Islands of the Caliph similar games & best alternatives

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Islands of the Caliph

PC (Microsoft Windows) • 2023

Should you play it?

Islands of the Caliph is an old-school inspired action RPG based on Middle Eastern folklore and Islamic spiritual tradition. A KEYBOARD ONLY 1980s style Dungeon Crawler with an open world.

What works

  • Unique islamic and middle eastern setting
  • Immersive exploration and worldbuilding
  • Atmospheric music and pixel art
  • Old-school dungeon crawler gameplay
  • Meaningful quest consequences and replayability

Things to keep in mind

  • Keyboard-only controls with clunky inventory management
  • Single save slot with punishing autosave on death
  • Tedious backtracking and repetitive fetch quests
  • Minimal character progression and combat depth
  • Some bugs and unclear quest guidance

What to play next

Top picks

Games that feels the closest overall

  • Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas

  • Aggelos

  • Eternal Edge+ Prologue

  • Fabled Lands

  • Tomba! Special Edition

  • Super Panda Adventures

More expressive

Games that feels like Islands of the Caliph but with more self-expression and customization

  • Lay of the Land

  • Drova - Forsaken Kin

  • Wizordum

  • FIGHT KNIGHT

  • Mohrta

  • Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom

More intense

Games that feels like Islands of the Caliph but with a more intense feel

  • Cursed Castilla (Maldita Castilla EX)

  • Chantelise - A Tale of Two Sisters

  • Blasphemous

  • Labyronia RPG

  • Chronicles of the Wolf

  • MindSeize

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 Islands of the Caliph. 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 Islands of the Caliph. These titles are not in What to play next.

Islands of the Caliph: Broadly representative of its motivational profile, with a few distinct shifts. Motivations that often define this kind of title include Expression, Fellowship, Cooperation, Competition. Here, the score leans higher than usual among comparable games on Exploration, Continuation, Health.

Last update: 21/08/2026