Zoroarts just dropped the receipts and Steam's refund policy is taking the L. Paddle Paddle Paddle — that co-op paddle rage game with lava and friendship-ending mechanics — hit Very Positive reviews (around 1,381 total, 89-90% positive) but still ate a 21% refund rate, clocking over 55,000 refunds from players who speedran or finished the ~4-hour intended experience in under two hours. The dev called it out on X with screenshots of reviews literally saying "GREAT GAME, finished within 1:40 hrs (refunded)," proving the bitesize title got the praise but the wallet still got yeeted back.

Dude planned for medium-length sessions (demo was 40 mins, full game ~3.5-4 hours) but speedrunners and cracked gamers turned it into a free demo speedrun meta, complete with insulting comments like "make a game longer than 2 hours." Response is mixed — some want clearer playtime labels on store pages (which Zoroarts suggested as a fix), others shrug and say Valve ain't changing it. Valve's own TOS calls refund abuse a no-go for free games, but enforcement? N/A vibes.

This ain't about the game sucking — community loves the chaos and co-op salt. It's about short-form indies getting punished by a policy built for 40-hour epics while viral bitesize bangers like this one sell big then watch the refunds roll in. PC gamers really out here hating on anything under marathon length.