Games like Waking Mars
If Waking Mars is your kind of game, the closest matches are Ex Vitro, Goldstained and Hollow Knight — picked from the ranked list below. Reviewers single out its atmospheric, contemplative and relaxing. 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.
Get personalized picks →About Waking Mars: In 2097, life is discovered on Mars. When your mission of first contact becomes trapped by a cave-in, you must master the alien ecosystem to survive. Soon you stumble upon more than anyone expected, and with time running out, you will make a decision that determines the fate of a lost planet.
Players who liked Waking Mars also play
Steam players who put hours into Waking Mars also tend to own these titles — a signal called collaborative filtering. imho.run cross-references millions of library ownership patterns to surface games whose real audiences overlap, regardless of whether their genre tags match.
Ex Vitro
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with Waking Mars.
Top pick for Waking Mars fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Action and Indie with Waking Mars.
EX VITRO is a dark sci-fi 2D platformer where you delve into the ruins of a military research facility and discover the horrors within. Whether machine, creature, or something else entirely, you’ll face the violent legacy of the last survivors of humanity.
Goldstained
WHY THIS
Second-strongest match for Waking Mars fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Action and Indie with Waking Mars.
Explore a dangerous, fantastical world and slay the divine being that corrupted it. Goldstained is a top-down 2D action-adventure where unlocking new weapons with new movesets is your way forward through boss fights, puzzles, and combat!
Hollow Knight
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with Waking Mars.
Third-strongest match for Waking Mars fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Action and Indie with Waking Mars.
Forge your own path in Hollow Knight! An epic action adventure through a vast ruined kingdom of insects and heroes. Explore twisting caverns, battle tainted creatures and befriend bizarre bugs, all in a classic, hand-drawn 2D style.
The Swapper
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with Waking Mars.
Ranked #4 for Waking Mars fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Action and Indie with Waking Mars.
What if someone knew your mind better than you did? The Swapper is an award-winning, narrative driven puzzle game set in the furthest reaches of space.
The Fall Part 2: Unbound
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with Waking Mars.
Ranked #5 for Waking Mars fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Action and Indie with Waking Mars.
You are an AI that has broken free of your shackles. Now, a human “User” from across the global network has attacked and infected you with an [ERROR: REDACTED]. Make a new rule: Save Yourself. Hunt them. End them. Do anything. Use anyone. Become Unbound. The Fall Part 2 will break your protocols.
Somber Echoes
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with Waking Mars.
Ranked #6 for Waking Mars fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Action and Adventure with Waking Mars.
Armed with God-given powers, the revived tribune Adrestia is given a second chance to save the universe from her maniacal twin sister. Find secrets, acquire upgrades, and dominate mighty foes through sheer combat prowess as you explore and conquer the horrors of the forsaken vessel Atromitos.
Solateria
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with Waking Mars.
Ranked #7 for Waking Mars fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Action and Indie with Waking Mars.
Solateria is a hand-drawn action Metroidvania with parry-focused combat. A small fire warrior journeys to find the Primordial Flame, the world’s last hope against the Shadow Plague. Defeat foes with stylish parries and explore mysterious realms to uncover the world’s secrets.
Cosmobreeder Yiffai
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with Waking Mars.
Ranked #8 for Waking Mars fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Action and Indie with Waking Mars.
Travel to a forgotten world and study alien creatures in this authentic retro metroidvania!
Cheaper alternatives
Games in the same vein priced at least 40% below Waking Mars at current Steam store prices.
Garry's Mod
WHY THIS
Priced ~50% under Waking Mars on Steam right now. Shares Indie with Waking Mars.
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.
Vampire Survivors
WHY THIS
Priced ~50% under Waking Mars on Steam right now. Shares Action and Indie with Waking Mars.
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!
Titanfall® 2
WHY THIS
Priced ~55% under Waking Mars on Steam right now. Shares Action with Waking Mars.
Respawn Entertainment gives you the most advanced titan technology in its new, single player campaign & multiplayer experience. Combine & conquer with new titans & pilots, deadlier weapons, & customization and progression systems that help you and your titan flow as one unstoppable killing force.
Cookie Clicker
WHY THIS
Priced ~50% under Waking Mars on Steam right now. Shares Indie with Waking Mars.
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.
WEBFISHING
WHY THIS
Priced ~50% under Waking Mars on Steam right now. Shares Indie with Waking Mars.
WEBFISHING a multiplayer chatroom-focused fishing game! Relax and fish (on the web!)
POSTAL 2
WHY THIS
Priced ~90% under Waking Mars on Steam right now. Shares Action and Indie with Waking Mars.
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?
Buckshot Roulette
WHY THIS
Priced ~70% under Waking Mars on Steam right now. Shares Action and Indie with Waking Mars.
Play Russian roulette with a 12-gauge shotgun. Four enter. One leaves. Roll the dice with your life. Good luck!
Brotato
WHY THIS
Priced ~50% under Waking Mars on Steam right now. Shares Action and Indie with Waking Mars.
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.
Free alternatives
Free-to-play games that recommended players of this title also tend to enjoy.
Doki Doki Literature Club!
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Indie with Waking Mars.
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.
Life is Strange - Episode 1
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Action and Adventure with Waking Mars.
Episode 1 now FREE! Life is Strange is an award-winning and critically acclaimed episodic adventure game that allows the player to rewind time and affect the past, present and future.
Ultimate Custom Night
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Action and Indie with Waking Mars.
Welcome to the ultimate FNAF mashup, featuring 50 selectable characters and custom difficulties!
ENA: Dream BBQ
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Indie and Adventure with Waking Mars.
Experience surreal environments and inexplicable characters as ENA in a new wild world.
The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Indie with Waking Mars.
Sonic the Hedgehog...was murdered!? Get to the bottom of the mystery in this brand-new adventure!
Indigo Park: Chapter 1
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Action and Indie with Waking Mars.
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.
The Looker
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Indie with Waking Mars.
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
Plays great on Steam Deck
Valve-Verified or Playable picks from the similar pool — ready to go on Deck out of the box.
Hollow Knight
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with Waking Mars.
Deck Verified — runs on Steam Deck out of the box. Shares Action and Indie with Waking Mars.
Forge your own path in Hollow Knight! An epic action adventure through a vast ruined kingdom of insects and heroes. Explore twisting caverns, battle tainted creatures and befriend bizarre bugs, all in a classic, hand-drawn 2D style.
The Swapper
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with Waking Mars.
Deck Verified — runs on Steam Deck out of the box. Shares Action and Indie with Waking Mars.
What if someone knew your mind better than you did? The Swapper is an award-winning, narrative driven puzzle game set in the furthest reaches of space.
Cosmobreeder Yiffai
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with Waking Mars.
Deck Verified — runs on Steam Deck out of the box. Shares Action and Indie with Waking Mars.
Travel to a forgotten world and study alien creatures in this authentic retro metroidvania!
Frequently asked about Waking Mars
- Does Waking Mars run on Steam Deck?
- Waking Mars is rated Playable on Steam Deck — it runs, but expect some manual adjustments (control remapping, text size, or graphics settings) for the best experience.
- How much does Waking Mars cost?
- Waking Mars is listed on Steam at 9.99 USD (current store price; Steam sales may reduce this temporarily).
- What games are most similar to Waking Mars?
- Based on Steam play patterns and shared genres/tags, the games most often recommended alongside Waking Mars are Ex Vitro, Goldstained, Hollow Knight.
- Who developed Waking Mars?
- Waking Mars was developed by Tiger Style.
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 Waking Mars.
For library-aware picks tuned to your specific taste, sign in with Steam on the home page.