Features
Sniper Dan was made by Denki, the Dundee studio behind Autonauts, and published by PQube. If that pairing sounds strange — the people who made a gentle game about teaching robots to farm have now made a game about solving village problems with a sniper rifle — the studio’s actual history makes it look less like a swerve and more like the thing Denki has always done.
Sniper Dan released on 17 September 2026 and entered the Steam 250 seven-day chart at #45, scoring 7.24 from 67 reviews at 94% positive. It lists at $12.99, currently discounted to $10.39.
Who Denki are
Denki was founded in January 2000 in Dundee, Scotland, by Colin Anderson, Stewart Graham, Aaron Puzey and David Jones, all of whom had worked at DMA Design — the Dundee studio responsible for Lemmings and the original Grand Theft Auto, later renamed Rockstar North. The studio has been operating for more than 26 years, which makes it older than most of the publishers currently on the Steam front page.
| Year | Game | Platform |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Denki Blocks! | Sky Gamestar, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance |
| 2002 | Go! Go! Beckham! | Game Boy Advance |
| 2008 | InQuizitor | Game-based learning tool |
| 2011 / 2012 | Quarrel | iOS, then Xbox Live Arcade |
| 2019 | Autonauts | PC / Steam, published by Curve Digital |
| 2022 | Autonauts vs Piratebots | PC / Steam |
| 2026 | Sniper Dan | PC / Steam, published by PQube |
The through-line is the puzzle, not the subject
Look past the subject matter and Denki has spent 26 years making the same kind of thing: a simple rule set that produces complicated situations. Denki Blocks! was a sliding puzzle where identically coloured blocks moved together and fused. Quarrel was a word game crossed with territorial conquest. Autonauts asked you to program worker robots by demonstration, which is a puzzle game wearing a colony sim’s clothes.
Sniper Dan fits that line exactly. You are given a cryptic clue rather than a list of objects, and you have to work out what is actually wrong in a scene before you can find it. The rifle is not a weapon in this game; it is a pointing device with a zoom, a steadying problem and one committed input. That is a puzzle interface, and it belongs to the same studio that thought a sliding block puzzle should teach you about fusion.
Why the rifle joke works mechanically
Hidden object games have one structural flaw: once you know where the thing is, the scene is finished forever. Denki’s answer is to hide the problem rather than the object, and to let solutions change between playthroughs. The 160-plus jobs across six 3D locations are therefore not 160 static scenes but a set of scenes that can be re-posed — which is the only way a game like this survives contact with a second session.
What Autonauts players should know before buying
Sniper Dan is not Autonauts. There is no automation, no programming layer, and no open-ended base to optimise. If what you loved about Autonauts was building a self-running machine and watching it work, that specific pleasure is absent here.
What carries over is the tone: unhurried, funny, low-stakes, and built around comprehension rather than reflexes. It is a family-friendly game about fixing rusty taps and stopping a thieving pelican. Buy it for the humour and the puzzles, not for the systems.
The honest caveat
At 67 reviews, Sniper Dan’s 94% positive score is real but thin — that is a sample small enough that a dozen unhappy buyers would move it noticeably. The game is also new enough that nobody has reported on how well the “dynamic solutions” claim holds up over all 160 jobs, which is the single feature the game’s replay value rests on. We have not been able to verify the depth of that variation independently.
Frequently asked questions
Who made Sniper Dan?
Sniper Dan was developed by Denki, an independent studio based in Dundee, Scotland, and published by PQube. It released on Steam on 17 September 2026.
Is Sniper Dan made by the Autonauts developer?
Yes. Denki developed both Autonauts, released in 2019 with publisher Curve Digital, and its 2022 sequel Autonauts vs Piratebots.
How much does Sniper Dan cost?
Sniper Dan lists at 12.99 dollars on Steam and is currently discounted 20 percent to 10.39 dollars as of 20 September 2026.
Is Sniper Dan a violent game?
No. It is described as family-friendly, and the sniper rifle is used to fix objects and solve problems rather than to harm anyone. The Steam store page carries no content descriptors.
How long is Sniper Dan?
The game contains more than 160 jobs across six locations, plus optional work, boss jobs, three minigames and extra modes including Time Attack, Ammo Hunt and Snapshot Mode.
How old is Denki?
Denki was founded in January 2000 in Dundee, Scotland, making it more than 26 years old as of 2026. Its founders previously worked at DMA Design.
Sources and citation
- Sniper Dan Steam store page — developer, publisher, price and release date
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2841650/ - Denki studio history, founding date, founders and game list
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denki - MCV/DEVELOP on Curve Digital publishing Denki’s Autonauts
https://www.mcvuk.com/curve-digital-to-publish-denkis-autonauts-on-pc-later-this-year/ - The Scottish Games Network on the Autonauts launch
https://scottishgames.net/2019/10/18/out-now-autonauts-denki/ - Steam 250 seven-day chart, where Sniper Dan entered at #45
https://steam250.com/7day
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