How long is Sword of the Sea?

Players who enjoy it spent a median of 5.1 h; those who don't, 2 h.

How much does Sword of the Sea cost?

Sword of the Sea is currently 28,99€ on Steam.

Steam specs (min / recommended)

Minimum: Système d'exploitation et processeur 64 bits nécessaires Système d'exploitation : Windows 10 Processeur : Intel Core i5-9400 or AMD Ryzen 5 2600, Requires a CPU with the AVX2 instruction set Mémoire vive : 12 GB de mémoire Graphiques : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070, 8GB or AMD Radeon RX 5600, 6GB or Intel Arc B570 DirectX : Version 12 Espace disque : 15 GB d'espace disque disponible Carte son : Any Prise en charge VR: No Notes supplémentaires : Full DualSense controller support- disable Steam Input

Recommended: Système d'exploitation et processeur 64 bits nécessaires Système d'exploitation : Windows 11 Processeur : Intel Core i5-12600K or AMD Ryzen 7 5700X Mémoire vive : 16 GB de mémoire Graphiques : NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, 11GB or AMD Radeon VII, 16GB or Intel Arc B580 DirectX : Version 12 Espace disque : 15 GB d'espace disque disponible Carte son : Any Prise en charge VR: No Notes supplémentaires : Full DualSense controller support- disable Steam Input

Sword of the Sea

Niche cult favorite

⚔️ Compare View on Steam ↗

Released August 19, 2025

Adventure Indie

sample: 464 reviews posted after launch (180 AI-classified)

90/100

Player Score — positive reviews weighted by volume · Steam history: 90 % · 1,636 reviews (« Very Positive »)

Critics' score : 87/100 (29 OpenCritic reviews)

28,99€🛒 Compare on Instant Gamingaffiliate link

Neuf joueurs sur dix passent déjà davantage de temps à naviguer entre les îles qu’à lire le manuel. L’expérience reste majoritairement positive sur l’ensemble des sessions, avec 91 % de retours favorables depuis la sortie. Les graphismes et le gameplay dominent les éloges, tandis que l’optimisation et l’étendue du contenu attirent les reproches.

What it's about: Surf across magnificent waves of sand and glistening waters on an epic quest to restore a lost ocean. From the visionary artist behind ABZÛ, The Pathless, and Journey, Sword of the Sea is an atmospheric surfing adventure with fast movement inspired by classic skateboarding and snowboarding games.

In-game

« What an ABZÛlutely wonderful JOURNEY of a game. I highly recommend it! Another masterpiece from Giant Squid! »

👍 anonymous review · 2 h played5421

« Awesome adventure, give it a chance and support one of the greatest developers out there »

👍 anonymous review · 5 h played1

« Tellement beau et apaisant pour l'âme. Dans la droite lignée des précédents jeux de Giant Squid (Journey, Abzu...). Un seul regret, le jeu est un peu court.. »

👍 anonymous review · 5 h played

« Another banger by Giant Squid, my god it was so intense yet so nice, what a great game! »

👍 anonymous review · 6 h played

« Sublime, on les reconnait bien ! »

👍 anonymous review · 17 h played

« I don't have any problem with performance, the game is chill and amazing, and the music is also great. »

👍 anonymous review · 2 h played

« Huge fan of these games. Journey and Abzu could both run on my Steamdeck at 1080p or more docked to my TV. There's no reason this should struggle to get above 50fps on my desktop machine. Performance needs to be addressed. »

👎 anonymous review · 3 h played2

« This game is not Running well on the Steam Deck... maybe 22FPS on medium to Low Settings.. Really would love to play the game on the Deck but it feels stuttery/unplayable. So thumbs down until they can optimize this game. »

👎 anonymous review · 6 h played1

« Refunded due to very poor optimization and horrible performance. Will buy again if and when this is addressed. »

👎 anonymous review · 0 h played

« Currently the game is unable to hit above 50fps on the lowest settings. It looks beautiful but it chugs too hard to properly enjoy. I'll be waiting for a performance fix to pick it up again »

👎 anonymous review · 2 h played

« Sword of the Sea is a beautiful game, but unfortunately it isn’t well-optimized for the Steam Deck—even though it really should be. If you’re planning to play it on the Deck, I have to recommend against purchasing it in its current state. »

👎 anonymous review · 1 h played

« magnifique voyage a entreprendre, les décors et musiques sont à couper le souffle »

👍 anonymous review · 11 h played

In players' words

« What an ABZÛlutely wonderful JOURNEY of a game. I highly recommend it! Another masterpiece from Giant Squid! »

👍 anonymous review · 2 h played5421

👎 anonymous review · 3 h played2

« Awesome adventure, give it a chance and support one of the greatest developers out there »

👍 anonymous review · 5 h played1

👎 anonymous review · 6 h played1

« Tellement beau et apaisant pour l'âme. Dans la droite lignée des précédents jeux de Giant Squid (Journey, Abzu...). Un seul regret, le jeu est un peu court.. »

👍 anonymous review · 5 h played

« Refunded due to very poor optimization and horrible performance. Will buy again if and when this is addressed. »

👎 anonymous review · 0 h played

« Another banger by Giant Squid, my god it was so intense yet so nice, what a great game! »

👍 anonymous review · 6 h played

« Currently the game is unable to hit above 50fps on the lowest settings. It looks beautiful but it chugs too hard to properly enjoy. I'll be waiting for a performance fix to pick it up again »

👎 anonymous review · 2 h played

« Sublime, on les reconnait bien ! »

👍 anonymous review · 17 h played

👎 anonymous review · 1 h played

« I don't have any problem with performance, the game is chill and amazing, and the music is also great. »

👍 anonymous review · 2 h played

« magnifique voyage a entreprendre, les décors et musiques sont à couper le souffle »

👍 anonymous review · 11 h played

Anonymized excerpts from public Steam reviews — picked among those most voted "helpful" by the community.

What players say, by aspect

Positive Mixed Negative

Graphics / art

100 % pos · n=104

Gameplay

88 % pos · n=88

Audio / music

95 % pos · n=56

Content / longevity

34 % pos · n=44

Performance

8 % pos · n=38

Value for money

28 % pos · n=29

Story / writing

62 % pos · n=24

Stability / bugs

50 % pos · n=2

Interface / UX

0 % pos · n=2

Multiplayer

0 % pos · n=1

Detailed data (table)

Aspect	Mentions	Positive	Mixed	Negative
Graphics / art	104	104	0	0
Gameplay	88	77	4	7
Audio / music	56	53	2	1
Content / longevity	44	15	3	26
Performance	38	3	3	32
Value for money	29	8	4	17
Story / writing	24	15	2	7
Stability / bugs	2	1	0	1
Interface / UX	2	0	0	2
Multiplayer	1	0	0	1

Positive reviews by playtime

🎮 Players who like it have spent 5.1 h on median; those who dislike it: 2 h.

🪤 49 % of negative reviews come from players who left in under 2h — the game often disappoints right away.

<2h

45 % (n=40)

2-10h

94 % (n=336)

10-25h

98 % (n=83)

>25h

100 % (n=5)

Fixed or still broken? Sentiment over time

📈 Up since launch (+15 pts) — updates have won players over

% of positive reviews per month (months with ≥ 15 sample reviews).

💶 Price history

Steam price tracked automatically since Aug 19, 2025 · All-time low: €20.29 (Mar 19, 2026)

100% completion difficulty ("platinum")

2,3 % Demanding

of players have unlocked the rarest achievement — the upper bound of those who "100%'d" it. 48 achievements in total; the median achievement is unlocked by 21,1 % of players.

What creators say (YouTube)

No indexed video for this game yet.

See Sword of the Sea videos on YouTube →

This game on Twitch

Popular clips — nobody live right now

Good wave to 4th shell

Redman94 · 9 views

VS Shell 4 Drop Grab

Redman94 · 5 views

VS Shell 8, 9, and 10 routing

Redman94 · 5 views

Shell 2 - 3 Alternate Route

Redman94 · 5 views

See Sword of the Sea streams on Twitch →

Strengths

Les visuels sont unanimement salués, avec 104 mentions positives sur 104
Le gameplay séduit la majorité, récoltant 77 mentions positives contre seulement 7 négatives
L’audio renforce l’immersion, avec 53 retours positifs sur 56

Weaknesses

Les performances déçoivent, 32 joueurs sur 38 dénonçant des ralentissements
Le contenu jugé limité suscite 26 mécontentements sur 44 avis

Who is it for?

Ceux qui recherchent une aventure contemplative, riche en exploration et en paysages époustouflants, trouveront ici une expérience qui les marquera.

Is Sword of the Sea worth it in 2026?

Yes, without reservation for most players: 90% of 1,636 Steam reviews are positive (player score 90/100). Most-praised strength: Les visuels sont unanimement salués. Current price: 28,99€.

Verdict

Sword of the Sea s’impose comme une pépite visuelle et ludique, malgré des lacunes techniques et un contenu parfois trop court. Son équilibre entre charme artistique et maniabilité compense ses défauts mineurs, pour une aventure à vivre sans hésiter.

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<a href="https://gamer-reviews.fr/en/game_2453160.html"><img src="https://gamer-reviews.fr/badge/2453160-en.svg" alt="Sword of the Sea: 90/100 by players — Gamer Reviews" width="240" height="60"></a>