Kenshi is one of the most utterly strange games I've ever had the pleasure of playing, and it holds a special place in my heart. It was the impetus behind one of my first-ever published pieces of games writing, which means you can probably blame it—at least in part—for the fact you have to keep reading my yammering on this very website. Thank you, Kenshi, we'll never forgive you.
But Kenshi is strange because it is hostile. Its world does not want you in it, and its systems have many, many layers that can be difficult to get a firm grasp on. It's not the kind of thing I'd put down as a surefire hit. Shows what I know: The devs just announced it's sold 2.3 million copies on Steam alone since it hit in 2018, over double the million copies it had sold back in 2020 (I know, I'm a maths whizz).
