Games like Mama
Below are 22 hand-picked alternatives to Mama for fans of indie, adventure, 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 Mama 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, free-to-play picks, and Steam Deck–friendly options. No login required — these picks work anchor-only.
About Mama: An emotional narrative point-and-click about a daughter caring for her mother as dementia reshapes their bond. Explore heartfelt conversations, fragmented memories, and simple story-driven puzzles on a journey of caregiving and learning to let go.
Players who liked Mama also play
Ranked by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries plus content overlap on genres, tags, and developers.
- 1
Leila
Top pick for Mama fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Indie and Adventure with Mama.
Leila is a heartfelt, hand-animated narrative game about the small yet significant struggles we all face. Solve story-driven puzzles, relive fragile memories, and discover a deeply personal journey that may feel more familiar than you expect.
- 2
Esoteric Ebb
Second-strongest match for Mama fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Indie with Mama.
Esoteric Ebb is a single-player CRPG inspired by the freedom of tabletop adventures. Unravel a political conspiracy with your goblin sidekick. Roll dice in tense encounters. Become a cleric of legends or completely ruin the campaign.
- 3
The Dream Machine: Chapter 1 & 2
Third-strongest match for Mama fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Indie and Adventure with Mama.
The Dream Machine is an award-winning point & click adventure game about exploring other people's dreams. It's built by hand using materials such as clay, cardboard and broccoli.
- 4
VIDEOVERSE
Ranked #4 for Mama fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Indie and Adventure with Mama.
Relive the days of the early internet and dive into this fictional video game era, where the 'Kinmoku Shark’ gaming system and its online social network 'Videoverse' were still popular…
- 5
Behind the Frame: The Finest Scenery
Ranked #5 for Mama fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Indie and Adventure with Mama.
Guide brush strokes and solve a variety of puzzles to help an aspiring artist complete her masterpiece amid her brusque neighbor’s gaze and his pesky cat. As her painting starts to take shape, uncover an emotional tale of chance and artistry revealed behind unrelated yet familiar moments.
- 6
Heaven's Vault
Ranked #6 for Mama fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Indie and Adventure with Mama.
An archaeologist uncovers a lost history in an ancient space Nebula. Award-winning narrative adventure game with hieroglyphic language puzzles, from the creators of 80 DAYS.
- 7
Broken Sword - Shadow of the Templars: Reforged
Ranked #7 for Mama fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Indie and Adventure with Mama.
The classic multi-award winning adventure "Broken Sword - the Shadow of the Templars" returns with glorious 4K visuals and iconic remastered audio, pitching intrepid tourist George Stobbart and fearless journalist Nico Collard into a journey of perilous adventures and ancient conspiracies.
- 8
Old Man's Journey
Ranked #8 for Mama fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Indie and Adventure with Mama.
Old Man’s Journey, a soul-searching puzzle adventure, tells a story of life, loss, and hope. Interacting with the world around you, you'll shape the landscape to create the old man's path forward. Experience heartache and hope as you embark on a heartfelt journey through a sunkissed world.
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 Mama.
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
Life is Strange - Episode 1
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Adventure with Mama.
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.
- 3
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Ultimate Custom Night
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Indie with Mama.
Welcome to the ultimate FNAF mashup, featuring 50 selectable characters and custom difficulties!
- 5
Bongo Cat
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Indie with Mama.
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?
- 6
ENA: Dream BBQ
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Indie and Adventure with Mama.
Experience surreal environments and inexplicable characters as ENA in a new wild world.
- 7
The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Indie with Mama.
Sonic the Hedgehog...was murdered!? Get to the bottom of the mystery in this brand-new adventure!
- 8
The Looker
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Indie with Mama.
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.
- 1
Esoteric Ebb
Deck Verified — runs on Steam Deck out of the box. Shares Indie with Mama.
Esoteric Ebb is a single-player CRPG inspired by the freedom of tabletop adventures. Unravel a political conspiracy with your goblin sidekick. Roll dice in tense encounters. Become a cleric of legends or completely ruin the campaign.
- 2
VIDEOVERSE
Deck Verified — runs on Steam Deck out of the box. Shares Indie and Adventure with Mama.
Relive the days of the early internet and dive into this fictional video game era, where the 'Kinmoku Shark’ gaming system and its online social network 'Videoverse' were still popular…
- 3
Behind the Frame: The Finest Scenery
Deck Verified — runs on Steam Deck out of the box. Shares Indie and Adventure with Mama.
Guide brush strokes and solve a variety of puzzles to help an aspiring artist complete her masterpiece amid her brusque neighbor’s gaze and his pesky cat. As her painting starts to take shape, uncover an emotional tale of chance and artistry revealed behind unrelated yet familiar moments.
- 4
Heaven's Vault
Deck Verified — runs on Steam Deck out of the box. Shares Indie and Adventure with Mama.
An archaeologist uncovers a lost history in an ancient space Nebula. Award-winning narrative adventure game with hieroglyphic language puzzles, from the creators of 80 DAYS.
- 5
Broken Sword - Shadow of the Templars: Reforged
Deck Verified — runs on Steam Deck out of the box. Shares Indie and Adventure with Mama.
The classic multi-award winning adventure "Broken Sword - the Shadow of the Templars" returns with glorious 4K visuals and iconic remastered audio, pitching intrepid tourist George Stobbart and fearless journalist Nico Collard into a journey of perilous adventures and ancient conspiracies.
- 6
Old Man's Journey
Deck Verified — runs on Steam Deck out of the box. Shares Indie and Adventure with Mama.
Old Man’s Journey, a soul-searching puzzle adventure, tells a story of life, loss, and hope. Interacting with the world around you, you'll shape the landscape to create the old man's path forward. Experience heartache and hope as you embark on a heartfelt journey through a sunkissed world.
Frequently asked about Mama
- What games are most similar to Mama?
- Based on Steam play patterns and shared genres/tags, the games most often recommended alongside Mama are Leila, Esoteric Ebb, The Dream Machine: Chapter 1 & 2.
- Who developed Mama?
- Mama was developed by Pat-o-Logic Studio.
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 Mama.
For library-aware picks tuned to your specific taste, sign in with Steam on the home page.