Protocol similar games & best alternatives

Protocol - protocol_1.avif
Protocol - protocol_2.avif
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Protocol - protocol_6.avif

Protocol

PC (Microsoft Windows) • 2018

Should you play it?

By signing below, you agree to follow the Protocol. Protocol is a program of strict rules created to make first contact with an alien life form that got shot down in the Arctic Circle.

What works

  • Unique dark humor and voice acting
  • Multiple endings and replayability
  • Interesting sci-fi narrative and setting
  • Encourages experimentation and exploration
  • Vr and desktop play options

Things to keep in mind

  • Frustrating repetition due to strict failure penalties
  • Non-skippable cutscenes and dialogs
  • Clunky controls especially outside vr
  • Technical bugs and occasional crashes
  • Limited graphics and animation polish

What to play next

Top picks

Games that feel the closest overall

  • Vaporum: Lockdown

  • SCP: Fragmented Minds

  • Subliminal

  • System Shock® 2 (1999)

  • Ctrl Alt Ego

  • Dino Crisis

  • The Walking Fish 2: Final Frontier

  • Skin Deep

  • ROUTINE

Search more ->

Hidden Gems

Less popular games with surprisingly high similarity

  • Ground Zero

  • BROK the InvestiGator - Prologue

  • Operencia: The Stolen Sun

If you liked…

Recommendations by what you enjoyed most

  • Competence

    Ctrl Alt Ego
  • Escapism

    Skin Deep
  • Experimenting

    ICEY

Similarity map

Explore nearby similar games and see why they’re close.

How to use the graph

Similarity map

Each dot is a game. They are arranged from the game’s motivation profile. Closer dots usually mean more similar reasons to play (exploration, competition, relaxation, etc.)—not that one game is “better” than another.

  • Purple star: this page’s game — everything on the map is relative to it.
  • 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 out and see more games.

Why don’t the axes read like a score? This view uses t-SNE: it only keeps who is close to whom. The scales are not “good to bad” or hours played—they separate groups on the map. Read distance between dots, not the axis numbers (hidden on purpose).

Protocol: A very typical example of its motivational profile. Motivations that often define this kind of title include Expression, Fellowship, Cooperation, Leadership. Here, the score leans higher than usual among comparable games on Experimenting, Exploration. It leans lower than usual among comparable games on Relaxation.

Last update: 25/07/2026