Old School RuneScape
Games review
As of Aug 11, 2026, Old School RuneScape is rated 83% positive on Steam (20,634 reviews).
Opens Old School RuneScape's own site, not a review site.
Is Old School RuneScape worth it in 2026?
An 83% positive rating across 20,634 Steam reviews is a meaningful signal for a game this old, it means OSRS has genuinely earned its reputation, with reviewers consistently pointing to its vast quest content, long-term progression, and faithful classic mechanics as real strengths rather than mere nostalgia. The catch is structural: the game runs on a subscription model, and reviewers flag that membership costs feel steep for a title of this age, which is a legitimate friction point that will determine whether this is worth it before you even log in. Account security failures and poor customer service are a recurring complaint specifically from long-term players, people with a decade or more invested, and losing that account with no meaningful support is a real, documented risk that compounds the longer you play.
Players who want a deep, content-rich MMORPG with deliberate old-school pacing and are willing to pay an ongoing subscription for it.
Recurring complaints about account security breaches paired with poor customer service mean a hacked or wrongly banned account may be gone for good with no recourse, a risk that grows more costly the longer and harder you've played.
ReviewPond's conclusion, drawn only from the verified scores and review themes below. Not a paid or editorial opinion.
Pros
- nostalgic appeal and charm12
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- Life will always be filled with darkness. But as long as you play runescape you don't have to go through the darkness alone. Runescape is a burning light in a cruel and hostile uni...
- 20 years of OSRS and to 20 years more! I first tried OSRS when I was younger and honestly had absolutely no clue what I was doing. Coming back to it as an adult, everything finall...
- Its exactly as I remember it back in the day. With some added features and QoL improvements. But its still true to its nature. This is an old school MMO. There are no quest markers...
- engaging long-term progression10
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- 20 years of OSRS and to 20 years more! I first tried OSRS when I was younger and honestly had absolutely no clue what I was doing. Coming back to it as an adult, everything finall...
- The best MMORPG on the market and it's not even close. I've had my account since the oldschool servers launched in 2013, taken multiple year long breaks, and every time I come back...
- imagine the ADHD gameplay loop of terraria (i need to farm this to be better at farming this so i can get 1/3 pieces of a weapon upgrade) but stretch it out onto a playthrough that...
- vast content and quests8
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- The best MMORPG on the market and it's not even close. I've had my account since the oldschool servers launched in 2013, taken multiple year long breaks, and every time I come back...
- I’ve been playing OSRS since they re-released it and originally had quit because of EOC from being a player since 2005; and it’s just amazing to see how far it has come since then....
- Well I have played it for over 10 years, works on any computer. Lot of content, quests etc.
- faithful classic mechanics7
see reviews +-
- The best MMORPG on the market and it's not even close. I've had my account since the oldschool servers launched in 2013, taken multiple year long breaks, and every time I come back...
- Its exactly as I remember it back in the day. With some added features and QoL improvements. But its still true to its nature. This is an old school MMO. There are no quest markers...
- I’ve been playing OSRS since they re-released it and originally had quit because of EOC from being a player since 2005; and it’s just amazing to see how far it has come since then....
- quality of life improvements5
see reviews +-
- Its exactly as I remember it back in the day. With some added features and QoL improvements. But its still true to its nature. This is an old school MMO. There are no quest markers...
- I’ve been playing OSRS since they re-released it and originally had quit because of EOC from being a player since 2005; and it’s just amazing to see how far it has come since then....
- Please use the Jagex launcher and HDOS or RuneLite. I have 1000+ hours in this game, it's never ending. Best way to play is not here but on a better client to track things like XP...
- responsive developer communication3
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- The best MMORPG on the market and it's not even close. I've had my account since the oldschool servers launched in 2013, taken multiple year long breaks, and every time I come back...
- Absolutely PEAK game. My steam shows less than 1 hour on record but all of my time playing has been through Jagex's browser launcher and now Runelite. I have been playing OG runes...
- 229 Hours on Steam, close to 3k hours in total - The only game you need to quench your autism. Subscription costs keep going up, but Free To Play is pretty fantastic too; One o...
Cons
- account security issues3
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- I have been playing Runescape for more than 15 years and have had plenty of fine memories with the game. I've invested time and money into this game and have always been a faithful...
- 4.5 years of progress gone because of a hacker. Jagex does not care about their real players. So I recommend not bothering. And definitely do not link your steam to your Jagex. The...
- After having an account for 20 years and putting in countless hours. They will lock your account and reject your appeal.
- expensive membership costs3
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- Played RuneScape loyally as I child and still love OSRS to this day. I agree with the negative reviews however that the cost of membership is expensive for such an old game especi...
- 229 Hours on Steam, close to 3k hours in total - The only game you need to quench your autism. Subscription costs keep going up, but Free To Play is pretty fantastic too; One o...
- pay 2 win. Dont even bother playing, if u want to play the full game you have to pay for a subscription, the fact that its not a one time purchase to play this old ass game is cra...
- poor customer service3
see reviews +-
- I have been playing Runescape for more than 15 years and have had plenty of fine memories with the game. I've invested time and money into this game and have always been a faithful...
- After having an account for 20 years and putting in countless hours. They will lock your account and reject your appeal.
- Do not make the mistake of playing this game for any long period of time. the customer service is terrible and will destroy your progress to fit their financial needs with future u...
- steep learning curve3
see reviews +-
- 20 years of OSRS and to 20 years more! I first tried OSRS when I was younger and honestly had absolutely no clue what I was doing. Coming back to it as an adult, everything finall...
- Its exactly as I remember it back in the day. With some added features and QoL improvements. But its still true to its nature. This is an old school MMO. There are no quest markers...
- Old School Runescape is a classic! I've played it on and off over the years. I haven't really played many MMO's but this is my first. It's super easy for me to get on play for a bi...
Themes and quotes are drawn from 40 sampled reviews with text; the scores above reflect all 20.6K ratings. Counts are how many of the sampled reviews mention each point.