GRIS
analyzed 2026-08-08 · sample of 366 English reviews across the whole review history
Players overwhelmingly describe GRIS as a visual and auditory experience first. The art style is praised in 37.7% of sampled reviews, with every single one positive, and comments like "unique hand-painted aesthetics" and "Every frame in this game is a wallpaper" recur. Music and graphics follow closely, with 34.7% and 26.8% of reviews mentioning them, almost entirely favorably. The atmosphere and relaxation aspects are also universally positive, with players calling it "perfect for just chilling and playing" and noting the "atmosphere are so relaxing." The most significant split concerns the game's length and pacing. While 23.8% of reviews mention gameplay positively, the game length aspect is the most negative on the sheet: 25 of 43 reviews criticize it, with one player writing "The game takes an avg of 4-5 hours to beat. It should be maybe 2 hours." Pacing draws similar criticism, with 9 of 14 mentions negative, including "repetitive and rather boring." Difficulty is more balanced, with some finding it "not too difficult yet still entertaining" while others note the puzzles can be tricky. A few players mention bugs, including getting "stuck on platforms" and a specific "roll-locked" issue.
numbers checked against this report's stored data · quotes copied verbatim from reviews · plain text is the language model's own wording
Aspects
share of sample, axis to 40% · ± is the sampling uncertainty around each share
- positive
- mixed / neutral
- negative
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art style
137 positive · 0 negative · 0 mixed · 1 neutral
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good puzzles and love the art.
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Do you have a soft spot for unique hand-painted aesthetics, artistically emotional themes and an indie soundtrack?
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The art is spectacular and the music is touching.
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music
126 positive · 1 negative · 0 mixed · 0 neutral
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really made me emotional with all the amazing art and music.
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Do you have a soft spot for unique hand-painted aesthetics, artistically emotional themes and an indie soundtrack?
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The visuals are stunningly, the music is mesmerizing, the animation is satisfying, and the sound effects are basically the largest collection of the world's most satisfying sounds meticulously weaved into every detail.
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graphics
96 positive · 2 negative · 0 mixed · 0 neutral
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The visuals are stunningly, the music is mesmerizing, the animation is satisfying, and the sound effects are basically the largest collection of the world's most satisfying sounds meticulously weaved into every detail.
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Stunning visuals and soundtrack.
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One of the most beautiful games i've ever played, be it in visuals, audio, level design or meaning.
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gameplay
60 positive · 18 negative · 3 mixed · 6 neutral
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Oh and also the story made me cry a few times and the fabulous thing is how seamlessly it all weaves into the gameplay.
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The abilities are pretty simple but you get to apply them in neat ways when trying to solve the puzzles.
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If you like small scale puzzle adventure games that tell a story through well crafted images and music instead of words, then you'll probably like this one.
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emotional impact
71 positive · 3 negative · 0 mixed · 0 neutral
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really made me emotional with all the amazing art and music.
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Do you have a soft spot for unique hand-painted aesthetics, artistically emotional themes and an indie soundtrack?
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An emotional game.
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story
59 positive · 11 negative · 2 mixed · 2 neutral
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But to summarize it, although it may kinda feel like an art expedition, it tells the story really well and keeps you hooked till the end.
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Game about 5 stage of depression.
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Oh and also the story made me cry a few times and the fabulous thing is how seamlessly it all weaves into the gameplay.
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game length
7 positive · 25 negative · 0 mixed · 11 neutral
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There's no challenge, it's pretty long, repetitive and rather boring.
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You can marvel at how pretty this looks, be sad because of how short it is and have a cheeky laugh with its *******INCREDIBLY SUBTLE METAPHORS*******.
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Short but brilliant, this game offers a surprisingly emotional journey through a beautifully crafted world, featuring stunning art and a sublime soundtrack.
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difficulty
14 positive · 9 negative · 1 mixed · 10 neutral
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Such a difficult, beautiful and deeply emotional game.
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It's a calming yet challenging game that combines skill and enjoyment with all of the puzzle solving and challenges you have to do to get to the next step.
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People who complain that there is no gameplay or it was too easy have no soul and I pity them
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relaxation
33 positive · 0 negative · 1 mixed · 0 neutral
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It is perfect for just chilling and playing
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Such a mesmerising soundtrack, relaxing and soothing.
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Nice little relaxing game.
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atmosphere
20 positive · 0 negative · 1 mixed · 0 neutral
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The visuals and audio tie in perfectly to create a truly unique sensory experience.
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A great game with an amazing soundtrack and wonderful atmosphere.
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Perfect atmosphere to relax
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see more
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sound design
17 positive · 1 negative · 1 mixed · 0 neutral
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The visuals are stunningly, the music is mesmerizing, the animation is satisfying, and the sound effects are basically the largest collection of the world's most satisfying sounds meticulously weaved into every detail.
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One of the most beautiful games i've ever played, be it in visuals, audio, level design or meaning.
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The visuals and audio tie in perfectly to create a truly unique sensory experience.
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price value
12 positive · 2 negative · 3 mixed · 1 neutral
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this game is absolutely worth it.
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It isn't a long story, but it is a story that I think is worth experiencing, even at its base price tag.
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If you're lucky enough to catch this game on sale, don't hesitate to buy it.
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animation
14 positive · 0 negative · 0 mixed · 0 neutral
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The visuals are stunningly, the music is mesmerizing, the animation is satisfying, and the sound effects are basically the largest collection of the world's most satisfying sounds meticulously weaved into every detail.
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- Interesting visual art and animations, and plentiful storytelling sequences throughout the game.
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The art direction and music are beautiful and the animations are so fluid it's unreal.
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level design
8 positive · 6 negative · 0 mixed · 0 neutral
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One of the most beautiful games i've ever played, be it in visuals, audio, level design or meaning.
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Easy linear platform
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The level design works in a way that you know where to go next even without pointers.
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pacing
3 positive · 9 negative · 1 mixed · 1 neutral
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I do agree if you go through the game slow though around that 3 hour mark it does start to overstay its welcome a little bit.
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There's no challenge, it's pretty long, repetitive and rather boring.
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For example, the pacing is borked from the start.
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world
11 positive · 0 negative · 0 mixed · 0 neutral
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A magnificent game with an incredible universe.
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Absolutely breathtaking visual and fantastic world to explore.
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Short but brilliant, this game offers a surprisingly emotional journey through a beautifully crafted world, featuring stunning art and a sublime soundtrack.
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controls
6 positive · 3 negative · 0 mixed · 0 neutral
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It's easy to understand and the controls are simple.
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Everyone can play it, thanks to its simple controls, and that's who I recommend it to: [i]everyone.
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The animation is out of this world, the colours are beautiful, the overall aesthetic of the game is calming and the movement is fluid.
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replayability
6 positive · 3 negative · 0 mixed · 0 neutral
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it's a short game but probably takes a lot longer to get all the achievements.
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I will enjoy replaying it.
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As soon as I finished I instantly played it again because I understood the mechanics of the game better. Then I played it again and then again!! It's so beautiful and mesmerizing.
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progression
5 positive · 1 negative · 0 mixed · 1 neutral
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As you gather more abilities and return color to the world, the game becomes more and more intoxicating.
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- A clear sense of progression
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The artstyle itself is astonishing and truly makes this game an absolute joy to play, particularly with the progression arc implemented through the addition of colours to the world.
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exploration
6 positive · 0 negative · 0 mixed · 0 neutral
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If you just wander around you can figure out where you are supposed to go.
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There are secrets to find, and though I found some, I never obtained them all.
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The idea is to explore and we amazed with what's happening with the visuals and audio.
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learning curve
3 positive · 2 negative · 0 mixed · 1 neutral
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It's easy to understand and the controls are simple.
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I was especially impressed by how conveniently the game guides you through new levels and game mechanics.
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Wonderful gameplay, beautiful soundtrack, simple/minimal storyline, gorgeous art style, love the animation, easy to play, easy to understand, but still challenging enough that I got stuck a few times.
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bugs
2 positive · 3 negative · 0 mixed · 0 neutral
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There were some stage/level you get stuck on platforms and I read on the discussion people are having the same issue and the solution was to set your FPS to 60 😂 it worked for me haha
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slow paced puzzle platformer, about 2 of the jumps were questionable, quicker story than I expected, visually stunning, bug encountered: roll-locked by screaming bird, fixed by sitting framerate to 60fps, weight and sing mechanic were refreshing to see
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Unfortunately the game does seem to have some bugs, for I can't get past a certain part in the game (bird bug).
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characters
4 positive · 1 negative · 0 mixed · 0 neutral
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The watercolour backgrounds, the vivid lighting, the memorable protagonist, all this makes Gris what it is.
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On a more light-hearted note, the forest friend you meet in chapter 3 made me so happy, such a cute little guy, I was so sad when I had to say goodbye to it at the end of the chapter.
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The little tree helper dude is awesome as well.
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Emergent themes unvalidated
topics reviewers bring up that are not on the validated list; raw counts only, no error bars
- puzzles 16
Review timeline
monthly peak 3,299 reviews · all languages
monthly share rated positive · 50% reference · months with <5 reviews faded
the timeline as a table
| month | reviews | up | down | positive | note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 2018 | 2,403 | 2,337 | 66 | 97% | |
| Jan 2019 | 1,130 | 1,075 | 55 | 95% | |
| Feb 2019 | 741 | 708 | 33 | 96% | |
| Mar 2019 | 415 | 396 | 19 | 95% | |
| Apr 2019 | 407 | 378 | 29 | 93% | |
| May 2019 | 694 | 657 | 37 | 95% | |
| Jun 2019 | 723 | 701 | 22 | 97% | |
| Jul 2019 | 758 | 732 | 26 | 97% | |
| Aug 2019 | 511 | 484 | 27 | 95% | |
| Sep 2019 | 393 | 378 | 15 | 96% | |
| Oct 2019 | 550 | 526 | 24 | 96% | |
| Nov 2019 | 3,299 | 3,249 | 50 | 98% | |
| Dec 2019 | 3,029 | 2,958 | 71 | 98% | |
| Jan 2020 | 2,523 | 2,450 | 73 | 97% | |
| Feb 2020 | 1,133 | 1,103 | 30 | 97% | |
| Mar 2020 | 1,942 | 1,884 | 58 | 97% | |
| Apr 2020 | 2,175 | 2,117 | 58 | 97% | |
| May 2020 | 1,122 | 1,077 | 45 | 96% | |
| Jun 2020 | 1,139 | 1,094 | 45 | 96% | |
| Jul 2020 | 2,181 | 2,114 | 67 | 97% | |
| Aug 2020 | 782 | 750 | 32 | 96% | |
| Sep 2020 | 558 | 536 | 22 | 96% | |
| Oct 2020 | 499 | 484 | 15 | 97% | |
| Nov 2020 | 1,122 | 1,099 | 23 | 98% | |
| Dec 2020 | 1,647 | 1,597 | 50 | 97% | |
| Jan 2021 | 1,030 | 1,001 | 29 | 97% | |
| Feb 2021 | 840 | 813 | 27 | 97% | |
| Mar 2021 | 518 | 500 | 18 | 97% | |
| Apr 2021 | 719 | 693 | 26 | 96% | |
| May 2021 | 1,552 | 1,491 | 61 | 96% | |
| Jun 2021 | 1,070 | 1,047 | 23 | 98% | |
| Jul 2021 | 956 | 916 | 40 | 96% | |
| Aug 2021 | 584 | 567 | 17 | 97% | |
| Sep 2021 | 727 | 707 | 20 | 97% | |
| Oct 2021 | 431 | 415 | 16 | 96% | |
| Nov 2021 | 766 | 742 | 24 | 97% | |
| Dec 2021 | 2,431 | 2,347 | 84 | 97% | |
| Jan 2022 | 1,607 | 1,548 | 59 | 96% | |
| Feb 2022 | 835 | 800 | 35 | 96% | |
| Mar 2022 | 588 | 554 | 34 | 94% | |
| Apr 2022 | 411 | 391 | 20 | 95% | |
| May 2022 | 1,130 | 1,084 | 46 | 96% | |
| Jun 2022 | 673 | 650 | 23 | 97% | |
| Jul 2022 | 1,099 | 1,057 | 42 | 96% | |
| Aug 2022 | 535 | 512 | 23 | 96% | |
| Sep 2022 | 384 | 368 | 16 | 96% | |
| Oct 2022 | 597 | 582 | 15 | 97% | |
| Nov 2022 | 806 | 775 | 31 | 96% | |
| Dec 2022 | 1,031 | 996 | 35 | 97% | |
| Jan 2023 | 835 | 807 | 28 | 97% | |
| Feb 2023 | 438 | 427 | 11 | 97% | |
| Mar 2023 | 613 | 573 | 40 | 93% | |
| Apr 2023 | 544 | 524 | 20 | 96% | |
| May 2023 | 885 | 856 | 29 | 97% | |
| Jun 2023 | 454 | 432 | 22 | 95% | |
| Jul 2023 | 836 | 794 | 42 | 95% | |
| Aug 2023 | 866 | 835 | 31 | 96% | |
| Sep 2023 | 412 | 391 | 21 | 95% | |
| Oct 2023 | 302 | 282 | 20 | 93% | |
| Nov 2023 | 516 | 497 | 19 | 96% | |
| Dec 2023 | 794 | 771 | 23 | 97% | |
| Jan 2024 | 587 | 560 | 27 | 95% | |
| Feb 2024 | 341 | 325 | 16 | 95% | |
| Mar 2024 | 688 | 665 | 23 | 97% | |
| Apr 2024 | 388 | 368 | 20 | 95% | |
| May 2024 | 920 | 876 | 44 | 95% | |
| Jun 2024 | 643 | 610 | 33 | 95% | |
| Jul 2024 | 791 | 756 | 35 | 96% | |
| Aug 2024 | 708 | 674 | 34 | 95% | |
| Sep 2024 | 483 | 468 | 15 | 97% | |
| Oct 2024 | 2,838 | 2,734 | 104 | 96% | |
| Nov 2024 | 1,014 | 967 | 47 | 95% | |
| Dec 2024 | 1,675 | 1,588 | 87 | 95% | |
| Jan 2025 | 987 | 925 | 62 | 94% | |
| Feb 2025 | 668 | 629 | 39 | 94% | |
| Mar 2025 | 771 | 741 | 30 | 96% | |
| Apr 2025 | 465 | 439 | 26 | 94% | |
| May 2025 | 626 | 577 | 49 | 92% | |
| Jun 2025 | 1,013 | 948 | 65 | 94% | |
| Jul 2025 | 3,242 | 3,050 | 192 | 94% | |
| Aug 2025 | 1,196 | 1,107 | 89 | 93% | |
| Sep 2025 | 899 | 839 | 60 | 93% | |
| Oct 2025 | 780 | 737 | 43 | 94% | |
| Nov 2025 | 545 | 500 | 45 | 92% | |
| Dec 2025 | 752 | 710 | 42 | 94% | |
| Jan 2026 | 653 | 609 | 44 | 93% | |
| Feb 2026 | 429 | 403 | 26 | 94% | |
| Mar 2026 | 590 | 553 | 37 | 94% | |
| Apr 2026 | 443 | 418 | 25 | 94% | |
| May 2026 | 515 | 478 | 37 | 93% | |
| Jun 2026 | 557 | 522 | 35 | 94% | |
| Jul 2026 | 587 | 557 | 30 | 95% | |
| Aug 2026 | 120 | 113 | 7 | 94% |
How this report was made
- Population
- all Steam reviews of the game (every language, purchase type, and verdict), walked newest-first per window; only English-language reviews are analyzed
- Sample
- 366 English reviews, time-proportional draw over 93 windows (newest-first within each), taken from an all-language walk and kept English-only — where English is a minority the sample runs smaller than the draw, and every margin of error is computed at 366
- Aspect yield
- 275 of 366 analyzed reviews carry at least one aspect (75.1%); every share on this page divides by all 366
- Interval regime
- calm: standard margins of error for a share of a sample (Wilson interval), no widening needed
- Fetch paths
- 93 time windows fetched directly (windowed)
- Language mix
- 1,000 fetched: english 367 · schinese 151 · brazilian 143 · 20 more
- Steam-marked windows
- none flagged by Steam (Valve's off-topic flagging began March 2019)
- Marked share
- 0.0% of sample inside marked windows, under the 2% floor
- Narrative
- passed the grounding gate first try
- Evidence floor
- aspects and emergent themes appear only with 5+ supporting reviews; smaller counts sit at the classifier's false-positive floor
- Instrument readings
- measured once on the study corpus for this model and prompt: frozen calibration, not properties of this run
- · aspect tagging vs. human labels
- 0.766 [0.713–0.811] (F1 against a human-labeled test set; 1.0 is best)
- · quotes filed under the wrong aspect
- 11.6% [6.6–19.6] of quotes, measured by hand on a sample; lower is better
- · independent model vs. production labels
- 0.791 [0.772–0.810] (F1 of the production labeler against an independent judge model)
- Versions
- deepseek-v4-flash · prompt classify-v1 · ontology v2
- Run
- serve-20260808T151253Z-153c9b73 · code 0b7bd00
full methodology in the milestone write-ups