Released May 6, 2014 Free Very Positive Counts toward your Steam games

You Have to Win the Game

By Minor Key Games

Metroidvania Free to Play Retro Platformer Indie 2D Pixel Graphics Difficult SingleplayerPrecision PlatformerActionAdventure

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Followers —

Reviews 5,731 Very Positive

Players yesterday 4 at the busiest moment

Owners 200K–500K estimated

You Have to Win the Game is a game tagged Metroidvania, Free to Play and Retro by Minor Key Games, released May 6, 2014. It has 5,731 Steam reviews (Very Positive). It has an estimated 200K–500K owners on Steam. The Steam games most like it include Necrosphere64, Unstrong and External Visions.

You Have to Win the Game is a free exploration platformer with a retro 1980s PC aesthetic.

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<a href="https://launchrivals.com/games/286100-you-have-to-win-the-game"><img src="https://launchrivals.com/games/286100/badge.png" alt="You Have to Win the Game launch date" width="320" height="84"></a>

<a href="https://launchrivals.com/games/286100-you-have-to-win-the-game"><img src="https://launchrivals.com/games/286100/badge.png?theme=light" alt="You Have to Win the Game launch date" width="320" height="84"></a>

Necrosphere64 76% match · Metroidvania, Free to Play, Retro
Unstrong 74% match · Metroidvania, Free to Play, Retro
External Visions 73% match · Metroidvania, Free to Play, Retro
Odallus: The Dark Call 73% match · Metroidvania, Retro, Platformer
Alwa's Awakening 73% match · Metroidvania, Retro, Platformer
Hargrave 72% match · Metroidvania, Free to Play, Retro
Electronic Super Joy 2 71% match · Free to Play, Retro, Platformer
A Game with a Kitty 1 & Darkside Adventures 71% match · Metroidvania, Free to Play, Retro
Astronite - Landing on Neplea 71% match · Metroidvania, Free to Play, Platformer
Xeodrifter 70% match · Metroidvania, Retro, Platformer

Steam data

Everything Steam lists for You Have to Win the Game · record updated 1 day ago

Steam store

Overview

App ID286100

Release dateMay 6, 2014

Last change number40066701

Last record update1 day ago

App type: Game
Developer: Minor Key Games
Publisher: Minor Key Games
Steam profile: Counts toward game count and achievement totals · checked Nov 1, 2025
Franchise: Minor Key Games
Website: piratehearts.com/blog/games/you-have-to-win-the-game

Windows macOS Linux

Steam Deck: Verified
Controller: Full support

Single-playerSteam AchievementsFull controller supportStatsSteam Cloud

Patches

Build	Branch	Updated
8691972	public	May 6, 2022

Depots

ID	Name	Systems	Size	Download	Manifest
228981	— shared from 228980	Windows	—	—	—
228990	— shared from 228980	Windows	—	—	—
286101	—	Windows	9.2 MB	2.8 MB	3899172951100721335
286102	—	Linux	13.8 MB	3.9 MB	4419047995937578704
286103	—	macOS	10.3 MB	3.0 MB	6203831226390819435

Branch	Build	Updated	Access
public	8691972	May 6, 2022	Open

Configuration

Install foldersteamapps/common/You Have to Win the Game

Executable	Systems	Description
TheGame.exe	Windows	Launch
TheGame_NFML	Linux	Launch
TheGame.app	macOS	Launch

Space per player16.0 MB

Filesup to 100

Save locations3

Root	Path	Pattern	Systems
WinMyDocuments	My Games/You Have to Win the Game/Saves	*.vsg	Windows
MacAppSupport	Minor Key Games/You Have to Win the Game/Saves	*.vsg	MacOS
LinuxXdgDataHome	Minor Key Games/You Have to Win the Game/Saves	*.vsg	Linux

Data from public Steam pages, updated daily; 1 day of history. Owner counts are estimates. LaunchRivals is not affiliated with Valve or Steam.

You Have to Win the Game

About You Have to Win the Game

Steam data

Overview

App info

Platforms

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Depots

Depots

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Configuration

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Cloud saves