The Future of Immersive Sims: A Discovery Queue
Discover your next favorite Immersive Sim, from the past, the present, and the future!
Updated on March 8, 2024:
- Announcement: I’m looking for a new place to store this list as Medium’s website and editor are getting so slow (the mobile app is nearly useless). I’ll share more information when the transfer is over.
Note to self:
- Add Lonely Space, Sol Traveler, Gregsim, Sonar Shock, Incoherence, Project Hornet, New Game from Bleakmill, Devil Divers, Filth, A-Star Theft, Electrician, Neon Intrusion, Clamours Counterfeit, Faded, PIGFACE, Project Silverfish, ABSENT LOG, Devil Divers, Crimson Lyre, Cybernetic Sunburn, Excised, Wild Dose, Heavy As Stone, ExMORTALIS, ROOT, CHROME SWEAT;
- Update Deep State, Hydropunk, Graven, Ad Infernum, Prowler, Maliguard, Beyond Hanwell, PARKSIDE;
- Delete Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2, Selaco, Child of Lothian;
- Learn more about Sub Rosa, Anomaly Agent, Twisted Tower, Arcticide, ADACA, Envelope, THRESHOLD, darkwrbSTREAMER, Spirited Thief
DISCLAIMER: This discovery queue includes legit immersive sims as well as games that are inspired by immersive sims, ranging from different genres and view perspectives, selected by developers, journalists, and me. You - my fellow immersive sim enjoyers - get to decide what “immersive sim” means to you, and what games in this list meet your definitions.
For a faster way to check immersive sims on sale on Steam and wishlist future releases, check this Steam guide: Immersive Sims @ Steam Sale.
Personal Recommendations
Ctrl Alt Ego: A true immersive sim in almost every way, environmental storytelling, emergent gameplay, systemic interactions, and non-linear levels, but at the same time it’s unlike any immersive sims you have seen before. Playing as a disembodied ego, a digital ghost, a bug in the system, you must find the truth, and a way out. It’s the best immersive sim in years, I have spoken.
Through the Fragmentation: Talking with stranger crow people, exploring and discovering secrets in this charming, atmospheric, and mysterious little adventure game. Its quest and level design is inspired by immersive sims although to a limited extent, I see the influence, and I won’t let it be forgotten. It’s a $4.99/3,99€ game and usually on sale for $1.24/0.99€, please try it! Crow Bar awaits you.
Weird West: An isometric dark fantasy action RPG set in the wild west, made by former Arkane developers like Raphaël Colantonio and Julien Roby with their new indie studio WolfEye. After a whole year worth of updates and improvements including mod support, Weird West is in its best shape for players to embark on their journeys. There is also a great first-person mod for you to try if you seek immersion in first person.
Gloomwood: Call it Thief with Guns or ResidenThievil, it’s a game that blends stealth immersive sim and survival horror elements so well and is instantly loved by many. One of its developers Dillon Rogers was once complained by GDC audience that he “spoke about Thief too much”, but if you love Thief or Resident Evil series, this game is for you.
Deadeye Deepfake Simulacrum: I was fascinated by a Twitter thread from its developer before release, answering how fast you can move in this game: through different builds and abilities, the answer is 1,171,875,000,000 m/s, which is almost 4,000 times the speed of light! DDS is the most complex and advanced 2D top-down immersive sim so far, and nothing comes close. Doesn’t it mean something when I tell you it’s more inspired by E.Y.E: Divine Cybermancy and Ghost in the Shell than Hotline Miami?
Betrayal At Club Low: A Dice-Rolling TTRPG + Point & Click Adventure + Immersive Sim, crazy right?! This is Betrayal At Club Low, the fourth installment in the surreal Off-Peak universe created by now IGF winner Cosmo D. Are you the best nightclub infiltrator in the agency, or just a pizza delivery clown in the circus, play this game and find out!
Released Pt.1 (Jan, 2010 — Dec, 2019, WIP)
BioShock 2 — Feb 9, 2010
Steam (88% Positive) / Epic / GOG / Xbox / PlayStation / Switch — Twitter / Website — First Person / Shooter / Action — $19.99 / 19,99€
E.Y.E: Divine Cybermancy — Jul 29, 2011
Steam (84% Positive) / GOG — Twitter / Website — First Person / Shooter / Role-Playing — $9.99 / 8,19€
Deus Ex: Human Revolution — Aug 23, 2011
Steam (92% Positive on Director’s Cut version) / GOG / Xbox — Twitter / YouTube — First Person / Shooter / Role-Playing — $19.99 / 19,99€
Dishonored — Oct 9, 2012
Steam (97% Positive) / Epic / GOG / Xbox / Xbox Game Pass / PlayStation / PlayStation Plus Premium — Twitter / Website — First Person / Stealth / Action — $19.99 / 19,99€
Eldritch — Oct 13, 2013
Steam (88% Positive) — Twitter / Website — First Person / Action Roguelike / Adventure — $14.99 / 11,99€
CONSORTIUM — Jan 8, 2014
Steam (Original version delisted) — Twitter / Discord / Website — First Person / Role-Playing / Action — $9.99 / 9,99€
Spirits of Xanadu — Mar 26, 2015
Steam / Itch.io / Switch — Twitter / Discord / Website / YouTube — First Person / Shooter / Adventure — $4.99 / 3,99€
Solarix — Apr 30, 2015
Steam — Twitter / Website / YouTube — First Person / Stealth / Shooter — $19.99 / 19,99€
Neon Struct — May 20, 2015
Steam (87% Positive) — Twitter / Website — First Person / Stealth / Action — $17.99 / 15,99€
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided — Aug 23, 2016
Steam / GOG / Xbox / PlayStation — Twitter / YouTube — First Person / Shooter / Role-Playing — $29.99 / 29,99€
Slayer Shock — Sept 29, 2016
Steam / Itch.io — Twitter / Website — First Person / Shooter / Role-Playing — $19.99 / 17,99€
Dishonored 2 — Nov 11, 2016
Steam (89% Positive) / GOG / Epic / Xbox / Xbox Game Pass / PlayStation / PlayStation Plus Extra — Twitter / Website — First Person / Stealth / Action — $29.99 / 29,99€
PREY — May 5, 2017
Steam (90% Positive) / GOG / Epic / Xbox / Xbox Game Pass / PlayStation / PlayStation Plus Extra — Twitter / Website — First Person / Stealth / Action — $29.99 / 29,99€
Brigand: Oaxaca — Jul 12, 2017
Steam (96% Positive, Demo✅) — Twitter / Website — First Person / Role-Playing / Shooter — $16.96 / 14,86€
Dishonored: Death of the Outsider — Sept 15, 2017
Steam (86% Positive) / GOG / Epic / Xbox / Xbox Game Pass / PlayStation / PlayStation Plus Extra — Twitter / Website — First Person / Stealth / Action — $29.99 / 29,99€
Consortium: The Tower (Early Access) — Sept 22, 2017
Steam — Twitter / Discord / Website / Fig Campaign — First Person / Role-Playing / Action — $24.99 / 22,99€
The Norwood Suite — Oct 2, 2017
Steam (96% Positive, Demo✅) / Itch.io — Twitter / Discord / Website — First Person / Adventure / Investigation — $9.99 / 9,99€
Star Explorers — May 9, 2018
Steam (83% Positive) / GOG / Itch.io — Twitter / Discord / Website — First Person / Exploration / Action — $4.99 / 4,99€
Prey: Mooncrash — Jun 10, 2018
Steam / Epic (Mooncrash included in the base game) — Twitter / Website — First Person / Action / Roguelike — $19.99 / 19,99€
The Occupation — Mar 5, 2019
Steam (Demo✅) / GOG / Xbox / PlayStation — Twitter / Discord / Website — First Person / Adventure / Detective — $29.99 / 29,99€
Pathologic 2 — May 23, 2019
Steam (92% Positive) / GOG / Xbox / PlayStation — Twitter / Discord / Website — First Person / Role-Playing / Survival — $34.99 / 33,99€
Void Bastards — May 29, 2019
Steam (87% Positive) / GOG / Epic / Xbox / PlayStation / Nintendo Switch — Twitter / Discord / Website — First Person / Shooter / Action — $29.99 / 29,99€
The Spy Who Shrunk Me — Jun 14, 2019
Steam — First Person / Stealth / Shooter — $9.99 / 9,75€
Streets of Rogue — Jul 12, 2019
Steam (96% Positive) / GOG / Xbox / PlayStation / Nintendo Switch — Twitter / Discord / Website — 2D / Roguelike / Pixel — $19.99 / 19,50€
Released Pt.2 (Jan, 2020 — Dec, 2023)
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners (VR) — Jan 23, 2020
Steam (88% Positive) / Oculus / PlayStation VR1 / Pico 4 — Twitter / Discord / Website — Virtual Reality / Action / Horror — $39.99 / 33,99€
Is It an Immersive Sim? One of the developers mentioned that it’s inspired by “0451 games” (see the top comment here). Several media outlets have pointed out the inspiration from Deus Ex and Dishonored as well in level design and ways to deal with zombies. Developers talked about its design in their postmortem GDC talk.
Rock Paper Shotgun: The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners is a surprisingly fleshed out VR nightmare
Wildfire — May 26, 2020
Steam (85% Positive, Demo✅) / Switch / PlayStation / Xbox — Twitter / Website — 2D Platformer / Stealth / Pixel — $14.99 / 14.99€
Is It an Immersive Sim? Claimed by its developer Dan Hindes, who is a fan of stealth games and immersive sims in general, and he talks about Far Cry 2, Breath of the Wild often. Yes, he runs the Twitter account “Can You Propagate Fire”.
Stealth Docs: “Widlfire” Is A Love Letter To Stealth Games
The Escapist: Wildfire | Review in 3 Minutes
Project Exhibited — Jun 17, 2020
Steam (83% Positive, Free✅) — YouTube — First Person / Stealth / Adventure
Is It an Immersive Sim? Made by Team Thieves, a bunch of young developers from Breda University of Applied Sciences. The game is claimed to be an action-stealth game, inspired by Thief and Dishonored, featuring a non-linear level and various gadgets. The game would also react to your playstyles when you finish.
High Entropy: Challenges — July 23, 2020
Steam (95% Positive, Free✅) / Itch.io — Twitter / Website — First Person / Stealth / Puzzle
Is It an Immersive Sim? As seen on the store page, it’s claimed by developer Álvaro García, as an action-adventure FPS inspired by their favorite immersive sims. It’s a free game paving the way for future full release “High Entropy”, with a focus on level-based puzzles, compact Deus Ex-like maps, command line hacking, stealth and the use of environmental hazards.
Kill It With Fire — Aug 14, 2020
Steam (95% Positive) / Epic / PlayStation / Xbox — Twitter / Discord / Website — First Person / Shooter / Physics Simulation — $14.99 / 14,79€
Is It an Immersive Sim? It’s a physics-based shooter where you kill spiders creatively with various weapons ranging from light saber to a(n) (Australian) shoe, and discover hidden secrets to unlock challenges and new weaponry. The developer Casey Donnellan once mentioned that Prey was a huge influence on Kill It With Fire and wish he had more environmental storytelling details in the game.
Fanbyte: Welcome to Kill It With Fire, a Tiny Immersive Sim about Hunting Spiders
Baldur’s Gate 3 — Oct 6, 2020
Steam / Xbox / PlayStation — Twitter / Website — Role-Playing / Adventure / Turn-Based — $59.99 / 59,99€ / $69.99 / 69,99€
Is It an Immersive Sim? During an interview with the official Xbox Podcast, lead writer Adam Smith stated: “When we look at our inspirations, we’re often looking to studios like Arkane and Immersive Sims, and the way that they approach, the way a level design works, and the way that you have all these different avenues to go in”.
Through The Fragmentation — May 14, 2021
Steam (97% Positive, Demo✅) / Itch.io — Twitter / Discord / Website / YouTube — First Person / Adventure / Mystery — $4.99 / 3,99€
Is It an Immersive Sim? The developer Máté Pribelszky considers it more of an immersive adventure game, with humble aspects of the immersive sim design philosophy such as non-linear levels, and he’s working on emphasizing that in the successor Fragmented City, check out this magic number.
Fanbyte: The Best Games You Aren’t Playing
Graven — May 27, 2021 (Early access, full release on Jan 23, 2024)
Steam / Epic — Twitter / Website — First Person / Action Adventure / Role-Playing — $24.99 / 24,99€
Is It an Immersive Sim? During the Realms Deep 2020 stream, the developer stated that GRAVEN has immersive sim elements. PC Gamer wrote that spells in Graven would take advantage of some of the game’s complex underlying systems, enabling emergent interactions (although they’re limited in current build of the game). Despite the claims, GRAVEN wasn’t received well by players.
Splattercatgaming: GRAVEN — Medieval Zombie Apocalypse Action RPG
Cruelty Squad — Jun 16, 2021
Steam (97% Positive) — Twitter / Discord — First Person / Shooter / Horror — $19.99 / 16,79€
Is It an Immersive Sim? It was once mentioned on Twitter by its developer Ville Kallio, as an immersive sim. It’s s a tactical shooter happening in a bizarre psychedelic world, where you get to choose your own approaches to targets. It’s considered to be one of the best indie immersive sims.
Civvie11: Cruelty Squad is Wonderful and Depraved
PC Gamer: Cruelty Squad is what a great immersive sim sees before it dies
Videogamedunkey: Tom Clancy’s Cruelty Squad
Zombaliens (Early Access) — Jul 20, 2021
Steam (Demo✅) — Twitter — First Person / Shooter / Action — $15.99 / 14,99€
Is It an Immersive Sim? Claimed by its developer Sebastien Penverne, as an immersive sim with non-linear, hand-crafted levels, and lots of interactivity that allow players to choose their own approach.
Deathloop — Sept 14, 2021
Steam / Epic / PlayStation / Xbox / Xbox Game Pass / PlayStation Plus Extra — Twitter / Website — First Person / Shooter / Action — $59.99 / 59,99€
Is It an Immersive Sim? It’s an experimental first person shooter made by Arkane Lyon. The game still features high level of emergence and interactivity in its systems like Arkane’s past games with a more gun-focused gameplay. There’re various ways to take down target visionaries, as well as creative solutions to puzzles hidden in the levels and side quests.
IGN: Deathloop Review
TheGamer: Deathloop Review — Balletic And Brilliant, Arkane’s Latest Is PS5’s Best Game So Far
Videogamedunkey: Kickloop
Filcher — Sept 15, 2021
Steam (94% Positive, Demo✅) / Itch.io — Twitter / Website / YouTube — First-Person / Stealth / 2.5D — $9.99 / 8,50€
Is It an Immersive Sim? Claimed by its developer Johan Hjärpe, as a first person 2.5D noir stealth game, also “a lo-fi loveletter to classic immersive sims like Thief and Deus Ex”. It’s probably the closest modern game you can get to the original Thief, where light and sound systems play dominant roles in stealth.
Stealth Docs: “Filcher” Has Everything I Need In A Stealth Game
HEXCRAFT: Harlequin Fair / Harbour Dawn (DLC) — Oct 23, 2021 / Apr 26, 2022
Steam (92% Positive) / Itch.io — Twitter / Website / YouTube — First Person / Role-Playing / Mystery — $12.99 / 10,79€
Is It an Immersive Sim? Its developer Oleander Garden described it as an experimental RPG and immersive sim. It features a dynamic world with a non-linear structure, interlocking systems, simulated characters and city zones, as well as magic spell casting, and an alchemy system.
Mechajammer — Dec 3, 2021
Steam — Twitter / Website / Kickstarter Campaign — Isometric / Role-Playing / Pixel — $24.99 / 19,99€
Is It an Immersive Sim? Claimed by Hannah Williams, co-founder of its developer Whalenough Studios, that the game is “like an isometric Deus Ex”. The game is a mixture of turn-based role-playing and real time tactics, where combat often feels simulation-like, and there’re a lot of actions and alternate paths that players can use.
Blood West — Feb 11, 2022 (Early access, full release on Dec 5, 2023)
Steam (91% Positive) — Twitter / Discord / Website — First Person / Stealth / Shooter — $14.99 / 12,49€
Is It an Immersive Sim? Claimed by its developer Hyperstrange, as a “wild west horror low-poly stealth shooter immersive sim”. Stealth, charms, and skill trees are the most important parts of the immersive sim experience in Blood West. Players get to choose different play styles to deal with threats, and there’s enough room (through mechanics upon player death, etc.) for players to screw up and recover from.
Charlatan Wonder: BLOOD WEST: Be an Undead Cowboy in a Cursed Land
Eruogamer: Blood West is a spooky Western with great ideas
Kirk Collects: Blood West is looking bloody good — Early Access Review
Abermore — Mar 29, 2022
Steam — Twitter — First Person / Stealth / Action Adventure — $15.99 / 15,99€
Is It an Immersive Sim? As many reviews and videos have pointed out, Abermore is a first-person stealth RPG that is clearly inspired by classics like Thief and Dishonored, and players have various gadgets and abilities to stealth through missions. Unfortunately, Abermore was rushed to release due to budget issue, and many severe bugs aren’t yet fixed.
Charlatan Wonder: Abermore: The Immersive Sim so bad it’s AMAZING!!!
Weird West — Mar 31, 2022
Steam (Free First Chapter✅) / Epic / GOG / PlayStation / Xbox — Twitter / Discord / Website — Isometric / Role-Playing / Action — $39.99 / 39,99€
Is It an Immersive Sim? Yes!
Kotaku: Weird West feel like a momentous achievement in the immersive sims genre
GameSpot: The Aiming System That Broke Weird West
Charlatan Wonder: Weird West: Immersive YeeHaw Sim
Winter Ember — Apr 19, 2022
Steam / GOG — Twitter / Website / YouTube — Isometric / Stealth / Action Role-Playing — $29.99 / 23,99€
Is It An Immersive Sim? Winter Ember isn’t subtle about its inspirations: classic Thief games and Dishonored series. The developer intended to make the environment like a playground where it’s up to players to experiment. Although, many player reviews reported that the game suffered from camera and action feedback problems.
Child of Lothian — Jun 17, 2022
Steam (Free✅) — Twitter — Third Person / Stealth / Adventure
Is It An Immersive Sim? Claimed by its developers Exploding Apples, as a third person stealth adventure game. It’s another student game from Breda University of Applied Sciences, featuring third person stealth systems, ways to distract guards and multiple routes to the goal, although somewhat simplistic.
Ctrl Alt Ego — Jul 22, 2022
Steam (96% Positive, Demo✅) / GOG / Switch (N/A) / PlayStation (N/A) / Xbox (N/A) — Twitter / Discord / Website — First Person / Puzzle / Shooter — $19.99 / 18,99€
Is It An Immersive Sim? Claimed by one of its two developers Mindthunk, as a unique sci-fi immersive sim. This is a game designed and marketed to target at immersive sim fans: It’s a pure immersive sim in almost every way, environmental storytelling, emergent gameplay, systemic interactions, non-linear levels, but at the same time it’s unlike any immersive sims you have played before. A must play.
Kotaku: Two People Made A Killer Immersive Sim That Holds Up Against Prey, A Genre Classic
Charlatan Wonder: Ctrl Alt Ego is the Best Immersive Sim in YEARS
Boulder Punch: Ctrl Alt Ego Review: A Masterclass In Immersive Sim Design
Imprisoned Hyperion — Nov 11, 2022
Steam (Demo✅) — Twitter — First Person / Role-Playing / Action Adventure — $14.99 / 14,79€
Is It An Immersive Sim? Claimed by its developer Anatolii Arbatskii, as an immersive sim first person RPG with survival elements, inspired by Arx Fatalis, The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind, and Skyrim. Foe example, the game features a cooking system where you can make bread, or poison food to avoid battle.
Gloomwood (Early Access) — Sept 6, 2022
Steam (94% Positive) / GOG — Twitter / Discord / Website — First Person / Stealth / Survival Horror — $19.99 / 16,79€
Is It An Immersive Sim? Gloomwood is a “haunting adventure inspired by the immersive sims and survival horror greats of the late 90s and early 2000s”, and it excels exactly at that. As I’ve mentioned above, the primary developer Dillon Rogers is a huge fan of Thief and Resident Evil series, and he’s pretty vocal about immersive sims. Follow him on Twitter!
Civvie11: ULTRAWOOD
Noclip — Video Game Documentaries: How Gloomwood Combines Survival Horror & Immersive Sims
Betrayal At Club Low — Sept 9, 2022
Steam (97% Positive, Demo✅) / Itch.io — Twitter / Discord / Website — Third Person / Tabletop Role-Playing / Point & Click Adventure — $9.99 / 8,19€
Is It An Immersive Sim? Once described by its developer Cosmo D, “in a way it’s like the spirit of the immersive sim… the whole mission could play out a number of different ways”. The game happens in a compact nightclub infiltration map that is inspired by classic games like Deus Ex, and the dice-roll system with effects on player character creates emergent narratives and gameplay.
GDC 2023: ‘Betrayal At Club Low’ Wins Grand Prize And Nuovo Award At Independent Games Festival
Rock Paper Shotgun: Betrayal At Club Low review: a delicious snack-sized espionage RPG set in a nightclub
Destructoid: Review: Betrayal at Club Low
Deadeye Deepfake Simulacrum (Early Access) — Oct 14, 2022
Steam (99% Positive, Demo✅) / Itch.io — Twitter / Discord / YouTube — Top-Down / Role-Playing / Hacking — $12.99 / 10,79€
Is It An Immersive Sim? Made by solo developer nodayshalleraseyou, DDS is an immersive sim inspired by Hotline Miami, E.Y.E: Divine Cybermancy, and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. It’s the only immersive sim where you can go beyond the speed of light, or use the “ザ・ワールド / The World” ability. (Sinno: Isn’t it very cool to have a Japanese interview from a major media there?)
Game*Spark: 借金返済ハッキングアクション『Deadeye Deepfake Simulacrum』
Koka Productions: (✿◕‿◕) Deadeye Deepfake Simulacrum — Koka Reviews
Stay Out of the House — Oct 14, 2022
Steam (94% Positive) / GOG — Twitter / Website / YouTube — First Person / Survival Horror / Stealth — $14.99 / 12,49€
Is It An Immersive Sim? Once described by its developer Puppet Combo, as a “slasher movie immersive sim” in first person with advanced AI, survival mechanics, and combat. Its 5-minute long store trailer explained itself pretty well, I recommend you to watch it instead of reading whatever nonsense I would write (I’m a horror game coward).
Destructoid: Review: Stay Out of the House
Charlatan Wonder: Stay Out of the House: Like an 80s Horror Movie Made into a Game
Space Wreck — Dec 5, 2022 (Early access, full release on Oct 10, 2023)
Steam (89% Positive, Demo✅) / Itch.io (Prologue Version, Free✅) — Twitter — Isometric / Role-Playing / Pixel — $14.99 / 14,99€
Is It An Immersive Sim? Claimed by its two-man developer Pahris as a post-apocalyptic RPG that lands somewhere between cRPG (inspired by classic western isometric RPGs like Fallout, Fallout 2, Arcanum) and an immersive sim, it even says “inch wide, miles deep” on the store page! The game features deep role-playing, sequence breaks, usually 3–8 ways to complete a quest, etc. The developer kindly showed me immersive sim mechanics when I asked.
Splattercatgaming: Space Wreck — Deep Derelict Space Station Scavenging cRPG
JETT: The Far Shore + Given Time — Feb 1, 2023
Steam / Epic / PlayStation / PlayStation Plus Extra — Twitter / Website — Third Person / First Person / Action Adventure — $29.99 / 28,99€
Is It An Immersive Sim? A game made by Superbrothers (Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP), Pine Scented Software, together with Looking Glass legends Randy Smith and Terri Brosius. Its latest expansion JETT: Given Time has been claimed to feature open world exploration, ecosystem-puzzling and free-roaming gameplay, players are “given time to soak in a world that reveals JETT’s immersive sim aspirations”.
Rock Paper Shotgun: Jett: The Far Shore review: wonderful fiction undermined by woeful friction
Noclip: The Decade Long Creative Development of JETT
Rock Paper Shotgun: A new expansion sees Jett become the soaring sci-fi open world it was meant to be
Apocalyptic Vibes — Mar 2, 2023
Steam / Itch.io — YouTube — First Person / Shooter / Action — $19.99 / 19,50€
Is It An Immersive Sim? Claimed by its developer Amanito Computing as an “immersive first-person shooter with a non-linear narrative” with an immersive sim tag on Steam. The game takes inspirations from S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series, focusing on atmosphere, survival, and communication with NPCs. Players have special equipments including a hood (for toxic rain), gas mask (for poisonous fog), radio receiver (for direction and weather forecast) in order to traverse the wasteland.
Splattercatgaming: Apocalyptic Vibes — Dark Post Apocalyptic Boomer Scavenger
Cyber Cult City — Mar 29, 2023
Steam — Twitter — Top-Down / Action / Roguelike — $11.99 / 9,99€
Is It An Immersive Sim? Claimed by its developer Ouch Giver Games, as an action roguelike immersive sim with a top-down perspective, where there are many ways of dealing with objectives: use your hoverboard, hack everything, loot as much as you can, upgrade and transform your perks, and fight your way through the city.
Hyperviolent (Early Access) — Apr 7, 2023
Steam / Epic / GOG — Twitter — First Person / Shooter / Pixel — $14.99 / 14,99€
Is It An Immersive Sim? As mentioned by many media reviews, Hyperviolent is a brutal, old-school FPS inspired by classics like Doom and System Shock (1994). The game features in-world computer systems, interactive cockpit controls, great dual-welding combo possibilities, and a dedicated button to wipe your helmet clean.
- Grim Beard: Grimpressions — HYPERVIOLENT (Demo)
Godfist — Apr 10, 2023
Steam — Twitter / Discord — First Person / Action Roguelike / Hack and Slash — $3.99 / 3,99€
Is It An Immersive Sim? Godfist took clear inspiration from Dark Messiah of Might and Magic despite being a god-like action game (where you don’t need to manipulate the environment) and not having dedicated kick buttons. Its developer Icehelmet has been wanting to make immersive sims, and Godfist is one step closer to that goal.
Swirl W@tch — Apr 17, 2023
Steam / Itch.io — Twitter — Top-Down / Action Roguelike / Stealth — $13.49 / 13,49€
Is It An Immersive Sim? Tagged by developer Stefan as immersive sim on Itch and Steam, Swirl W@tch is a unique stealth action roguelike, where stealth works equally for you and your enemies, ships detect each other by laser light, engine noises, and sonar echoes, but you outsmart them by intercepting communications, setting traps and ambushing with your gadgets.
CONSORTIUM VR (Early Access / VR) — Apr 22, 2023 (Previously Mar 26)
Steam / Oculus — Twitter / Website / Discord — Virtual Reality / Role-Playing / Mystery — $29.99 / 29,99€
Is It An Immersive Sim? CONSORTIUM VR is a complete Unreal Engine remaster of CONSORTIUM (2014) and a full adaptation to VR. Players can “decide to embrace diplomacy and navigate the narrative without ever even raising a weapon, or choose more violent approaches and utilize assault weapons to kill or incapacitate enemies; choose to talk to everyone or choose to be a person of few words”.
Shadows of Doubt (Early Access) — Apr 24, 2023
Steam — Twitter / Discord / Website / YouTube — First Person / Detective / Stealth — $19.99 / 19,99€
Is It An Immersive Sim? A procedurally generated and fully simulated sandbox city of crime based on systemic rules and NPCs have their own lives and routines. Doesn’t that sound exciting, just like that “one city block” idea? Claimed by its developer ColePowered Games as a sci-fi noir immersive sim, players can explore almost anywhere they please (legally or illegally), lock-pick, hack, sneak, climb, and investigate whatever they can find in this city of crime.
The Escapist: Shadows of Doubt Is a Procedurally Generated Sandbox Detective Game, and It Rocks
Drae: From Homicide Detective to Wanted for Murder in 80 Minutes — Shadows of Doubt
Redfall — May 2, 2023
Steam / Epic / Xbox / Xbox Game Pass — Twitter / Website — First Person / Shooter / Action Adventure — $69.99 / 69,99€
Is It An Immersive Sim? Arkane Austin answered my question regarding blending immersive sim with open world design, speaking that a lot of stuff would be familiar for immersive sim fans. I’ll take their word for it! From what I’ve seen so far, I expect immersive open world exploration, environmental storytelling, emergent ability combinations (I hope they’re deeper than what were showcased), and some environmental hazards to make use of, and more.
GameSpot: Redfall Isn’t What We Expected | Hands-On Preview
Digitaltrends: Redfall isn’t just a fun vampire shooter. It’s a takedown of the ultra-rich
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom — May 12, 2023
Nintendo Switch — Twitter / Website — Third Person / Action Adventure / Role-Playing — $69.99 / 69,99€
Is It An Immersive Sim? Breath of the Wild had different quest structures, level design principles, player choices than traditional immersive sims, but it would be unnecessary to deny that there’re tons of emergent systems and interactions in it to get inspired from for immersive sim fans and developers (I believe that BotW was probably inspired by Far Cry 2, which was influenced by Deus Ex). Tears of the Kingdom would no doubt be more steps forward than BotW and further explore the possible boundaries of its design philosophy.
System Shock (2023) — May 30, 2023
Steam (Demo✅) / Epic / GOG / PlayStation (N/A) / Xbox (N/A) — Twitter / Discord / Website / Kickstarter Campaign — First Person / Shooter / Action — $39.99 / 39,99€
Is It An Immersive Sim? It’s the remake of original System Shock (1994).
Amnesia: The Bunker — Jun 6, 2023
Steam / Epic / GOG — Twitter / Website — First Person / Horror / Shooter — $24.99 / 24,50€
Is It An Immersive Sim? Claimed by Creative Lead Fredrik Olsson at Frictional Games: “If you believe something is possible to do, then it’s probably possible. It’s more like an immersive sim approach to that sort of stuff”. They have showcased several gameplay footage before launch, where players can shoot locks, use noises to distract monsters, ignite oil barrels, throw bricks to destroy wooden doors, etc.
PC Gamer: 12 takeaways after an hour with the next Amnesia game, which contains exactly one gun
IGN: Amnesia: The Bunker Feels Like a New Beginning for the Series
COLD DEPTH (Early Access) — Jun 15, 2023
Steam (Demo✅) — Twitter — First Person / Horror / Survival — $9.99 / 8,19€
Is It An Immersive Sim? WIP.
Gust of Wind — Jul 31, 2023
Steam (Demo✅) — Twitter / Discord / Website — First Person / Stealth / Action — $14.99 / 14,79€
77p egg: Eggwife — Sept 18, 2023
Steam (Demo✅) — Twitter / Discord — First Person / Action / Shooter — $9.99 / 9,99€
Is It An Immersive Sim? Claimed by Wojtek Mroczek, Head of Publishing at HYPERSTRANGE, as “an incredibly rich immersive sim with creativity and effort through the roof”, inspired by games such as Postal 2. Also in a reply to Jared R. Bair, they denied that Gloomwood dethroned 77p egg: Eggwife as the best modern immersive sim.
Fortune’s Run (Early Access) — Sept 28, 2023
Steam (Demo✅) — Twitter / Website / YouTube — First Person / Shooter / Action — $19.99 / 19,50€
Is It An Immersive Sim? Claimed by its developer as a “fast-paced melee boom-shoot fighting game platformer action imsim role-playing fever dream adventure story” (its developers strongly see immersive sim as a marketing term). Fortune’s Run features Deus Ex-like level design and environmental interactions (electricity panel, gas pipe, burnable plants, etc.) that players can manipulate to deal with enemies.
PC Gamer: This throwback sci-fi FPS is like the Jedi Knight 4 we never got
PC Gamer: This upcoming FPS had me at ‘fully simulated centrifugal gravity space station level’
Mosa Lina — Oct 17, 2023
Steam (97% Positive, Demo✅) — Twitter / Discord — Puzzle / Platformer / Simulation — $4.99 / 4,99€
Is It An Immersive Sim? No, but as a “hostile interpretation of the immersive sim design”, physics-driven puzzle platformer Mosa Lina still puts player agency and creativity in the center, then adds total randomness on top of them. Unlike traditional immersive sims, there’re no intended solutions or dominant strategies for players, because the developer only made tools and levels with no premeditated solution in mind!
The Foglands (VR) — Oct 31, 2023
Steam / PlayStation VR2 / Oculus (N/A) — Twitter / Discord / Website — Virtual Reality / Action Roguelike / Adventure
Is It An Immersive Sim? The Foglands is an action roguelike shooter that the developer want its combat to feel like “you’re in a western saloon, and suddenly a bar-fight just broke loose”. Players can find things nearby to “whack an enemy out” when out of ammo, “sneak past encounters and look around for various equips and abilities to improve your odds” when it’s too scary. Kotaku pointed out their inspirations from Dishonored.
PlayStation Blog: Atmospheric sci-fi western roguelike The Foglands launches on PS VR2 this year
Vampire: The Masquerade — Justice — Nov 2, 2023
PlayStation VR2 / Oculus — Twitter / Discord / Website — Virtual Reality / Stealth / Adventure
Is It An Immersive Sim? Claimed by the developers to have “drawn inspiration from games such as Dishonored and Deus Ex”, Vampire: The Masquerade — Justice happens in a dark and blood-soaked Venice, where players play as a powerful vampire, striking from the shadows and trying to uncover the conspiracy behind your sire’s murder.
TheGamer: Vampire: The Masquerade — Justice Proves I Am An Idiot
Beyond Sunset (Early Access) — Nov 8, 2023
Steam (92% Positive, Demo✅) / Itch.io (Demo✅) — Twitter — First Person / Shooter / Action — $9.99 / 9,75€
Is It an Immersive Sim? WIP.
Brush Burial — Dec 1, 2023
Steam (Demo✅)/ Itch.io (Demo✅) — Twitter — First Person / Adventure / Stealth — $6.99 / 6,89€
Is It an Immersive Sim? Claimed on its Steam page, Brush Burial is a “lo-fidelity first person snatcher inspired by the immersive sims of yesteryear”. With minimal systems and enemy designs, it’s a wonderful light immersive sim experience. You play as a knife-wielding swamp devil and are able to use your tail to toy with your prey: grab and fling objects, climb impossible heights, and knock your enemies off balance.
Upcoming Pt.1 (2024)
Pacific Drive — Feb 22, 2024
Steam / Epic / PlayStation — Twitter / Discord / Website — First Person / Survival / Racing
Is It An Immersive Sim? As mentioned in a Game Developer (read below) article, players in Pacific Drive can tweak and make the experience what they want, “the kind of self-difficulty tuning that you find in immersive simulation genre”. The game features first person only perspective, “plenty to interact with inside the car”, diegetic HUD built into the car’s dashboard, and most importantly it requires players to build a bond with the car and survive through car customizations and strategies.
IGN: Pacific Drive: The First Preview
Game Developer: The survival roguelike design fundamentals that fuel Pacific Drive
Imprisoned Hyperion II — Q1, 2024
Steam (Demo✅) — Twitter — First Person / Role-Playing / Action Adventure
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl/Chernobyl — Q1, 2024
Steam / Epic / GOG / Xbox / Xbox Game Pass / PlayStation (N/A) — Twitter / Discord / Website / YouTube — First Person / Shooter / Role-Playing
Is It An Immersive Sim? The original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games were never marketed as immersive sims, but for the first time S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is claimed to be having “one-of-a-kind gameplay, featuring the elements of a first-person shooter, immersive sim, and horror” on their website. Needs more info on it. (Sinno: I hope Stalker Guy from Peripeteia Discord server won’t see this)
CORPUS EDAX — Q2, 2024
Steam / Itch.io (Demo✅) — Twitter / Discord / Indiegogo Campaign — First Person / Action / Role-Playing
Is It An Immersive Sim? Inspired by classics like Deus Ex, Fallout, Condemned: Criminal Origins and Dark Messiah of Might & Magic, CORPUS EDAX combines role-playing (stats, dialogue system, reputation, factions, etc.) and “play your way” freedom of action into its core physics-based melee action gameplay. Fight, run, hack, convince people, use the environment, there’s always enough room for you to improvise.
Charlatan Wonder: Corpus Edax: Double Down on Melee Immersive Sims
Grim Beard: Grimpressions — Corpus Edax (Demo)
Ad Infernum — 2024
Steam / Itch.io — Twitter / YouTube — First Person / Survival Horror / Action
Is It An Immersive Sim? Made by solo developer Entropy Phi, who also runs a successful YouTube channel EphiTV talking about game development and modding, Ad Infernum is a survival horror immersive sim, where just about any object players come across can be interacted, the world can be fully explored at will, plenty hidden loot and shortcuts for players to find, and horrific encounters to be stealthed past or faced with force.
PC Gamer: This immersive sim will be set in a gas station that might also be hell
Neverlooted Dungeon — 2024
Steam (Demo✅) / Itch.io — Twitter / Discord / Website — First Person / Dungeon Crawler / Role-Playing
Is It an Immersive Sim? Claimed to be an innovative first-person dungeon crawler immersive sim, inspired by Ultima Underworld, Arx Fatalis, and Dungeons & Dragons, Neverlooted Dungeons focuses on a deadly non-linear dungeon environment, players have to use their creativity to explore, avoid treacherous traps, and solve physics-based challenges, outsmart the neverlooted dungeon and loot it!
Grim Beard: Grimpressions — Neverlooted Dungeon (Demo)
Splattercatgaming: Neverlooted Dungeon — Fantastic Fantasy Dungeon Exploration RPG
Roman Sands RE:Build — 2024
Steam (Demo✅) — Twitter / Website / YouTube — First Person / Adventure / Role-Playing
Is It An Immersive Sim? From the team behind horror game Paratopic and long-in-development stealth immersive sim Tangiers, Roman Sands RE: Build is claimed to be “a delirium-charged journey into apocalypse which collides through visual novel, adventure, puzzle solving, horror, and survival simulation”, and tagged as immersive sim on Steam. Needs more info on it.
Wild Bastards — 2024
Steam — Twitter / Discord — First Person / Roguelike / Shooter
Is It an Immersive Sim? Information on whether Wild Bastards will have immersive sim elements is limited at the moment, but PC Gamer claims it is going to be another roguelike FPS / immersive sim hybrid like Void Bastards, the previous title from studio Blue Manchu.
Minimally Invasive — 2024
Steam — Twitter — First Person / Simulation / Puzzle
Is It An Immersive Sim? It was featured in the WASD event as an immersive sim. The store page reads that players “must solve puzzles, burn, slice, dice and suture aliens and cyborg patients to survive”, and “the game mechanics has realistic physics and the tools have been engineered by actual surgeons”, as the developer comes from the surgeon background. Needs more info on it.
Upcoming Pt.2 (A-Z, Release Dates TBA)
AI: Absolute
Twitter / Discord — 2D Platformer / Metroidvania / Pixel
Is It An Immersive Sim? (WIP).
Alpha Terminus (w/wo VR) — Coming Soon™
Steam (Demo✅) — Twitter — Virtual Reality / Action / Shooter
Aquametsis — Coming Soon™
Steam / Itch.io (Pre-Alpha Demo✅) — Twitter / Discord — First Person / Shooter / Strategy
Argos: Riders on the Storm from OtherSide Entertainment (Underworld Ascendant)
Athanasia — Coming Soon™
Steam / Itch.io — Twitter / Discord / Website
Is It An Immersive Sim? Literally immersive sim with dinosaurs and many other bizzard creatures, made by Xerxes 0451…uhm wrong name…Momentum Games, Athanasia draws inspirations from System Shock series and Deus Ex, featuring environments with multiple paths, and a large arsenal of weapons and tools for players to use.
“Atmosphere PC Immersive Sim” from Fantastic Signals Studio (tinyBuild)
Atrium Malum — To Be Announced
beta decay — To Be Announced
Steam — Twitter / Discord / Website
Beyond Citadel
“BioShock Isolation” from Cloud Chamber
Bronze Dungeons
B.C. Piezophile — Q1, 2024
“Codename: Blacksky” from Arkane Austin (Prey / Redfall)
Combustion — Coming Soon™
Steam — Twitter / Discord / Kickstarter Campaign / Dev Blogs
CONSORTIUM Remastered — To Be Announced
Steam — Twitter / Website / Discord — First Person / Simulation / Mystery
Is It An Immersive Sim? CONSORTIUM Remastered is a complete Unreal Engine remaster of CONSORTIUM (2014). Players can “decide to embrace diplomacy and navigate the narrative without ever even raising a weapon, or choose more violent approaches and utilize assault weapons to kill or incapacitate enemies; choose to talk to everyone or choose to be a person of few words”. See developer iDGi_1’s motivations and plans with Remastered and VR versions of CONSORTIUM.
Core Decay — To Be Announced
Cosmic Skeleton
Cybernetic Sunburn
Dagger Run: Aerocombatic Racing — To Be Announced
Steam — Twitter / Kickstarter Campaign — First Person / Racing / Space
DataJack 2020 — To Be Announced
Dead Static Drive — Coming Soon™
Is It An Immersive Sim? Once explained by one of its trio developers Michael J. Foxney as “an action adventure immersive sim type of game, fighting monsters through an increasingly wasteland space with freedom for driving and on-foot play”.
Delightfyl
“Deus Ex 5” from Eidos-Montréal (Deus Ex: Mankind Divided / Guardians of the Galaxy)
THE EQUALIZER
ETOS (Escape to Outer Space) — To Be Announced
ExeKiller — 2024
Fallen Aces — To Be Announced
Final Defect
Fisk
The Flat — To Be Announced
Steam — Threads — First-Person / Action / Horror
Is It An Immersive Sim? According to the developer Frog Tree, main inspirations for The Flat include The Backrooms, Deus Ex, Dishonored, and John Wick. It’s a game about “being an employee in a dark and surreal world of Corpo Inc.”
Fragmented City — 2024
The Great Smog — Coming Soon™
Glyphen — To Be Announced
Hapax
HEARTRENDER (Early Access) — To Be Announced
Is It An Immersive Sim? WIP.
Hedon: Bloodrite (Expansion)
Hydropunk
J(a)SON: The Dog Living Inside a Mistake
Judas — Coming Soon™
Steam / Epic / Xbox / PlayStation (N/A) — Twitter
Keepsake County — To Be Announced
Steam / Itch.io — Twitter / Discord
Kill the Man in the House — Coming Soon™
Steam (Demo✅) / Itch.io (Demo✅) — Twitter
Lifelong
Loveland — Coming Soon™
Steam (Demo✅) — Twitter / Discord
NBTDS
NyTavangen
Mechanical Sunset — To Be Announced
Memories of A Spy — Coming Soon™
Militsioner — To Be Announced
Steam — Twitter / Discord / Website — First Person / Stealth / Crime
Monomyth — Coming Soon™
Steam (Demo✅) — Twitter / Discord
Monsters Belong in Prison
NEET — Coming Soon™
Neon Rain
“Nextgen Cyberpunk Immersive Sim” from Neon Giant (The Ascent)
Parkside: Decayed Soul Manipulation — 2024
Partizan — To Be Announced
PERIPETEIA — Coming Soon™
Steam (Demo✅) — Twitter / Discord / Kickstarter Campaign — First Person / Action Role-Playing / Shooter
Is It An Immersive Sim? Claimed by its developer 9th Exodus as a first-and-third-person role-playing stealth game taking place in alt-history cyberpunk Poland, a.k.a. “An Immersive Sim with AKs” or “Polish Deus Ex”. Peripeteia intends to blend open level design, urban exploration and freedom of past Eastern European RPGs with the complexity of Deus Ex and System Shock series, while expanding on the formula with new ideas and an original setting.
Prowler
Psycho Patrol R — Coming Soon™
Steam — Twitter / Discord — First Person / Shooter / Mechs
Red Frontier 2 (Early Access) — To Be Announced
REPO MAN — To Be Announced
Steam — Twitter — First Person / Role-Playing / Detective
Is It An Immersive Sim? Claimed by its developer ACHARA STUDIOS as a quirky first-person RPG, or an immersive sim. You play as a debt collector, where you have to “track down debtors, claim their assets, strike deals, deceive, seduce, intimidate. Solve mysteries, uncover conspiracies and dabble in the occult”. Its demo during last Steam Next Fest was in a rough state, needs more dev updates and info on it.
RetroSpace — To Be Announced
Steam — Twitter / Discord / Dev Blogs
Is It An Immersive Sim? Claimed by its developer The Wild Gentlemen, as an immersive sim + disco punk + space horror + stealth shooter hybrid, inspired by the timeless sci-fi classics of the 60s and 70s. Aside from action and stealth choices, players get to choose to “play clean or surrender to mutations”. You can take advantage of light and shadow, lure enemies into traps, hack turrets and security stations, find hidden routes and create diversions, the game also has interconnected levels and a unique death/rebirth system.
Rock Paper Shotgun: RetroSpace is a disco-punk immersive sim from the Chicken Police devs
DreadXP: RetroSpace: The Wild Gentlemen Make Contact to Share Info on Their Immersive Sim
Safe Not Safe — Coming Soon™
SCP: Fragmented Minds (Early Access) — Coming Soon™
Steam (Demo✅) — Twitter / Discord
Secret Keep
Selaco — May, 2024 (Formerly Aug 24, 2255)
Steam (Demo✅) — Twitter / Discord
Seraphon
Serpens: Eternal Thievery — To Be Announced
Shadow Hood
Sisters of Sweetwater — Coming Soon™
Skinless
Skin Deep — To Be Announced
Sorceress — To Be Announced
Steam — Twitter / Discord / Kickstarter Campaign — First Person / Action Adventure / Shooter
Spectra — To Be Announced
Is It An Immersive Sim? Made by solo developer Ellis Tucci, Spectra is claimed to be a “slow, atmospheric stealth immersive sim inspired by classic video games like Thief II and Deus Ex, films such as Dark City, Brazil, and The Hudsucker Proxy, and books like Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities”. The game would prioritize interactivity, player agency, and attention to detail, as developer has been sharing highly interactive devices (e.g. candy machine, astrolabium mantle clock, game arcade, etc.) on Twitter.
DreadXP: Spectra: Ellis Tucci Brings The Horrors of the Cold War to the Immersive Sim Genre
Streets of Rogue 2 — Coming Soon™
Terminus: Cyberstar
Thick as Thieves from OtherSide Entertainment (Underworld Ascendant)
Thievery: Beneath the Veil of Night
Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines 2 — Fall, 2024
Steam — Twitter / Discord / Website — Role-Playing / Action Adventure / Stealth
Without Judgement — Coming Soon™
Yuma Will Burn — Coming Soon™
Steam (Demo✅) / Nintendo Switch (N/A) / Itch.io (Demo✅) — Twitter / YouTube — 2D Platformer / Psychological Horror / Pixel
Is It An Immersive Sim? The developer Tye Abbott once claimed he intended to continue the narrative legacy of Deus Ex, Pathologic, and Planescape: Torment style experiences, aiming to deliver a true dynamic narrative with a heavy emphasis on player choice and social deduction.
Itch.io Releases
HEXCRAFT: Eventide Sigil — Aug 30, 2020
Itch.io — Twitter / Website / YouTube
Dystreasure — Oct 9, 2020
Worst Friends — November 18, 2020
Absolution: A Vampire Tale (based on Vampire: The Masquerade) — Nov 29, 2021
Itch.io (Free✅) — Twitter / Website / YouTube
Die Rise — 2023
Itch.io (Free✅)
Deep State (Demo) — In Development
Itch.io (Free✅) — Twitter / Discord
Notes Of Citrus — In Development
Turbostellar — In Development
Check out more HERE on Itch.io!
Planned Features
- More details to ‘Upcoming Games Pt.2’ (much work to do)
- ✅A Steam curator page (the most requested feature actually)
- Games before 2020 (ideally starting from 2011 or 2013)
- ✅Personal Recommendations (to reflect my own favorites)
- ✅Demo availability (who doesn’t want to try a demo first?)
- Development blogs (inspirations, Q&A, and interviews from devs)
- Important game updates (huge after-launch changes, early access updates, etc.)
- “Is it an immersive sim” messages (claims from developers, media journalists, and my own observations)
- ✅Find in Page Tags (View Perspectives: First Person, Third Person, Top-Down, 2D Platformer, Isometric, Virtual Reality // Main Genres: Shooter, Stealth, Action, Role-Playing, Adventure, Roguelike, Puzzle, Horror, Survival, Simulation, Mystery, Hack and Slash, Racing // Special: Pixel, Procedural, Turn-Based, Dungeon Crawler, Detective, Story-Heavy, 2.5D, Demo, Free)
