A Surprising New Free RPG is Dominating the Steam Charts (But Is It Any Good?)

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If you’ve been checking out popular games on Steam, you’ve probably noticed some new titles appearing. While free-to-play shooting games usually dominate the top spots, Path of Exile 2 recently saw a surge in players thanks to a free weekend. However, a surprising RPG has quickly climbed the charts, reaching over 229,730 players at the same time in the last day. Interestingly, this game isn’t a new release—it’s been available since May 27th.

I’ve been noticing everyone’s been playing TBH: Task Bar Hero lately! It launched on Steam on May 27th and started with a good number of players – around 8,000 at the same time. But it’s really taken off since then, and the numbers are way up now. It’s kind of weird though, because even though so many people are playing, the Steam reviews are actually ‘Mixed’ – only 49% of them are positive. I’m really curious why this new idle RPG is becoming so popular despite those less-than-stellar reviews!

TBH: Task Bar Hero Surpasses Bongo Cat as Steam’s New Top Idler Despite Mixed Reviews

Even though they’re not mainstream, idle games are surprisingly popular on Steam – you can usually find at least one among the most-played titles. These games are appealing because they let you play a little bit even when you’re busy with something else. For a long time, Bongo Cat was the most popular free idle game on Steam, consistently ranking among the top 10. However, recently TBH: Task Bar Hero has overtaken it, currently sitting as the 5th most-played game on Steam, according to SteamDB. I was curious about this sudden popularity, so I decided to download and try it out for myself.

While Bongo Cat simply mirrors your typing, TBH is a bit more engaging. You choose a character class and then watch them fight monsters in a small battle happening on your screen. The game plays itself, with looping music, and occasionally sends notifications about new items or skill upgrades. It’s designed to be fairly passive, but I found the music a bit annoying and the notifications hard to ignore. Still, if you like RPGs, it’s fun to watch your character grow stronger, and it’s free to play, so it’s easy to try out if you’re curious.

I quickly found myself missing the charming simplicity of Bongo Cat while playing this game, which made me curious about why it’s become so popular. I decided to investigate. Task Bar Hero received a significant update on June 1st, and that likely contributed to the rise in players since then. Early reviews were generally positive, highlighting the game’s appealing pixel art and easy-to-learn gameplay. However, the recent update hasn’t pleased everyone, as it made substantial changes to loot boxes and the leveling system. Some players are also unhappy with the game’s use of the Steam Market, believing it’s attracted bots that farm and trade items. This has reportedly caused server issues and lag for many players, and also raises questions about the game’s actual player base.

The game has received a little over 1,100 Steam reviews, which suggests the claims of inflated player numbers using bots might have some truth to them. Usually, a game with almost 230,000 players would have more reviews. For example, a similar free game, Bongo Cat, has over 26,000 reviews with an average of around 181,500 concurrent players. However, this game is still new, so it’s possible players are waiting to see how it plays before leaving their reviews.

Even if bots are playing a role, Task Bar Hero is becoming increasingly popular on Steam. Its appearance in the list of Most-Played games means a lot of people are likely to check it out. Despite being a basic idle game, it’s surprisingly fun, and I didn’t notice any performance issues when I first started playing.

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2026-06-03 21:16