The Whispered World Special Edition

2009 Daedalic Entertainment Adventure, Indie

Windows 11Runs

MacNot confirmed

LinuxNative

Steam DeckUnsupported

Gamicality score

Metacritic 705

OpenCritic Not rated

Steam players 731

How it’s combined

Playability today

3.5

Runs today3.5/5

Design today3/5

Steam user reviews

Mostly Positive

76%

1,976 reviews1

Get it on Steam Watch the trailer

Facts checked November 1, 2026

Does The Whispered World Special Edition run on Windows 11, Apple Silicon Macs, Linux and Steam Deck?

Windows 11Runs

Sold for Windows today, no problem on record.1

Mac (Apple Silicon)Not confirmed

A Mac version is sold. Not yet confirmed on Apple Silicon.1

LinuxNative

Native Linux version.1

Steam DeckUnsupported

Unsupported, as rated by Valve.1

Played The Whispered World Special Edition lately?

One click, no account, so the next player knows. How we check where it runs

Synopsis

The Whispered World is a hand-drawn point-and-click adventure about Sadwick, a gloomy young circus clown who learns he may be fated to destroy his world. With his shape-shifting caterpillar Spot, he travels across a fairy-tale land, talking to its odd residents and solving inventory puzzles.

Developer: Daedalic Entertainment
Released: 2009
Best version: Play the Special Edition, which replaced the original on Steam, adds resolution options and a hotspot highlight, and lets you skip puzzles.
Genre: Adventure, Indie
Where to get it: Steam

Reception

Critics admired the lush hand-painted art and the puzzles built around Spot's different forms, and the original earned a PC Metascore of 70. Reviews of the Special Edition still faulted puzzles that ignore everyday logic, long stretches of dialogue and a whiny, grating lead voice. One 2016 review called the story a slog and the game unpolished even after the technical fixes, while others found its world charming enough to forgive the rough spots.

Trailer from Steam

Playability today

The average of two parts, each from 1 to 5. Tap a check to see why. How it works

Runs today

3.5/5

Sold or given away today by an official source
Runs on Windows 11 without fan patches
?Not confirmed yetSingle-player works without an internet connection
No source covers the current version yet, so this check counts as open, not passed. Played it lately? Tell us
All of its content still works (servers, DLC, unlocks)
No content has been removed; owners of the original received the Special Edition free (PCGamingWiki).
No proper support for modern resolutions and widescreen
The Special Edition offers resolution options but stays 4:3, upscaled and pillarboxed on wider screens (PCGamingWiki).
No full controller support and no remappable controls
There is no controller support and controls cannot be remapped (PCGamingWiki).
Not Steam Deck Verified or Playable
No intrusive DRM or required third-party launcher account
No pay-to-win or pushy microtransactions
No known game-breaking bugs in the current version
The Special Edition fixed the original's crashes, though Steam players report occasional bugs such as a missing skip button that call for loading an older save (Cubed3, Steam Community).

Design today

3/5

Controls feel natural on a modern controller or mouse and keyboard
Pure mouse control: left-click to walk, right-click for the inventory, and holding on a hotspot opens a look, talk or use menu. Source: gamechronicles.com.
Menus, text or interface are hard to read on today's screens
The art is fixed at 4:3, so on widescreen monitors it is upscaled and pillarboxed with black bars; the interface itself is minimal and hides when unused. Source: pcgamingwiki.com, gamechronicles.com.
Saving is fair: free saves or frequent checkpoints, little lost progress
You can save manually into multiple slots at any time, but no source mentions an autosave, and a Steam player hit by a progress-blocking bug without a save had to restart the game, so saving often in separate slots matters. Source: steamcommunity.com, steamcommunity.com.
Hard to make progress without a guide
Many puzzles follow odd logic with few hints, so reviewers fell back on trying every item or a walkthrough; the Special Edition's skip button and spacebar highlight soften this. Source: gamingnexus.com, gamechronicles.com.
Pacing drags: grind, filler or forced backtracking
Long, slow conversations and trial-and-error puzzle sections repeatedly stall the eight-hour story. Source: gamechronicles.com, gamingnexus.com, cubed3.com.
Camera and movement never fight the player
Fixed hand-drawn scenes with click-to-walk movement, so there is no camera to manage. Source: gamechronicles.com.