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13 Great Games Like Backbone

Our experts have spent time searching for great games similar to Backbone. We also offer games selected by matching genre and age rating.
 

Backbone is an adventure game inspired by film noir where you role-play as a human-like raccoon detective. As a detective, you search for clues and evidence, talk to witnesses, and choose which leads to follow.

Unfortunately, Backbone is not available on Android, PS5, Xbox Series X|S or iOS. However, we recommend the following games that offer a similar experience or theme:

Backbone

DetailsGame Details

Expected Rating: PEGI 12+

Release Date: 24/04/2019

Platforms: Mac, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One

Genres: Adventure, Puzzle and Role-Playing

Developer: @EggNutGames

Players: This is a single player game

Costs: Purchase cost

Hand Picked Games Like Backbone

These are our hand-picked games similar to Backbone. We don't use automatic matching, instead, we identify games that are good to play if you have enjoyed Backbone, or as younger rated alternatives for players not ready for PEGI 12+ or ESRB TEEN games. These selections also include games that offer a different experience but address a similar theme or topic.
 

Beat Cop
PEGI Rating 18+ for Beat Cop

Beat Cop

Rating: PEGI 18+

Release Date: 27/11/2018

Platforms: Mac, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One

Genres: Adventure and Narrative

Accessibility: 5 features

Developer: @PxCrow

Players: This is a single player game

Beat Cop is a police crime drama where you have been framed for murder. Back on the street, you navigate the pixilated 80’s Miami Vice world to find out who did it. Your approach and decisions matter. Will you go in with the mafia or stay straight?...

Rivals

Rivals

Expected Rating: PEGI 12+

Release Date: 21/09/2020

Platforms: PC

Genres: Narrative and Puzzle

Accessibility: 18 features

Developer: @TimSheinman

Players: This is a single player game

Rivals is a puzzle game where you piece together the story of Josh and Luke and the breakup of their band. Playing detective, similarly to Return of the Obra Dinn, but rather than murder it's musical betrayal you are sleuthing here. You inspect sources,...

Fire Escape
PEGI Rating 16+ for Fire Escape

Fire Escape

Rating: PEGI 16+

Release Date: 29/04/2020

Platforms: Android and PC

Genres: Narrative and Puzzle

Developer: @iNKStories

Players: This is a single player game

Fire Escape is a murder mystery styled on Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window. You sit on a fire escape and can see into the apartments opposite as well as hear the intimate conversations of your neighbours across the alleyway. You peer into the lives of the...

Persona
PEGI Rating 16+ for Persona

Persona

Rating: PEGI 16+

Release Date: 20/09/1996, updated in 2017

Price: 35% off

Platforms: Nintendo 2DS|3DS, Nintendo DS, PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and PlayStation Vita

Genres: Adventure, Narrative, Role-Playing and Turn-Based

Developer: @Atlus_jp

Players: This is a single player game

Persona 5 (also known as Shin Megami Tensei: Persona) is the latest game in a series of role-playing games that focus on a group of students. You explore the world and take on enemies like other role play games. Here though, you manage relationships...

Aviary Attorney
PEGI Rating 12+ for Aviary Attorney

Aviary Attorney

Rating: PEGI 12+

Release Date: 22/12/2015, updated in 2020

Platforms: Mac, Nintendo Switch and PC

Genres: Narrative and Puzzle

Accessibility: 7 features

Developer: @Sketchy_Jeremy

Players: This is a single player game

A courtroom drama set in nineteenth-century Paris, populated with beautifully drawn animals. Guiding JayJay Falcon, defence attorney, you help investigate each case before each of the four court dates; combing crime scenes, interrogating suspects and...

Frog Detective

Frog Detective (Series)

Rating: Not rated by PEGI

Release Date: 22/11/2018, updated in 2019

Platforms: Mac and PC

Genres: Adventure, Narrative and Puzzle

Developer: @GraceBruxner

Players: This is a single player game

This is a comedy adventure game where you play a detective frog, named (unsurprisingly) "Frog Detective".

Disco Elysium
PEGI Rating 18+ for Disco Elysium

Disco Elysium

Rating: PEGI 18+

Release Date: 15/10/2019, updated in 2020

Price: 30% off

Platforms: Mac, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, Stadia and Xbox One

Genres: Adventure, Narrative, Puzzle and Role-Playing

Accessibility: 15 features

Developer: @StudioZAUM

Players: This is a single player game

Disco Elysium The Final Cut is a role-playing game set in the fictional city of Revachol where you play Harrier "Harry" Du Bois who must solve a complex murder. Unusually, your choices and actions not only determine how the story unfolds but affect...

Beholder
PEGI Rating 16+ for Beholder

Beholder (Series)

Rating: PEGI 16+

Release Date: 09/11/2016

Price: 75% off

Platforms: Mac, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One

Genres: Narrative, Puzzle, Role-Playing and Strategy

Developer: @Beholder_Game

Players: This is a single player game

Beholder is a detective game where you spy on tenants in a building, discover their secrets and report violations of laws to the authorities. As the game unfolds and you see more of the controlling totalitarian state, an uneasy tension develops between...

Tangle Tower
PEGI Rating 7+ for Tangle Tower

Tangle Tower

Rating: PEGI 7+

Release Date: 19/09/2019

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC and iOS Apple Arcade

Genres: Narrative and Puzzle

Developer: @SFBDim

Players: This is a single player game

Tangle Tower is a murder mystery game, from the same developer as Snipperclips, where you explore a grand old house and its intertwining families to solve a mysterious murder. You are given the events of the murder, each...

Framed
PEGI Rating 16+ for Framed

Framed (Series)

Rating: PEGI 16+

Release Date: 12/11/2014, updated in 2018

Platforms: Android, Nintendo Switch, PC and iOS

Genres: Action, Narrative, Platform and Puzzle

Developer: @LoveShackers

Players: This is a single player game

Framed is a puzzle adventure where you re-arrange panels of an animated comic book to change the outcome and timeline of the story. With a noir-detective look, the puzzles start simply but soon get complex.

Gunpoint

Gunpoint

Expected Rating: PEGI 7+

Release Date: 03/06/0013

Platforms: Mac and PC

Genres: Action, Platform and Puzzle

Developer: @SuspiciousDev

Players: This is a single player game

Gunpoint is a stealth puzzle game where you play freelance spy Richard Conway, tasked with infiltrating buildings. To succeed you must avoid guards and bypass security, using various high-tech gadgets. Through these missions you seek to clear your name...

Harold Halibut

Harold Halibut

Expected Rating: PEGI 3+

Release Date: Coming soon

Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One

Genres: Adventure, Narrative and Puzzle

Developer: @Slow_Bros

Players: This is a single player game

Harold Halibut is a narrative adventure set on a city-sized spaceship submerged in an alien ocean, after fleeing the Earth 2050 years ago. It's beautifully created with real puppetry and fully voice-acted. The result is a filmic adventure where you...

Games Like Backbone Based on Genre

These are games of a similar genre mix to Backbone. This includes games from the Role-Playing, Puzzle and Adventure genres. We pick out games of a similar PEGI rating to further hone these generated suggestions.
 

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney
PEGI Rating 12+ for Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney

Backbone is in These Lists

In addition to the similar games listed above, which have been linked to this game specifically in the database, you may find games with a similar theme to Backbone in the following lists:

Solve a Mystery

Like a good crime drama or whodunnit novel, solving mysteries and puzzles is a good way to engage in a story. However, rather than just watching these mysteries while someone else does the heavy lifting, these video games place you firmly in the role of the detective. Gathering statements, sifting evidence and making intelligent leaps of deduction requires care and attention. These investigations makes these games slower than others, but it’s worth the effort each time you find the correct conclusion and move the story on.

These games present you with a mysterious scenario to be solved. Whether with direct puzzles, locations to investigate or crime scenarios to deduce, they offer a unique, first-hand sleuthing challenge.
 

Psychonauts 2
PEGI Rating 12+ for Psychonauts 2

A Place for the Unwilling

Road Not Taken
PEGI Rating 7+ for Road Not Taken

Gunpoint

Orwell
PEGI Rating 12+ for Orwell

June's Journey
PEGI Rating 7+ for Junes Journey

Yoku's Island Express
PEGI Rating 7+ for Yokus Island Express

She Dreams Elsewhere

Five Nights at Freddy's
PEGI Rating 12+ for Five Nights at Freddys

Nuts

Do Not Feed the Monkeys
PEGI Rating 16+ for Do Not Feed the Monkeys

HoloVista

Backbone

Uncharted: Golden Abyss
PEGI Rating 16+ for Uncharted Golden Abyss

Open Roads

Growbot

Last Stop

Virginia
PEGI Rating 12+ for Virginia

Paradise Killer
PEGI Rating 16+ for Paradise Killer

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
PEGI Rating 16+ for Uncharted The Lost Legacy

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
PEGI Rating 16+ for Uncharted Drakes Fortune

Metamorphosis
PEGI Rating 12+ for Metamorphosis

Disc Room
PEGI Rating 16+ for Disc Room

The Good Life

Rivals

The Touryst
PEGI Rating 3+ for The Touryst

Tenderfoot Tactics

Lost and Hound
PEGI Rating 7+ for Lost and Hound

Luna The Shadow Dust
PEGI Rating 3+ for Luna The Shadow Dust

Love - A Puzzle Box Filled with Stories

Reigns: Beyond
PEGI Rating 7+ for Reigns Beyond

Immortals Fenyx Rising
PEGI Rating 12+ for Immortals Fenyx Rising

South of the Circle

Embracelet
PEGI Rating 12+ for Embracelet

Minit
PEGI Rating 3+ for Minit

Frequency Missing
PEGI Rating 3+ for Frequency Missing

Alt-Frequencies
PEGI Rating 12+ for AltFrequencies

Timelie

Among Us
PEGI Rating 7+ for Among Us

Lifeline
PEGI Rating 16+ for Lifeline

Dreamscaper
PEGI Rating 7+ for Dreamscaper

As Dusk Falls

Tell Me Why
PEGI Rating 16+ for Tell Me Why

Thousand Threads

Eastward

Maquette
PEGI Rating 3+ for Maquette

Agent A: A Puzzle In Disguise
PEGI Rating 7+ for Agent A A Puzzle In Disguise

Returnal
PEGI Rating 16+ for Returnal

Roki
PEGI Rating 12+ for Roki

Stray

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
PEGI Rating 7+ for The Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past

Before I Forget

The Simpsons Hit and Run
PEGI Rating 7+ for The Simpsons Hit and Run

The Walk
PEGI Rating 16+ for The Walk

Fire Escape
PEGI Rating 16+ for Fire Escape

Over The Alps

Murder by Numbers
PEGI Rating 12+ for Murder by Numbers

Omensight
PEGI Rating 12+ for Omensight

Superliminal
PEGI Rating 7+ for Superliminal

Tangle Tower
PEGI Rating 7+ for Tangle Tower

I Am Dead
PEGI Rating 7+ for I Am Dead

Recore
PEGI Rating 12+ for Recore

Ghost Trick
PEGI Rating 12+ for Ghost Trick

Another Lost Phone
PEGI Rating 16+ for Another Lost Phone

Aviary Attorney
PEGI Rating 12+ for Aviary Attorney

Alan Wake
PEGI Rating 16+ for Alan Wake

Heaven's Vault
PEGI Rating 7+ for Heavens Vault

Spy Party

Luigi's Mansion
PEGI Rating 7+ for Luigis Mansion

Outer Wilds
PEGI Rating 7+ for Outer Wilds

Control
PEGI Rating 16+ for Control

Fez
PEGI Rating 3+ for Fez

Rhythm Thief and The Emperor's Treasure
PEGI Rating 12+ for Rhythm Thief and The Emperors Treasure

Portal
PEGI Rating 12+ for Portal

The Witness
PEGI Rating 3+ for The Witness

Tacoma
PEGI Rating 16+ for Tacoma

Dear Esther
PEGI Rating 12+ for Dear Esther

What Remains of Edith Finch
PEGI Rating 16+ for What Remains of Edith Finch

The Secret of Monkey Island
PEGI Rating 12+ for The Secret of Monkey Island

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney
PEGI Rating 12+ for Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney

Night in the Woods
PEGI Rating 12+ for Night in the Woods

Gone Home
PEGI Rating 16+ for Gone Home

Firewatch
PEGI Rating 16+ for Firewatch

Black Mirror Bandersnatch

Telling Lies
PEGI Rating 16+ for Telling Lies

Her Story
PEGI Rating 16+ for Her Story

Observation
PEGI Rating 16+ for Observation

Everybody's Gone to the Rapture
PEGI Rating 16+ for Everybodys Gone to the Rapture

Return of the Obra Dinn
PEGI Rating 16+ for Return of the Obra Dinn

The Signifier
PEGI Rating 18+ for The Signifier

Until Dawn
PEGI Rating 18+ for Until Dawn

Disco Elysium
PEGI Rating 18+ for Disco Elysium

Assassin's Creed Black Flag
PEGI Rating 18+ for Assassins Creed Black Flag

Assassin's Creed Origins
PEGI Rating 18+ for Assassins Creed Origins

Watch Dogs 2
PEGI Rating 18+ for Watch Dogs 2

Twelve Minutes
PEGI Rating 18+ for Twelve Minutes

Nier: Automata
PEGI Rating 18+ for Nier Automata

Rainswept
PEGI Rating 18+ for Rainswept

Zero Escape
PEGI Rating 18+ for Zero Escape

Assassin's Creed Odyssey
PEGI Rating 18+ for Assassins Creed Odyssey

Branching Stories With Multiple Endings

All games offer you agency. You can win or lose. You can complete them or stop at any time. But there are some games that offer a story that genuinely branches. Where you end up will be different from other players. This not only makes your actions really matter but also gives you a reason to play them again.

Setting aside games that evolve through simulation, or games where once you die it's game over, these branching narrative games tell a story that ends in a certain way because of the choices you made.
 

Biomutant
PEGI Rating 12+ for Biomutant

Harmony Square

The Binding of Isaac
PEGI Rating 16+ for The Binding of Isaac

One Night Hot Springs
PEGI Rating 3+ for One Night Hot Springs

Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion
PEGI Rating 3+ for Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion

Octopath Traveler
PEGI Rating 12+ for Octopath Traveler

Ashwalkers

Where the Heart Leads
PEGI Rating 12+ for Where the Heart Leads

Orwell
PEGI Rating 12+ for Orwell

Democratic Socialism Simulator
PEGI Rating 16+ for Democratic Socialism Simulator

Reventure
PEGI Rating 16+ for Reventure

Chrono Sword

Suzerain

Burly Men at Sea
PEGI Rating 3+ for Burly Men at Sea

Chroma Squad
PEGI Rating 7+ for Chroma Squad

Closed Hands

The Talos Principle
PEGI Rating 7+ for The Talos Principle

Five Nights at Freddy's
PEGI Rating 12+ for Five Nights at Freddys

The Longing
PEGI Rating 7+ for The Longing

Seasons
PEGI Rating 3+ for Seasons

The Warlock of Firetop Mountain
PEGI Rating 12+ for The Warlock of Firetop Mountain

Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
PEGI Rating 12+ for Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II The Sith Lords

Backbone

Road 96

Griftlands

Last Stop

Last Minute Love

Paradise Killer
PEGI Rating 16+ for Paradise Killer

Disjunction
PEGI Rating 16+ for Disjunction

Call of the Sea
PEGI Rating 7+ for Call of the Sea

Five Dates
PEGI Rating 16+ for Five Dates

Undertale
PEGI Rating 12+ for Undertale

Monster Prom
PEGI Rating 16+ for Monster Prom

Unto The End

Grace's Diary
PEGI Rating 3+ for Graces Diary

Penrose
PEGI Rating 12+ for Penrose

Embracelet
PEGI Rating 12+ for Embracelet

Ord
PEGI Rating 3+ for Ord

Untold RPG
PEGI Rating 16+ for Untold RPG

Recompile
PEGI Rating 12+ for Recompile

Six Ages: Ride Like the Wind

King of Dragon Pass
PEGI Rating 7+ for King of Dragon Pass

Freedom Finger
PEGI Rating 16+ for Freedom Finger

Lifeline
PEGI Rating 16+ for Lifeline

HyperBrawl Tournament
PEGI Rating 12+ for HyperBrawl Tournament

As Dusk Falls

Tell Me Why
PEGI Rating 16+ for Tell Me Why

Far From Noise
PEGI Rating 12+ for Far From Noise

Infernium
PEGI Rating 12+ for Infernium

Adventures With Anxiety

Sable

Elsinore

Eliza
PEGI Rating 16+ for Eliza

Lake

Dustborn

Twin Mirror
PEGI Rating 16+ for Twin Mirror

Goodbye Volcano High

Outward
PEGI Rating 12+ for Outward

Forgotton Anne
PEGI Rating 12+ for Forgotton Anne

Fire Escape
PEGI Rating 16+ for Fire Escape

Over The Alps

Pilgrims

The Stanley Parable

Omensight
PEGI Rating 12+ for Omensight

Our Personal Space
PEGI Rating 12+ for Our Personal Space

Signs of the Sojourner

Neo Cab
PEGI Rating 16+ for Neo Cab

Pendragon

Pyre
PEGI Rating 7+ for Pyre

Little Misfortune
PEGI Rating 16+ for Little Misfortune

Coffee Talk
PEGI Rating 12+ for Coffee Talk

Bury Me My Love
PEGI Rating 7+ for Bury Me My Love

Heaven's Vault
PEGI Rating 7+ for Heavens Vault

Beyond: Two Souls
PEGI Rating 16+ for Beyond Two Souls

Fable
PEGI Rating 16+ for Fable

Outer Wilds
PEGI Rating 7+ for Outer Wilds

80 Days
PEGI Rating 12+ for 80 Days

Frostpunk
PEGI Rating 16+ for Frostpunk

Black Mirror Bandersnatch

The Banner Saga
PEGI Rating 16+ for The Banner Saga

Reigns
PEGI Rating 7+ for Reigns

Papers, Please
PEGI Rating 16+ for Papers Please

Overboard
PEGI Rating 18+ for Overboard

The Signifier
PEGI Rating 18+ for The Signifier

Divinity: Original Sin II
PEGI Rating 18+ for Divinity Original Sin II

The Outer Worlds
PEGI Rating 18+ for The Outer Worlds

Dragon Age
PEGI Rating 18+ for Dragon Age

Not For Broadcast

Until Dawn
PEGI Rating 18+ for Until Dawn

GreedFall
PEGI Rating 18+ for GreedFall

Disco Elysium
PEGI Rating 18+ for Disco Elysium

Green Hell
PEGI Rating 18+ for Green Hell

Nier: Automata
PEGI Rating 18+ for Nier Automata

The Forest
PEGI Rating 18+ for The Forest

Grand Theft Auto V
PEGI Rating 18+ for Grand Theft Auto V

Mass Effect
PEGI Rating 18+ for Mass Effect

Dishonored
PEGI Rating 18+ for Dishonored

Zero Escape
PEGI Rating 18+ for Zero Escape

The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit
PEGI Rating 18+ for The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit

Assassin's Creed Odyssey
PEGI Rating 18+ for Assassins Creed Odyssey

Heavy Rain
PEGI Rating 18+ for Heavy Rain

Detroit: Become Human
PEGI Rating 18+ for Detroit Become Human

Photographs - Puzzle Stories
PEGI Rating 18+ for Photographs Puzzle Stories

This War Of Mine
PEGI Rating 18+ for This War Of Mine

The Walking Dead
PEGI Rating 18+ for The Walking Dead

Spec Ops: The Line
PEGI Rating 18+ for Spec Ops The Line


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