play Together, one copy is enough to play the local modes online with friends.

Does Darwin's Demons run on Steam Deck?

Untested Not yet tested by Valve on Steam Deck.

PC version details

DRM: None declared on Steam
Controller: Keyboard and mouse
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
Achievements: 24
Steam features: Cloud saves, Family Sharing
Languages: Full audio: English.

Does Darwin's Demons use AI-generated content?

No AI-generated content is disclosed on the game's Steam page.

Self-reported by the developer under Steam rules: it covers AI content that ships in the game, not tools used to make it. Steam page checked on Oct 28, 2026. How to filter AI games on Steam