Single-player games like SMS Returns
Below are 8 single-player Steam games similar to SMS Returns, 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 SMS Returns page.
Ranked picks
- 1
DODECIUM
Single-player alternative to SMS Returns — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action and Indie with SMS Returns.
Solo Indie delivers a local 1-4 player split-screen physics-based create and combat sandbox with scientific tools for PvP or PvE. Replay many unique campaigns. Master your hex build strategy, microscopes, and chemistry skills. Be clever to achieve victory and learn as you go. !!! FREE DEMO !!!
- 2
Horror Royale
Single-player alternative to SMS Returns — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action and Indie with SMS Returns.
Horror Royale is an online and local multiplayer horror game. Communicate with your friends using proximity chat (but try not to let the monsters hear) and use items and your environment to avoid the monsters and survive. Now with mods; discover player-made monsters, human skins and maps.
- 3
Verve
Single-player alternative to SMS Returns — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action and Indie with SMS Returns.
Verve is a liminal space horror game with advanced movement (bhop, surf, etc.) and 128-tick multiplayer. Find a group of scientists lost deep inside the Verve and rescue them in the Backrooms-inspired singleplayer campaign or jump into multiplayer game modes like Hide and Seek and Nextbot Escape.
- 4
HYPERCHARGE: Unboxed
Single-player alternative to SMS Returns — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action and Indie with SMS Returns.
Hypercharge is a first and third-person shooter action figure game you've always dreamed of! Grab your friends, complete objectives, defend the Hypercore against waves of weaponized toys, and defeat Major Evil together in the story campaign!
- 5
Below, Rusted Gods
Single-player alternative to SMS Returns — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Indie and Adventure with SMS Returns.
You are the lifeline supporting an expedition into the unknown. Keep both yourself and your squad alive by interpreting instrument readings, explore the facilities, and uncover something ancient and eager to be born.
- 6
Backrooms Media
Single-player alternative to SMS Returns — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action and Indie with SMS Returns.
Backrooms Media is a 1-4 player co-op horror that plunges you into unsettling, hyper-realistic liminal spaces. Navigate eerie environments filled with lurking horrors. Group up with your friends to face the terror of the endless backrooms together and... try to escape.
- 7
Escape the Backrooms
Single-player alternative to SMS Returns — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Action and Indie with SMS Returns.
Escape the Backrooms is a 1-4 player co-op horror exploration game. Traverse 30+ eerie backrooms levels while avoiding entities and other dangers. Try to escape but be warned: survival isn't guaranteed.
- 8
Narcosis
Single-player alternative to SMS Returns — playable solo, no multiplayer required. Shares Indie and Adventure with SMS Returns.
Survival, horror at the sunless depths of the Pacific Ocean: Stranded on the seafloor with low light and few tools, an industrial diver takes desperate steps to surface before his oxygen — and sanity — give out.