17 Games Like Inside
Our selection of games like Inside features other dark puzzle platformers that create unique atmospheres of mystery for you to explore.
From the same minds that brought you the popular and similarly dark Limbo adventure Inside offers a mostly monochrome adventure with platform mechanics. Playing as a nameless boy with a red shirt you’ll slide down a rough and rocky incline into a dark forest like world of the unknown. Filled with zombie like people, guards, vehicles and various creatures it is up to you to survive as you run and jump from location to location. As you progress you'll decipher the encounters you experience and broader storyline which concludes with one of the multiple game endings.
The puzzle platform elements of Inside are recognisable with a 2.5D approach that gives players the ability to walk, run, climb, swim and even take control of the bodies of others to overcome various environmental puzzles and avoid death. Players that take their time to slowly explore every inch of the Inside game world will also uncover a series of secret rooms that tie in closely to an alternative game ending.
The games like Inside here offer great platform experiences with minimalist, dark, dangerous or mysterious game worlds for players to explore as they solve a number of platform and environmental puzzle challenges.
Braid
Braid is an indie title that mixes the puzzle and platform genre with the unique element of time manipulation to create an interesting adventure of a daring princess rescue. Originally launched for Xbox 360 Braid was later ported to other platforms with the same core gameplay. In Braid players take control of Tim as he attempts to rescue the princess from a monster that awaits at the end of your puzzle adventure. The relationship between you and the princess is vague at the start of the game but...[Read Review]
Machinarium
Machinarium offers a unique and addicting puzzle adventure game across a number of platforms that utilises a point and click control scheme and a world without dialogue. Originally released for Windows in 2009 the game quickly expanded to mobile and console platforms allowing all gamers to explore the story adventure of Machinarium. You’ll start off solving puzzles in Machinarium but quickly get engaged in the story and almost forget that you are playing a puzzle game with the unique setting tha...[Read Review]
Never Alone
Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna) takes an interesting setting and transforms it into a compelling video game focused on story and puzzle gameplay across a total of 8 game chapters. With a strong atmosphere blending with puzzle and platform mechanics Never Alone tells an insightful story of Alaska Natives that itself had development input by Indigenous people. Following initial release the game has grown the number of available platforms while also releasing a single expansion pack, Never Alone: F...[Read Review]
Oscura: Lost Light
Oscura: Lost Light combines puzzle elements with some old school platformer mechanics to create an adventure that sees you moving across a dark setting to refresh the light that has been lost. Released in 2015 the game has similarities to Limbo released half a decade earlier although is much more than just a clone of this popular title. The game also serves as a prequel to other Oscura games (Oscura and Oscura: Second Shadow) by exploring the origins of the world and the fate of the lighthouse k...[Read Review]
The Swapper
The Swapper is a puzzle game that is all about cloning yourself in an endless cycle in order to explore the eerie abandoned space station that you find yourself trapped within. With this dark atmosphere of The Swapper the visuals and atmospheric elements are just as strong as the unique core puzzle mechanics and adventure experience. In The Swapper players get the chance to explore a futuristic research facility and space station known as Theseus without much initial context and who, what, where...[Read Review]
Year Walk
Playing as Daniel Svensson as he visits his lover Stina and engaging in the Swedish traditional of the year walking is an abstract adventure with light horror and puzzle elements appropriately named Year Walk. Designed for iOS and later coming to Windows/Mac and Wii U your journey sees you attempting to do the risky affair of a Year Walk after Stina warns you against it, having had her cousin die from such activity in the past. Said Year Walk requires players to take Daniel Svensson to head to a...[Read Review]
NightSky
NightSky brings you a puzzle adventure game mixed with some action elements to deliver a well paced game of challenging physics in a dark theme. Combining these core mechanical challenges with a visually intriguing experience and uniquely dark game world NightSky is an attractive 2011 video game experience around a simple core framework. While there is not a significant story to be found in NightSky it still manages to grip players with the unique atmosphere that will have you wanting to push fo...[Read Review]
Nihilumbra
Nihilumbra blends puzzles and platforming gameplay together in order to deliver an interesting and dark adventure game originally for iOS and now available on a range of platforms. Entering the game world as Born, a creature that comes from the nothingness that is the Void you’ll adventure out into the foreign land and advance through the story to understand yourself. The Void wants you back though and chases you relentlessly around the world, refusing to stop until you rejoin the nothingn...[Read Review]
Lume
Lume is an interesting take on the puzzle adventure genre and is set in a strange cardboard filled world that stands out from other adventures. If you are up for a unique experience that you can enjoy on either your computer or handheld device (iOS) then this paper world delivers plenty of adventure based discovery across several hours of game time. While short and a simple affair the appeal of Lume is its rewarding story premise and the unique art style that it employs. Many of these themes ret...[Read Review]
A Boy and His Blob
A Boy and His Blob for the Nintendo Wii revisits the 1989 NES adventure game with a refreshed look and refined gameplay which once again allows players to own a blob pet who loves to eat jellybeans. While fundamentally similar to the original the leap in hardware allows the Nintendo Wii edition to be a vastly superior re-imagining. Not content with limiting this experience to the Nintendo Wii the game was eventually ported to additional modern day consoles and computer platforms. Focusing on a s...[Read Review]
Closure
Closure is a puzzle and platform game which revolves around the concepts of light and darkness for its puzzle designs throughout the story. This light and dark focus also extends to the atmosphere with a mysterious world underpinning your adventure across an abandoned carnival, run down factory and the swampy forest. The mystery of these locations is significantly enhanced with a world that is entirely black and white and even more so when you come to terms with the primary puzzle mechanic of re...[Read Review]
Another World
Another World (or Out of This World in North America) was originally released in 1991 and is considered a classic in the platform and adventure genre for its innovation in cinematic effects on release. Since this original release the game has been brought to countless other platforms as a 20th anniversary edition that allows newcomers and original fans alike to once again step into the mysterious other world. In Another World players are Lester Knight Chaykin who is a young and widely regarded p...[Read Review]
Outland
Outland is a downloadable platform title for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 which available through their respective online portals amongst a Steam release version for computer based gamers. Marketing itself as a Metroidvania Outland sticks to the formula set by predecessors in this genre with a few additions and exclusions to make it a unique journey. One such refinement is the faster paced experience that plays out through the puzzle and platform level blend alongside consistent combat. Behind...[Read Review]
Vessel
Vessel is a puzzle game with steampunk elements that focuses on physic puzzles based around liquid and challenges players to overcome a diverse roster of challenges. The game was released in 2012 and has proven to be popular among puzzle fans and the media for its unique mechanics and simulation of fluids. In Vessel players will be jumping into the shoes of M. Arkwright who is an inventor of Fluro which is also one of the core mechanics in your puzzle adventure. This Fluro was created in order t...[Read Review]
Limbo
Limbo is a 2D puzzle platform title that takes the genre into a darker setting than usual. Leveraging this dark setting to create an emotional tale of a young boy while also adding challenge and puzzle like elements to the otherwise basic platforming Limbo features fantastic and unique game design that you won’t soon forget. Creating this atmosphere primarily through visual presentation Limbo takes place entirely in a black and white game world. It’s similar to film noir style with the way...[Read Review]
Typoman
Launched as a Wii U exclusive title and eventually brought to a range of other video game platforms (including mobile devices) Typoman offers up a dark aesthetic with a unique focus on spelt words as puzzle mechanics and to provide information to the player. With this unique setting comes a number of challenging puzzles that will require players to alter their thought process compared to similar puzzle platformers. Typoman starts with players as a simple O shape and then rolling down the hill to...[Read Review]
Selma And The Wisp
Offering up control over a colourful wisp as you lead the innocent Selma through various environmental obstacles is Selma And The Wisp a game with basic platform elements, adventure and discovery around each map screen. Opening with Selma alone in her room with a monster under the bed the player guides the bright wisp to Selma, giving her hope amongst the darkness and a way to safety from the unknown monsters that stalk her. This is where your bond with each other begins with Selma following you...[Read Review]