Games like Bucket Detective
If Bucket Detective is your kind of game, the closest matches are Layers of Fear (2016), >observer_ and Kairo — picked from the ranked list below. 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 Bucket Detective: A dark comedy/horror game by Jesse Barksdale, creator of the static speaks my name. Help a cult complete a ritual in exchange for divine inspiration to finish writing your terrible novel. A story-focused experience which takes around 45 minutes to complete.

Players who liked Bucket Detective also play
Steam players who put hours into Bucket Detective 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.
Layers of Fear (2016)
WHY THIS
Top pick for Bucket Detective fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Indie and Adventure with Bucket Detective.
A first-person psychological horror with a strong emphasis on atmosphere and storytelling. Explore an ever-shifting Victorian mansion as a painter seeking to complete his masterpiece, even at the cost of his own sanity.
>observer_
WHY THIS
Second-strongest match for Bucket Detective fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Indie and Adventure with Bucket Detective.
The original first‑person cyberpunk horror detective tale set in a decaying, neon‑scarred future. As an Observer who invades minds to hunt for clues, you will sift through corrupted memories to track down a mysterious killer and confront your own dark past.
Kairo
WHY THIS
Third-strongest match for Bucket Detective fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Indie and Adventure with Bucket Detective.
Enter the lost world of Kairo. Explore vast abandoned monuments. Bring strange and ancient machinery back to life. Slowly uncover the true purpose of Kairo and fulfil a great destiny.Kairo is an atmospheric 3D exploration and puzzle solving game.
Homesick
WHY THIS
Ranked #4 for Bucket Detective fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Indie and Adventure with Bucket Detective.
Explore an abandoned building, encountering puzzles and clues to discover what happened, as you try to escape in both your nightmares and the waking world. Be immersed in the hauntingly beautiful 3D atmosphere in this puzzle exploration mystery game.
The Old City: Leviathan
WHY THIS
Ranked #5 for Bucket Detective fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Indie and Adventure with Bucket Detective.
The Old City: Leviathan is an experiment in first person exploration that focuses entirely on story. All that exists is you and the world. Set in a decaying city from a civilization long past, The Old City: Leviathan puts the player in the shoes of a sewer dwelling isolationist.
Kholat
WHY THIS
Ranked #6 for Bucket Detective fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Indie and Adventure with Bucket Detective.
The most terrifying journey of your life set in the beautiful winter scenery of the Ural Mountains. Uncover the horrific mystery behind the Dyatlov Pass Incident. Narrated by the famous Sean Bean.
The Norwood Suite
WHY THIS
Ranked #7 for Bucket Detective fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Indie and Adventure with Bucket Detective.
Explore the mysterious Hotel Norwood in this surreal first-person adventure. Curious characters, forgotten secrets, and head-nodding music await your arrival.
The Beginner's Guide
WHY THIS
Ranked #8 for Bucket Detective fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Indie and Adventure with Bucket Detective.
The Beginner's Guide is a narrative video game from Davey Wreden, the creator of The Stanley Parable. It lasts about an hour and a half and has no traditional mechanics, no goals or objectives. Instead, it tells the story of a person struggling to deal with something they do not understand.
Cheaper alternatives
Games in the same vein priced at least 40% below Bucket Detective at current Steam store prices.
POSTAL 2
WHY THIS
Priced ~75% under Bucket Detective on Steam right now. Shares Indie and Adventure with Bucket Detective.
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?
The Test
WHY THIS
Priced ~50% under Bucket Detective on Steam right now. Shares Indie and Adventure with Bucket Detective.
You will answer a series of questions that will reveal truths from deep within. These questions may make you uncomfortable, but with great knowledge comes great sacrifice. Can you make it all the way through The Test, and if you do, are you sure you want the answers you seek?
Milk inside a bag of milk inside a bag of milk
WHY THIS
Priced ~63% under Bucket Detective on Steam right now. Shares Indie and Adventure with Bucket Detective.
A short story about what sort of challenges everyday little things can be. Help the girl buy milk, be the first not to disappoint her.
Blood and Bacon
WHY THIS
Priced ~75% under Bucket Detective on Steam right now. Shares Adventure with Bucket Detective.
This Co-op Shooter , has Day and Night levels, multiple maps, players will take on 25 enemy types and numerous bosses, like Gargantuan Monsters and Minibosses every 10 days as you explore, shoot and run for your life against the onslaught of porcine monstrosities.
shapez
WHY THIS
Priced ~75% under Bucket Detective on Steam right now. Shares Indie with Bucket Detective.
shapez is an easy-going, minimalistic factory building game about the automation of shapes through extraction and satisfying production lines. Adapt to increasingly complex shapes and grow your factory across an infinitely expanding map. Your only limitation is your creativity!
The Test: Hypothesis Rising
WHY THIS
Priced ~50% under Bucket Detective on Steam right now. Shares Indie and Adventure with Bucket Detective.
The second chapter in The Test trilogy. Answer a series of in-depth questions to reveal hidden truths about yourself and unlock secrets to discover how your life can change drastically with just a few, slight modifications. ...But are you sure you want the answers you seek?
The NOexistenceN of you AND me
WHY THIS
Priced ~50% under Bucket Detective on Steam right now. Shares Indie and Adventure with Bucket Detective.
Use "game" as a medium to showcase the world of "you/girl". Explore the truth of "you/girl/world" through the form of a "visual novel".
Shower With Your Dad Simulator 2015: Do You Still Shower With Your Dad
WHY THIS
Priced ~75% under Bucket Detective on Steam right now. Shares Indie with Bucket Detective.
"Shower With Your Dad Simulator 2015: Do You Still Shower With Your Dad?" is a fast paced shower-simulation where you shower with your 8-bit dad.It's good, clean fun!
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 Bucket Detective.
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 Adventure with Bucket Detective.
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 Indie with Bucket Detective.
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 Bucket Detective.
Experience surreal environments and inexplicable characters as ENA in a new wild world.
Indigo Park: Chapter 1
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Indie and Adventure with Bucket Detective.
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.
missed messages.
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Indie with Bucket Detective.
‘goth gf’s iPhone’ airdrops you - accept or decline? A love/horror story about life, death, & memes.
NGU IDLE
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Indie and Adventure with Bucket Detective.
NGU Idle is a Free To Play Idle game that's full of weird humor, tons of upgrades and hundreds of hours of content! Try out NGU Idle today and experience the joy of Numbers Going Up!
Grimm's Hollow
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Indie and Adventure with Bucket Detective.
A spooky, freeware RPG where you search the afterlife for your brother. Reap ghosts with your scythe, explore haunted caves, and eat ghostly treats on your journey through death.
Narrow it down
Head-to-head comparisons
Frequently asked about Bucket Detective
- How much does Bucket Detective cost?
- Bucket Detective is listed on Steam at 3.99 USD (current store price; Steam sales may reduce this temporarily).
- What games are most similar to Bucket Detective?
- Based on Steam play patterns and shared genres/tags, the games most often recommended alongside Bucket Detective are Layers of Fear (2016), >observer_, Kairo.
- Who developed Bucket Detective?
- Bucket Detective was developed by the whale husband.
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 Bucket Detective.
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