Backfirewall_ similar games & best alternatives

Backfirewall_ - Trailer
Backfirewall_ - backfirewall_1.avif
Backfirewall_ - backfirewall_2.avif
Backfirewall_ - backfirewall_3.avif
Backfirewall_ - backfirewall_4.avif
Backfirewall_ - backfirewall_5.avif
Backfirewall_ - backfirewall_6.avif

Backfirewall_

Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch • 2023

Should you play it?

Hello and welcome to Backfirewall_, a first-person tragicomic adventure set inside a smartphone. You are the update assistant. Solve wacky puzzles to counter the update and save the previous operating system from deletion. The fate of the System is in your hands!

What works

  • Engaging and emotional story
  • Creative and humorous writing
  • Unique and imaginative setting
  • Accessible and fun puzzles
  • Strong voice acting and sound design

Things to keep in mind

  • Lack of replayability features like chapter select
  • Some bugs and optimization issues
  • Missable collectibles requiring full playthrough
  • Short game length
  • Minor control and ui frustrations

What to play next

Top picks

Games that feels the closest overall

  • Grey Instinct

  • Jenny LeClue - Detectivu

  • HIVESWAP: ACT 1

  • Anna's Quest

  • Smile For Me

  • Nut City Blues

Less intimate

Games that feels like Backfirewall_ but with less focus on close relationships

  • Agent A: A puzzle in disguise

  • Supraworld

  • Californium

  • Broken Reality

  • The Rise of the Golden Idol

  • Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality

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 Backfirewall_. 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 Backfirewall_. These titles are not in What to play next.

Backfirewall_: A very typical example of its motivational profile. Motivations that often define this kind of title include Survival, Violence, Competition, Thrill. Here, the score leans higher than usual among comparable games on Intimacy, Expression, Thrill.

Last update: 21/08/2026