Games Like Emily is Away

Emily is Away Too is a brand new story featuring new characters and multiple different endings. Message your friends, surf the web and choose your path through this branching narrative.

Why similar: Choices Matter 21.2%, Dating Sim 13.5%, Story Rich 12.3%, Simulation 10.7%, Text-Based 9.6%

Why You'll Like It: It is the closest match by far, carrying over the same chat-based branching storytelling and awkward relationship choices with a slightly newer social-media-era presentation.

Emily <3 is a brand new story set on an old-new social media. Customize your facenook profile, send some friend requests and determine the outcome of your senior year.

Why similar: Choices Matter 23%, Dating Sim 14.1%, Story Rich 12.3%, Choose Your Own Adventure 11.6%, Simulation 9.5%

Why You'll Like It: This sequel keeps the series' core appeal of choosing messages in a nostalgic online romance while expanding the social sim elements and multiple outcomes.

‘goth gf’s iPhone’ airdrops you - accept or decline? A love/horror story about life, death, & memes.

Why similar: Choices Matter 31.2%, Visual Novel 21.2%, Romance 18.9%, Story Rich 11.5%, Simulation 5.7%

Why You'll Like It: This free short story also uses online conversation and choice-driven dialogue to deliver an emotional, personal narrative with multiple outcomes.

It’s March of 2020; you were just sent home from college because of the coronavirus, you have a few small regrets, mainly not telling someone how you really feel.

Why similar: Choices Matter 21.8%, Choose Your Own Adventure 17.3%, Romance 17%, Interactive Fiction 12.9%, Simulation 9.5%

Why You'll Like It: Like Emily is Away, it turns texting someone into the whole game, with your replies directly steering a short, intimate branching relationship story.

Who did you kiss that night? Text Your Life is a mobile phone chat simulator that lets you put yourself in the shoes of our protagonist, a female university student with a group of eccentric friends and a love life that has suddenly turned somewhat... complicated.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 20.5%, Choices Matter 12.2%, Dating Sim 12.1%, Romance 11.7%, Story Rich 10.7%

Why You'll Like It: It similarly builds its narrative around message-based interactions, personal choices, and the feeling of managing relationships through a digital interface.

A short talking sim with choices. Get to know Harper over a handful of voice-acted calls and text chats.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 23.5%, Choices Matter 16.2%, Dating Sim 15%, Choose Your Own Adventure 14.7%, Romance 12.7%

Why You'll Like It: It captures a similar one-on-one conversational intimacy by making phone dialogue and response choices the center of the experience.

Fight against & romance the one hunting for your soul in A Date with Death, a romance chat simulator where you date(?) the Grim Reaper himself. Create your own character, decorate your apartment, and chat away with the charming yet dangerous Grim Reaper through text and video calls.

Why similar: Dating Sim 27.7%, Romance 16.6%, Visual Novel 15.5%, Choices Matter 12.1%, Interactive Fiction 8.6%

Why You'll Like It: Its messenger-style presentation and relationship-driven reply choices make it feel like a supernatural but very recognizable descendant of chat-based romance games.

Perfect Tides is a point and click adventure game about the agony and anticipation of being a teen. Set in the year 2000, you follow Mara, an internet-obsessed young writer who lives on a so-called island paradise.

Why similar: Text-Based 21.4%, Romance 18.1%, Retro 17.3%, Story Rich 15.1%, Pixel Graphics 11.3%

Why You'll Like It: Its early-2000s teen setting, internet-heavy presentation, and awkward coming-of-age choices make it an especially strong tonal match.

An interactive story about a painfully introverted college student who must find a way to make some oatmeal in the communal kitchen of her dorm. One simple task, can you help her complete it?

Why similar: Visual Novel 30.3%, Choices Matter 26%, Indie 18.2%, Casual 12%, Simulation 8.1%

Why You'll Like It: It matches the seed's low-stakes, introspective indie storytelling by turning everyday thoughts and choices into the main dramatic engine.

A twenty-dollar bill, four summers, fifteen years, and a one of a kind life. Create an experience that’s all your own in this near-fully customizable visual novel where you grow from childhood to adulthood with the lonely boy next door.

Why similar: Choices Matter 19.1%, Romance 17.6%, Dating Sim 15.3%, Visual Novel 15%, Interactive Fiction 14.3%

Why You'll Like It: It is another highly personalized relationship story where your choices shape tone, closeness, and the arc of a bond over time.

Haru is invited by her old friend Manami to spend a night at the hot springs. All Haru wants to do is enjoy the hot springs like everyone else, but she doesn't want to cause any trouble...

Why similar: Choices Matter 24%, Choose Your Own Adventure 22.4%, Story Rich 16.3%, Visual Novel 15.9%, Simulation 8.7%

Why You'll Like It: This short branching narrative delivers the same kind of small-scale, choice-shaped emotional storytelling that makes Emily is Away memorable.

Marie's Room is a short story exploration game about an unconventional friendship between two classmates. You play as Kelsey, remembering Marie's room as it was twenty years ago. But something’s off. What happened to Marie?

Why similar: Story Rich 64.4%, Indie 14%, Singleplayer 8.9%, Casual 8.3%, Adventure 3.9%

Why You'll Like It: It is another short, intimate indie narrative focused on memory and friendship, with a similarly personal and reflective feel.

The Literature Club is full of cute girls! Will you write the way into their heart? This game is not suitable for children or those who are easily disturbed.

Why similar: Visual Novel 26%, Dating Sim 25.4%, Story Rich 18.9%, Romance 17.9%, Singleplayer 4.6%

Why You'll Like It: It starts from the same accessible free visual-novel space and uses player choices and relationship framing to powerful effect, albeit in a much darker direction.

Experience the stories of Haru, Erika, and Manami, a trio of friends navigating their feelings of love, connection, and just wanting to belong.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 22.1%, Choices Matter 16.9%, Story Rich 15.4%, Visual Novel 13.5%, Choose Your Own Adventure 11.6%

Why You'll Like It: Its connected visual stories focus on sensitive conversations, personal identity, and dialogue choices rather than complex gameplay systems.

After a night of fun, passion, and one too many drinks, you wake up the next morning to find a complete stranger lying naked beside you in bed. What do you do?

Why similar: Choices Matter 22.2%, Interactive Fiction 20.6%, Choose Your Own Adventure 13.7%, Visual Novel 12.7%, Story Rich 10.5%

Why You'll Like It: This is a short, replayable, conversation-heavy relationship game where subtle dialogue decisions lead to sharply different outcomes.

If Found... is a game about going home, coming out and erasing everything.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 28.1%, Visual Novel 22.5%, Story Rich 21.2%, Indie 12.7%, Casual 9.1%

Why You'll Like It: Though more experimental in presentation, it similarly delivers a deeply personal, emotional story about relationships, memory, and identity.

Florence Yeoh feels a little... stuck. Her life is an endless routine of work, sleep, and spending too much time on social media. Then one day, she meets a cello player named Krish who changes everything about how she sees the world and herself.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 22.4%, Romance 19.1%, Story Rich 18.6%, Visual Novel 10.3%, Indie 8.4%

Why You'll Like It: It is another compact, emotionally direct relationship story that focuses on the feeling of a connection rather than traditional gameplay challenge.

In LongStory you can be and date who you choose. Play as the gender of your choice and date the cutie you like best! LongStory is is based on real stories - things that have happened, if not to us, to people we know and love. We hope it is funny, sad, perplexing and wonderful… Just like life.

Why similar: Dating Sim 20.6%, Romance 17.9%, Visual Novel 16.1%, Simulation 13.8%, Story Rich 12.3%

Why You'll Like It: Its school-life setting, texting-heavy teen drama, and player-shaped social outcomes line up well with Emily is Away's coming-of-age appeal.

An interactive horror experience of exploring a missing woman’s phone.

Why similar: Choices Matter 34.7%, Story Rich 23.7%, Visual Novel 20.3%, Simulation 13.7%, Singleplayer 3.5%

Why You'll Like It: This leans into thriller territory, but its phone-interface storytelling and message-driven narrative make it mechanically familiar.

Set out on a cross-country journey to win back the love of your life and endure the hardship of making story-defining choices that affect your life and the lives of those around you.

Why similar: Story Rich 27.6%, Choices Matter 27.5%, Indie 15%, Pixel Graphics 9.4%, Romance 9%

Why You'll Like It: This choice-driven indie narrative is heavier and broader, but it scratches the same itch for messy adulthood, romance, and consequential personal decisions.

NIGHT IN THE WOODS is an adventure game focused on exploration, story, and character, featuring dozens of characters to meet and lots to do across a lush, vibrant world.

Why similar: Choices Matter 34.5%, Story Rich 31%, Visual Novel 17.8%, Singleplayer 6.3%, Funny 4.5%

Why You'll Like It: Players who loved Emily is Away's honest young-adult writing and bittersweet social dynamics will likely connect with its character-driven tone.

VA-11 HALL-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action is a booze em' up about waifus, technology, and post-dystopia life.

Why similar: Choices Matter 26.4%, Story Rich 22.5%, Visual Novel 18.8%, Simulation 10.9%, Pixel Graphics 9.9%

Why You'll Like It: Its appeal comes from talking to people, learning who they are, and shaping the emotional texture of the story through conversation.

A visual novel about emotional survival in an automated world. Play as Lina, the last human cab driver. It’s your first night driving the lonely streets of Los Ojos, and your best friend has just disappeared. Stay on the road. Stay on the search. Stay human.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 32.1%, Choices Matter 27.3%, Story Rich 19.4%, Visual Novel 16.1%, Singleplayer 3.5%

Why You'll Like It: It centers on dialogue choices, reading emotional cues, and shaping relationships through conversation, even if the setting is more futuristic.

Goodbye Volcano High is a cinematic narrative adventure about love, change, and the end of the world. Guide Fang through their final year of high school as they try to make things right before time is up.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 24.6%, Choices Matter 20.6%, Story Rich 17.4%, Choose Your Own Adventure 16.9%, Visual Novel 13.2%

Why You'll Like It: It shares the focus on teen relationships, communication, and emotionally messy choices, just with a more cinematic presentation.

A woman is interviewed seven times by the police. Search the video database and explore hundreds of authentic clips to discover her story in this groundbreaking and award winning narrative game.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 31%, Choose Your Own Adventure 22.7%, Story Rich 15.9%, Visual Novel 13.8%, Simulation 9%

Why You'll Like It: It is less choice-driven, but it offers the same pleasure of piecing together an intimate human story through a convincing digital interface.

A dark visual mystery novel featuring transhumanism, traditional marriage, loneliness, and cosplay. Two pursuable characters. Five endings. Welcome to the future.

Why similar: Visual Novel 46.7%, Interactive Fiction 20.1%, Story Rich 15%, Indie 8.2%, Dating Sim 3.6%

Why You'll Like It: This text-heavy narrative uses a computer-like interface and layered personal storytelling to create a similarly intimate reading experience.

The Red Strings Club is a cyberpunk narrative experience about fate and happiness featuring the extensive use of pottery, bartending and impersonating people on the phone to take down a corporate conspiracy.

Why similar: Choices Matter 34.8%, Story Rich 29.1%, Pixel Graphics 13.6%, Visual Novel 8.6%, Indie 5.3%

Why You'll Like It: Its pixel-art indie style and emphasis on dialogue, emotional manipulation, and character connection make it a good fit for story-first players.

A short and mysterious free point and click adventure game, inspired by the feeling of oddness in an everyday situation.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 42.6%, Story Rich 23.7%, Romance 22.9%, Singleplayer 4%, 2D 2.7%

Trick & Treat is a Visual Novel that test your instincts by making choices that can get you out from the cursed forest or drive you to death… or maybe just maybe your choices can guide you to something more?

Why similar: Visual Novel 34.3%, Romance 17%, Dating Sim 11.6%, Story Rich 9.4%, Simulation 8.4%

A 15 minute heist game by Crows Crows Crows & Directed by William Pugh (The Stanley Parable). Slip into the soft-soled shoes of the mastermind responsible for the greatest heist- oh god I can’t do this any more, i’m joining the strike. good luck writing the steam description. -tina

Why similar: Story Rich 30.7%, Indie 25.5%, Singleplayer 18.1%, Funny 16.1%, Casual 6.6%

Four private lives. One big lie. Search through secretly recorded video conversations to discover the truth. The successor to the acclaimed Her Story.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 31.7%, Choices Matter 21.6%, Story Rich 21.6%, Simulation 12.1%, Indie 6.2%

Why You'll Like It: Like Emily is Away, it turns screens, messages, and mediated communication into the core way you experience relationship drama.

Seize the day

Why similar: Visual Novel 42.5%, Dating Sim 24.9%, Indie 7.8%, Singleplayer 7.1%, Casual 6.2%

Welcome, eager young investor, to AdVenture Capitalist! Arguably the world's greatest Capitalism simulator!

Why similar: Simulation 51.7%, Casual 22%, Funny 17%, 2D 9.3%

A game about never-ending problem of loading screens. We've all experienced it while playing games, while downloading something, while installing an operating system ect. And now you can experience it once again in Loading Screen Simulator: Steam edition

Why similar: Simulation 40.4%, Indie 17.2%, Casual 13.8%, Singleplayer 13.6%, Funny 9.1%

A fly ascends to the skies, pondering the pointlessness of its brief existence.

Why similar: Indie 39.8%, Simulation 25.4%, Casual 17.8%, Singleplayer 12%, Adventure 2.5%

Lost in a weird city in the middle of the desert and surrounded by strange creatures that keep staring at you. This is a game about exploring the unknown and solving puzzles... lots of them! Don't be fooled by the looks, this isn't a point & click adventure.

Why similar: Pixel Graphics 41.6%, Indie 25.9%, Casual 12.8%, Singleplayer 8.6%, Adventure 7.6%

“A story about cat girls … with bite.” Nekos have evolved in the shadows of human society. Beautiful. Mysterious. Chaotic. And now, three of them live with you. Will you be able to get past the stigma and grow closer to them? OmOneko is a tale of cat and mouse... and rats.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 18.2%, Choose Your Own Adventure 13.7%, Choices Matter 12.4%, Romance 10.8%, Dating Sim 10.7%

Relive the days of the early internet and dive into this fictional video game era, where the 'Kinmoku Shark’ gaming system and its online social network 'Videoverse' were still popular…

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 19.3%, Choices Matter 13.9%, Story Rich 12.3%, Choose Your Own Adventure 11.2%, Retro 9.6%

A machine ponders its loneliness. It scans the radio spectrum for an answer to its question.

Why similar: Indie 37.3%, Casual 30.5%, Singleplayer 19.6%, Adventure 7.2%, 2D 5.5%

Border of her Heart is a VN about Border control.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 19.2%, Choose Your Own Adventure 14.8%, Choices Matter 12.9%, Dating Sim 11.2%, Romance 9.3%

With your final build missing, and only till the end of the night to publish his game, Warren must take up the difficult adventure to make a new build before the end of the night through whatever means necessary. Join Warren's quest to publish his title before the end of the night and become an indie dev.

Why similar: Indie 46.6%, Funny 16.4%, Singleplayer 14.9%, Adventure 13.5%, Casual 8.7%

Immerse yourself in romantic visual stories where you control what happens!

Why similar: Choices Matter 20%, Choose Your Own Adventure 19.8%, Romance 19.1%, Visual Novel 15.3%, Simulation 11.7%

The Way of Life makes the player relive the same life's experiences from the point of view of three characters of different ages: an adult, an old man and a child.

Why similar: Simulation 27.9%, Story Rich 26.1%, Indie 21.6%, Singleplayer 16.4%, Adventure 5.8%

Only If is a surreal first person adventure-puzzle game. It takes idiom into reality.

Why similar: Indie 29.7%, Singleplayer 21.2%, Simulation 16.6%, Adventure 14.9%, Horror 8.7%

This short Visual novel can be considered as a little introductory episode of the game Elisa the innkeeper. Enjoy our Art and Soundtrack as you begin to shape Elisa's destiny for the better or the worse!

Why similar: Choices Matter 27.2%, Romance 18.1%, Visual Novel 17.3%, Dating Sim 11.1%, Story Rich 10.6%

An immersive MMORPG-simulation chatroom based romance / otome visual novel. You are the leader of a raiding guild in the world's hottest MMORPG, Emberfate. Will you lead your guild to success in the newest raid — and perhaps find love along the way among your guildmates?

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 19.3%, Choices Matter 13.7%, Choose Your Own Adventure 13.2%, Dating Sim 12.2%, Visual Novel 9.2%

404Sight is a free game made in support of net neutrality. It’s a 3D playground runner influenced by parkour running with the addition of a special ping ability that reveals areas that can speed the player up or slow them down.

Why similar: Indie 81.2%, Singleplayer 18.8%

Upon answering a mysterious phone call, you awaken in an unfamiliar place filled with new faces… Through intricate relationships and thoughtful introspection, will you be able to unravel the reason you are here?

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 19.5%, Choose Your Own Adventure 15.3%, Dating Sim 13.1%, Choices Matter 12.8%, Romance 11.8%

A visual novel about a memory that a boy named Mark tries very hard to forget, and a girl named Myra who unearths it.

Why similar: Romance 19.1%, Dating Sim 17.8%, Story Rich 17.7%, Text-Based 15.7%, Visual Novel 15.7%

Play as a farmer who struggles to manage a failing farm. You come to a point where there is no more hope, and you must do something.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 25.9%, Choose Your Own Adventure 24.4%, Visual Novel 16.8%, Simulation 12.7%, Story Rich 10.8%

Discover 'Departed Away,' a captivating visual novel where friendship intertwines with mystery. Uncover secrets, engage in verbal duels, and make choices that shape your story. Delve into emotional depth and intricate connections in this unique story.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 19.5%, Choices Matter 15.1%, Dating Sim 14.5%, Story Rich 13.6%, Visual Novel 12.6%

A short lesbian / yuri visual novel set in England. Our heroine, Toma Andrews, meets a ghost girl wearing an old-fashioned nightgown in a graveyard who calls herself Emmeline. Just who is she, and how did she die?

Why similar: Visual Novel 27.4%, Romance 19.9%, Story Rich 18.8%, Text-Based 10%, Indie 8.1%

Explore Mandagon, a world inspired by Tibetan theology and philosophy. With a focus on life and death, discover what it means to make a true sacrifice . . .

Why similar: Pixel Graphics 27.9%, Story Rich 25.5%, Indie 19.7%, Singleplayer 7.1%, Adventure 6.9%

Your Pocket-Sized Dating Simulator! Every launch brings a new date with unique dialogues! Spend endless hours with your adorable, love-struck virtual girlfriend.

Why similar: Dating Sim 25.8%, Visual Novel 21.8%, Romance 19%, Simulation 11.3%, Retro 6.3%

Can you think twice in under a second?

Why similar: Indie 41.5%, Singleplayer 29%, Retro 16.3%, Casual 11.2%, 2D 2%

A dark/sad/weird/funny first person exploration game. You play a man on his last night alive as he obsesses over a mysterious painting. More of a story game in that it emphasizes mood and character over gameplay. Takes ten minutes to play and has "next-gen" features like a shrimp tank.

Why similar: Indie 52.5%, Singleplayer 22%, Horror 13.3%, Adventure 12.1%

You Have to Win the Game is a free exploration platformer with a retro 1980s PC aesthetic.

Why similar: Retro 55.5%, Indie 15.5%, Pixel Graphics 14.6%, Singleplayer 8%, 2D 4.2%

The story takes place after school, when Willie decides to confess his love to the girl of his dreams, Liza. Afraid of being refused, he hesitated for a while. Should he summon up his courage and confess his love to her?

Why similar: Romance 29.9%, Story Rich 20.3%, Visual Novel 13.1%, Pixel Graphics 10.4%, Indie 10.3%