Games like Sam & MaRU
Below are 24 hand-picked alternatives to Sam & MaRU for fans of indie, ranked by imho.run's hybrid recommender. Each pick is scored on three signals: collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries (which players who logged hours in Sam & MaRU also play), content overlap on genres, categories, and storefront tags, and review-mined "vibe" embeddings that catch tonal similarity even when the genre label differs. Sections below cover closest matches, reviewer cross-mentions, cheaper alternatives, free-to-play picks. No login required — these picks work anchor-only.
About Sam & MaRU: Program robots to solve issues around Singularity Corporation’s factory. Make sure to keep your head down and eyes focused on your work tasks that take the form of puzzles. Don’t worry, Singularity has everyone’s best interest at heart and would never be planning something sinister...
Players who liked Sam & MaRU also play
Ranked by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries plus content overlap on genres, tags, and developers.
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Database Detective: Minor Crimes Division
Top pick for Sam & MaRU fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Indie with Sam & MaRU.
Solve criminal cases through the power of SQL queries! Help out the city of Los Zorangeles by becoming a Database Detective in this new (unpaid) work from home opportunity.
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Conge's Crunch Time
Second-strongest match for Sam & MaRU fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Indie with Sam & MaRU.
'Conge's Crunch Time' is a puzzle game where you solve factory tasks through intuitive drag-and-drop programming. Write code for your robot to clear each level, delve deeper into the factory, encounter new puzzle concepts and data-structure creatures, and uncover the truth.
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Manufactoria 2022
Third-strongest match for Sam & MaRU fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries.
Manufactoria 2022 is a constructive puzzle game about pushing robots around. (It's okay, they don't complain.) Use simple parts to engineer solutions to open-ended problems, then rebuild 'em better! Take a company from your backyard to the soaring heights of success! How hard could it be?
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Robospital
Ranked #4 for Sam & MaRU fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Indie with Sam & MaRU.
Become a doctor in Robospital and fix robots. Learn Python programming, write code, and test your code!
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Human Resource Machine
Ranked #5 for Sam & MaRU fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Indie with Sam & MaRU.
Program little office workers to solve puzzles. Be a good employee! The machines are coming... for your job. From the creators of World of Goo and Little Inferno.
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JOY OF PROGRAMMING - Software Engineering Simulator
Ranked #6 for Sam & MaRU fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Indie with Sam & MaRU.
Use real Python code to automate machines, robots, drones and more: Program self-driving vehicles; crack passwords; apply machine learning; automate logistics; use image processing to guide missiles. Gain real coding skills and solve exciting bite-sized programming challenges.
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LogicBots
Ranked #7 for Sam & MaRU fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Indie with Sam & MaRU.
Design, build and wire up your own unique robot to complete challenging logic puzzles. LogicBots is a puzzle game where robots are used to complete the various levels.
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Craftomation 101: Programming & Craft
Ranked #8 for Sam & MaRU fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Indie with Sam & MaRU.
You land on a frozen planet in a tiny rocket with a robot inside. Harvest and combine materials to discover new ones. Use visual programming to make the robot do the tiresome work for you. Slowly build a gang of self-sustaining robot workers and watch them terraform the planet.
Cheaper alternatives
Games in the same vein priced at least 40% below Sam & MaRU at current Steam store prices.
- 1
Garry's Mod
Priced ~50% under Sam & MaRU on Steam right now. Shares Indie with Sam & MaRU.
Garry's Mod is a physics sandbox. There aren't any predefined aims or goals. We give you the tools and leave you to play.
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Vampire Survivors
Priced ~50% under Sam & MaRU on Steam right now. Shares Indie with Sam & MaRU.
Mow down thousands of night creatures and survive until dawn! Vampire Survivors is a gothic horror casual game with rogue-lite elements, where your choices can allow you to quickly snowball against the hundreds of monsters that get thrown at you. Be the bullet hell!
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Cookie Clicker
Priced ~50% under Sam & MaRU on Steam right now. Shares Indie with Sam & MaRU.
An idle game about making cookies! Originally released in 2013 on the web, and actively developed since then. This is the official version for Steam.
- 4
WEBFISHING
Priced ~50% under Sam & MaRU on Steam right now. Shares Indie with Sam & MaRU.
WEBFISHING a multiplayer chatroom-focused fishing game! Relax and fish (on the web!)
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POSTAL 2
Priced ~90% under Sam & MaRU on Steam right now. Shares Indie with Sam & MaRU.
Live a week in the life of "The POSTAL Dude"; a hapless everyman just trying to check off some chores. Buying milk, returning an overdue library book, getting Gary Coleman's autograph, what could possibly go wrong?
- 6
Buckshot Roulette
Priced ~70% under Sam & MaRU on Steam right now. Shares Indie with Sam & MaRU.
Play Russian roulette with a 12-gauge shotgun. Four enter. One leaves. Roll the dice with your life. Good luck!
- 7
Brotato
Priced ~50% under Sam & MaRU on Steam right now. Shares Indie with Sam & MaRU.
Brotato is a top-down arena shooter roguelite where you play a potato wielding up to 6 weapons at a time to fight off hordes of aliens. Choose from a variety of traits and items to create unique builds and survive until help arrives.
- 8
Your Only Move Is HUSTLE
Priced ~50% under Sam & MaRU on Steam right now. Shares Indie with Sam & MaRU.
Master your technique, execute flashy combos, and outsmart opponents across the world, frame-by-frame. Slow down the clock to fine-tune your fighting style in this innovative, turn-based combat simulator. Pulverize your friends and choreograph spectacular fight scenes. No training mode required.
Free alternatives
Free-to-play games that recommended players of this title also tend to enjoy.
- 1
Doki Doki Literature Club!
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Indie with Sam & MaRU.
The Literature Club is full of cute girls! Will you write the way into their heart? This game is not suitable for children or those who are easily disturbed.
- 2
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Ultimate Custom Night
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Indie with Sam & MaRU.
Welcome to the ultimate FNAF mashup, featuring 50 selectable characters and custom difficulties!
- 4
Bongo Cat
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Indie with Sam & MaRU.
Bongo cat needs your help. Bongo cat needz more hatz!!! Every time you press a key, Bongo cat will punch your taskbar. Type, click, play, work to collect more points. Which hats will you find?
- 5
ENA: Dream BBQ
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Indie with Sam & MaRU.
Experience surreal environments and inexplicable characters as ENA in a new wild world.
- 6
The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Indie with Sam & MaRU.
Sonic the Hedgehog...was murdered!? Get to the bottom of the mystery in this brand-new adventure!
- 7
Indigo Park: Chapter 1
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Indie with Sam & MaRU.
Explore the abandoned childhood wonder of Indigo Park! Guided by Rambley the Raccoon, help restore power to the destroyed amusement park while you run from the reason it shut down.
- 8
The Looker
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Indie with Sam & MaRU.
You wake up, alone, on a strangely familiar island full of puzzles that will frustrate and annoy you.
Narrow it down
Head-to-head comparisons
Frequently asked about Sam & MaRU
- How much does Sam & MaRU cost?
- Sam & MaRU is listed on Steam at 9.99 USD (current store price; Steam sales may reduce this temporarily).
- What games are most similar to Sam & MaRU?
- Based on Steam play patterns and shared genres/tags, the games most often recommended alongside Sam & MaRU are Database Detective: Minor Crimes Division, Conge's Crunch Time, Manufactoria 2022.
- Who developed Sam & MaRU?
- Sam & MaRU was developed by Space Cadet Interactive.
imho.run ranks Steam game alternatives using a mix of collaborative filtering (ALS / iALS / EASE / LightGCN), content scoring over genres, categories, Steam tags, developers, and publishers, plus AI-extracted vibes mined from review text. The page above is generated in seed mode anchored on Sam & MaRU.
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