Games Like Minerva (2015)

Dear Esther immerses you in a stunningly realised world, a remote and desolate island somewhere in the outer Hebrides. As you step forwards, a voice begins to read fragments of a letter: 'Dear Esther...' - and so begins a journey through one of the most original first-person games of recent years.

Why similar: Walking Simulator 19.1%, Interactive Fiction 14.3%, Horror 7.6%, Psychological Horror 7.6%, Exploration 7.2%

A short horror experience taking place in a dream or a memory.

Why similar: Cinematic 27.6%, Walking Simulator 24.1%, Horror 16.2%, Psychological Horror 8.5%, Exploration 8%

Reality fractures within a house that feels hauntingly familiar. Ling House: Echoes Within is a first-person psychological horror. Navigate a shifting, non-Euclidean villa to uncover the tragedy hidden in the walls. In a place that defies logic, the greatest threat may be your own memory.

Why similar: Walking Simulator 24.1%, Cinematic 21.9%, Psychological Horror 15.9%, Horror 12.9%, First-Person 7.1%

Fragments of Dread is an episodic psychological horror series. Each episode tells a self-contained story of dread, fear, and survival.

Why similar: Walking Simulator 19.8%, Interactive Fiction 12.9%, Psychological Horror 12.5%, Horror 12.1%, Cinematic 11.5%

DREAM LOGIC is a story driven first-person atmospheric horror game which takes place in liminal spaces. Explore various nostalgic, dreamlike, uncanny environments. But don't feel too safe, there's a sneaky creature watching your every move.

Why similar: Walking Simulator 17.2%, Psychological Horror 13.1%, Horror 12.4%, Mystery 8.3%, Exploration 8.3%

A first-person psychological horror game set in a childhood home. Explore, uncover four days of missing memory, and survive something that has been listening since you arrived.

Why similar: Walking Simulator 20.6%, Interactive Fiction 14.3%, Psychological Horror 14.1%, Horror 12.8%, Cinematic 11.1%

Set against the backdrop of a Japanese-style townscape reminiscent of Gion, this exploration-based horror game involves searching for “anomalies” and offering prayers. A work dedicated to those who feel bored with their daily lives.

Why similar: Walking Simulator 22.2%, Interactive Fiction 18.8%, Cinematic 15.8%, Exploration 7.4%, Horror 7%

A psychological exploration through a liminal dreamscape: no guides, no paths, just you and small environmental mysteries.

Why similar: Walking Simulator 22.1%, Interactive Fiction 20.3%, Cinematic 12.2%, Exploration 11.3%, Psychological Horror 9.1%

A first-person psychological horror set in a decaying hotel that does not want to let you leave. Explore a dark, interconnected environment where sound, lighting, and subtle details drive a slow, relentless sense of dread. You are moving forward, whether you want to or not.

Why similar: Cinematic 25.7%, Horror 17.5%, Walking Simulator 17.3%, Psychological Horror 13.2%, First-Person 9.3%

You find yourself in an abandoned military town, from which all its inhabitants have disappeared due to unexplained circumstances. You will need to find out what happened, but unexplained phenomena will occur during the investigation. This journey will change the main character forever.

Why similar: Cinematic 24.1%, Walking Simulator 12.4%, Psychological Horror 9.2%, Horror 8.3%, Exploration 8.1%

Isolated in a forgotten Canadian forest, you must unravel the truth behind E.C.H.O. Track down lost cassettes, solve cryptic puzzles, and evade the creatures lurking in the fog. Piece together the secrets of a defunct organization.

Why similar: Walking Simulator 14.9%, Horror 14.1%, Psychological Horror 13.2%, Investigation 9.4%, Exploration 8.5%

Someone slipped a mysterious videotape under your door... Do you dare watch it?!

Why similar: Cinematic 22.9%, Walking Simulator 21.7%, Horror 13.7%, Psychological Horror 13%, First-Person 8%

Delve into a dark tale marked by an ancient curse. Explore a forgotten cabin, uncover the truth behind Henrietta Morrigan, and confront a presence that should never have been awakened. Every secret revealed brings you closer to the darkness… and to your destiny.

Why similar: Walking Simulator 17%, Psychological Horror 15.6%, Horror 14.1%, Cinematic 13.9%, First-Person 8.7%

Lying Souls is an atmospheric, mysterious single player story horror game. You'll dive into a story in which nothing is as it seems. Find out the reasons behind what happened to your family back then. Your decisions will guide the course of the story.

Why similar: Walking Simulator 21.1%, Interactive Fiction 14.6%, Horror 12.1%, Psychological Horror 10%, Linear 9.2%

Late night. A young man called Sam is home alone. He finds a mystical book that takes him into a world of horror stories that come alive. Start reading, but you must not break the most important rule. Once you have started the book, you must finish it!

Why similar: Cinematic 22.4%, Walking Simulator 20.1%, Horror 11.6%, Psychological Horror 8.4%, Exploration 7.9%

Backrooms: Reminiscence is a single-player horror game where you experience something unexpected, and now you're left all alone in the cold world of The Backrooms.

Why similar: Horror 18.1%, Walking Simulator 18%, Cinematic 17.8%, Psychological Horror 15.8%, Exploration 6.5%

You're stuck in an endlessly looping hallway, but every time you enter it, something seems to be different. Try to spot everything that isn't supposed to be there, but most of all, make sure to get out alive.

Why similar: Cinematic 25.4%, Walking Simulator 17.3%, Horror 13.4%, Psychological Horror 12.9%, Mystery 5.9%

A psychological first-person horror about a house that hides a disturbing truth beneath its walls. Explore, uncover fragments of the past, and decide whether to confront what lies below… or leave it buried forever.

Why similar: Walking Simulator 19.4%, Cinematic 17.7%, Psychological Horror 12.2%, Horror 11.9%, Linear 8.2%

The Gap is a short first-person horror experience taking place in a ghostly abandoned house on a lonely street corner.

Why similar: Walking Simulator 21.4%, Cinematic 20.3%, Horror 14.2%, Psychological Horror 11.3%, Exploration 8.4%

The Butcher's Village is a psychological slasher horror game that provides a horrifying experience. Explore unsettling environments, solve intricate puzzles, and struggle to survive in a village that is at once eerily familiar and terrifyingly real.

Why similar: Walking Simulator 22.9%, Cinematic 19.2%, Psychological Horror 14.1%, Horror 13.1%, Exploration 6.9%

LiDAR Exploration Program is a relaxing atmospheric game with light horror elements, where you explore in complete darkness using a scanner to reveal the world around you.

Why similar: Walking Simulator 23.1%, Horror 16%, Psychological Horror 14.9%, Exploration 10.4%, First-Person 8.5%

Dead On Arrival: Remastered is an atmospheric horror-puzzle game. Uncover the true consequences of one’s actions. A remastered version of the original classic!

Why similar: Cinematic 23.9%, Walking Simulator 18.7%, Horror 13.4%, Psychological Horror 12.9%, Exploration 8.4%

From the creators of Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Dear Esther comes a new first-person horrorgame that will drag you to the depths of greed, power and madness. It will bury its snout into your ribs and it will eat your heart.

Why similar: Walking Simulator 37.5%, Horror 22.1%, Interactive Fiction 8.6%, Psychological Horror 6.8%, Mystery 4.9%

A cinematic horror experience based on exploration.

Why similar: Walking Simulator 29.8%, Cinematic 29.8%, Horror 13.1%, Exploration 10.1%, First-Person 5.9%

Exit 13 Gallery Escape is a psychological horror game where you are trapped in a gallery on the 13th floor of a building. Your only hope is to find the exit and reach the 1st floor, but every time you do, you end up in the same gallery again and again.

Why similar: Cinematic 20.9%, Walking Simulator 19.7%, Psychological Horror 12.4%, Horror 12.1%, Investigation 9.1%

Experience Will's complicated story, find a way out of the nightmare of liminal spaces by solving challenging puzzles and avoiding dangerous entities — all this awaits you in "Shifting To The Backrooms".

Why similar: Walking Simulator 18.4%, Horror 14.2%, Cinematic 14.2%, Psychological Horror 12.9%, First-Person 8.3%

INVARIANT is a first-person psychological horror game. Step into the shattered mind of a mathematician. Rely on your destructive addiction to bend reality, explore ever-changing environments, and hide from the terrifying manifestations of your grief. Truth and lies are a sip apart.

Why similar: Walking Simulator 25.5%, Psychological Horror 16.7%, Cinematic 15%, Horror 12.2%, First-Person 6.3%

Investigate a mysterious old museum as an agent of the Anomalous Research Bureau. Identify strange anomalies, file accurate reports, and endure the nights until your investigation is complete.

Why similar: Walking Simulator 21.6%, Investigation 14.2%, Psychological Horror 13.6%, Horror 11.3%, Mystery 8.8%

The following is a series of tapes recovered near the Overlook National Park where four people were recently reported missing- a family of three and one motorist.

Why similar: Walking Simulator 22.4%, Cinematic 20.2%, Horror 14.1%, Psychological Horror 12.5%, Exploration 9.8%

You wake up to find yourself standing before an old house. The painful memories buried deep within your heart suddenly return. You don’t remember it well, but you used to live here. This is where it happened.

Why similar: Walking Simulator 25.9%, Horror 18.4%, Psychological Horror 16.1%, First-Person 9.2%, Mystery 6.5%

Every light you replace makes the house a little brighter. But something inside prefers to live in the dark. And now, it knows you’re here.

Why similar: Walking Simulator 20.9%, Investigation 14.5%, Horror 10.6%, Psychological Horror 10.2%, Exploration 9.1%

Constitución, CABA. 3 AM. You leave a party, feeling defeated because the girl you liked didn't even look at you. You go to wait for the last "39" bus of that night. You try to stop it, but it goes straight away. Tomorrow you have the exam that defines whether you graduate or not. Good luck.

Why similar: Cinematic 17.3%, Horror 15.6%, Psychological Horror 13.9%, Walking Simulator 13.6%, First-Person 11.8%

Unhomely is a retro-inspired first person psychological indie horror game. You play a journalist who has 3 days alone in a reclusive tech CEO's cabin to get the exclusive on his new project and save your career.

Why similar: Walking Simulator 18.2%, Investigation 11%, Psychological Horror 10.8%, Horror 10.6%, Interactive Fiction 10.2%

A 3D First Person Psychological Horror Game. Discover the anomalies in the house to find Him. This is a very challenging hide and seek game.

Why similar: Walking Simulator 19.7%, Cinematic 15.9%, Psychological Horror 11.6%, Horror 11.4%, Investigation 8%

Lost August is a single-player open-world walking simulator game based on the concept of liminal spaces and the backrooms. Experience a dream-like world through the lens of a VHS camera as you explore the contents of a recently discovered video tape.

Why similar: Walking Simulator 24.6%, Cinematic 18.9%, Psychological Horror 11.5%, Exploration 9.7%, First-Person 8.6%

The Last Departure is an atmospheric horror game set aboard the final run of a closing train line. Find your way out or loop forever.

Why similar: Horror 17.2%, Cinematic 15.9%, Psychological Horror 15%, Interactive Fiction 12%, Walking Simulator 9.6%

Uncover your grandfather's sinister experiments in "Shattered Reflections." Dive into a twisted Mirror Realm, face every-minute terrors, collect Soul Essence, and shape your fate. Are you ready for a psychological descent into darkness?

Why similar: Cinematic 21.7%, Walking Simulator 18.4%, Horror 11.9%, Psychological Horror 11%, First-Person 6.5%

A slow-burning first-person adventure where a mysterious narrator guides your choices through a dreamlike world of grief, symbols and secrets.

Why similar: Cinematic 25.8%, Walking Simulator 24%, Psychological Horror 9%, Exploration 8.7%, First-Person 7.4%

A hyper-realistic bodycam survival horror experience. Navigate through eerie, abandoned locations where the line between reality and nightmare blurs. Built on Unreal Engine, every sound, shadow, and step immerses you deeper into a world of terror. Will you survive what lies behind the veil?

Why similar: Cinematic 27.1%, Interactive Fiction 19%, Horror 12.2%, Psychological Horror 11%, Exploration 9.1%

You have arrived in a forest where people are rumored to disappear and strange things happen... Locals often see bright flashes and hear strange sounds...

Why similar: Cinematic 22.7%, Walking Simulator 20.8%, Horror 12.9%, Psychological Horror 12.4%, Mystery 7.2%

Your first assignment alone. An island where no one has lived for thirty years. A lighthouse that stopped shining. The job was only supposed to take a few hours.

Why similar: Horror 18.2%, Psychological Horror 15.8%, Interactive Fiction 12.2%, Walking Simulator 10.5%, Exploration 9.1%

Ninehells is a psychological horror first person single player, with an unraveling mystery, enriched with voice acting, and has virtual haunted attraction feeling. You play as Davie a man trying to remember his past while traveling though Hell. Play and find out what in the ninehells is going on!

Why similar: Walking Simulator 23%, Psychological Horror 15.2%, Horror 11.8%, First-Person 10.1%, Exploration 8.4%

[Data Expunged], Eastern Bloc, September ██th, 19██A narrative discovery walking game. Slow paced and might get scary at times. (Cozy horror, if you will...) Walk through a soviet hotel. Knock at every door. Hold staring contests with paintings. But don't ever look into a mirror for too long...

Why similar: Walking Simulator 25.7%, Interactive Fiction 15%, Psychological Horror 13.3%, Horror 11.9%, Linear 8.3%

Tapes of Entities is a first-person psychological survival horror game. Roam between realities of fear, madness & machinery. Solve puzzles, explore an atmospheric world, survive horrifying entities.

Why similar: Walking Simulator 22.2%, Interactive Fiction 19.9%, Exploration 10.9%, Horror 9.9%, Psychological Horror 9.3%

You are the last operator of a remote radio station. A storm is distorting reality. You monitor transmissions. You file reports. Then a voice cuts through the static. Not yours. Not possible. Something is listening back. You answered. You shouldn’t have.

Why similar: Walking Simulator 20.7%, Interactive Fiction 17%, Psychological Horror 13.1%, Linear 9.9%, Horror 9.9%

The doctor said today was my last appointment, I'm healthy. Time to go home, what could go wrong?

Why similar: Walking Simulator 22.7%, Cinematic 17.9%, Psychological Horror 13.5%, Horror 13.1%, Exploration 8.4%

NOT your typical simulator! A surreal and dark descent into human psyche, burnout and the horror of the working culture. Work fast while escaping the monsters roaming these eerie spaces. There are no texts or dialogs in this game, putting raw feelings, abstraction and environment storytelling first.

Why similar: Walking Simulator 24.3%, Psychological Horror 15.1%, Horror 11.1%, Exploration 9.1%, Cinematic 7.7%

I Can See You is a riveting first-person horror game based on real home invasion stories. With ultra-realistic graphics and a minimalist UI, it offers a heart-racing survival experience. Navigate a terrifying environment, make critical choices, and outwit an unseen enemy.

Why similar: Walking Simulator 18.7%, Interactive Fiction 15.8%, Horror 9.4%, Investigation 9.1%, Psychological Horror 9%

There's one rule on the office stairwell: do not look back. The darkness follows – and with every mistake, it draws closer. A surreal horror about the power of rules over the human soul

Why similar: Walking Simulator 20.4%, Cinematic 16.4%, Horror 13.1%, Psychological Horror 9%, Mystery 8.5%

The Dark Gift is a horror game about Christmas and New Year.

Why similar: Cinematic 23%, Walking Simulator 20.9%, Horror 12.9%, Psychological Horror 12.4%, Linear 9.2%

A new home. A new family. A nightmare waiting inside. Adopted into a new family, Maria soon realizes she was never meant to feel safe there.

Why similar: Cinematic 26.7%, Horror 18%, Psychological Horror 15.8%, Walking Simulator 15.7%, Exploration 7%

Exploration. Silence. Echoes. Wander a shifting pyramid where rooms change and reality bends. No monsters, just atmosphere, isolation, and subtle unease. Uncanny, immersive, and unsettling. Solve light environmental puzzles across 8 levels. Experience the pyramid alone - empty, yet somehow present.

Why similar: Walking Simulator 27.6%, Psychological Horror 14.4%, Cinematic 13.8%, Relaxing 7.1%, Exploration 6.9%

A short horror-experience made by a solo developer. Explore the abandoned Fox Pines park in search of your missing brother—but something is out here with you. Follow the trail he left behind, and track him down...if you can survive.

Why similar: Walking Simulator 28%, Horror 18.5%, Psychological Horror 14.9%, Exploration 11.3%, First-Person 10.2%

A narrative driven first-person thriller that bridges the past with the present.

Why similar: Cinematic 21%, Walking Simulator 20.7%, Mystery 9.6%, Horror 7.8%, Exploration 7.3%

You are trapped in a corridor suspended above the clouds. At the end lies a door. Explore the ever-changing environment each time you open it, find anomalies, use the alarm, and break the loop.

Why similar: Walking Simulator 23.3%, Psychological Horror 14.3%, Horror 11.3%, Exploration 8.8%, Linear 8.1%

A first-person psychological horror game focused on observation, anomaly detection, and meaningful choices that lead to multiple endings inside a house filled with forgotten memories.

Why similar: Walking Simulator 21.1%, Cinematic 13.1%, Psychological Horror 12.6%, Horror 10.1%, Interactive Fiction 8.9%

Investigate a family’s gruesome fate, communicate using your microphone to uncover the truth, and hide from the spirit. Film the whole experience in your camcorder for the world to see.

Why similar: Cinematic 26.4%, Horror 14.2%, Investigation 13.6%, Psychological Horror 12.9%, Mystery 9.8%

You are the newest member of a forest cult. Complete assigned rituals, obey their rules, and uncover the forest’s unsettling secrets. Every step is watched.

Why similar: Walking Simulator 23.7%, Psychological Horror 17.1%, Horror 16.2%, First-Person 7.6%, Adventure 7.4%

A first-person psychological horror set in rural Finland, where isolation and unsettling encounters slowly turn your housekeeping job into something far more disturbing.

Why similar: Cinematic 20%, Horror 12.3%, Psychological Horror 11.4%, Walking Simulator 11.3%, Interactive Fiction 9.6%

Shift realities with the flick of a light switch and plunge into the grotesque to uncover your family's twisted past. A psychological horror game where you must balance the light you need to progress with the terrifying nightmares it summons.

Why similar: Cinematic 21.2%, Walking Simulator 18.8%, Horror 12.7%, Psychological Horror 9.5%, Exploration 7.6%