Single-player games like Desktop Detective
Below are 16 single-player Steam games similar to Desktop Detective, ranked by player overlap. Every pick carries Steam's Single-player category, so multiplayer-only titles or always-online games don't sneak in. imho.run pulls the category data from Steam directly — Single-player here matches what the store labels.
Want the full alternatives list (paid + free + Steam Deck + cheaper picks)? See the parent games like Desktop Detective page.
Ranked picks
- 1

Maktala: Slime Lootfest
Single-player alternative to Desktop Detective — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Indie and RPG with Desktop Detective.
An incremental game where you kill hordes of slimes and use their loot to become stronger and farm them. Collect powerful loot, master skills, and uncover tons of content.
- 2

Samawa Idle
Single-player alternative to Desktop Detective — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Indie and RPG with Desktop Detective.
Unleash the power of specialized towers to annihilate hordes of monsters in this idle game with roguelike elements. Collect gold, level up your towers, face powerful bosses, and refine your strategy with an evolving skill tree.
- 3

春泥 Soil of Rebirth
Single-player alternative to Desktop Detective — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Indie and RPG with Desktop Detective.
《春泥》是一款刑侦题材的悬疑解谜推理游戏。2018年中秋前夕,刑警程佑接到报案,动身前往泥塑匠林家处理一起家庭伤人案。随着调查深入,案件的疑点层层浮现,将她引向一连串尘封已久的谜团。往事的土壤正在松动,深埋的真相即将揭开......
- 4

Pecaminosa
Single-player alternative to Desktop Detective — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Indie and RPG with Desktop Detective.
Activate your detective skills in this noir-influenced police action RPG. Grab your gun and prepare to face the strangest case of John Souza's career by helping the ghost of a dead mobster get "justice". Hit the streets in search of intel, befriend the scum and beat those who will try to stop you.
- 5

Paradise Killer
Single-player alternative to Desktop Detective — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Indie and RPG with Desktop Detective.
Paradise Island, a world outside reality. There’s been a murder that only "investigation freak" Lady Love Dies can solve. Gather evidence and interrogate suspects in this open world adventure. You can accuse anyone, but you’ll have to prove your case in trial. It’s up to you to decide who’s guilty.
- 6

最后的仙门 The last Practice Sect
Single-player alternative to Desktop Detective — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares RPG and Casual with Desktop Detective.
The last Practice Sectis is a ink style tower defense game. The game combines Chinese mythological novels to experience that under the invasion of the devil, only the last immortal sect left. You recruit all kinds of human to resist the devil and maintain the last immortal sect of the human race.
- 7

RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army
Single-player alternative to Desktop Detective — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares RPG with Desktop Detective.
The story of apprentice detective and Devil Summoner extraordinaire Raidou Kuzunoha XIV returns in this remastered classic! Call upon your demons to solve supernatural mysteries and dispose of enemies.
- 8

Sarawak
Single-player alternative to Desktop Detective — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Indie with Desktop Detective.
A short literary mystery game set in Oxford and Borneo
- 9

Desktop Defender
Single-player alternative to Desktop Detective — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Indie and Casual with Desktop Detective.
An idle auto-battler that sits in the corner of your screen while you do other things.
- 10

The Outbound Ghost
Single-player alternative to Desktop Detective — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Indie and RPG with Desktop Detective.
The Outbound Ghost is an adventure RPG about helping ghosts ascend to the afterlife. Battle the past using figments of your personality. Craft badges to earn abilities. Explore a town of troubled spooks and discover life can be tough, even when you're dead.
- 11

Lootbox Lyfe
Single-player alternative to Desktop Detective — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Indie with Desktop Detective.
Explore a desolate world in the genre defining platformvania. Lootbox Lyfe is a Metroidvania with Movement Option Progression. Save your species through delving into an interconnected world riddled with platforming obstacles. Unlock new areas as you obtain new movement options.
- 12

Girabox
Single-player alternative to Desktop Detective — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Indie and Casual with Desktop Detective.
A minimalist puzzle game in which you rotate the world instead of controlling the player. Play through the many level packs and compare your score to others in the leaderboards.
- 13

Soul Stalker
Single-player alternative to Desktop Detective — playable solo, no multiplayer required.
A bullet heaven roguelike where you assume the role of the steward of ghosts bound to eternal life on earth. Wield 4 to 6 weapons simultaneously to fend off waves of apparitions determined to defeat your spirited friends.
- 14

Wanted Shadows
Single-player alternative to Desktop Detective — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Indie and RPG with Desktop Detective.
Decimate thousands of demons on All Hallows' Eve to protect your infernal home. Wanted Shadows is a bullet heaven roguelite where the difference between overpowering and being overpowered lies in your skill and wit.
- 15

Little Laps
Single-player alternative to Desktop Detective — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Casual with Desktop Detective.
Race through minimalist tracks designed for precision and flow. Master the one-button controls, beat your best times, and experience racing distilled to its purest form. Can you perfect your little laps?
- 16

Card Corner
Single-player alternative to Desktop Detective — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Indie and Casual with Desktop Detective.
An idle poker game that sits in the corner of your screen while you do other things.