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About MISERY

MISERY is a single player and multiplayer open world shooter game with horror and post-apocalyptic themes. It was developed by Platypus Entertainment and was released on October 23, 2025. It received positive reviews from players.

Roadmap About the Game MISERY is a co-op rogue-lite survival game.You play as PMCs guarding a secret research institute in the Republic of Zaslavie. The Scientific Institute for Research of the Zaslavie Exclusion Zone (SIRZEZ) was built before the war to study anomalies and artifacts. Over time, these artifacts became the cause of conflict between international military blocs. Neither side …

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Looking for games like MISERY? Here are top open world shooter recommendations with a horror and post-apocalyptic focus, selected from player-similarity data — start with ZERO Sievert, SurrounDead or Mist Survival.

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Reviews

81%Audience ScoreBased on 9,415 reviews
gameplay318 positive mentions
optimization49 negative mentions

  • Great atmosphere and setting inspired by Stalker with a unique low-poly art style
  • Engaging survival and base-building gameplay loop, fun solo or with friends
  • Frequent updates from a passionate solo developer, showing potential for growth
  • Repetitive and grind-heavy gameplay with limited late-game content and no clear objectives
  • Buggy AI and combat mechanics; some enemies are overpowered or behave erratically
  • Poor optimization causing framerate drops and issues, especially on lower-end systems and controller support is broken or incomplete
  • gameplay

    908 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    35% positive mentions, 54% neutral mentions, 11% negative mentions

    The gameplay is built around a solid and addictive loop of scavenging, survival, crafting, and base building with roguelite elements, offering tense and rewarding progression especially in co-op. While it features a unique post-apocalyptic atmosphere and interesting mechanics like procedural map changes and power management, it can feel repetitive and simplistic over time, with some roughness in combat, balancing issues, and technical bugs. The game shows great potential but would benefit from deeper content, improved enemy AI, refined mechanics, and better player guidance to enhance long-term engagement.

    • “The gameplay loop benefits greatly from the roguelite nature of the game, keeping it fresh and interesting.”
    • “It's got a pretty fun gameplay loop, as you work your way up to better weapons and ammo for those weapons, and I love how the map changes, though I wish cities and bunkers were available a bit earlier in the game.”
    • “The gameplay loop is so addicting and refreshing!”
    • “I don't know what's worse, shooting or melee; the game should have more refined melee hit mechanics. I found myself circling around a still box trying to find the exact spot where the game registers an axe hit, causing me to die from radiation. It's not a skill issue but a core mechanic that constantly fights against the player.”
    • “The gameplay loop is very boring and repetitive.”
    • “Bug hell and the gameplay is terrible and stupid.”
  • graphics

    452 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    33% positive mentions, 59% neutral mentions, 8% negative mentions

    The game features intentionally low-poly, PS1/PS2-era graphics that contribute to a unique, gritty, and nostalgic atmosphere, effectively complementing its post-apocalyptic theme. While some users appreciate this stylized aesthetic for its charm and performance on lower-end systems, others criticize the visuals as outdated, lacking detail, or poorly optimized, occasionally causing performance issues despite the simple style. Overall, the graphics are divisive but generally praised for fitting the game's atmosphere and indie scope, with many recommending embracing the art style as part of the experience rather than expecting modern visuals.

    • “The graphics and atmosphere are so amazing.. genuinely the best stylization I've seen in a while. Everything looks like you're looking through memories/getting nostalgia, nothing looks right, nothing looks natural. The land and objects move weirdly and I love that aspect of the atmosphere. It's gritty, dark and confusing and it fits the game so well.”
    • “The art style looks amazing with its clean minimalist aesthetic. A major tip for new players is to immediately go into the options and turn on the sharpening and colorization settings. The developers don't put these on by default for some reason, but everyone should be using them because they enhance the shadows, make the textures pop, and set the eerie tone of the game way more than without.”
    • “The Soviet-inspired setting and brutal aesthetic give it a really unique identity too. I adore the look and aesthetic, the atmosphere is great, and the vibe this game gives off is just so good.”
    • “Graphics are really really outdated and could use an update.”
    • “Poor optimization, ugly graphics, boring gameplay, and a copied game concept.”
    • “Honestly, the graphics are just bad, they look like a PS1 game.”
  • atmosphere

    325 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    57% positive mentions, 42% neutral mentions, 1% negative mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its gritty, eerie, and immersive post-apocalyptic vibe reminiscent of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series, combining nostalgic low-poly visuals with a tense, oppressive mood that keeps players engaged and on edge. While some note issues like repetitiveness and technical bugs, the haunting world design, sound effects, and survival tension create a compelling, distinctive ambiance that is often cited as the game's strongest and most memorable aspect.

    • “The graphics and atmosphere are so amazing too. Genuinely the best stylization I've seen in a while; everything looks like you're looking through memories, getting nostalgia. Nothing looks right, nothing looks natural, the land and objects move weirdly and I love that aspect of the atmosphere. It's gritty, dark, and confusing and it fits the game so well.”
    • “The atmosphere absolutely nails that stalker-style tension: creepy zones, constant pressure, scavenging for gear, and those moments where everything goes wrong in the best way possible.”
    • “Misery, developed by Platypus Entertainment and published by Ytopia, is a hauntingly atmospheric survival game that plunges players into a decaying post-apocalyptic world where despair, struggle, and fleeting hope intertwine.”
    • “The atmosphere tries for “haunted, dank, lived-in” but instead hits “ugly, grey, recycled assets.””
    • “This game thrives off the "stalker aesthetic" but fails to deliver any meaningful gameplay aside from the very basic and overdone survival sandbox with a stalker-like atmosphere.”
    • “The atmosphere is the only positive thing I can say about the game.”
  • optimization

    217 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    17% positive mentions, 60% neutral mentions, 23% negative mentions

    The game's optimization is widely criticized, with frequent reports of severe performance issues including stuttering, frame drops, memory leaks, and crashes, even on high-end PCs. While some updates have improved stability and performance, the game remains poorly optimized—especially in multiplayer and longer play sessions—with many players hoping for substantial future fixes. Despite these problems, users appreciate the game's style and gameplay, anticipating better optimization ahead from the solo developer.

    • “The dev has acknowledged the performance issues and has vowed to tackle them in the near future, and given his track record for working on the problems of the game as a solo dev, I have reasonable confidence that he will iron it out to the best of his ability.”
    • “Most of the performance issues that some reviews point out seem to be fixed; the game runs just fine on my PC even in 1440p.”
    • “Performance has improved from previous versions, not perfect, but better.”
    • “Considering the graphics, I thought my i5-10400 and GTX 1650 could run this with 200-300 fps for high to low settings, but unfortunately the game suffers a lot from poor optimization (or rather it seems more demanding than it appears).”
    • “Horrible optimization; a game of such low fidelity should not have such wild FPS swings (20 - 160 fps) on a rig with a 7900x, 32 GB DDR5, and an RX 6800.”
    • “Once you get to a certain point or if you're running the game for more than an hour at once, it becomes so incredibly laggy at the base that it's unplayable, also very prone to crashing and obviously unoptimized.”
  • story

    208 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    11% positive mentions, 77% neutral mentions, 12% negative mentions

    The game notably lacks a structured story, missions, or quests, making the gameplay revolve primarily around survival, exploration, and looting without clear objectives or narrative progression. Many users find this absence leads to repetitive gameplay and a lack of long-term engagement, though some appreciate the atmospheric environmental storytelling and sandbox nature. There is widespread hope and suggestion among players for future updates to introduce story-driven content, quests, and meaningful progression to enhance immersion and replayability.

    • “The maps are very intriguing and well designed as a creepy horror aspect, and the environment storytelling really makes you want to learn what happened to the world and why we are put in this situation, but there are a lot of issues I have while playing it.”
    • “The story begins as a catastrophic event unfolds at a secretive facility known as Sirzez, a research institute that becomes the epicenter of chaos following the detonation of a nuclear bomb.”
    • “The psychological aspect of the game — hinted at in its very name — manifests not only through the environmental storytelling but also through subtle details like hunger, fatigue, and the creeping madness that threatens to overwhelm the survivors.”
    • “Only criticism there is that there isn't any story or objectives, so the gameplay loop can get boring if you don't enjoy exploration and base building.”
    • “The game has no story, no drive, nothing.”
    • “Misery offers little reason to keep playing once you figure out its structure, and I felt pretty let down when I realized none of my efforts were going anywhere in terms of a story or conclusion.”
  • stability

    208 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    2% positive mentions, 1% neutral mentions, 97% negative mentions

    The game suffers from widespread stability issues, including frequent bugs, glitches, crashes, and freezes that often disrupt gameplay and progression. Multiplayer can be particularly unstable with connection problems and desyncs, and many users report loss of items, corrupted saves, and problematic AI behavior. While the developer is active and patches are ongoing, the current state is notably unpolished and feels more like early access than a finished product.

    • “Good game, simple, frustrating at times but solid gameplay loop, runs great.”
    • “Game still has a long way to go but it's already very addicting and runs great.”
    • “I have experienced almost no glitches and have played for hours on end.”
    • “It is frequently buggy and will sometimes straight-up break down, completely shattering the game's tension when enemies freeze, glitch out, or fail to react properly.”
    • “What we got instead was a buggy, half-finished survival slog that constantly reminds you that you’re playing an unfinished product disguised as a full release.”
    • “This game is genuinely awful... it's too buggy to be anything but miserable, you will lose saves, entire inventories, progress, base building, and anything else to bugs.”
  • humor

    137 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    98% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 2% negative mentions

    The game's humor is widely appreciated for its quirky, campy, and often goofy charm, especially when played cooperatively with friends, blending funny moments with tense or creepy elements. While some find the humor refreshingly lighthearted amid survival mechanics—ranging from amusing animations and absurd situations to amusing NPCs and glitches—others feel it can be juvenile or overshadowed by repetitive gameplay and lack of polish. Overall, the humor significantly enhances the multiplayer experience, creating memorable, laughter-filled moments despite some rough edges.

    • “It's campy, it's dumb, it's glitchy, but in a funny way.”
    • “Just the first hour of gameplay feels super fresh and fun in co-op, dying and also laughing that you died!”
    • “There's actually fun items, intuitive systems, creative and genuinely funny creatures.”
    • “Stalker: Anomaly feels very low-fi, with an unfunny Slavsquatting parody energy to it.”
    • “Just like your mate spamming that one unfunny Discord sound from his soundboard.”
    • “Cheeki breeki intensifies xd: It's a bit unfunny with clichéd Mother Russia jokes, seemingly made by someone with no friends.”
  • grinding

    121 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    1% positive mentions, 6% neutral mentions, 93% negative mentions

    The game is consistently described as grind-heavy, with gameplay loops often feeling tedious and repetitive, especially in solo play. While farming and crafting systems offer depth and progression, many players find resource gathering, weapon acquisition, and survival mechanics to require extensive grinding with limited immediate rewards. However, co-op play and the gradual unlocking of base upgrades can alleviate some of the monotony, making the grind more enjoyable for groups.

    • “Very slow progression, but not tedious and very enjoyable.”
    • “Running across an empty field just to get home, go to the shop, or leave for a raid adds tedious downtime to the gameplay loop.”
    • “The biggest problem I've had with the game so far is there is not an endgame, and you are essentially grinding for nothing.”
    • “Basically just makes everything annoyingly tedious to do with little reward.”
  • music

    54 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    24% positive mentions, 65% neutral mentions, 11% negative mentions

    Users find the music in the game fitting and immersive, particularly praising the guitar playing feature and some atmospheric tracks, but many note that overall music is sparse or underutilized. They suggest adding more dynamic and varied music, including ambient tracks, radios broadcasting songs (especially Russian-themed or Stalker-inspired), and additional instruments to enhance atmosphere and replayability. The current soundtrack is appreciated for its mood but is often seen as too limited or repetitive, with calls for improved sound design and richer audio experiences.

    • “The audio design—encompassing both sound effects and music—fits the game perfectly; I’m particularly thrilled by how suddenly frantic and panicked you become the moment the sirens start blaring.”
    • “It captivates the atmosphere and feeling of Roadside Picnic beautifully and the world building and way how everything changes after an emission, not only ensures that every run is new to explore - every going out of the bunker is something new to discover and the music just adds that much more to the immersion.”
    • “The soundtrack is right on point, the game can be sometimes a bit goofy, but sometimes it can seem like a cut-scene from the Metro franchise.”
    • “[b]-- Lackluster music:[/b] Just completely boring, sometimes even purposely bad sounding music, that ultimately makes for a forgettable soundtrack in a genre where other games have done the same style, but better.”
    • “Atmosphere is severely lacking due to a lack of decent music.”
    • “One last thing before going into the tl;dr, the game can feel quite empty when you're solo. Not a bad thing; however, some music or faint ambience would lighten things up, nothing overpowering like a Bethesda game, but take STALKER for instance: while the game does have background noises like an occasional gunfight or animal roaring, to hear some eerie music or even the trailer song "Dark is the Night" but instrumentally playing in the background would definitely spice things up.”
  • replayability

    36 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    50% positive mentions, 50% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The game offers strong replayability driven by random generation, dynamic environments, and engaging base-building mechanics, making each playthrough feel fresh and rewarding. While some users desire more varied content and features to extend long-term replay value, many praise its core gameplay loop, multiplayer experiences, and potential for future updates and mod support to further enhance replayability. Overall, it is considered fun, accessible, and highly replayable, especially for fans of the genre.

    • “The random generation and season/environment change gives it a lot of replayability, and the base building is difficult yet simple to the point of feeling hard earned but not unachievable.”
    • “The gameplay is quite fun, and each map usually feels new and enjoyable, though there are a few issues; after around 25 shinings the game loses a lot of its replayability on that save, which is quite a bummer.”
    • “It's like lightning-round stalker with almost endless replayability, a wonderful basebuilding system, and you can do it all with your homies.”
  • emotional

    14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The game evokes a wide range of intense emotions, from fear and desperation to a surprising sense of support and camaraderie through its personalized bunker and cooperative gameplay. It balances horror and resource management with moments of dark humor and emotional resilience, capturing the harsh realities of survival without becoming overwhelmingly miserable. Many players appreciate its unique emotional depth, blending tension, nostalgia, and occasional levity.

    • “While it made me feel fear, desperation, and concern, it shockingly never made me feel miserable.”
    • “Rather than nonstop pressure, it encourages you to build and personalize a bunker that becomes the emotional center of the game.”
    • “It’s a game that lives up to its title — not in the sense of punishing players for punishment’s sake, but by exploring the complex emotional reality of surviving when everything has already been lost.”
  • monetization

    11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 18% neutral mentions, 82% negative mentions

    The game notably has no microtransactions, which is appreciated by players who support indie developers focusing on game quality rather than monetization schemes. However, some users suspect it may be a cash grab due to gameplay issues and disappointment with advertised features. Overall, the absence of microtransactions is seen positively despite mixed feelings about the game's execution.

    • “I'm calling it now, this is a cash grab scam and the dev just ran with the money already while laughing.”
    • “Try it out, support small indie developers who actually care about the games they make and don't just spam it with microtransactions.”
    • “And, there are no microtransactions.”
  • character development

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions

    Character development is criticized for poor design and animation quality, with users describing them as some of the worst seen in years.

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Play Times

7h Median play time
20h Average play time
4-20h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 57 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

MISERY is a open world shooter game with horror and post-apocalyptic themes. Common tags for MISERY include indie, exploration, immersive sim, immersive, crafting and others.

MISERY is available on PC, Steam Deck, Windows and Linux.

On average players spend around 20 hours playing MISERY.

MISERY was released on October 23, 2025.

MISERY was developed by Platypus Entertainment.

MISERY has received positive reviews from players. Most players liked MISERY for its gameplay but disliked it for its optimization.

MISERY is a single player game with multiplayer and local co-op support.

Similar games include ZERO Sievert, SurrounDead, Mist Survival, Volcanoids, No More Room in Hell 2 and others.