Games like Cave Story+

The closest matches to Cave Story+: Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, Kero Blaster, VVVVVV, Owlboy, and Axiom Verge. Ranked by imho.run from Steam co-play data, shared tags and reviews.

If Cave Story+ is your kind of game, the closest matches are Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, Kero Blaster and VVVVVV — picked from the ranked list below. Reviewers describe it as atmospheric, nostalgic and retro, and single out its achievement hunting and boss rush sequences. Each pick is ranked by what players of this game also play, shared genres and tags, and review-mined similarity — not a generic popularity list.

Cave Story+ is a challenging action-adventure indie platformer released in 2011, available for $14.99 and marked as playable on Steam Deck. The game follows a metroidvania structure with interconnected areas to explore and a weapon upgrade system that reshapes combat. Players describe the experience as atmospheric and nostalgic, noting that the boss fights are held in high regard by the indie game community. Reviewers highlight the story and characters for avoiding typical NPC tropes, while the weapons and upgrades are described as feeling uniquely impactful. Multiple endings and hidden items drive replayability, and mod support has extended the game's longevity. The challenging difficulty accommodates short-burst sessions, and local co-op adds another dimension of play. Achievements, boss-rush sequences, and hard-mode challenges provide post-game content. The title holds a 92% positive rating from 3,688 Steam reviews.

About Cave Story+: Run, jump, shoot, fly and explore your way through a massive action-adventure reminiscent of classic 8- and 16-bit games.