Cave Story+ on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information
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Run, jump, shoot, fly and explore your way through a massive action-adventure reminiscent of classic 8- and 16-bit games.
Cave Story+ is a platformer, metroidvania and indie game
developed by Nicalis, Inc. and Studio Pixel
and published by Nicalis and Inc..
Released on November 22nd 2011 is available in English on Windows and Linux.
It has received 7,644 reviews of which 7,105 were positive and 539 were negative resulting in an impressive rating of 9 out of 10. 😍
The game is currently priced at 14.99€ on Steam, but you can find it for 3.97€ on Gamivo.
The Steam community has classified Cave Story+ into these genres:
Media & Screenshots
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System requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- OS *:Windows XP
- Processor:Intel Core Solo
- Memory:128 MB RAM
- Graphics:64MB RAM
- Hard Drive:200 MB HD space
Linux
- OS:Ubuntu 10.04 and Newer
- Processor:Intel Core Solo
- Memory:128 MB RAM
- Graphics:64MB RAM
- Hard Drive:200 MB HD space
User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
It's quite a shame that Cave Story now seems to be shrouded in obscurity and forgotten for the most part, despite arguably being the most important indie game ever made. It wasn't the first, but a majority of indie games follow in Cave Story's wake, it proved that even one developer, with enough passion and love for their creation could stand up to the gaming giants, and mind you this game was released FOR FREE about 20 years ago, because Pixel didn't have a budget for marketing so the only choice he had really was the word of mouth, people began to see that Cave Story was the real deal and inspired tons of other smaller developers to try their hand at gamedev, and thus, began the indie game boom we now enjoy today. Cave Story's impact didn't just stop at games, but it also went on to influence anime and manga series such as Made in Abyss. I could have just gone back to the freeware version whenever I wanted to play this, but ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ I just wanna support Pixel, I dunno what he is doing right now, but I hope he knows just how much impact Cave Story has had over the years. I like the new additions the + version adds, though I am a bit bitter how the nintendo version has way more features. Anyway I guess I should talk about the game itself too, the game is still great, and I'd say it's the responsibility of everyone who loves games to play this game too, it it was an instant classic after all, though the game is showing it's age a bit, and that's okay. I've seen many people brand CS as a metroidvania, but I couldn't disagree more, there are really few metroidvania mechanics present here, CS at it's core is more of a run and gun platformer game even though you can return to previous areas in metroidvania fashion, the backtracking is not really required and there is hardly any ability gating or exploration (most of the levels are linear shoot em up corridors) despite there being a map system which is only good for the two rooms where you can't see ♥♥♥♥) The most memorable aspect of the whole game, is it's soundtrack, it's genuinely impressive how Pixel made such a good soundtrack with basically no knowledge about music past "whatever sounds good" and what makes it even more impressive is that he also made the tools which he would in turn make the music with. The game is actually surprisingly hard, even on normal mode, I think the game tries to compensate for the simple enemy and boss attacks with increased damage (The insta kill pits I think are also quite punishing). The shooting is nice, there is a lot of enemy and weapon variety and I really like the leveling system for the weapons and it's not really something I've seen in other games. The movement is pretty floaty and took me some getting used to until the endgame where you get your movement upgrade which makes just moving around so much fun (or midgame but you'll get a worse upgrade depending on your actions). I also really like the different locations you visit. For all the positives that is the core gameplay loop I truly think it's hindered by the games short lenght, I used to remember this game being far longer, but I can go from start to finish in about 5 hours. It's really silly to complain about the game's lenght considering the game was made by one dude who was also starting a family and had a full time job and worked on the game in his free time, but I really believe that the only thing hindering Cave Story is it's playtime. There is this one weapon upgrade you can get but it's rendered pretty much useless because of how quickly after you can get a much stronger upgrade. I touched on this earlier, but there is a surprising amount of enemy variety and some of them go most of them fade from my mind, because how quickly the areas go by (Seriously the Outer wall and the balcony should have been the size of the previous levels and the previous levels should have been twice as long) Despite the characters and story being so full of charm, the lenght of the game doesn't really allow you to get attached or invested save for maybe 1-3 characters (Curly being the obvious one), but even still the lenght doesn't stop me from enjoying its cast and story. There is a funny contrast between how cute the game looks and sounds when the story is about genocide and human experimentation. I suppose the game's short lenght makes it easier for replays to get the best ending for example, but even then I don't like how the route to the best ending is attained, it's ridiculously convoluted, this part contains spoilers. So to get the best ending you have to go through quite a trek of weird decisions during the game, the first one is to NOT DROP DOWN TO HELP PROFESSOR BOOSTER, who mind you, fell from a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ cliff in front of you and he ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ dies if you go help him, but if you don't he somehow survives? WHAT THE ♥♥♥♥?? The second is before the Core battle you have to find this tiny missable tow rope item before going to talk with Curly which triggers the fight, after the fight you have to use the rope on the unconcious Curly and then in the waterways you have to make this very odd and precise jump to this random house, and the worst part is that you have one shot at this, if you mess up the jump Curly ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ dies and you're probably gonna wanna load your previous save to try again. Well anyway WHEN you do make it to the random house you gotta drain the water from Curly and then the game presents you with this weird choice of "Do you want to leave her here" while she's recovering, like its really clear that she needs time to rest- plus she doens't have an air tank so why would Quote bring her back underwater where the normal person would assume Curly would just die again, well anyway TAKING HER WITH YOU IS THE CORRECT CHOICE WHAT THE ♥♥♥♥?? Anyway when you get back to the plantation you'll find Curly with amnesia level 2 and you have to back to mimiga village to find some weird ass talking mushroom and kill him and then feed him to Curly and she recovers her memory and she will give you a key item that locks the true ending, but that's not entirely true, you can still get the normal ending because I think even with the Iron Bond item most people would miss the path to Hell. Anyway after defeating Undead Core the island starts to fall and Sue says "we gotta get the ♥♥♥♥ outta here" or something like that, well wouldn't ya know what if you wanna get the true ending you gotta go back to the prefab house where there is suddenly a hole which leads you straight to hell? WHAT? WHY? HOW? I cannot understand what sort of mentality created this questline but whatever, beat Hell and you get the best ending. Anyway it seems like I have more negatives than positives about the game, but thats not true, I feel strongly about this game and get disheartened at the thought of just how much better this game could still be even though it's still a gem behind all the grime, I really hope Pixel someday makes a true remake of this game to fulfill it's true potential. It's definitely a must play title, and one that should never be forgotten no matter what this industry becomes. TL;Dr: Play Cave story, it's a landmark title in the indie game space even though it has a few weird... ehh quirky design choices.
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i played the wii version when i was little, never got past the first area it's a beautiful game and everyone should play it
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After playing this game I reached such a level of autism that every time someone mentions a indie game, I respond of whether it is a "Cave Story" or an "Earthbound." I do not tell anyone what the criteria is, I just insert it into the conversation. Minecraft is a Cave Story. Five Nights at Freddy's is an Earthbound. Undertale is an Earthbound, despite taking place underground/in a cave. Sally Face is a Cave Story. I could go on forever.
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just like the simpler days replaying the wii demo over and over
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What a blast to play. I’ve played it for quite some time. While I’ve definitely raged on certain parts (if you know the sections of the game I’m talking about, you know what I mean) the game still manages to be fun. As of writing this I am trying to beat Hard Mode and am up to the Core for the first boss fight. My only gripe is that one of the achievements is actually broken. Kings of Power. This achievement does not track the amount of damage you deal… at ALL. I’ve tried so many things and nothing I do works. I also tried reaching out to Nicalis but as of writing this, have gotten nothing. No email. No reply. Not even an automated response. How long have I been waiting? More than two months, including weekends. I’m a little annoyed. Overall, great game, and it is worth the price. I just wish the publisher actually… y’know, responded to their audience.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Cave Story+ is currently priced at 14.99€ on Steam.
Cave Story+ is currently not on sale. You can purchase it for 14.99€ on Steam.
Cave Story+ received 7,105 positive votes out of a total of 7,644 achieving an impressive rating of 9.00.
😍
Cave Story+ was developed by Nicalis, Inc. and Studio Pixel and published by Nicalis and Inc..
Cave Story+ is playable and fully supported on Windows.
Cave Story+ is not playable on MacOS.
Cave Story+ is playable and fully supported on Linux.
Cave Story+ is a single-player game.
Cave Story+ does not currently offer any DLC.
Cave Story+ does not support mods via Steam Workshop.
Cave Story+ does not support Steam Remote Play.
Cave Story+ is enabled for Steam Family Sharing. This means you can share the game with authorized users from your Steam Library, allowing them to play it on their own accounts. For more details on how the feature works, you can read the original Steam Family Sharing announcement or visit the Steam Family Sharing user guide and FAQ page.
You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for Cave Story+.
Data sources
The information presented on this page is sourced from reliable APIs to ensure accuracy and relevance. We utilize the Steam API to gather data on game details, including titles, descriptions, prices, and user reviews. This allows us to provide you with the most up-to-date information directly from the Steam platform.
Additionally, we incorporate data from the SteamSpy API, which offers insights into game sales and player statistics. This helps us present a comprehensive view of each game's popularity and performance within the gaming community.
Last Updates| Steam data | 13 March 2026 06:12 |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 10 March 2026 09:22 |
| Steam price | 13 March 2026 20:44 |
| Steam reviews | 11 March 2026 16:06 |
If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about Cave Story+, we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.
- SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about Cave Story+
- SteamCharts - Analysis of Cave Story+ concurrent players on Steam
- ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck Cave Story+ compatibility
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Game modes
Features
Online players
16
Developer
Nicalis, Inc.,
Studio Pixel
Publisher
Nicalis, Inc.
Release
22 Nov 2011
Platforms
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