Games like Onward
If Onward is your kind of game, the closest matches are Zero Caliber VR, Pavlov and Insurgency: Sandstorm — picked from the ranked list below. Reviewers single out its immersive mil sim atmosphere, challenging and competitive. 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 →Onward is a VR tactical shooter released in 2025 by Downpour Interactive, available for $24.99 USD. Players describe the atmosphere as immersive, with reviewers highlighting the co-op mercenary mode and faction-weapon balancing as particularly engaging. The mechanics include physically-based bullet ballistics, tactical positioning, and team coordination, with players noting the faction weapons have unique trade-offs and the gun handling feels physically accurate. Reviewers also point to the importance of tactical positioning in the experience. The game supports online co-op play with a massive session length, though it is not supported on Steam Deck. It holds a 68% positive rating from over 7,200 Steam reviews.
About Onward: Onward is the most immersive tactical VR shooter. Join your squad for a wide variety of competitive PvP, co-op PvE, and solo game modes, including intense multiplayer battles or 4-player co-op missions. Realistic weaponry and combat mechanics will push your survival and combat skills to their limit
Players who liked Onward also play
Steam players who put hours into Onward 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.
Zero Caliber VR
WHY THIS
Shares an immersive mood with Onward.
Top pick for Onward fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Action and Indie with Onward.
Zero Caliber is the ultimate VR FPS: single player/Co-op campaign, PvP and mod support with 40+ realistic firearms & melee weapons, 100+ unlockable skins, 50+ attachments, realistic physics, progression & more! Immerse yourself in the action, customize your gear and unleash your inner hero!
Pavlov
WHY THIS
Shares a tense mood with Onward.
Second-strongest match for Onward fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Action and Indie with Onward.
Pavlov is a multiplayer shooter in VR with heavy focus on community features. Realistic reloading features and fast paced combat as part of the core experience. Play the #1 most popular VR shooter on PC today.
Insurgency: Sandstorm
WHY THIS
Shares team coordination and a tense mood with Onward.
Third-strongest match for Onward fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Action with Onward.
Insurgency: Sandstorm is a hardcore tactical FPS built on lethal close-quarters combat and ruthless intensity. Every bullet count, every step matters, and teamwork is your only path to survival in the brutality of modern warfare.
Arma Reforger
WHY THIS
Shares a tense mood with Onward.
Ranked #4 for Onward fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Action and Strategy with Onward.
Engage in massive combined arms battles, create and curate combat missions in real time, and shape your experience with endless community mods. Deploy into the Cold War and experience the most authentic and immersive military sandbox ever created.
GW: Legacy
WHY THIS
Shares an immersive mood with Onward.
Ranked #5 for Onward fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Action and Simulation with Onward.
A Realistic, Physics Based, Multiplayer shooter game in VR. Experience Physical hands, and Guns that are calibrated to real life.
War Dust VR: 32v32 Battlefields
WHY THIS
Shares tactical positioning and a competitive mood with Onward.
Ranked #6 for Onward fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Action and Indie with Onward.
Join the fight in War Dust VR, the ultimate FPS shooter with immersive VR gameplay. Dominate expansive battlefields with diverse vehicles, exciting mechanics, and strategic control points. Join your team and become a champion of this multiplayer war today!
Contractors
WHY THIS
Shares an immersive mood with Onward.
Ranked #7 for Onward fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Action and Indie with Onward.
Contractors is a team-based competitive multiplayer shooter game for virtual reality devices. Experience the next level virtual warfare with hardcore controls, lethal weapons, customizable load-outs, and intense firefights. BECOME AN OPERATOR.
VTOL VR
WHY THIS
Shares an immersive mood with Onward.
Ranked #8 for Onward fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Action and Indie with Onward.
VTOL VR is a near-futuristic combat flight game built for Virtual Reality. Pilot advanced multi-role jets, using your hands to flip switches, press buttons, and manipulate the virtual flight controls.
Reviewers mention these as similar to Onward
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.
Pavlov
WHY THIS
Shares a tense mood with Onward.
Reviewers of Onward cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Action and Indie with Onward.
Pavlov is a multiplayer shooter in VR with heavy focus on community features. Realistic reloading features and fast paced combat as part of the core experience. Play the #1 most popular VR shooter on PC today.
Sniper Elite
WHY THIS
Shares an immersive mood with Onward.
Reviewers of Onward cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Action with Onward.
As World War II draws to a close, the first covert battles of the Cold War begin. Caught in the life and death struggle between Soviets and Germans in war-torn Berlin, you control the fate of a lone American OSS Sniper.
Contractors
WHY THIS
Shares an immersive mood with Onward.
Reviewers of Onward cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Action and Indie with Onward.
Contractors is a team-based competitive multiplayer shooter game for virtual reality devices. Experience the next level virtual warfare with hardcore controls, lethal weapons, customizable load-outs, and intense firefights. BECOME AN OPERATOR.
Ink: Tournament Paintball
WHY THIS
Reviewers of Onward cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Action and Strategy with Onward.
The definitive paintball game that you have been looking for over a decade. A solution for paintball teams to practice and compete on the most recent layouts with the best guns on the market. Join now to battle it out on Ink: Tournament Paintball®!
Tactical Assault VR
WHY THIS
Shares tactical positioning and a tense mood with Onward.
Reviewers of Onward cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Action and Simulation with Onward.
Tactical Assault VR is an intense tactical shooter where you use real-world CQB (Close Quarters Battles) tactics to stack up, breach doors and eliminate threats. Play solo or join an online co-op special forces unit in missions around the world.
Cheaper alternatives
Games in the same vein priced at least 40% below Onward at current Steam store prices.
Garry's Mod
WHY THIS
Priced ~80% under Onward on Steam right now. Shares Indie and Simulation with Onward.
Garry's Mod is a physics sandbox. There aren't any predefined aims or goals. We give you the tools and leave you to play.
Lethal Company
WHY THIS
Priced ~60% under Onward on Steam right now. Shares Action and Indie with Onward.
A co-op horror about scavenging at abandoned moons to sell scrap to the Company.
Left 4 Dead 2
WHY THIS
Priced ~60% under Onward on Steam right now. Shares Action with Onward.
Set in the zombie apocalypse, Left 4 Dead 2 is a co-operative action horror FPS takes you and your friends through the cities, swamps and cemeteries of the Deep South, from Savannah to New Orleans across five expansive campaigns.
Bloons TD 6
WHY THIS
Priced ~44% under Onward on Steam right now. Shares Strategy with Onward.
The Bloons are back and better than ever! Get ready for a massive 3D tower defense game designed to give you hours and hours of the best strategy gaming available.
People Playground
WHY THIS
Priced ~60% under Onward on Steam right now. Shares Action and Indie with Onward.
Shoot, stab, burn, poison, tear, vaporise, or crush ragdolls in a large open space.
Fallout: New Vegas
WHY THIS
Priced ~60% under Onward on Steam right now. Shares Action with Onward.
Welcome to Vegas. New Vegas. Enjoy your stay!
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 Onward.
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.
Ultimate Custom Night
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Action and Indie with Onward.
Welcome to the ultimate FNAF mashup, featuring 50 selectable characters and custom difficulties!
Bongo Cat
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Indie and Simulation with Onward.
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?
Indigo Park: Chapter 1
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Action and Indie with Onward.
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.
Counter-Strike:Global Offensive
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Action with Onward.
Counter-Strike:Global Offensive (CS:GO) expands upon the team-based action gameplay that it pioneered when it was launched over 2 decades ago. CS:GO features new maps, characters, weapons, and game modes, and delivers updated versions of the classic CS content (de_dust2, etc.).
The Expendabros
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Action and Indie with Onward.
The Expendabros have assembled and set their sights on the forces of ruthless arms dealer Conrad Stonebanks in the forests of Eastern Europe.
Steam Engine Simulator
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Simulation with Onward.
The Steam Engine Simulator shown on AngeTheGreat's YouTube channel.
Narrow it down
Head-to-head comparisons
Frequently asked about Onward
- Does Onward work on Steam Deck?
- Onward is currently rated Unsupported on Steam Deck. It may not launch or may have significant issues that block normal play.
- How much does Onward cost?
- Onward is listed on Steam at 24.99 USD (current store price; Steam sales may reduce this temporarily).
- Does Onward have multiplayer or co-op?
- Yes — Onward supports multi-player play according to its Steam store listing (Multi-player, Cross-Platform Multiplayer, Online PvP).
- What games are most similar to Onward?
- Based on Steam play patterns and shared genres/tags, the games most often recommended alongside Onward are Zero Caliber VR, Pavlov, Insurgency: Sandstorm.
- Who developed Onward?
- Onward was developed by Downpour Interactive.
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 Onward.
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