Absent similar games & best alternatives

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Absent

PC (Microsoft Windows) • 2015

Should you play it?

Absent is the first freeware release from FNGames. Originally released in 2013, the game makes its' Steam debut this year.

What works

  • Free to play
  • Engaging story with plot twists
  • Voice acting and music
  • Classic point-and-click gameplay
  • Challenging but fair puzzles

Things to keep in mind

  • Low resolution and small window
  • Rudimentary graphics and animation
  • Some obtuse puzzle solutions
  • No full screen or advanced options
  • Linear gameplay with limited replayability

What to play next

Top picks

Games that feels the closest overall

  • A Random Maze 某个迷宫

  • Metaphobia

  • The Samaritan Paradox

  • Grim Fandango Remastered

  • 子归 - Blossom

  • The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark

More survival-focused

Games that feels like Absent but with a stronger survival pressure

  • Yuppie Psycho: Executive Edition

  • Ann

  • 幽灵高校(Ghost College)

  • Lucid Dream

  • Booth: A Dystopian Adventure

  • Paper Lily - Chapter 1

More violent

Games that feels like Absent but with more combat and destruction

  • The Happyhills Homicide

  • The Long Reach

  • Slender Threads: Prologue

  • Confidential Killings - A Detective Game

  • The Dark Rites of Arkham

  • The Last Door - Collector's Edition

Choose your own criteria ->

Similarity map

How to compare these games

Compare nearby games

Each card is a nearby game on the similarity map, compared with Absent. Swipe sideways to move between games. Titles already listed in What to play next are left out.

  • Cover and title: open that game’s page.
  • What works / keep in mind: the same highlights as the desktop comparison panel.
  • Bars: the main motivational differences versus this game.
How to use the graph

Similarity map

Each dot is a game placed from its motivation profile relative to this page’s game. Direction shows which motivation differs most; distance along that axis shows how large the gap is.

  • Purple star: this page’s game at the centre — everything is relative to it.
  • Direction: each axis is a main motivational difference vs this game (e.g. more / less competitive).
  • Distance on an axis: how large that difference is (ring scales show +/− points).
  • Coloured chips: click to highlight games that mainly differ on that motivation; click again to reset.
  • Dotted line: link between this page’s game and the one selected for comparison.
  • Hover a dot to preview that game in the panel on the right; click to keep that comparison.
  • Scroll or double-click the chart to zoom.

How to read the map This is a polar difference map: direction = which motivation differs, and distance = how much (same units as the sidebar deltas).

Swipe to compare nearby games with Absent. These titles are not in What to play next.

Absent: Broadly representative of its motivational profile, with a few distinct shifts. Motivations that often define this kind of title include Survival, Violence, Competition, Thrill. Here, the score leans higher than usual among comparable games on Thrill. It leans lower than usual among comparable games on Intimacy, Expression.

Last update: 21/08/2026