RUBATO, an experimental, 2D physics-based take on the collect-a-thon genre!
Modeled estimate, not a reported figure. How we estimate →
Every price cut of more than 20% we have observed, in each market that quoted one, with this game's chart position on either side of it. These are episodes, not a model: a sale is one event, and one event cannot tell you what the next one will do.
Reviews, worldwide (the counter carries no country): 0.57/day in the week to Aug 17 → 1.86/day in the week after.
For scale, across Steam · Top Sellers · Brazil over the last 30 days: the 25 chart moves that followed a price cut of more than 20% went a median of 10 places towards #1, and the 2,413 moves with no price cut behind them went 2 away. One store, one chart, one country — it is the only place we have enough observations to say even that.
Prices outside the United States have been collected since 6 August 2026 and chart positions since 19 July 2026, so a cut older than that has no market to compare and a market that joined later has no history yet. Nothing here is converted between currencies.
About
The year is 12,012. Multiquadrillionaire monopoly "GSSAI CO." has been in power of the universe for centuries after a world-ending bioweapon was unleashed onto the masses. And now? The solar system has been destroyed by unknown celestial forces. A weapons development program run by the Earth subsidiary of "GSSAI CO." is fast progressing. And the world's denizens are disappearing.
That is until one man screws up a game of pool.
Use your tongue to lick enemies and objects as you make your way through open metroidvania-like areas, whilst collecting "Planet Bits" to help fix the solar system!
5 compact, densely packed areas ranging from a huge sprawling bakery to the world's most poorly planned city. Uncover secrets and shortcuts in every corner of the world.
A strange, funny plot with a deep focus on humour and character writing. It gets silly. It gets serious. Really concerningly serious. Uh. Is the guy who made this game okay..?
To save the world, you must save yourself first. Find yourself again.
RUBATO contains flashing lights which may not be suitable for people with photosensitive epilepsy.
Genres
Sums Steam only; PlayStation, Nintendo publish no volume signal, so the true total is higher by an unknown amount.
| Store | Price | Audience | Score | Chart | Est. revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SteamYou are here | $19.99 | 533reviews | 98% | — | $252.8K |
| $19.99 | 121ratings | 82% | — | not modelled | |
Engagement
Reviews
Themes across 92 recent reviews and how positive each mention is. A keyword signal, not full sentiment analysis.
Reviews
A preface: I wish Steam had a 'neutral' review in addition to positive/negative, because that would be more accurate to my sentiments when reviewing RUBATO. I have chosen it as negative because my feelings lean more in that direction, but please don't misunderstand, I don't *hate* the game. With only one dev/writer/composter and seven artists, I can only ever applaud and encourage projects like these to be finished and for their creators to be proud. But there are criticisms to be made, I suppose. Spoilers ahead, of course. I'll start with the positives. The games strongest positive is its art style and character design, particularly the character sprites and some of the low-poly-esque 3D model work, it certainly fits the advertised DS sprites and Gamecube-esque time period. The characters, visually speaking, are very distinct and that is worth much praise. I adored the characters text soundbites as well, particularly Tony's. I am also very fond of the clay-model artwork for the games soundtrack. Speaking of, while I didn't personally listen to any of the soundtrack after finishing the game, I did feel it was solid while playing. My lack of knowledge means I can't particularly comment as to its quality. Admittedly... that is the extent of it. The games pace is strange, and its humour is extremely divisive to me. I primarily found it painfully unfunny. The one joke that did come out of left field and I have seen mentioned a few times, the Minecraft one, did get me at first... only for the joke to go on far, far too long and thus made the whole thing unfunny in the process. I'm sure comparisions like these come plenty and unwanted, but the reason why jokes in say, Deltarune work is because they are grounded and brief. They are tonally consistent and typically not Haha Random. RUBATO spends far too much time flinging about random jokes that would be much better spent on building towards the story it clearly wants to tell. The first two thirds of the game are rife with these, from random 3D models to characters that spout utter nonsense, to the point I wasn't going to treat this world seriously. Which is kind of bad, because the game most certainly DOES want you to take it seriously! I have read some of the recent news and plans for updates and its clear the creator also has gripes with these flaws in the game. I empathise, especially with the desire to rewrite and fix these mistakes. I'm not sure how wise it is going about making such huge changes after the game has released, but again I can only admire the effort, even if its just to satisfy ones own perfectionism. I really do think the game has the right heart, but fumbled the execution in several ways. Again I will always prefer to see something made and learned from rather than nothing at all. To learn is to try and fail and go again. But I find myself confused by this game in many ways. It wants to tell a story of seemingly great meaning or poignancy, with doing little to elicit it out of the player without handing it to them heavy-handedly through scenes that tell you the 'point.' The game repeats ideas about love and identity, particularly towards the end of the game, especially through Tony and Rubato, alongside Higher Management's role in how both of them have lost and then found these things again. And yet almost everything about these themes are purely exposited - the only interaction that you have with any of this is with the multi-stage final act, where you control and witness the backstory via Tony. In a complete genre and tonal shift, which I liked mind you, ends up undermining the whole 'point' of RUBATO as a 2D collectathon - a format/medium I am still unsure why it chose to be. But choosing to deliver almost ALL of the stories interesting parts and its emotional weight in one part, the *end*, makes it feel incredibly rushed, or even hamfisted. I do not care about these characters because I have not spent enough time with them. I'd argue none of them have arcs either, only ideas, ideas that are not expanded on or realised fully because the game does not, or cannot do so. Frankly I found myself even a little annoyed by the final dialogue back and forth between Rubato and Higher Management, because it all felt like vapid air. The game had not successfully built its ideas, nor these characters, and as a result anything they say comes across as unfortunately shallow. Because the game is a 2D collectathon. I think this game is perhaps a good example of ludonarrative dissonance, or if not that, the complete dissonance between the gameplay and its story. Again the aforementioned love and identity, the capacity to deliver story... all of this is NOT done in the platforming! For most of the game your journey is mostly collecting planet bits in a world that seems like a half-joke. While these bits culminate in the restoration of planets (which is relevant in some aspect. it is exposited about again in the late loredump) and it certainly feels like you're Playing something, you are not interfacing with a living, breathing world. It's not like Inscryption, where the cracks show and the world changes as you delve into the layers of this card game, or Outer Wilds, where your own curiosity to explore helps to uncover the universe and its story. RUBATO's platforming is the standalone 'gameplay' elements, while the late loredump is the games real "this is what I am and what I am trying to say." I don't think a good story can be told in this way. It's not a bad one, but... a really shallow one. One where by the end, I was just seeing it be over rather than feeling the complex emotions one does when everything comes together, and the end is in sight. I'm not an avid platformer genre seeker or anything, but even I found the game to be quite simplistic in its mechanics. Not bad, but lacking if you were looking for more. Not a bad thing necessarily, but that unfortunately did not lend itself well to what RUBATO was trying to be. I tend to do my best to 100% games I play (within reason) to show my respect, but I couldn't bring myself to do it here. Finding planet bits felt more like a chore, pressing against walls to find the right roundabout path to them. The worst one I found was the Slenderman-esque find-my-tapes, the choice to have the camera move off center with the flashlight was agonising as half the time I could not see below me, or behind me. Though at this point that's really just more of a nitpick. I want to like this game, I really do. But another review put it well: this feels like one game taped to another, to the point one side actively harms the other. I am not sure if an experimental 2D platformer was the right call to tell a story like this. But I really want it to be, I feel like I haven't seen a platformer or a collectathon do a strong story before (maybe I'm wrong?), so there is so much unrealised potential. But I can see this game being an outstanding highlight to others, and I would not think less of anyone who does like this game. It has heart, and I'm glad that it exists. I write this not out of malice, but because I see something, or someone, that has a lot of potential, and I want to see succeed.
Media
Related
Related
Price dynamics, follower growth, revenue and sales trajectories with interactive tooltips
This and every other Pro feature is free until October 20, 2026. A free account is all it takes.
Stats
All-time low is the lowest price we've recorded for this game since we started tracking it.
Languages: English
| $19.99 |
| — |
| — |
| — |
| not modelled |
Matched by title — a reused name can pair the wrong games. * is a critic aggregate. Prices and positions are each store's United States storefront; Epic charts worldwide. Audience and Score too, except Steam's, which is worldwide.
Hours played at review time, across 92 reviews with recorded playtime.
positive critical· bar length = how often the theme comes up
I like the funny frog platforming parts, they were actually really well built and probably what I'd consider to be the best example of a 2d collectathon I've personally experienced. The controls are tight and earning new abilities throughout the story was a lot of fun. I especially liked how the challenge doors were always experimenting with new ideas in short bursts, anything from a challenge utilizing your established abilities to a room that exists to parody Slenderman. Unfortunately, about halfway through it decided to become a completely different game both in terms of tone and presentation - basically a combination of a visual novel and resident evil, and taking itself super seriously after being really silly for most of the game. I really didn't like the sudden tone and presentation shift, and the worst part is it goes on for way too long. I will still recommend this game for the 2D parts, but keep in mind you might not vibe with the tonal and presentation shift of the late game.
this was simultaneously everything i expected it to be and nothing like what i expected it to be. certainly not for everyone (the essay length negative reviews and the dev's own in my opinion overly harsh self-criticism prove that) but i found great joy in it. nevertheless i will give the "director's cut" a shot whenever it comes out, i just hope it won't have all the charm stripped away in favour of satisfying the aforementioned essay length reviews who can't seem to fathom that there can be a serious story underneath a silly exterior
One of the easiest 5/5’s I feel I’ll ever give. This was one of the best indie game I’ve ever played. The way it innovates in story, gameplay, art direction, music, everything! It hits on every front. There was always a worry for me that this game would drop the energy; that it would slow down. But no, literally at stage 1, it’s firing on all fronts! This is genuinely one of the best independent games I’ve ever played and I’m begging everyone who might see this to go on with no expectations and just let this game take you on it’s wild ride.
this game is truly one of a kind. its weird to me that people criticize this game for "ludonarrative dissonance" which is a pretty big word for a dead wrong take. The game has a wonderful narrative about what it means to be true to yourself, being unapologetically "you", in a world with so many defined constraints. Rubato is true to itself, unapologetically so. Rubato is whatever the hell it wants to be, its a collectathon, its a racing game, its silent hill, its a fishing game, its every game ever, all at once. Rubato isnt afraid to be different, its never afraid to be special. It is truly, unabashedly, one of a kind. It is, truly, a once in a lifetime experience. I really cant recommend the game enough after playing it.
As I hit the end credits of RUBATO, the only sentence I can muster is like how one would describe their favourite local pizza joint - "nothing compares". I'm not even trying to be cheeky here - there is simply no other game on digital storeshelves such as RUBATO. Seriously, nothing else compares. Much like with UNBEATABLE and Disillusion ST, RUBATO is a single, unfiltered raw peek into someones mind that desperately wanted to put this game out to the world. I can't describe it in any other way other than raw, pure artwork. The entire package was such an incredible fun ride with some pretty fun platforming at its core that RUBATO has not only secured its spot as my GOTY 2026, but also earned "certified hood classic" status. My favourite thing about RUBATO is that it never leaves you "comfortable" - it will constantly rugpull your frog feet, smack NPCs around just for the heck of it, introduce a complete elaborate mechanic for a singular joke and then it never appears in the game again. It's honestly best to know about RUBATO as little as possible. I don't think I have ever laughed so much, or as hard as I have with RUBATO; it made me feel terrified, it made me ugly cry for several minutes, it made me appreciate its quiet moments where even there, it would never shy away for completely flipping the script several times around. RUBATO may be an acquired taste, but as said above, "nothing compares". This game is something special. Try it. Maybe that first bite will also be magical, as it was for me.
just as a preface, i completed this game on switch before buying the game again just to finish it again I LOVE RUBATO WORLD really fun and silly collectathon platformer in its own right...but there's so much more that i wanna say about it that i just can't im so deadass when i say this game's story is one for the ages i hate being that kind of person but please, if you're interested in playing RUBATO go into it blind one of the silliest, stupidest, yet most special games i've played in recent memory and my personal game of the year :)
Rubato is a great achievement for a basically single dev project and I would like to express my utmost appreciation for all the hard work the author and other participants have put into this - being able to finish an [strike]amphibious[/strike] ambitious project is a milestone by itself. Nevertheless, in my opinion, some aspects of it were underwhelming: - exposition and pacing the game throws you into its world with little to no introduction, making it confusing and hard to understand what's going on. Same problems accompany introductions of various side characters, including some fakeout moments that were there seemingly for no reason. I would like to care about the characters and I understand that they are given the proper backstory later, but at the same time it led to pacing issues - huge lore dumps here and there and due to zero to no proper introduction it just lands flat it seems - humour I get the humor of this game, it was just a bit too much and constant jumps between the "funny" and "serious" did not help in that regard. I also hated the minecraft character, I am sorry (and if you were aiming to make that annoying - then amazing job) - soundtrack Rubato has a nice soundtrack, I just wish it didn't decide to heavily rely on 1-2 leitmotifs closer to the end because at that point it just felt tiring to listen to the same scale - lack of artistic consistency I get that the lack of the artistic consistency is intentional and I truly enjoyed all of the different styles and compositions demonstrated by several talented artists across the game, and I get how much it can feel as an unnecessary restriction to follow some guidelines, but honestly I think it would be for the good of the game to have the style more or less consistent - that is one of the things that made the videogame inspirations behind this game great in the first place. - overall message There were several concepts the author tried to convey through the game. Couldn't tell why some of them have more spotlight than the others - especially certain ones that took a little to much of reflecting upon. Maybe instead of kinda mixing it all together you could express them through separate character arcs - that would add an additional layer of complexity to the pacing though - some gameplay bits I think I suck at the game but some parts of the final boss were challenging. [spoiler]Especially the Sonic 3 and Knuckles falling platforms segment of the final boss was just insufferable I don't know why it was so hard to throw stuff back at the boss but I died more than 10 times there I believe[/spoiler] Please don't take this review personally, I am just some guy on the internet. I think this game definitely has potential and it definitely resonated with me and left an impression, otherwise I wouldn't be writing this. Once again, thanks for making this game - no matter how much or little I vibe with it, it's a tremendous work. Good luck and I wish you all the best with new projects
dafuq?
Note that i played before the Director's Cut came out, but: This game is absolutely phenominal! a wonderful treat. please play this game.
Selling now
See how fast this game is selling right now — estimated copies and revenue per day from recent review growth.
Players by region
Where this game's players are, estimated from review languages.
Players also reviewed
The games this title's players most often review too — audience affinity.
Related
| Game | Estimated lifetime revenue | Reviews | Review score | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $39.6K | 272 | 99% | $5.99 | |
| $1.1K | 12 | 75% | $4.99 | |
| $167 | 1 | 100% | $7.99 | |
| — | 0 | — | — | |
| — | 0 | — | — | |
| — | 0 | — | — |
Related
| Game | Estimated lifetime revenue | Reviews | Review score | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $252.7K | 819 | 82% | $9.44 | |
| $253K | 223 | 91% | $59.99 | |
| $253K | 2.6K | 73% | $3.74 | |
| $252.6K | 1.5K | 92% | $7.99 | |
| $252.6K | 2.4K | 89% | $5.99 | |
| $252.5K | 851 | 85% | $14.99 |