Darwin Project

Darwin Project

Scavengers Studio · January 14, 2020 · Battle Royale, Multiplayer, Survival, Action, PvP

Darwin Project is free to play — no purchase needed. We track it so you know if that ever changes.

PC
Very Positive82% · 18,45174Metacritic11playing now
This game is free to play. Get it on Steam →

Trailers & screenshots

Watch the Darwin Project trailer →

Darwin Project price

Darwin Project is free to play — there is no purchase price, on Steam or anywhere else we track. We keep watching it, so if it ever stops being free the price history on this page will show when that happened and what it changed to.

About Darwin Project

✦ AI summary

Battle nine other inmates in a brutal arctic survival arena where you'll scavenge, craft, and fight to be the last one standing. What sets Darwin Project apart is its unique Show Director role—a player-controlled game master who shapes the match with environmental hazards and power votes, while spectators bet on outcomes and influence the action in real time.

In Darwin Project, ten inmates must survive the elements, track each other, fight, craft tools, and use their social skills to be the last one standing. It's a unique take on battle royale with a Show Director to influence the match and Spectator Interactions to create a one-of-a-kind game show.

Darwin Project — game info

Platforms
Windows
Steam Deck
Unsupported
Player modes
Online PvP
Controller
Full controller support
PC Game Pass
Not included

What Steam players say

Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.

Recommended Sep 5, 2026
This game in it's early days was an absolute riot. Such a fun game, but you really needed to have a good director otherwise the game suffered tremendously. I haven't played recently, but this is among the top indie games I've ever played in 12ish years on Steam. I've played this game with my community a few times and has always been a hit. I wish they'd revert a few minor changes back to the earlier days of the game, but a friend told me they updated it recently. I hope it means the devs are going to revive it!!
4 found this helpful
Not recommended Sep 6, 2026
The continued existence of this game feels... pointless. I played on console back when it originally released and enjoyed it a decent amount. It was a very intriguing take on the battle-royale genre, with many novel and fun mechanics ranging from segmented zones which each closed independently of each other as opposed to a singular, constantly encroaching circle, to the whimsical gameshow aspects brought in by the announcer and the player-controlled Game Director. It even ventured quite far from the framework of other battle-royales, with it's small lobby sizes and a focus on a small selection of standardized equipment that ensured the only thing that separated players was their skill rather than their gear or luck. Now? While it still has charm... the player-base has eroded away to the point where you will, with almost no exception, get matched against the same players so regularly that within just a couple matches you'll be able to recognize the entire lobby. Amongst those reoccurring faces are long-time veterans that have been dedicated to the game since its inception, through its death, and are still linger for whatever state of undeath it now persists in; players that are m…
2 found this helpful
Recommended Sep 12, 2026
one of my favourite games of all time, welcome back darwin. i'm so happy to see you again.
1 found this helpful
Recommended Sep 14, 2026
I would tap that
Not recommended Sep 12, 2026
honestly the worst hour and a half of my life.......but u cant expect much from free games anymore i guess it feels cluinky still after years of release the combat is kinda ♥♥♥♥ so many scenarios where we swing at the same time and im the one that always dies but the other guy never takes damage or my arrows pass through people the game is just lazy
Recommended Sep 4, 2026
game is getting often updates now:)

Community reviews

—

0 reviews

Sign in to write a review.

No reviews yet. Be the first to review this game.

More like Darwin Project

News

All news →
Games like Remember Me, for the memory remix more than the cityPC

Games like Remember Me, for the memory remix more than the city

Games like Remember Me, picked for the Memory Remix rather than the neon: minds you can break into, a vertical city to climb, and combos you build yourself.

Nov 5, 2026
Games like Noita, where the physics is the real enemyPC

Games like Noita, where the physics is the real enemy

Games like Noita for the two things it really does: spells you assemble yourself, and a simulated world that takes nobody's side. Seven picks, from a slugcat to a dwarf fortress.

Nov 5, 2026
No Rest for the Wicked price: buy in Early Access, or wait?PC

No Rest for the Wicked price: buy in Early Access, or wait?

No Rest for the Wicked price: Moon Studios says it goes to $60 at 1.0 in March 2027. Our record shows one discount window since late September, bottoming at $25.44 on 15 October.

Nov 5, 2026
Flotsam free on Epic: claim the garbage-sea builder by 12 NovFreebies

Flotsam free on Epic: claim the garbage-sea builder by 12 Nov

Flotsam free on Epic until 12 November. The cheapest we had logged it at since late September was $10.45 on 15 October, and the market had moved back up before this offer opened.

Nov 5, 2026
Games like Clair Obscur Expedition 33 that keep you in the fightPC

Games like Clair Obscur Expedition 33 that keep you in the fight

Games like Clair Obscur Expedition 33, sorted by how much each one asks of your hands, from timed inputs on every action to turns won purely on preparation.

Nov 4, 2026
Games like Subnautica, where the map opens when you earn itPC

Games like Subnautica, where the map opens when you earn it

Games like Subnautica that keep the depth gate: a wall you cannot pass, a workbench, and more map opening only once the equipment does.

Nov 4, 2026
Tormented Souls price: a horror game that stopped movingPC

Tormented Souls price: a horror game that stopped moving

The Tormented Souls price has not budged in six weeks of our readings. What that means for buying it, and whether the 2025 sequel is the better purchase instead.

Nov 4, 2026
Control Resonant sale: the price band broke this weekDeals

Control Resonant sale: the price band broke this week

The first Control Resonant sale since launch landed on 2 November. Our 36 readings before it never left an eight per cent band, which says something about waiting.

Nov 4, 2026

Top games right now

All rankings →
  1. 1Counter-Strike 2Free
  2. 2Dota 2Free
  3. 3PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDSFree
  4. 4Grand Theft Auto V Legacy—
  5. 5Terraria$2.16
  6. 6Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six SiegeFree
  7. 7Rust$19.99
  8. 8Garry's Mod$5.00
  9. 9Team Fortress 2Free
  10. 10Black Myth: Wukong$36.53
  11. 11HELLDIVERS™ 2$23.99
  12. 12ELDEN RING$38.88
  13. 13Apex Legends™Free
  14. 14Left 4 Dead 2$9.99
  15. 15Stardew Valley$13.79
  16. 16Wallpaper Engine$3.99
  17. 17Cyberpunk 2077$23.91
  18. 18Euro Truck Simulator 2$9.69
  19. 19Dead by Daylight$6.76
  20. 20Red Dead Redemption 2$13.39
  21. 21The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt$18.60
  22. 22Baldur's Gate 3$57.56
  23. 23Phasmophobia$13.65
  24. 24War ThunderFree