Computed from player tags · Not ranked by quality
24 games like The Escapists (2026)
Every game below overlaps with The Escapists on things players said about it rather than on our opinion of what feels alike. Each entry shows what it matched on, so you can throw out the ones matching on the part you did not care about.
The short version
- Closest match: The Escapists 2, which made by the same studio, Team17.
- The Escapists is tagged Pixel Graphics, Strategy, Crafting, Singleplayer, 2D, Simulation, Indie, Action by Steam players. Those tags are what the matching runs on.
- 24 games qualify, each with at least fifty player reviews behind its sentiment figure.
- 2 are free to download, so you can test the resemblance yourself at no cost.
- 1 are from the same studio: The Escapists 2.
How these were matched
Steam tags carry the most weight, because players apply them and they describe how a game feels rather than how it was filed. Souls-like, Atmospheric and Cozy exist as tags and as nothing else, which is exactly the vocabulary this question needs. Formal genres count for less, themes and a shared studio for more.
Tags carried by more than a third of the catalogue are thrown out before matching. Nearly everything is tagged Singleplayer, so matching on it is matching on nothing. That cutoff is computed from the catalogue rather than fixed, so it moves as the catalogue grows.
All 24, closest first
- 1
The Escapists 2
Why it matched: made by the same studio, Team17; both strategy, puzzle and difficult; shares 10 player tags including Strategy, Pixel Graphics and 2D; released around the same time (2017).
Craft, Steal, Brawl and Escape! It’s time to bust out of the toughest prisons in the world as you return to the life of an inmate in The Escapists 2, now with multiplayer! Have you got what it takes to escape?
The Escapists 2 at a glance Released 2017 Studio Team17 Player sentiment 91% positive of 33,775 Price $19.99 StrategyPixel Graphics2DCraftingSimulationIndieSandboxFunny
- 2
FTL: Faster Than Light
Why it matched: both survival, strategy and difficult; shares 8 player tags including Rogue-like, Strategy and Indie; released around the same time (2012).
This "spaceship simulation roguelike-like" allows you to take your ship and crew on an adventure through a randomly generated galaxy filled with glory and bitter defeat.
FTL: Faster Than Light at a glance Released 2012 Studio Subset Games Player sentiment 95% positive of 78,616 Price $9.99 Rogue-likeStrategyIndieDifficultTop-Down2DSurvivalSimulation
- 3
Stoneshard
Why it matched: both survival, strategy and difficult; shares 9 player tags including RPG, Rogue-like and Strategy.
Stoneshard is a hardcore turn-based RPG about the harsh life of a medieval mercenary: travel with your own caravan, descend into procedurally generated dungeons, learn new skills, survive hunger and injuries - and remember, every mistake can mean death and loss of progress.
Stoneshard at a glance Released 2020 Studio Ink Stains Games Player sentiment 75% positive of 35,515 Price $24.99 RPGRogue-likeStrategyPixel GraphicsSurvival2DIndieDifficult
- 4
Poly Bridge
Why it matched: both strategy, puzzle and difficult; shares 8 player tags including Simulation, Puzzle and Sandbox; released around the same time (2016).
Unleash your engineering creativity with an engaging and fresh bridge-building simulator with all the bells and whistles. Enjoy hours of physics-based puzzle solving in the Campaign and then jump in the Sandbox to create your own bridge designs and puzzles!
Poly Bridge at a glance Released 2016 Studio Dry Cactus Player sentiment 91% positive of 18,905 Price $9.99 SimulationPuzzleSandboxDifficultIndieFunnyCraftingStrategy
- 5
Dungeon of the ENDLESS
Why it matched: both survival, strategy and difficult; shares 8 player tags including Rogue-like, Strategy and Pixel Graphics; released around the same time (2014).
Dungeon of the ENDLESS™ is a Rogue-Like Dungeon-Defense game, in which the player and their team of heroes must protect the generator of their crashed ship while exploring an ever-expanding dungeon, all while facing waves of monsters and special events as they try to find their way out...
Dungeon of the ENDLESS at a glance Released 2014 Studio AMPLITUDE Studios Player sentiment 85% positive of 14,040 Price $11.99 Rogue-likeStrategyPixel GraphicsIndieRPGDifficultSurvival2D
- 6
Mitos.is: The Game
Why it matched: both survival, strategy and difficult; shares 8 player tags including Strategy, 2D and Survival; released around the same time (2015).
Step into the microscopic world of Mitos.is! Eat or be eaten—become the ultimate cell in a highly addictive multiplayer game. Diverse modes, daily tournaments, guilds, and gear await! The BEST game of 2015 is back!
Mitos.is: The Game at a glance Released 2015 Studio Freakinware Studios Player sentiment 81% positive of 12,054 Price Free Strategy2DSurvivalFunnySimulationIndieDifficultComedy
- 7
Baba Is You
Why it matched: both strategy, puzzle and difficult; shares 8 player tags including Puzzle, Indie and Difficult; released around the same time (2019).
Baba Is You is a puzzle game where the rules you have to follow are present as blocks you can interact with. By manipulating them, you can change how the game works, repurpose things you find in the levels and cause surprising interactions!
Baba Is You at a glance Released 2019 Studio Hempuli Oy Player sentiment 98% positive of 24,536 Price $14.99 PuzzleIndieDifficultPixel Graphics2DTop-DownStrategyFunny
- 8
Mini Metro
Why it matched: both strategy, puzzle and difficult; shares 7 player tags including Strategy, Puzzle and Simulation; released around the same time (2015).
Mini Metro is a strategy simulation game about designing a subway map for a growing city. Draw lines between stations and start your trains running. As new stations open, redraw your lines to keep them efficient. Decide where to use your limited resources. How long can you keep the city moving?
Mini Metro at a glance Released 2015 Studio Dinosaur Polo Club Player sentiment 96% positive of 16,729 Price $9.99 StrategyPuzzleSimulationIndie2DDifficultTop-Down
- 9
Door Kickers
Why it matched: both strategy, puzzle and difficult; shares 7 player tags including Strategy, Top-Down and Simulation; released around the same time (2014).
Door Kickers is an innovative realtime strategy game that puts you in charge of a SWAT team and lets you command them during a tactical intervention.
Door Kickers at a glance Released 2014 Studio KillHouse Games Player sentiment 94% positive of 10,057 Price $19.99 StrategyTop-DownSimulationIndie2DPuzzleDifficult
- 10
Who's Your Daddy?!
Why it matched: both survival, strategy and difficult; shares 8 player tags including Funny, Comedy and Simulation; released around the same time (2016).
Who's Your Daddy is a casual multiplayer game featuring a clueless father attempting to prevent his infant son from certain death. Play with up to 7 of your friends, and test your parenting skills in a competitive setup with wacky physics and over 67 potentially ominous household items.
Who's Your Daddy?! at a glance Released 2016 Studio Evil Tortilla Games Player sentiment 80% positive of 31,936 Price $9.99 FunnyComedySimulationStrategyIndieDifficultSandboxSurvival
- 11
Titan Souls
Why it matched: both strategy, puzzle and difficult; shares 8 player tags including Pixel Graphics, Difficult and Indie; released around the same time (2015).
Between our world and the world beyond lie the Titan Souls, the spiritual source of all living things. Scattered amongst the ruins and guarded by the idle titans charged with their care, a solitary hero armed with a single arrow is assembling shards of the Titan Soul in a quest for truth and power.
Titan Souls at a glance Released 2015 Studio Acid Nerve Player sentiment 79% positive of 13,818 Price $14.99 Pixel GraphicsDifficultIndie2DTop-DownPuzzleStrategyRogue-like
- 12
Factorio
Why it matched: both survival and strategy; shares 8 player tags including Sandbox, Crafting and Strategy; released around the same time (2016).
Factorio is a game about building and creating automated factories to produce items of increasing complexity, within an infinite 2D world. Use your imagination to design your factory, combine simple elements into ingenious structures, and finally protect it from the creatures who don't really like you.
Factorio at a glance Released 2016 Studio Wube software Player sentiment 98% positive of 233,978 Price $35.00 SandboxCraftingStrategySurvival2DSimulationPixel GraphicsIndie
- 13
Papers, Please
Why it matched: both strategy, puzzle and difficult; shares 7 player tags including Indie, Simulation and Pixel Graphics; released around the same time (2013).
Congratulations. The October labor lottery is complete. Your name was pulled. For immediate placement, report to the Ministry of Admission at Grestin Border Checkpoint. An apartment will be provided for you and your family in East Grestin. Expect a Class-8 dwelling.
Papers, Please at a glance Released 2013 Studio Lucas Pope Player sentiment 97% positive of 80,337 Price $9.99 IndieSimulationPixel GraphicsPuzzle2DStrategyDifficult
- 14
Don't Starve
Why it matched: both survival and difficult; shares 9 player tags including Survival, Crafting and Indie; released around the same time (2013).
Don’t Starve is an uncompromising wilderness survival game full of science and magic. Enter a strange and unexplored world full of strange creatures, dangers, and surprises. Gather resources to craft items and structures that match your survival style.
Don't Starve at a glance Released 2013 Studio Klei Entertainment Player sentiment 97% positive of 113,392 Price $9.99 SurvivalCraftingIndieSandboxRogue-likeDifficultSimulation2D
- 15
Oxygen Not Included
Why it matched: both survival, strategy and difficult; shares 7 player tags including Survival, 2D and Simulation; released around the same time (2019).
Oxygen Not Included is a space-colony simulation game. Deep inside an alien space rock your industrious crew will need to master science, overcome strange new lifeforms, and harness incredible space tech to survive, and possibly, thrive.
Oxygen Not Included at a glance Released 2019 Studio Klei Entertainment Player sentiment 97% positive of 143,589 Price $24.99 Survival2DSimulationSandboxStrategyIndieDifficult
- 16
FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S: HELP WANTED
Why it matched: both survival, strategy, puzzle and difficult; shares 6 player tags including Survival, Difficult and Puzzle; released around the same time (2019).
Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted is a collection of classic and original mini-games set in the Five Nights universe. Experience the horror in flat (non-VR) mode or VR. Oculus Rift and HTC Vive are supported. A VR Headset is NOT required to play.
FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S: HELP WANTED at a glance Released 2019 Studio Steel Wool Studios Player sentiment 96% positive of 13,118 Price $29.99 SurvivalDifficultPuzzleIndieStrategyFunny
- 17
Chinese Parents
Why it matched: both survival, strategy and puzzle; shares 7 player tags including Simulation, RPG and Indie; released around the same time (2018).
In this casual sim set in China, you step into the shoes of an average kid from birth towards the end of your high school. Study hard, have fun, make friends and face your ultimate challenge, the “Gaokao”. What will your life be after that? And when you have a child, will you be a Tiger Parent?
Chinese Parents at a glance Released 2018 Studio 墨鱼玩游戏 Player sentiment 91% positive of 27,000 Price $9.99 SimulationRPGIndieFunnyStrategyPuzzleSurvival
- 18
Craft The World
Why it matched: both survival and strategy; shares 8 player tags including Crafting, Sandbox and Survival; released around the same time (2014).
Craft The World is a unique sandbox strategy game, the mix of Dungeon Keeper, Terraria and Dwarf Fortress. Explore a random generated world populated by dangerous creatures, build a dwarf fortress, gather resources, and craft all the items, weapons, and armor you need.
Craft The World at a glance Released 2014 Studio Dekovir Entertainment Player sentiment 88% positive of 17,058 Price $18.99 CraftingSandboxSurvivalStrategyIndieSimulationRPG2D
- 19
Dwarf Fortress
Why it matched: both survival, strategy and difficult; shares 7 player tags including Strategy, Simulation and Sandbox.
Build a fortress and try to help your dwarves survive against a deeply generated world. Keep your dwarves happy, grow their community and beware of digging too deeply. The deepest, most intricate simulation of a world that's ever been created.
Dwarf Fortress at a glance Released 2022 Studio Bay 12 Games Player sentiment 95% positive of 31,446 Price $29.99 StrategySimulationSandboxSurvivalRogue-likeCraftingDifficult
- 20
Magicite
Why it matched: both survival and difficult; shares 9 player tags including Indie, RPG and Rogue-like; released around the same time (2014).
Explore, craft, and survive in this Multiplayer RPG Platformer with permanent death! Featuring many Rogue-like elements, Magicite randomly generates each underground dungeon for you and your friends to delve deep into.
Magicite at a glance Released 2014 Studio Sean Young Player sentiment 85% positive of 7,585 Price $9.99 IndieRPGRogue-likePixel Graphics2DCraftingSurvivalDifficult
- 21
The Legend of Bum-Bo
Why it matched: both strategy, puzzle and difficult; shares 7 player tags including Indie, Strategy and Puzzle; released around the same time (2019).
A puzzle based deck building rogue-like prequel to The Binding of Isaac... Made of cardboard!
The Legend of Bum-Bo at a glance Released 2019 Studio Edmund McMillen Player sentiment 81% positive of 5,934 Price $14.99 IndieStrategyPuzzleFunnyDifficultRPGRogue-like
- 22
The Ship: Murder Party
Why it matched: both survival, strategy and difficult; shares 8 player tags including Indie, RPG and Funny.
The Ship is a murder mystery multiplayer.
The Ship: Murder Party at a glance Released 2006 Studio Outerlight Ltd. Player sentiment 86% positive of 5,950 Price $9.99 IndieRPGFunnySurvivalSimulationComedyStrategyDifficult
- 23
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun
Why it matched: both survival, strategy, puzzle and difficult; shares 5 player tags including Strategy, Indie and Difficult; released around the same time (2016).
Shadow Tactics is a hardcore tactical stealth game set in Japan around the Edo period. A new Shogun seizes power over Japan and enforces nationwide peace. In his battle against conspiracy and rebellion, he recruits five specialists with extraordinary skills for assassination, sabotage and espionage.
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun at a glance Released 2016 Studio Mimimi Games Player sentiment 96% positive of 38,415 Price $3.99 StrategyIndieDifficultPuzzleSurvival
- 24
Fallout Shelter
Why it matched: both survival and strategy; shares 8 player tags including Survival, Simulation and Strategy; released around the same time (2015).
Fallout Shelter puts you in control of a state-of-the-art underground Vault from Vault-Tec. Build the perfect Vault, keep your Dwellers happy, and protect them from the dangers of the Wasteland.
Fallout Shelter at a glance Released 2015 Studio Bethesda Game Studios Player sentiment 88% positive of 82,585 Price Free SurvivalSimulationStrategy2DCraftingSandboxRPGFunny
Common questions
What game is most like The Escapists?
The Escapists 2, on the evidence we have. It made by the same studio, Team17. That is a statement about overlap, not a promise you will like it as much: two games can share every tag and still feel different to play.
How is "similar to The Escapists" decided?
By overlap on the tags Steam players applied to each game, the formal genres, the themes both sit in, and whether the same studio made them. Tags carry the most weight because players write them, so they describe how a game feels rather than how it was filed. Tags carried by more than a third of the catalogue are ignored: matching on "Singleplayer" is matching on nothing. Every entry below shows exactly what it matched on.
Are these ranked by quality?
No. They are ordered by how much they overlap with The Escapists. Where two games overlap equally, the better received one goes first, but that only moves a game a place or two. Each entry shows its own player sentiment so you can weigh that separately.
What else did the makers of The Escapists do?
The Escapists 2 is also from Mouldy Toof Studios, and appears in the list below for that reason as well as on tag overlap.
Do you get paid for these recommendations?
No. The order is computed from tag and genre overlap and nothing else. No placement here can be bought, and a game appearing high on this page is a statement about resemblance rather than an endorsement.