Paint it Back similar games & best alternatives

Paint it Back - Trailer
Paint it Back - paint-it-back_1.avif
Paint it Back - paint-it-back_2.avif
Paint it Back - paint-it-back_3.avif
Paint it Back - paint-it-back_4.avif
Paint it Back - paint-it-back_5.avif
Paint it Back - paint-it-back_6.avif

Paint it Back

Linux, PC (Microsoft Windows), iOS, Mac • 2015

Should you play it?

Use logic as your paintbrush to restore lost works of pixel art. Try the demo!

What works

  • Large variety of puzzles and difficulty levels
  • Intuitive and smooth controls
  • Workshop support for user-created puzzles
  • Charming pixel art and humor
  • High replay value and content volume

Things to keep in mind

  • Limited soundtrack variety
  • Only one puzzle save slot at a time
  • Some puzzles require guessing despite logic focus
  • Music can become repetitive
  • Lack of some quality of life features like multi-save

What to play next

Top picks

Games that feels the closest overall

  • Juufuutei Raden™'s Guide for Pixel Museum

  • while True: learn()

  • Is This Seat Taken?

  • Freshly Frosted

  • Voxelgram

  • Last Call BBS

Less expressive

Games that feels like Paint it Back but with less self-expression and customization

  • Chronoquartz

  • The Darkside Detective: A Fumble in the Dark

  • Taiji

  • Mars Power Industries Deluxe

  • Tiny Room Stories: Town Mystery

  • Dungeons of Dreadrock

More fantastical

Games that feels like Paint it Back but with more imaginative fiction

  • Ittle Dew

  • There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension

  • What Lies in the Multiverse

  • FEZ

  • Moonleap

  • Girls Like Robots

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 Paint it Back. 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 Paint it Back. These titles are not in What to play next.

Paint it Back: A very typical example of its motivational profile. Motivations that often define this kind of title include Violence, Fantasy, Thrill, Story. Here, the score leans higher than usual among comparable games on Story, Continuation. It leans lower than usual among comparable games on Survival.

Last update: 21/08/2026