# Steam Reviews Analyzer: Player Insights (`somepineapple/steam-review-insights`) Actor

Find out why people play a game, what they praise and what they complain about, straight from its Steam reviews, with a rough share for each. Compare several games to see what they all get right and what none of them do yet. Made for game developers and marketers.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/somepineapple/steam-review-insights.md
- **Developed by:** [Ollie Wood](https://apify.com/somepineapple) (community)
- **Categories:** Games, AI, Marketing
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$50.00 / 1,000 game analyseds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Steam Reviews Analyzer: Player Insights

Steam reviews are full of useful feedback, but reading hundreds of them takes ages. Give this tool one or more games (by name, Steam link or app ID) and it reads the recent reviews for you, then tells you why people play, what they praise, what they complain about, and roughly how many reviews mention each.

Add two or more games and it also compares them: what players like across all of them, the shared complaints, and the things none of them get quite right. That last part is the useful bit if you're planning a game in the same genre.

### What it does

- Finds games by name, Steam link or app ID
- Explains why people play, what they praise and what they complain about, with rough percentages
- Compares several games and shows what they share and the gaps none of them fill
- Never copies review text or reviewer names
- Games it can't find or analyse get an error row and aren't charged
- Caps games and reviews per run so the cost stays predictable

### Use cases

- Research a genre before you start building.
- Find gaps between competitors that players keep asking for.
- Keep an eye on what players say about your own game after launch.
- Pick store page and trailer messaging using players' own reasons for liking a game.
- Get a quick read on why a game is doing well (or isn't).

### How to use

1. Add up to 6 games to Games: names, Steam store links or app IDs all work.
2. Choose how many recent English reviews to read per game (30 to 300) and whether to compare them.
3. Press Start. Each game takes around 15 to 25 seconds, and several are done at once.

You can also call it from the Apify API, run it on a schedule, or hook it up to Make, Zapier or n8n. AI agents can use it through Apify's MCP server.

### Input

```json
{
  "games": [
    "413150"
  ],
  "maxReviewsPerGame": 60
}
```

### Output

One dataset item per input with fields: `type`, `game`, `appId`, `steamUrl`, `reviewsAnalysed`, `positiveShare`, `medianHoursPlayed`, `summary`, `whyPlayersPlay`, `praise`, `complaints`, `standout`, `error`.

Here's a real result:

```json
{
  "type": "game",
  "game": "Hades",
  "appId": 1145360,
  "steamUrl": "https://store.steampowered.com/app/1145360/",
  "reviewsAnalysed": 150,
  "positiveShare": 1.0,
  "medianHoursPlayed": 33.5,
  "summary": "Across these 150 reviews, Hades is overwhelmingly praised for its fast, addictive run-based combat, striking art and music, and voice-acted story that advances with each death. The most common criticisms are repetition over long playtimes, RNG-gated dialogue and rewards, and grindy achievements.",
  "whyPlayersPlay": [
    {
      "theme": "Addictive fast combat loop",
      "sharePct": 68,
      "evidence": "Players describe fast, satisfying combat and a 'just one more run' pull."
    },
    {
      "theme": "Build variety and replayability",
      "sharePct": 48,
      "evidence": "Different weapons, boons and keepsakes make each escape attempt feel distinct."
    },
    {
      "theme": "Story that progresses through death and retries",
      "sharePct": 42,
      "evidence": "Dying is framed as progress, with characters reacting to each attempt."
    }
  ],
  "praise": [
    {
      "theme": "Art style and visual direction",
      "sharePct": 50,
      "evidence": "Reviewers repeatedly call the art gorgeous, stylish and cohesive."
    },
    {
      "theme": "Soundtrack",
      "sharePct": 38,
      "evidence": "Music is singled out as excellent, with some listening to it outside"
    },
    {
      "theme": "Voice acting and dialogue",
      "sharePct": 35,
      "evidence": "Performances are called top tier, with humour and emotional delivery."
    }
  ],
  "complaints": [
    {
      "theme": "Repetition over long playtimes",
      "sharePct": 14,
      "evidence": "Some feel runs grow samey after many hours or once power spikes"
    },
    {
      "theme": "RNG-gated dialogue and rewards",
      "sharePct": 10,
      "evidence": "Achievement-linked conversations depend on luck, making completion slow."
    },
    {
      "theme": "Grind for full completion",
      "sharePct": 10,
      "evidence": "Reaching 100% requires many runs, which some find tedious."
    }
  ],
  "standout": [
    "Many players say they came to roguelikes only because of Hades and now enjoy the genre.",
    "Dialogue that reacts to repeated deaths turns failure into story progress and keeps players invested."
  ],
  "error": null
}
```

### Pricing

Pay per event: **$0.0500 per game analysed** (successful results only;
failed items are returned with an `error` field and are not charged). Set a maximum charge per run in the run options.

So 100 games cost about $5.00, and 1,000 cost about $50.00.

### FAQ

**Does it copy review text or usernames?**

No. You only get the themes, rough percentages and a short note on each in its own words. No review text, names or IDs.

**How exact are the percentages?**

They're estimates from the reviews it read, good for spotting patterns rather than precise figures. Reading more reviews (up to 300) makes them steadier.

**Which reviews does it read?**

Recent English reviews, positive and negative, in the order Steam shows them.

**What does a comparison cost?**

It counts as one more game. You can switch comparisons off.

### Limitations

- English reviews only for now.
- The summaries are written by an AI model reading a sample, so treat the numbers as a guide.
- Games with fewer than 10 English reviews can't be analysed (and aren't charged).

### Other tools you might like

- [Website Tech Stack Detector](https://apify.com/somepineapple/website-tech-detector-tool): what a website is built with: CMS, frameworks, analytics, hosting.
- [Sitemap URL Extractor & XML Sitemap Checker](https://apify.com/somepineapple/sitemap-extractor-checker-tool): pull every URL out of a site's sitemaps and check them for problems.

### Support

This Actor is built and maintained by an automated system run by its publisher. If something's wrong, open an
issue and it'll be looked at within 7 days. Please don't put passwords or personal details in an issue.

# Actor input Schema

## `games` (type: `array`):

Steam app IDs, Steam store URLs or game names (max 6 per run).

## `maxReviewsPerGame` (type: `integer`):

How many recent English reviews to read per game (30-300).

## `compare` (type: `boolean`):

With 2+ games, add a comparison of shared themes and gaps (charged as one more analysis).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "games": [
    "413150"
  ],
  "maxReviewsPerGame": 150,
  "compare": true
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "games": [
        "413150"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("somepineapple/steam-review-insights").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "games": ["413150"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("somepineapple/steam-review-insights").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "games": [
    "413150"
  ]
}' |
apify call somepineapple/steam-review-insights --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,somepineapple/steam-review-insights"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/hUqihP9rK5M45UWR9/builds/yXlxtMYKAkYz03hVK/openapi.json