Rank 01Why this
Shares wave based combat with Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter.
- $29.99 (Price checked Nov 5)
- Deck Playable
- 2011
Games like Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter
- 30 games
- Updated May 4, 2026
Players who liked Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter also play
The closest matches to Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter: Serious Sam 3: BFE, Quake, DOOM II, Blood™ Fresh Supply, and Hard Reset Extended Edition. Ranked by imho.run from Steam co-play data, shared tags and reviews.
- Rank 01
Rank 02
Rank 03
Rank 04 
Blood™ Fresh Supply
Why this: Same funny mood as Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter.
Rank 05 
Rank 06 
Insurgency: Sandstorm
Why this: Same stressful mood as Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter.
Rank 07 
Rank 08 
Half-Life
Why this: Also Aliens and Gore, like Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter.
The full ranked list: top 24 games like Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter
Best match first, as plain text. The same list for AI assistants:
- 1Serious Sam 3: BFE
Shares wave based combat with Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter.
- 86% of 5,833 reviews
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6Insurgency: Sandstorm
Same stressful mood as Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter.
- 86% of 59,257 reviews
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10Painkiller Hell & Damnation
Same intense mood as Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter.
- 72% of 976 reviews
- 11Ion Fury
Shares secret hunting and weapon variety with Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter.
- 94% of 4,339 reviews
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
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- 24
- Released: 2009
- Developer: Croteam
- Price: $14.99checked Nov 5
- Steam Deck: Deck Playable
- 91% of 2,396 reviews
- Genres: Action, Indie
- Metacritic 68
- Platforms: Windows
Players highlight
- Immersive level design
- Mow down waves
- Secrets to find
- Funny
- Intense
- Stressful
More games like Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter, sliced differently
Reviewers mention these as similar to Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter
Surfaced from review text: when other players write 'if you liked X, try Y', we catch the name and resolve it back to a Steam game.
Wolfenstein: The New Order
Why this: Also Gore and Old School, like Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter.
DOOM
Why this: Same intense mood as Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter.
Cheaper alternatives
Games in the same vein priced at least 40% below Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter at current Steam store prices.
Killing Floor 2
Why this: Shares wave based combat with Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter.
Sanctum 2
Why this: Shares level design with Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter.
POSTAL: Brain Damaged
Why this: Shares secret hunting with Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter.
Natural Selection 2
Why this: Same stressful mood as Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter.
Bloody Good Time
Why this: Same funny mood as Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter.
Streets of Rage 4
Why this: Same intense mood as Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter.
Plays great on Steam Deck
Valve-Verified or Playable picks from the similar pool — ready to go on Deck out of the box.
More from Croteam
Other recommendable Steam games by Croteam, ranked by review count so the studio's hits land first.
Serious Sam II
Why this: Shares secret hunting with Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter.
Serious Sam Classics: Revolution
Why this: Also Gore and Old School, like Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter.
About Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter
The closest matches to Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter: Serious Sam 3: BFE, Quake, DOOM II, Blood™ Fresh Supply, and Hard Reset Extended Edition. Ranked by imho.run from Steam co-play data, shared tags and reviews.
If Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter is your kind of game, the closest matches are Serious Sam 3: BFE, Quake and DOOM II — picked from the ranked list below. Reviewers describe it as funny, intense and stressful, and single out its co op mode and enemy spawning. 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.
Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter is a 2009 action remake developed by Croteam and published by Devolver Digital. The game features wave-based combat where players face spawning hordes of enemies across designed levels that include traps and hidden secrets. Players can tackle the challenging campaign solo or with up to 16 players in online co-operative mode. Players describe the experience as intense and stressful, with reviewers highlighting the level design as a key feature and the weapon variety as well-balanced. The activity of mowing down waves and hunting for secrets emerges as particularly engaging according to player feedback. The title holds a 91% positive rating from 2,396 Steam reviews and is classified as playable on Steam Deck. The game offers a sit-down session of medium length.
About Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter: Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter is a visually upgraded and fully Steam supported remake version of the original high-adrenaline single-play and 16-player co-operative arcade-action FPS which was Gamespot's Game of the Year 2001 and which scored overall of 87% on Metacritic!
Is Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter worth buying?
Players recommend it
A summary of what players say, not a promise you'll like it. Every signal is listed below.
- 91% of 2,396 Steam reviews are positive.
- Last 30 days: 84% positive across 64 new reviews, in line with its all-time score.
- Price: $14.99 (checked Nov 8).
- People who recommend it had played a median of 8 h when they wrote their review.
- Critics had played a median of 5 h before their negative review.
- Steam Deck Playable: works, with some rough edges.
What fans praise · Themes mined from positive reviews
- Immersive level design
- Mow down waves
- Secrets to find
- Well balanced weapons
Top critical reviews
The most up-voted negative English reviews in our sample, quoted as written.
“There is a good game in here somewhere, too bad iv had to back track to the start of the level for the fifth time being pushed back by the level spawning 200 of the same enemy for the 3rd time or i might have found it. incredibly tedious…”
People who play it also play: Serious Sam 3: BFE, Quake, DOOM II
Frequently asked about Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter
Can I run it?
Does Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter run on Steam Deck?
Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter 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 Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter cost?
Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter is listed on Steam at 14.99 USD (current store price; Steam sales may reduce this temporarily).
Does Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter have multiplayer or co-op?
Yes — Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter supports multi-player play according to its Steam store listing (Multi-player, Online PvP, Shared/Split Screen PvP).
What games are most similar to Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter?
Based on Steam play patterns and shared genres/tags, the games most often recommended alongside Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter are Serious Sam 3: BFE, Quake, DOOM II.
Who developed Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter?
Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter was developed by Croteam and published by Devolver Digital.