Undertale pixel logo in white text on black background with a red heart

Undertale

2015video gameclassic

Published October 4, 2026

Undertale is an indie role-playing game by Toby Fox that launched on September 15th, 2015 after a successful Kickstarter in 20131. The pacifist-friendly combat system, SNES-style sprite work, and emotional soundtrack built one of the most devoted fandoms on Tumblr and Reddit, cemented when it beat Ocarina of Time in a GameFAQs best-game-ever poll2.

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Overview

Undertale drops the player into an underground world of monsters with a bullet-hell style combat screen where every enemy can be spared instead of killed1. The player's choices split the game into three main routes, pacifist, neutral, and genocide, each with wildly different endings and self-aware reactions from characters like the skeleton brothers Sans and Papyrus2. The 8-bit visual style and chiptune-leaning soundtrack, both handled almost entirely by creator Toby Fox, gave the game a look and sound that fans could easily remix into fan art, animations, and music covers1.

As a meme ecosystem, Undertale is less a single joke and more a sprawling fandom shorthand. Characters like Sans, Papyrus, Flowey, and Mettaton became reaction image staples, with lines like Sans' "you're gonna have a bad time" showing up as a reusable warning template3. The pacifist versus genocide moral split also became its own running gag, with players debating runs the way other fandoms argue ships.

Origin & Background

Platform
Kickstarter (crowdfunding) / Tumblr (fandom spread)
Creator
Toby Fox
Date
2015

Undertale was created by Toby Fox, a composer best known for contributing music to the webcomic Homestuck and for the 2009 EarthBound ROM hack Radiation's Halloween Hack3. Fox launched the Kickstarter campaign on June 24th, 2013, with a $5,000 goal that funded in under 24 hours and finished at $51,124 pledged by July 24th1.

After roughly two years of development, Undertale was approved on Steam Greenlight on January 20th, 2015, and released on September 15th, 20151. The game got strong early reception from the /v/ board on 4chan during the beta period and from Let's Play channels like Vinesauce's Joel and Game Grumps' Steam Train who streamed full playthroughs around launch1.

How It Spread

The Undertale fandom erupted on Tumblr in late 2015. The site's official Year in Review ranked Undertale the second most-reblogged video game of 2015, behind only Pokemon, which is striking for a game released in September of that year1. DeviantArt saw over 6,300 Undertale results by October 17th, 2015, and the dedicated subreddit built up thousands of subscribers alongside a wiki that had sat mostly idle since 20131.

In December 2015, GameFAQs ran a bracket poll for "best game ever" spanning multiple console generations. Undertale won the final round against The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time with 57.82% of 156,604 votes1. Let's Play coverage from Vinesauce Joel, Two Best Friends Play, and Game Grumps' Steam Train helped push the game into gaming YouTube circles during the same window2.

On October 31st, 2018, the official @UndertaleTwitter account posted links to deltarune.com with a free executable for a follow-up game, Deltarune1. YouTuber InTheLittleWood's reaction video pulled more than 62,000 views in under 24 hours, reigniting the fandom around the sequel project4.

Timeline

2013-06-24

Toby Fox launches the Undertale Kickstarter, hitting the $5,000 goal in under 24 hours.

2013-07-24

Kickstarter closes at $51,124 pledged, meeting all stretch goals.

2015-01-20

Undertale is approved on Steam Greenlight.

2015-09-15

Undertale is fully released on Steam.

2015-12-15

Undertale wins GameFAQs 'best game ever' poll against Ocarina of Time with 57.82% of 156,604 votes.

2018-10-31

The @UndertaleTwitter account posts the Deltarune follow-up game, with YouTuber InTheLittleWood racking up 62K+ views in under a day.

Frequently Asked Questions