PCGame

Return of the Obra Dinn

First-person detective mystery aboard an abandoned 1800s merchant ship

Lucas Pope · Published by 3909 · Released Oct 18, 2018

AdventureIndie

Reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
96% of 34K
Recent reviews
Overwhelmingly Positive
95% of 408 in 30 days
Players
154
daily peak, Nov 7, 2026
Steam Deck
Verified
Last update on Steam
4 years ago
Sep 20, 2022
Minimum PC
Discrete GPU
4 GB RAM · 2 GB disk
Full requirements

Metacritic: 89/100 (critic reviews)

What is Return of the Obra Dinn?

A single-player, first-person mystery adventure set aboard an early-1800s merchant ship that reappears years after being declared lost, with no crew visible. As an insurance investigator, you explore the vessel and use logical deduction to determine what happened aboard.

For you if...

  • +you want detective puzzles built around close observation
  • +you prefer little guidance and independent logical deduction
  • +you like historical naval mysteries with atmospheric presentation

Not for you if...

  • −you dislike revisiting scenes to hunt for small clues
  • −you want fast pacing and streamlined navigation
  • −you prefer puzzles with clear, immediate guidance

What players say

96% of 33,735 reviews are positive · 95% of 408 in the last 30 days

Players praise the deduction-focused mystery, monochrome art style, soundtrack, and freedom to piece together identities and deaths without much guidance. The most common complaint is that revisiting memories and backtracking between bodies becomes slow and tedious; some players also find later identifications dependent on guesses or tenuous leaps.

Players over time

▼ -37% vs a month ago

Players online on Steam, one sample a day.

Highest since Sep 2026: 319 players on Oct 4, 2026.

Show the data
DayPlayers
Nov 7, 2026154
Nov 6, 2026108
Nov 5, 2026131
Nov 4, 2026141
Nov 3, 2026182
Nov 2, 2026176
Nov 1, 2026221
Oct 31, 2026217
Oct 30, 2026154
Oct 29, 2026154
Oct 28, 2026187
Oct 27, 2026148
Oct 26, 2026121
Oct 25, 2026130
Oct 24, 2026112
Oct 23, 202693
Oct 22, 2026116
Oct 21, 202689
Oct 20, 2026100
Oct 19, 2026132
Oct 18, 2026150
Oct 17, 2026137
Oct 16, 2026109
Oct 15, 20260
Oct 14, 2026120
Oct 13, 2026174
Oct 12, 2026185
Oct 11, 2026251
Oct 10, 2026245
Oct 9, 2026199
Oct 8, 2026228
Oct 7, 2026220
Oct 6, 2026272
Oct 5, 2026292
Oct 4, 2026319
Oct 3, 2026270
Oct 2, 2026158
Oct 1, 202681
Sep 30, 202692
Sep 29, 202692
Sep 28, 2026105
Sep 27, 2026121
Sep 26, 202690
Sep 25, 202699
Sep 24, 202688
Sep 23, 2026123
Sep 23, 202692
Sep 22, 202692
Sep 21, 2026129

How many players finish Return of the Obra Dinn?

45% of Steam players have unlocked «Obra Done», the achievement for finishing the main story.

Share of everyone who owns the game on Steam, including those who barely played it. Updated weekly.

Screenshots and trailer

Return of the Obra Dinn screenshot 1

Return of the Obra Dinn system requirements

Minimum: Discrete GPU, 4 GB RAM, 2 GB of disk space.

As published by the developer.

Can my PC run Return of the Obra Dinn?

Tell us your graphics card once and every game page will answer this for you.

Set up my PC →

Minimum

OS
Windows 7 or better
Processor
2 GHz Intel i5 or better
Graphics
Discrete GPU
Memory
4 GB RAM
Storage
2 GB available space
Notes
Requires 720p or higher resolution and outputs 16:9 aspect only, letterboxed if necessary.

Does Return of the Obra Dinn have co-op or multiplayer?

No: single-player only, no multiplayer modes declared.

Does Return of the Obra Dinn run on Steam Deck?

Verified Yes, Verified by Valve: it works on Steam Deck out of the box.

  • All functionality is accessible with the default controller configuration
  • Shows Steam Deck controller icons
  • In-game text is legible on Steam Deck
  • Default graphics settings perform well on Steam Deck
  • External controllers are not supported for the primary player

PC version details

DRM
None declared on Steam
Controller
Full controller support
Platforms
Windows, macOS
Achievements
16
Steam features
Cloud saves, Family Sharing
Languages
Full audio: English. Text only: French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese - Brazil, Russian, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Arabic, Ukrainian.

Does Return of the Obra Dinn 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 Nov 7, 2026. How to filter AI games on Steam

Tags

Recent updates

1 DLC available.

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