Games Like Minerva

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: Interactive Fiction 13.8%, Investigation 10.3%, Exploration 8%, First-Person 7.6%, Horror 7.5%

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: Investigation 13.9%, Horror 13.1%, Psychological Horror 12.1%, First-Person 10.1%, Exploration 8.7%

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: Psychological Horror 12.6%, Mystery 12.5%, Horror 12.1%, Exploration 8.9%, Investigation 8.2%

Hey Dad, this might be a bit strange, but I’ve made a game for you. It’s about you and me, and the walks we used to take. Could you let me know what you think once you’ve finished it? - Junebug

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 15.9%, Psychological Horror 10.5%, First-Person 10.1%, Exploration 9.4%, Horror 9.4%

A first-person horror puzzle game about solving cryptic puzzles and surviving a deadly night inside an abandoned drive-in theater.

Why similar: Investigation 17.2%, Psychological Horror 16.9%, Horror 15.3%, First-Person 12.4%, Mystery 9.9%

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: Investigation 16.7%, Mystery 10.2%, Psychological Horror 10.1%, Horror 10.1%, Interactive Fiction 9.3%

Beneath the Frost is a short, single-player, psychological horror game set on a frozen, desolate planet. You take on the role of the sole survivor of a spacecraft crash, using a robot companion to gather parts for an SOS device while uncovering an eerie mystery that suggests they may not be alone.

Why similar: Investigation 22.9%, Psychological Horror 13.5%, Mystery 13.4%, Exploration 9.8%, Horror 9.7%

In Don’t Remember, some things are better left forgotten. Fight your amnesia in this atmospheric, first person psychological horror game. Solve the mystery of the old mansion in 1900’s England through the use of your lantern’s various colors and face its hidden grotesque visage.

Why similar: Psychological Horror 18%, Horror 16.8%, Investigation 12.4%, Mystery 10.5%, First-Person 8.4%

Investigate the murder of a famous streamer and find out who the killer is, but beware of people who don't like you meddling.

Why similar: Mystery 19.7%, Psychological Horror 19.5%, Investigation 16.8%, First-Person 12.9%, Exploration 11.7%

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: Investigation 22.8%, Horror 10.4%, Psychological Horror 9.9%, Exploration 9.9%, First-Person 9.5%

Purgatorial Learning drags you deep into dreams and nightmares that weave through each other, capturing you into its otherworldly web. Explore this nightmare, find the cracks within and escape from a dream that isn't yours!

Why similar: Investigation 21.8%, Psychological Horror 11%, Mystery 10.7%, Interactive Fiction 10.3%, Horror 9.7%

On April Fool’s Day, the protagonist is caught in eerie supernatural events! As you investigate, uncover the truth behind a past tragedy. Explore chilling scenes, solve mysteries, and face unknown fears—can you survive?

Why similar: Horror 19.9%, Psychological Horror 15.8%, Mystery 15.7%, Puzzle 8.8%, Adventure 7.8%

Trapped in an endless Roman corridor, you must observe carefully, solve eerie puzzles, and survive horrors in this roguelite puzzle-adventure.

Why similar: Investigation 22.7%, Mystery 11.3%, Psychological Horror 10.2%, First-Person 10.2%, Horror 8.2%

Voice from Beyond is a short, first-person exploration game. You have crashed an old WW2 fighter plane somewhere in the mountains. The place is abandoned, but there are some strange activities in the area. Search the place and find what is going on. It is a route to your rescue.

Why similar: Investigation 21.3%, First-Person 14.5%, Horror 12.5%, Mystery 12.2%, Adventure 9.5%

You wake up in your familiar home, only to find yourself completely locked inside. Search for clues, evade an unknown presence, and piece together forgotten memories... In this confined space, the real terror is only just beginning. A intense 30-minute psychological horror experience.

Why similar: Horror 18.8%, Psychological Horror 17%, Mystery 14%, Adventure 9.2%, Puzzle 8.8%

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: Interactive Fiction 14.6%, Horror 12.6%, Mystery 11.6%, Psychological Horror 10.3%, First-Person 9.4%

Children have been vanishing while playing with the brand new Room2Room handheld gaming system. You have been contracted to monitor playtest sessions, document any unwanted quirks, and help young testers play safely.

Why similar: Investigation 19.6%, Interactive Fiction 15.2%, Horror 12.3%, Mystery 10.5%, Psychological Horror 9.6%

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 18.4%, Psychological Horror 15.7%, Interactive Fiction 11.9%, Mystery 11.2%, First-Person 11.2%

Apartment 203: HongKong is a first-person horror adventure game set in the urban landscape of Hong Kong. The story follows a young man who returns from abroad to investigate his sister's mysterious disappearance by moving into her former residence in an old tenement building.

Why similar: Horror 19.5%, Mystery 16.8%, Psychological Horror 16.7%, Puzzle 9.4%, Exploration 8.2%

In this third installment of the popular RHEM series of intricate pure-puzzle first-person adventure games, the adventures of brothers Kales and Zetais continue in the mysterious land of RHEM.

Why similar: Investigation 21.4%, Interactive Fiction 17.9%, Mystery 17.6%, Exploration 12.9%, Puzzle 11.1%

A new home owner begins to experience and capture unsettling occurrences around his property.

Why similar: Investigation 18.7%, First-Person 13.5%, Exploration 12.1%, Horror 11%, Mystery 10.6%

Explore the abandoned trails and forgotten cabins of Wolfstone Pine by day and survive the night by staying in doors. Search for supplies, uncover the park's buried history and stay hidden until sunrise as you plan your escape from the strange national park.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 16.4%, Investigation 14.4%, Horror 10.2%, Exploration 9.9%, Story Rich 9.7%

Make coffee. Answer the phone. Hope it stays quiet.

Why similar: Investigation 21.9%, Psychological Horror 13.5%, Mystery 11.9%, Horror 11.5%, Linear 8.2%

Investigate an infamous cold case in the eerie, abandoned town of Painscreek. Search for evidence, connect the dots and uncover who killed Vivian Roberts. Can you expose the truth behind this town’s dark secrets?

Why similar: Investigation 24.9%, Mystery 14.9%, Horror 9.7%, Exploration 8.4%, Open World 7.6%

The developer vanished before finishing this game. Play a reconstruction of his final project and uncover what happened inside a house that doesn't want you to leave. The more you understand its rules, the more terrifying it becomes.

Why similar: Investigation 17.2%, Psychological Horror 12.5%, Horror 12.1%, Mystery 11.2%, First-Person 10.2%

A psychological horror adventure where you explore shifting dream worlds, solve immersive environmental puzzles, and unravel the mysteries of your fractured mind inside a surreal facility.

Why similar: Psychological Horror 18.2%, Horror 16.6%, Investigation 14.2%, Mystery 12.8%, First-Person 11.7%

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: Interactive Fiction 15.3%, Investigation 14.6%, Horror 9.5%, Exploration 9.4%, Psychological Horror 8.9%

An atmospheric anomaly horror game set inside a mysterious hospital. Observe your surroundings, identify anomalies, survive deadly Threat encounters, and reach Floor Zero.

Why similar: Investigation 17.8%, Horror 14.3%, Psychological Horror 13%, Mystery 12.4%, Exploration 9.3%

Investigate an abandoned Indian school where the truth was buried — literally. Manage a failing power system, monitor live CCTV feeds, and piece together a tragedy through documents, audio logs, and authentic Hindi voice work in this psychological horror investigation.

Why similar: Investigation 28%, Psychological Horror 20%, Horror 17.9%, First-Person 8.4%, Mystery 7.9%

A knowledge-based progression game. Explore and solve the strange misteries of the interconnected fantasy worlds trapped inside an esoteric book and discover the roots of a terrible evil. No stats, no log, no savefiles. Only pure knowledge is your progress.

Why similar: Mystery 19.9%, Exploration 13.7%, Investigation 10.7%, Puzzle 8.8%, Horror 8.8%

Atmospheric Horror in 90's style low-poly 3D. Open-ended exploration, investigation, hidden items, captivating puzzles and intriguing dark storyline.

Why similar: Investigation 21.8%, Interactive Fiction 14.9%, Horror 13.8%, Psychological Horror 9.1%, Exploration 9.1%

A psychological horror puzzle game where forgotten memories, family secrets, and haunting riddles blur the line between reality and madness.

Why similar: Psychological Horror 16.4%, Horror 14.2%, Interactive Fiction 12.4%, Mystery 12.1%, Exploration 9.1%

In this horror adventure, your only weapons are ink, paper, and will. Explore shifting paths, chart them by hand, and uncover ancient secrets buried beneath root and stone. Every step takes its toll.

Why similar: Horror 25.9%, Psychological Horror 15.3%, First-Person 12.7%, Exploration 9.8%, Mystery 8.7%

Where is Grandpa? and why has his beach bar been closed for more than 2 years? An adventure full of puzzles and mystery begins! Explore, discover all the clues and read them correctly in order to advance. Let yourself be enveloped by a story of intrigue set on a beach.

Why similar: Investigation 25.3%, Interactive Fiction 19%, Mystery 18.6%, Puzzle 12.1%, Adventure 8.2%

A short, single-sitting VHS-style psychological horror game. Work the night shift at a remote gas station, return home to uncover disturbing clues, and reach one of three endings.

Why similar: Investigation 22.3%, Mystery 14.3%, Psychological Horror 13.6%, Horror 10.8%, First-Person 10.2%

It's 1995. The video store is alive. When the last customer leaves, the final rental rewrites reality.

Why similar: Investigation 19.7%, Horror 16.9%, Psychological Horror 14.7%, Mystery 14.2%, First-Person 12.4%

You are alone in a deserted station. Or are you? Take pictures of strange anomalies around the station and you might find a way out.

Why similar: Investigation 20.4%, Interactive Fiction 15.1%, Horror 12.9%, Mystery 10.5%, Psychological Horror 9.8%

The Show Goes On is a psychological horror game with puzzles and exploration. Trapped in a strange place, you must solve challenges to escape. Deep in debt, you joined an illegal show for easy money — now it feels like a trap. A voice guides you, but it may not help.

Why similar: Investigation 20.7%, Horror 17%, Exploration 16.8%, First-Person 16.1%, Linear 13%

The Gulch is a horror, puzzle, adventure! By day you’ll mine, and by night try to survive! Through a unique five senses system, you’ll explore the Gulch in ways most games never attempt. Look, touch, listen, smell, and even taste your way through a landscape of puzzles, secrets, and growing dread.

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 20.4%, Exploration 13.6%, Horror 11.1%, First-Person 10.2%, Psychological Horror 10.1%

You must complete a lunar mission only with the other person on the radio. When you realize that you were not sufficiently informed about the place.

Why similar: Horror 15%, Interactive Fiction 14.8%, Psychological Horror 14%, Investigation 13.7%, First-Person 8.3%

The Haunting of Joni Evers is a dark supernatural mystery about a broken family from small-town Oklahoma. Haunted by a specter that's hunted her family for generations, Joni must uncover the mysteries of the Cunningham House, dig through lost memories, and face the past to break the curse.

Why similar: Investigation 18.8%, Interactive Fiction 12.9%, Mystery 12.6%, Psychological Horror 9.8%, First-Person 9%

Explore unsettling, dark locations in a first-person psychological horror adventure. Restore power grids, solve environmental puzzles, and interact with physical objects to navigate through the dark—where sound is your only guide and greatest threat.

Why similar: Exploration 13.8%, Investigation 12.3%, Horror 10.9%, First-Person 10.1%, Psychological Horror 9.9%

Ethan returns to his cousin's old family house, deep in the forest, a place he hasn't set foot in for five years, ever since the family who lived there vanished without a trace.

Why similar: Psychological Horror 18.8%, Horror 17.1%, First-Person 14%, Mystery 11.4%, Exploration 8.4%

Uncover the terrifying truth behind the Blackwood conspiracy in this first-person psychological horror. Use emerging psychic powers to solve deep, environmental puzzles and survive the secrets of Project GENESIS.

Why similar: Investigation 18.9%, Mystery 12.2%, Horror 11.5%, Psychological Horror 10.9%, First-Person 8.8%

First-person psychological horror set in an abandoned school. Explore eerie environments, collect keys and hidden clues to piece together your past and uncover the truth behind the ghost that haunts you.

Why similar: Horror 21%, Interactive Fiction 18.7%, Psychological Horror 16.6%, First-Person 13.7%, Exploration 8.6%

Step inside a circus performer's quiet home, but don't stop at the surface. In this short-form descent into dread, follow a hidden labyrinth deep beneath the floorboards and watch a simple investigation spiral into a claustrophobic nightmare.

Why similar: Horror 15.3%, Investigation 15.1%, Psychological Horror 14%, Mystery 9.6%, Linear 8.6%

A late-night call sends you to the Millers Residence. What begins as a routine investigation turns into a descent through buried records, missing evidence, and a house arranged to hide something far worse.

Why similar: Investigation 22%, Horror 14.5%, Psychological Horror 13.3%, Mystery 12.4%, First-Person 11.5%

Investigate an abandoned farm where mysterious accidents have brought the construction of a luxury resort to a halt. Explore, solve puzzles, and uncover secrets buried beneath decades of silence.

Why similar: Investigation 31.6%, Mystery 18%, Exploration 15.6%, Horror 11.7%, Psychological Horror 10.4%

A psychological horror you never see — you read it. Blind and deaf, you sense an arctic station through a neural implant: text, smell, touch. Quarantine rules say only one person may leave their cabin at a time. You are out. Five bodies are found by morning.

Why similar: Investigation 18.3%, Interactive Fiction 15.1%, Psychological Horror 13.4%, Horror 12.9%, Mystery 11.9%

A single-player Chinese folk horror RPG puzzle game. As a photographer, you venture into mysterious places with two paranormal vloggers. Explore scenes, gather clues and reveal hidden truths through environmental interaction. Full playthrough takes 2 to 5 hours.

Why similar: Horror 20.2%, Mystery 20%, Investigation 14.2%, Psychological Horror 13.4%, Puzzle 9.6%

Tisis is a first-person psychological horror game focused on exploration, environmental storytelling, and sanity management as you navigate the thin boundary between light, darkness, and madness.

Why similar: Psychological Horror 19%, First-Person 14%, Mystery 11.1%, Exploration 10.8%, Horror 10.6%

An anonymous email leads you to your recently deceased grandmother's house, asking you to find something hidden inside. Someone wanted you there. Something else was already waiting. Investigate, solve disturbing puzzles and survive the horrors lurking in the shadows.

Why similar: Investigation 32%, First-Person 20.7%, Mystery 18.2%, Horror 14.7%, Psychological Horror 12.9%

Dive into Alex Mercer's twisted reality. Navigate eerie landscapes, solve cryptic puzzles, and uncover the 'Dark Passenger' mystery. Will shadows consume you or will truth emerge?

Why similar: Horror 20.2%, Psychological Horror 17%, First-Person 14%, Puzzle 11%, Mystery 10.9%

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: Interactive Fiction 20.3%, Exploration 12.7%, Horror 10.6%, First-Person 9.7%, Psychological Horror 9.7%

One night at the Paradise Motel. One reporter who took a wrong turn. One thing certain: nobody checks out clean. A short retro horror inspired by 80s slasher films.

Why similar: Investigation 20.5%, Horror 16.8%, Psychological Horror 15.2%, First-Person 10.4%, Exploration 7.8%

Help solve the mystery of the moonlit mansion in this classic fixed camera horror puzzle game inspired by the art styles of Resident Evil and Silent Hill. The Lunar Effect takes its protagonist on a dark and unfamiliar path but be warned, sometimes when one stares into the moon, the moon stares back

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 17.4%, Horror 13.1%, Psychological Horror 11.9%, Exploration 10.3%, Investigation 9.2%

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

Why similar: Interactive Fiction 14.4%, Psychological Horror 14.3%, Horror 14.1%, Mystery 13.3%, First-Person 9.3%

In this first-person horror experience you will solve puzzles while navigating the pitch black Reed forest. Armed with only your flashlight you are at the mercy of the forests inhabitants, with limited time to find your way before they find you and end your adventure.

Why similar: Horror 21.1%, First-Person 15.3%, Puzzle 10.7%, Exploration 10.7%, Linear 10.4%

Explore the halls of the underground cult of The Open Hand. Experience the test rooms setup for your initiation in this psychological horror exploration game. Never forget....they are always watching.

Why similar: Investigation 16.6%, Horror 13.4%, First-Person 11.2%, Psychological Horror 11.1%, Exploration 10.8%