It Comes In Waves similar games & best alternatives

It Comes In Waves - Trailer
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It Comes In Waves

PC (Microsoft Windows) • 2023

Should you play it?

A short, minimalist, experimental open-world adventure about guilt and grief. Explore, shoot, scavenge and bring a specimen to The Sanctuary. Beware PERMADEATH.

What works

  • Unique atmospheric and emotional experience
  • Engaging open world exploration
  • Retro low-poly art style
  • Meaningful narrative themes
  • Affordable price

Things to keep in mind

  • Very short gameplay length
  • Minimal combat and mechanics depth
  • Some control and collision issues
  • Lack of save system and permadeath can frustrate
  • Limited replayability

What to play next

Top picks

Games that feels the closest overall

  • Dread X Collection 5

  • Indiana Jones® and the Infernal Machine™

  • Kvark

  • HORROR TALES: The Wine

  • Darkenstein 3D

  • Metal Garden

More expressive

Games that feels like It Comes In Waves but with more self-expression and customization

  • The Planet Crafter: Prologue

  • SurrounDead

  • Lost in Random™

  • Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon

  • Exoplanet: First Contact

  • Wild West and Wizards

More intense

Games that feels like It Comes In Waves but with a more intense feel

  • G String

  • INCISION

  • DUSK

  • THRESHOLD

  • Eldritch

  • The Big Catch: Tacklebox

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 It Comes In Waves. 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 It Comes In Waves. These titles are not in What to play next.

It Comes In Waves: A very typical example of its motivational profile. 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, Survival, Relaxation.

Last update: 21/08/2026