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Risk of Rain (2013) similar games & best alternatives

Risk of Rain (2013)

PC (Microsoft Windows) • 2013

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Quick resume

Risk of Rain is an action platformer with roguelike elements. With permanent death as a primary feature, players will have to play their best to get as far as possible. Fight on a mysterious planet with randomly spawning enemies and bosses, either alone or with 3 friends in online co-op.

Global score

93/100

Genres

Action, Indie, Role-playing (RPG)

Similar games

    Pros

    • Challenging and rewarding gameplay
    • High replayability with unlockables and artifacts
    • Unique characters with distinct playstyles
    • Excellent soundtrack and atmospheric pixel art
    • Local and online cooperative multiplayer

    Cons

    • Multiplayer setup can be difficult and buggy
    • Small character sprites can be hard to see
    • Lack of official multiplayer server browser
    • Some balance issues between characters
    • No native controller support for menus

    Analysis

    Broadly representative of its motivational profile, with a few distinct shifts. Motivations that often define this kind of title include Cooperation, Fellowship, Intimacy, Leadership. Here, the score leans higher than usual among comparable games on Survival. It leans lower than usual among comparable games on Intimacy, Relaxation.

    How to use the graph
    Similar games map

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

    • Larger dot with a light outline: the game you are viewing.
    • Colour: groups of games with comparable motivation patterns (statistical clusters).
    • Hover a dot to see the game name; click to open its page.
    • 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.

    Motivations

    • Autonomy
      4

      "Players choose from multiple unique characters and customize builds through item pickups, allowing personal playstyle and decision-making."

    • Competence
      5

      "High skill ceiling with challenging gameplay, requiring mastery of character abilities, timing, and strategic item use."

    • Competition
      -3

      "Focus is on individual or cooperative play with no mention of ranked modes or leaderboards; players set personal goals."

    • Continuation
      5

      "Strong replayability with unlockables, artifacts, and randomized elements encouraging long-term habitual play."

    • Cooperation
      4

      "Supports local and online co-op up to 4 players, with teamwork important though some limitations in multiplayer setup."

    • Creativity
      3

      "Players create unique builds by combining various items and selecting characters with distinct skills."

    • Domination
      -4

      "Interactions emphasize shared survival and cooperation rather than dominance or power over others."

    • Escapism
      4

      "Immersive sci-fi setting and challenging gameplay provide engaging distraction and stress relief."

    • Expectation
      -4

      "Players engage voluntarily driven by intrinsic interest and enjoyment rather than obligation."

    • Experimenting
      4

      "Encourages trying different characters, item combinations, and artifacts to discover new strategies."

    • Exploration
      3

      "Randomized level layouts and hidden secrets motivate curiosity-driven discovery."

    • Expression
      2

      "Character selection and item builds allow some degree of self-expression, though visual customization is limited."

    • Fantasy
      4

      "Set in an imaginative sci-fi world with fantastical enemies, items, and lore."

    • Fellowship
      3

      "Community and cooperative play foster social connection and shared experiences."

    • Growth
      5

      "Players learn mechanics, unlock characters and items, and improve skills over time."

    • Health
      -4

      "Primarily sedentary gameplay with no physical activity involved."

    • Idle
      -4

      "Requires continuous attention and focus due to increasing difficulty and fast-paced combat."

    • Intimacy
      -3

      "Social interactions are mostly surface-level cooperative play without deep emotional connections."

    • Leadership
      -2

      "Players mainly participate equally in cooperative gameplay without explicit leadership roles."

    • Progression
      5

      "Strong emphasis on accumulating items, upgrades, and unlocking characters to progress."

    • Relaxation
      -2

      "Gameplay is tense and challenging, with increasing difficulty creating sustained pressure."

    • Sensation
      3

      "Enjoyable pixel art visuals and a highly praised dynamic soundtrack provide sensory stimulation."

    • Status
      -3

      "Lack of social ranking or recognition systems; focus is on personal achievement."

    • Story
      2

      "Lore is subtle and revealed through item and monster logs, providing narrative immersion for interested players."

    • Strategy
      4

      "Requires planning item builds, managing time, and tactical use of character abilities."

    • Thrill
      4

      "Increasing difficulty and risk create suspense and excitement."

    • Value
      4

      "Highly praised for replayability and content relative to price."

    • Violence
      4

      "Core gameplay involves combat, defeating enemies and bosses with various weapons and abilities."

    • Survival
      5

      "Central theme of surviving hostile environments with resource and time management."

    Where to buy

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    Last update: 29/04/2026