Venetica – Gold Edition

2009 Deck13 Action, Adventure, Indie, RPG

Windows 11With a fix

MacNot sold

LinuxPlatinum

Gamicality score

Metacritic 614

OpenCritic Not rated

Steam players 751

How it’s combined

Playability today

3.5

Runs today4/5

Design today2.5/5

Steam user reviews

Mostly Positive

79%

708 reviews1

Get it on Steam Watch the trailer

Facts checked November 1, 2026

Does Venetica – Gold Edition run on Windows 11, Apple Silicon Macs, Linux and Steam Deck?

Windows 11With a fix

Runs with a fix. See the steps below.1

Mac (Apple Silicon)Not sold

No Mac version is sold.

LinuxPlatinum

Through Proton. ProtonDB: Platinum, runs perfectly out of the box.3

Played Venetica – Gold Edition lately?

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

How to get Venetica – Gold Edition running today

Cap the frame rate at 60 fps, because the game starts to break above 75 fps and one tavern scene can softlock at higher frame rates (PCGamingWiki).
If talking to Leon at the guild house crashes the game, use the patched shared.dat file listed on PCGamingWiki.
Avoid Alt-Tab while playing, since a detailed Steam review warns of a black screen softlock when switching away (Steam Community).

Synopsis

Venetica is a third-person action RPG set in a fantasy version of Renaissance Venice. You play Scarlett, a village girl who learns she is the daughter of Death and sets out to stop a necromancer who threatens the balance between the living and the dead. You fight with swords, axes and magic, take on side quests and can slip into the shadow realm to reach hidden places.

Developer: Deck13
Released: 2009
Genre: Action, Adventure, Indie, RPG
Where to get it: Steam

Reception

Critics in 2009 liked the story, the setting and the heroine but faulted the shallow combat, dated visuals and technical problems, leaving it at a PC Metascore of 61. A 2015 review of the Gold Edition found the bugs unfixed and gave it a low score. Steam players are kinder, often comparing it to Fable and calling it a charming surprise, while warning about slow opening hours and crashes.

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

4/5

Sold or given away today by an official source
Needs fan patches to run well on Windows 11
?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)
The game is single-player and nothing has been removed from the current release (PCGamingWiki).
Supports modern resolutions and widescreen
Widescreen and 4K resolutions are supported, and ultrawide works through a config edit (PCGamingWiki).
Full controller support or remappable controls
Full XInput controller support is available (PCGamingWiki).
?Not confirmed yetSteam Deck Verified or Playable
No source covers the current version yet, so this check counts as open, not passed. Played it lately? Tell us
No intrusive DRM or required third-party launcher account
No pay-to-win or pushy microtransactions
Known game-breaking bugs in the current version
Players and reviewers report frequent crashes, including during dialogue and boss fights, and levels that stop loading after long sessions (Cubed3, Steam Community).

Design today

2.5/5

Controls feel natural on a modern controller or mouse and keyboard
On PC, skills and spells sit on a customizable hotbar and the spacebar handles dodge rolls; full controller support with three preset layouts is also available. Source: cubed3.com, pcgamingwiki.com.
Menus, text or interface are hard to read on today's screens
The quest journal gives little help on side quests, and quest markers on the map are unreliable and sometimes fail to show at all. Source: cubed3.com, gamecritics.com.
Saving is fair: free saves or frequent checkpoints, little lost progress
Manual saves are allowed at any time, though there is no quicksave key, which matters given the frequent crashes, and Scarlett can bring herself back to life after falling in combat. Source: cubed3.com, gamecritics.com.
Hard to make progress without a guide
The journal rarely explains what side quests need, and players report that the quest tracking hides what to do next, sending them to a fan wiki. Source: cubed3.com, steamcommunity.com.
Pacing drags: grind, filler or forced backtracking
The opening hours are a linear corridor of repetitive fights, and once in Venice the pace drops sharply under a pile of fetch and kill side quests. Source: cubed3.com, steamcommunity.com.
Camera or movement fights the player
The camera moves too quickly and often unexpectedly, which makes larger fights, including the final battle, hard to follow, and PC players still note screwy camera angles. Source: gamecritics.com, steamcommunity.com.