Is First Sino-Japanese War free?

Yes — First Sino-Japanese War is free to play, so you can install and play it without buying anything.

Is First Sino-Japanese War Steam Deck compatible?

Mostly. Valve rates First Sino-Japanese War Playable on Steam Deck: it runs, but may need some manual tweaking — a community controller layout, or zooming in on small text.

Can I play First Sino-Japanese War on Mac?

Not natively — Steam lists no macOS version of First Sino-Japanese War. Mac players would need a cloud gaming service or a Windows compatibility layer.

Does First Sino-Japanese War have co-op?

Yes — Steam lists First Sino-Japanese War with LAN co-op.

Is First Sino-Japanese War on PC Game Pass?

No — First Sino-Japanese War is not on PC Game Pass right now.

First Sino-Japanese War

Name: First Sino-Japanese War
Brand: January Desk
Availability: InStock

January Desk · May 22, 2026 · Simulation, Wargame, Strategy, Naval Combat, Historical

First Sino-Japanese War is free to play — no purchase needed. We track it so you know if that ever changes.

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9 user reviews78% · 91playing now

Best price

Free

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First Sino-Japanese War price

First Sino-Japanese War 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 First Sino-Japanese War

First Sino-Japanese War is a free and open-source game covering naval tactical and strategic layers of the 1894–1895 war between China and Japan. The naval tactical combat system that uses a dynamic time step (e.g., 1 second per pulse) that can be played in turn (like 1 min turn) or real-time. Many of the core resolution mechanics are inspired by and digitally adapted from SEEKRIEG-style naval miniatures rules.Features:

Historical battle scenarios like The Battle of Yalu River, one of most important yet underrepresented battle in the ironclad era. Some other historical or hypothetic scenarios in First Sino-Japanese War, Boxer Rebellion and Russo-Japanese are included as well.
Adjustable automation levels -- from manually controlling each weapon mount and FCS, to delegating partial or full fleet command to the AI. It's also possible to control both sides by hand at the same time.
A highly flexible editor that allows modification of ship classes (down to penetration and fire-control tables, armor, dynamic), detailed damage, environment and deployment. It should be easy to create custom battles beyond built-in scenarios.
The editor is integrated into the same interface as the normal gameplay mode, exposing all parameters and status data, allowing modifications and scenario generation at any time.
Quick battle in skirmish mode.
In LAN multiplayer mode, players can be assigned to command different parts of the OOB.
Open sourced game mechanism, no more black box and guesswork.
No 3D models—just ship counters (historical or generated line drawings) moving across the globe.
(Work-in-process) Campaign cover land combat resolution, supply, repairing, command chain and various action. The grand campaign scenario give a accurate description of the beginning of the war (25 July 1894) and model the followed dynamic.

First Sino-Japanese War — game info

Platforms: Windows
Steam Deck: Playable
Player modes: Single-player, Online PvP, Co-op, LAN
PC Game Pass: Not included

First Sino-Japanese War — questions & answers

Is First Sino-Japanese War free?: Yes — First Sino-Japanese War is free to play, so you can install and play it without buying anything.
Is First Sino-Japanese War Steam Deck compatible?: Mostly. Valve rates First Sino-Japanese War Playable on Steam Deck: it runs, but may need some manual tweaking — a community controller layout, or zooming in on small text.
Can I play First Sino-Japanese War on Mac?: Not natively — Steam lists no macOS version of First Sino-Japanese War. Mac players would need a cloud gaming service or a Windows compatibility layer.
Does First Sino-Japanese War have co-op?: Yes — Steam lists First Sino-Japanese War with LAN co-op.
Is First Sino-Japanese War on PC Game Pass?: No — First Sino-Japanese War is not on PC Game Pass right now.

What Steam players say

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

Recommended May 23, 2026

This is a really cool starting idea.

6 found this helpful

Recommended May 27, 2026

It's still very much a prototype, but from the short time I've had a chance to try it, it seems to have real potential. It's free, so honestly, if you like this kind of thing, give it a go. Plus, the subject matter is rarely (if ever) explored in video games: raw and refreshing.

3 found this helpful

Recommended May 23, 2026

good tactical wargame

3 found this helpful

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