Games Like VVVVVV

The infamous, tough-as-nails platformer comes to Steam with a playable Head Crab character (Steam-exclusive)!

Why similar: Precision Platformer 38.5%, Platformer 14.1%, Difficult 11.8%, 2D Platformer 10.4%, Great Soundtrack 9.4%

Why You'll Like It: This game defines the precision-platformer genre with its fast-paced, trial-and-error gameplay that requires pixel-perfect timing.

Help Madeline survive her inner demons on her journey to the top of Celeste Mountain, in this super-tight platformer from the creators of TowerFall. Brave hundreds of hand-crafted challenges, uncover devious secrets, and piece together the mystery of the mountain.

Why similar: Precision Platformer 26.4%, Great Soundtrack 19.5%, Difficult 13.3%, Platformer 11.5%, Pixel Graphics 11%

Why You'll Like It: Like VVVVVV, it is a highly polished precision platformer that balances extreme difficulty with a heartfelt narrative and tight, responsive movement.

Super Hexagon is a minimal action game by Terry Cavanagh, with music by Chipzel.

Why similar: Great Soundtrack 45.4%, Difficult 42.4%, Indie 6.5%, Minimalist 1.9%, 2D 1.7%

Why You'll Like It: Also developed by Terry Cavanagh, this game shares the same intense, rhythm-based focus and minimalist aesthetic as VVVVVV.

The End Is Nigh is a sprawling adventure platformer where you die a lot, but thats ok because you are probably already dead anyway.

Why similar: Precision Platformer 37.6%, Platformer 17.7%, Great Soundtrack 16.6%, Difficult 15.3%, Pixel Graphics 4.2%

Why You'll Like It: Created by the team behind Super Meat Boy, it offers a brutal, minimalist platforming experience that will feel very familiar to fans of VVVVVV.

Take control of a nimble janitor to rid the world of dust and debris.

Why similar: Precision Platformer 47.9%, Great Soundtrack 19.6%, Platformer 16.3%, Difficult 10.8%, Indie 2.8%

Why You'll Like It: A precision platformer that rewards fluid, high-speed movement and mastery of complex controls.

N++ is a fast-paced, momentum-based platformer about darting around obstacles, narrowly evading enemies and collecting gold in a beautiful minimalist landscape.

Why similar: Precision Platformer 39.8%, Difficult 18.7%, 2D Platformer 18.2%, Platformer 13%, Minimalist 3.6%

Why You'll Like It: A minimalist, physics-based platformer that emphasizes momentum and precision, much like the gravity-defying challenges in VVVVVV.

Downwell is a curious game about a young person venturing down a well in search of untold treasures with only his Gunboots to protect him.

Why similar: Precision Platformer 37%, Platformer 13.3%, Pixel Graphics 12.1%, 2D Platformer 11.3%, Difficult 11.3%

Why You'll Like It: A fast-paced, minimalist action game that demands quick reflexes and precise movement in a vertical, gravity-focused environment.

Electronic Super Joy is a brutally hard platformer set in a world of pulse-pounding electronic music. Run, jump, smash & fly your way through 45+ weird & different levels, with low-gravity, world rotation, giant monsters & swarming missiles.

Why similar: Great Soundtrack 27.9%, Platformer 23.6%, Difficult 16.5%, Precision Platformer 15.3%, Pixel Graphics 7.7%

Why You'll Like It: A high-energy, difficult platformer that pairs its intense gameplay with a thumping, music-driven atmosphere.

A precise 2D platformer with a twist. NO JUMPING. Master your magnetic powers to beat each level with speed and skill. Enjoy classic 16-bit gaming vibes, tackle challenging achievements and compete for global leaderboard supremacy along the way.

Why similar: Precision Platformer 40.2%, Pixel Graphics 10.9%, Difficult 10.7%, 2D Platformer 8.7%, Platformer 7.4%

Why You'll Like It: It replaces traditional jumping with a unique magnetic attraction and repulsion mechanic that requires similar spatial problem-solving to VVVVVV.

Love is a reductive platforming game with a retro aesthetic and a focus on a challenging difficulty. It has an custom respawn system, 16 levels, 12 track soundtrack, competitive scoring, and a simple-to-use level creation feature.

Why similar: Platformer 28.6%, Great Soundtrack 18.4%, Precision Platformer 14.8%, Pixel Graphics 14.4%, Retro 9.2%

Why You'll Like It: A minimalist, retro-styled platformer that focuses on difficult, screen-by-screen challenges similar to the structure of VVVVVV.

And Yet It Moves is a puzzle-platformer, set in a unique world, made of ripped paper. Within the paper-collage you can jump, run and last but certainly not least: rotate the world. Learn how to apply the physical consequences of rotation to master the many tricky situations you may encounter.

Why similar: Platformer 71.2%, Indie 13.7%, 2D 7.5%, Puzzle 3.9%, Singleplayer 2.3%

Why You'll Like It: This game shares the core gravity-manipulation mechanic of VVVVVV, requiring players to rotate the world to navigate obstacles.

Run, jump, shoot, fly and explore your way through a massive action-adventure reminiscent of classic 8- and 16-bit games.

Why similar: Great Soundtrack 28.5%, Platformer 24.3%, Pixel Graphics 13.5%, Metroidvania 7.4%, Retro 6.7%

Why You'll Like It: A classic indie platformer that captures the same sense of exploration and retro charm found in VVVVVV.

140 is a challenging minimalistic platformer with abstract colorful graphics. Rhythmic awareness is required to overcome obstacles controlled by an energetic, yet melancholic electronic soundtrack.

Why similar: Platformer 34.9%, Great Soundtrack 25.7%, Difficult 14.5%, Precision Platformer 8.4%, Indie 6.4%

Why You'll Like It: A minimalist, rhythm-based platformer where the environment reacts to the music, offering a similar sensory experience to VVVVVV.

Gomez is a 2D creature living in a 2D world. Or is he? When the existence of a mysterious 3rd dimension is revealed to him, Gomez is sent out on a journey that will take him to the very end of time and space. Use your ability to navigate 3D structures from 4 distinct classic 2D perspectives.

Why similar: Platformer 34.4%, Great Soundtrack 26.1%, Pixel Graphics 18.7%, Indie 7.3%, Exploration 5%

Why You'll Like It: A puzzle-platformer that uses perspective-shifting mechanics to navigate a 2D world, rewarding exploration and clever thinking.

This is the original version of Braid from 2009, which may not work well on newer systems. For an updated version of the game with nicer graphics, more levels and a large amount of developer commentary, see Braid, Anniversary Edition.

Why similar: 2D Platformer 29.7%, Platformer 29.4%, Great Soundtrack 17.7%, Difficult 9.2%, Indie 6.5%

Why You'll Like It: A puzzle-platformer that challenges players to master time-manipulation mechanics to overcome complex, screen-based puzzles.

Guide a group of rectangles through 120 levels, using their different skills together to overcome a series of obstacles in each environment. Discover the human-made story of the first sentient artificial intelligences with Danny Wallace’s BAFTA-winning narration.

Why similar: Precision Platformer 40.3%, Platformer 23%, 2D Platformer 19.3%, 2D 4.3%, Sci-fi 4.3%

Why You'll Like It: A minimalist platformer that uses simple shapes to tell a compelling story, focusing on unique movement abilities for each character.

Explore and uncover the mystery of a surreal alien world by blasting aliens and glitching your environment in this intense retro side-scrolling action/adventure.

Why similar: Great Soundtrack 24.4%, Platformer 18.5%, Pixel Graphics 17.3%, Metroidvania 11.9%, Retro 7.4%

Why You'll Like It: A deep, exploration-heavy metroidvania that features tight platforming and a strong retro aesthetic.

Experience the rhythmic thrill of BIT.TRIP RUNNER! With its retro charm, simple controls, and award-winning visuals, this classic sets the standard for rhythm gaming. Don't miss the game that started it all in the acclaimed runner series.

Why similar: Platformer 25.5%, Pixel Graphics 20%, Great Soundtrack 15.1%, Difficult 13.6%, Retro 6.5%

Why You'll Like It: A rhythm-based platformer that requires precise timing and pattern recognition to navigate increasingly difficult levels.

What if someone knew your mind better than you did? The Swapper is an award-winning, narrative driven puzzle game set in the furthest reaches of space.

Why similar: Platformer 29%, Great Soundtrack 23.8%, Sci-fi 10.1%, Indie 8.1%, Space 6%

Why You'll Like It: A puzzle game that uses a cloning mechanic to navigate space, offering a similar sense of intellectual challenge as VVVVVV.

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

Why similar: Platformer 20.3%, Precision Platformer 19.4%, Retro 13.4%, Difficult 12.1%, Metroidvania 10.5%

Why You'll Like It: A free-to-play, retro-styled platformer that captures the exact feel of early 80s exploration games.

The legendary Knytt series continues with Nifflas’ latest creation; Knytt Underground. In this Knytteration; humans have long since abandoned the planet after practically destroying it in a war, five hundred years ago.

Why similar: Precision Platformer 49.8%, Platformer 21.2%, Great Soundtrack 11.5%, Indie 5.5%, Metroidvania 4.9%

Why You'll Like It: Focuses on exploration and movement through a vast, atmospheric world with a similar emphasis on non-combat traversal.

Antichamber is a mind-bending psychological exploration game where nothing can be taken for granted. Discover an Escher-like world where hallways wrap around upon each other, spaces reconfigure themselves, and accomplishing the impossible may just be the only way forward.

Why similar: Difficult 20.4%, Indie 18.4%, Exploration 16.6%, Great Soundtrack 14.5%, Puzzle 12.3%

Why You'll Like It: A surreal, first-person puzzle game that forces players to rethink their understanding of space and geometry.

Explore an abandoned space station in this retro-themed explorative action platformer.

Why similar: Pixel Graphics 23.1%, Platformer 18.9%, Great Soundtrack 15.9%, Metroidvania 10.8%, Difficult 10.6%

Why You'll Like It: A challenging metroidvania that emphasizes exploration, boss fights, and precise platforming in a pixel-art world.

Minit is a peculiar little adventure played sixty seconds at a time.

Why similar: Pixel Graphics 30%, Great Soundtrack 29%, Retro 10.3%, Minimalist 10.1%, Indie 8%

Why You'll Like It: A minimalist adventure game that uses a unique time-loop mechanic to create a tense, puzzle-like exploration experience.

World of Goo is a multiple award winning physics based puzzle / construction game made entirely by two guys.

Why similar: Great Soundtrack 60.1%, Indie 13.7%, Difficult 9.7%, Puzzle 6.5%, 2D 6.3%

Why You'll Like It: A physics-based puzzle game that requires creative problem-solving and careful manipulation of the environment.

Defy Gravity is an action platformer that is a mix between classic platforming and gravity based puzzle solving.

Why similar: Platformer 50.8%, Great Soundtrack 14.8%, Difficult 12.8%, Indie 6.1%, 2D 3.7%

Why You'll Like It: A puzzle-platformer that explicitly uses gravity-based mechanics to move the player through space.

You play an explorer stranded on a dangerous alien planet. Low on fuel, your only hope for escape is to find the planet’s core in this incredibly clever action-puzzle-platformer.

Why similar: Platformer 26.7%, Great Soundtrack 22.2%, Pixel Graphics 17.4%, Retro 8.6%, Difficult 7%

Why You'll Like It: A short, challenging platformer with a teleportation mechanic that requires precision and quick thinking.

This is a SHORT, 2D PLATFORMER with TIGHT CONTROLS about exploring a single level to get past a bunch of TRAPS. There is an EASY mode and a HARD mode depending on your skill level.

Why similar: Precision Platformer 34.9%, Difficult 16.2%, 2D Platformer 15%, Platformer 13.3%, Pixel Graphics 8.5%

Why You'll Like It: A minimalist, single-screen precision platformer that distills the genre down to its most difficult, essential elements.

From gameplay to visuals to music and imagination, BIT.TRIP BEAT is inspired by classic games in every way. Get sucked into a whole new world of sight and sound as you juggle beats and ride the vibe in this modern look at the beginning of it all. BIT.

Why similar: Great Soundtrack 32%, Difficult 20.8%, Pixel Graphics 13.3%, Indie 11.4%, Retro 10.2%

Why You'll Like It: A rhythm-action game that shares the high-difficulty, music-synced gameplay style of VVVVVV.

Spelunky is a unique platformer with randomized levels that offer a challenging new experience each time you play. Journey deep underground and explore fantastic places filled with all manner of monsters, traps, and treasure.

Why similar: Platformer 47.6%, Difficult 28.2%, Great Soundtrack 8.9%, Indie 7.9%, 2D 5.2%

VVVVV is a colorful, dynamic platformer action with puzzle elements, made in retro style.

Why similar: Great Soundtrack 18.4%, Platformer 15.5%, Indie 13.7%, Difficult 12.3%, Pixel Graphics 11.4%

EDGE, the award winning retro-styled platform game has been extended! Now with over 40 brand new levels, additional music and all-new races against the notorious Dark Cube!

Why similar: Great Soundtrack 39.5%, Platformer 28.7%, Indie 12.2%, Retro 7.8%, Puzzle 4.8%

Pounce inside of your cozy armored mech and set off on a dangerous trek through an alien underworld full of irritable creatures and treacherous obstacles in a valiant effort to save your stranded captain and his crashed spaceship.

Why similar: Pixel Graphics 25%, Platformer 20.5%, Metroidvania 11.8%, Retro 11.6%, Indie 7.9%

Ride your music. Audiosurf is a music-adapting puzzle racer where you use your own music to create your own experience. The shape, the speed, and the mood of each ride is determined by the song you choose.

Why similar: Great Soundtrack 46.1%, Indie 44.5%, Singleplayer 6.6%, Puzzle 2.9%

Nominated as a IGF Seamus McNally Finalist, NightSky is an ambient action-puzzle game that offers a gameplay experience unlike any other—cerebral challenges fill uniquely designed picturesque worlds. The player must maneuver a sphere by using realistic physics to advance; each of these worlds is broken into different areas.

Why similar: Platformer 68.7%, Indie 19.4%, Puzzle 5.3%, 2D 4.8%, Singleplayer 1.7%

Crayon Physics Deluxe is a 2D physics puzzle / sandbox game, in which you get to experience what it would be like if your drawings would be magically transformed into real physical objects. Solve puzzles with your artistic vision and creative use of physics.

Why similar: Indie 34%, Great Soundtrack 31.3%, Puzzle 14%, 2D 13.9%, Singleplayer 6.9%

Hollow Floor is an exploration-based single-sitting Metroidvania inspired by VVVVVV and REDDER. Hollow Floor is a relaxed game that is full of secrets and hard challenges that can be tackled at any moment in the game or completely ignored.

Why similar: Precision Platformer 36.2%, Pixel Graphics 13.6%, 2D Platformer 13.5%, Platformer 11.3%, Retro 8.9%

Experience your music collection like never before with this intense music driven arcade shooter. Each of your songs will have its own unique ebb and flow based on the music.

Why similar: 2D 33.1%, Indie 29.5%, Space 22.4%, Action 10.8%, Singleplayer 4.2%

LA-MULANA is an “Archaeological Ruin Exploration Action Game,” bringing the classic appeal of adventure with the punishing difficulty of retro-inspired gaming. Search inside ancient ruins, seeking out the “Secret Treasure of Life” – which sleeps in the sprawling ruins of “LA-MULANA” and is said to be the beginning of all civilization.

Why similar: Difficult 22.7%, Platformer 21.8%, Great Soundtrack 20.3%, Metroidvania 9.9%, Pixel Graphics 6.2%

A full-blown adventure played with only two buttons. Become the recently deceased agent Terry Cooper and escape the underworld while facing the toughest, meanest and most difficult obstacles ever devised.

Why similar: Precision Platformer 48.3%, Great Soundtrack 11.5%, Difficult 10.5%, Platformer 10.4%, Pixel Graphics 8.3%

Gravity Circuit is a flashy action packed 2D platformer in the spirit of console classics. Follow Kai, a lone operative war hero who harnesses the mysterious powers of the Gravity Circuit, on an adventure in a futuristic world inhabited by sentient robots.

Why similar: Platformer 23.3%, Pixel Graphics 19.3%, 2D Platformer 17.2%, Great Soundtrack 16.2%, Retro 8.8%

Rift Racoon is an intense precision platformer about a lost racoon with a fun abillity: teleportation! Teleport through dangerous traps, use your claws to climb walls and jump your way across difficult platforming levels with retro visuals!

Why similar: Precision Platformer 31.1%, Difficult 14.7%, 2D Platformer 14.3%, Platformer 13.1%, Pixel Graphics 11.7%

Super Blasting Boy is a logical platform platformer made in the best traditions of retro games of the late 80's and 90's.

Why similar: Great Soundtrack 20.2%, Platformer 18.2%, Difficult 16%, Pixel Graphics 10.4%, Indie 8.6%

Circa Infinity is a brain-melting circular platformer by Kenny Sun, with a pulse-pounding soundtrack by Jack + Jim Fay.

Why similar: Precision Platformer 39%, 2D Platformer 17.2%, Great Soundtrack 14.8%, Difficult 8%, Pixel Graphics 7.1%

A short 2D pixel-style metroidvania where you explore, fight bosses, aquire items and abilities and find secrets. Inspired by games such as You Have to Win the Game and VVVVVV.

Why similar: Platformer 22.5%, Pixel Graphics 20.7%, Retro 15.3%, Metroidvania 10.5%, 2D Platformer 9.2%

You've activated an old Pinball machine- but with a twist. No points to score, just a mysterious mission to reach the top. We recommend you to try the demo before buying to avoid quick refunds- FlippTechINC.

Why similar: Precision Platformer 30%, Difficult 17.6%, Platformer 14%, 2D Platformer 11.6%, Pixel Graphics 10%

Step into rhythmic bliss with Runner2! Best Indie Game winner, Guinness World Record holder, and narrated by Charles Martinet. Unleash vibrant moves and beats in 120 levels!

Why similar: Precision Platformer 29.9%, Platformer 24.7%, Great Soundtrack 19.4%, Difficult 16.5%, Indie 5.2%

A simple, fast paced platformer with one small change: Your character can't run. Play as an adorable robot named Blitz and help it escape the factory it was built in. The only problem is, it seems like everything is trying to break you!

Why similar: Great Soundtrack 26.6%, Platformer 22%, Difficult 20%, Pixel Graphics 16%, Indie 8.7%

You Have 10 Seconds is a fast paced arcade style platformer game with over 40 levels.

Why similar: Precision Platformer 55.4%, Platformer 12%, Great Soundtrack 10.8%, Difficult 10%, Pixel Graphics 6.1%

An inventive, thought-provoking puzzle platformer. Use powerups in each environment, and your own inherent gravity-bending powers, to complete each level. The more you play, the more story details you'll uncover.

Why similar: Platformer 33.5%, Great Soundtrack 22.7%, Difficult 16.3%, Indie 11.7%, Minimalist 5.5%

Rewind time and manipulate gravity in order to solve parkour puzzles in this exciting new 2D platformer.

Why similar: Difficult 23.9%, Platformer 22.7%, Pixel Graphics 16.8%, 2D Platformer 16.5%, Indie 6.5%

Xeodrifter is the story of an interstellar drifter traveling the stars on a simple mission of exploration. We join our nomad as he embarks on the investigation of a small cluster of four planets in the omega sector, after a collision with a rogue asteroid damaged his warp core.

Why similar: Platformer 16.9%, Precision Platformer 14.2%, Pixel Graphics 13.8%, Difficult 11.2%, Retro 10.1%

Baba Is You is a puzzle game where the rules you have to follow are present as blocks you can interact with. By manipulating them, you can change how the game works, repurpose things you find in the levels and cause surprising interactions!

Why similar: Difficult 36.8%, Pixel Graphics 21.6%, Great Soundtrack 17.9%, Indie 8.7%, Puzzle 4.9%

Join Pixel as he quests through gaming history, teleporting across the most iconic video game systems of generations past. He’ll have to jump, dodge and play smart if he wants to survive all the traps, puzzles and enemies waiting to take him down at every turn.

Why similar: Platformer 28.6%, Great Soundtrack 24.4%, Pixel Graphics 19.5%, Retro 15.2%, Indie 6.3%

Electronic Super Joy 2 is a brutally hard platformer, set in a world of brain-smashing electronic music. Run, jump, smash, & slice your way through 55+ weird & different levels, with giant monsters, swarming missiles & secret areas.

Why similar: Great Soundtrack 24.8%, Difficult 21.3%, Platformer 19.5%, Pixel Graphics 13.3%, Retro 8.1%

Explore a beautiful, vast and ruined world riddled with dangers and lost technologies.

Why similar: Great Soundtrack 34.1%, Pixel Graphics 26.2%, Difficult 20.8%, Indie 4.7%, Exploration 3.1%

Wings of Vi is a challenging 2D platformer in which the player controls the angel Vi, tasked with defeating the Demon Lord Jeh’oul after he is freed from captivity. While inspired by masochistic retro platformers, Wings of Vi aims to cut out arbitrary difficulty in favor of skill based gameplay.

Why similar: Precision Platformer 37.9%, Difficult 18.2%, Platformer 16.3%, Great Soundtrack 11.9%, Pixel Graphics 5.6%

The Sun and Moon, the winner of Ludum Dare 29, is a platformer with a unique mechanic: you can dive into the ground. Momentum is conserved but gravity is reversed, letting you fling yourself high into the air or deep beneath the surface.

Why similar: Platformer 34.4%, Great Soundtrack 28.1%, Difficult 15.9%, Indie 14.6%, Action 5.2%