Games like Detention
If Detention is your kind of game, the closest matches are Fran Bow, The Cat Lady and Vlad Circus: Descend Into Madness — picked from the ranked list below. Reviewers single out its historical horror feels authentic, minimalist art enhances dread and short but impactful experience. 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 →Detention is a 2017 point-and-click adventure from RedCandleGames featuring narrative-branching and puzzle-solving within a historical context. The solo experience takes 3-8 hours to complete, with puzzle difficulty described as chill, and holds verified status on Steam Deck at a price of $11.99 USD. Reviewers have highlighted how minimalist art enhances a bleak and melancholic atmosphere, and players describe the sound design as unsettlingly effective, building dread throughout. The game holds a Metacritic score of 83 and a 96% positive rating from nearly 2,800 Steam reviews, with players noting that the historical horror elements feel authentic and that the short experience leaves a lasting impact through its story-driven exploration of trauma.
About Detention: Detention is an atmospheric horror game set in 1960s Taiwan under martial law. Incorporated religious elements based in Taiwanese/Chinese culture and mythology, the game provided players with unique graphics and gaming experience.
Players who liked Detention also play
Steam players who put hours into Detention 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.
Fran Bow
WHY THIS
Shares point and click, puzzle solving and a dark mood with Detention.
Top pick for Detention fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Indie and Adventure with Detention.
Fran Bow is a creepy adventure game that tells the story of Fran, a young girl struggling with a mental disorder and an unfair destiny.
The Cat Lady
WHY THIS
Shares puzzle solving and an atmospheric mood with Detention.
Second-strongest match for Detention fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Indie and Adventure with Detention.
The Cat Lady follows Susan Ashworth, a lonely 40-year old on the verge of suicide. She has no family, no friends and no hope for a better future. One day she discovers that five strangers will come along and change everything...
Vlad Circus: Descend Into Madness
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with Detention.
Third-strongest match for Detention fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Indie and Adventure with Detention.
Vlad Circus: Descend into Madness puts your sanity to the test, challenging you to escape a labyrinth of nightmares and torment. Test your mind against a slow burn of puzzles, light survival mechanics, and methodical action.
杀青
WHY THIS
Shares narrative branching, puzzle solving and an atmospheric mood with Detention.
Ranked #4 for Detention fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Indie and Adventure with Detention.
"Shaqing" is a Chinese horror puzzle game set in "Wuzhan Town". Players must help the protagonist escape an evil scene where dreams and reality blur, and save his beloved. The objective is to help the protagonist escape and save his beloved.
Outlying Islands
WHY THIS
Shares point and click, puzzle solving and an atmospheric mood with Detention.
Ranked #5 for Detention fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Adventure with Detention.
A story about discovering anomalies, finding strange energy sources, and the intertwining of peculiar spaces. Get ready to uncover hidden stories, delve into a horrifying narrative and unveil the most fundamental truth!
Rusty Lake: Roots
WHY THIS
Shares point and click, puzzle solving and an atmospheric mood with Detention.
Ranked #6 for Detention fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Indie and Adventure with Detention.
Experience the beginning and end of characters' lives and build your own family tree! Rusty Lake: Roots is the second premium point-and-click adventure by the creators of the Cube Escape series and Rusty Lake Hotel.
Martha Is Dead
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with Detention.
Ranked #7 for Detention fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Indie and Adventure with Detention.
Set in 1944 Italy, Martha Is Dead is an award-winning dark psychological thriller where the lines between truth, superstition, and tragedy blur. Explore a haunting countryside, uncover disturbing memories, and peel back layers of mystery. Every choice shapes the nightmare…are you ready to face it?
Downfall
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with Detention.
Ranked #8 for Detention fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries. Shares Indie and Adventure with Detention.
There is nothing Joe wouldn't do for his wife. But as they try to save their marriage with a romantic getaway, things go from bad to worse, and from worse... to insanity...
Reviewers mention these as similar to Detention
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.
SILENT HILL 2
WHY THIS
Shares puzzle solving and an atmospheric mood with Detention.
Reviewers of Detention cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Adventure with Detention.
Investigating a letter from his late wife, James returns to where they made so many memories - Silent Hill. What he finds is a ghost town, prowled by disturbing monsters and cloaked in deep fog. Confront the monsters, solve puzzles, and search for traces of your wife in this remake of SILENT HILL 2.
White Day: A Labyrinth Named School
WHY THIS
Shares puzzle solving and an atmospheric mood with Detention.
Reviewers of Detention cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Indie and Adventure with Detention.
Notorious cult-classic Korean horror. Sneak into school at midnight to return your sweetheart's diary and get caught in a terrifying game of cat and mouse. Explore haunted hallways, solve classic survival horror puzzles and escape the clutches of a killer Janitor who is out for your blood.
Resident Evil
WHY THIS
Shares puzzle solving and an atmospheric mood with Detention.
Reviewers of Detention cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Adventure with Detention.
The game that defined the survival-horror genre is back! Check out the remastered HD version of Resident Evil.
The Bad Kids
WHY THIS
Shares puzzle solving and an atmospheric mood with Detention.
Reviewers of Detention cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Indie and Adventure with Detention.
As an adaptation of the popular suspecse TV series, Cat's Cradle, this game combines investigation, solving puzzles and reasoning with original stories, which can build a more Immersive experience. Game will build new stories based on original setting and focus on the inner world of the character.
DreadOut
WHY THIS
Shares puzzle solving and an atmospheric mood with Detention.
Reviewers of Detention cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Indie and Adventure with Detention.
DreadOut is a third person supernatural horror game where you play as Linda, a high school student trapped in an old abandoned town. Equipped with her trusty smart-phone, she will battle against terrifying encounters and solve mysterious puzzles which will ultimately determine her fate.
Corpse Party (2021)
WHY THIS
Shares puzzle solving and an atmospheric mood with Detention.
Reviewers of Detention cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Adventure with Detention.
Explore the haunted halls of Heavenly Host Elementary in Corpse Party (2021), the horror cult classic now updated for the next generation.
SOMA
WHY THIS
Shares puzzle solving and an atmospheric mood with Detention.
Reviewers of Detention cross-mention this title as a similar play. Shares Indie and Adventure with Detention.
From the creators of Amnesia: The Dark Descent comes SOMA, a sci-fi horror game set below the waves of the Atlantic ocean. Struggle to survive a hostile world that will make you question your very existence.
Cheaper alternatives
Games in the same vein priced at least 40% below Detention at current Steam store prices.
Garry's Mod
WHY THIS
Priced ~58% under Detention on Steam right now. Shares Indie with Detention.
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.
Vampire Survivors
WHY THIS
Priced ~58% under Detention on Steam right now. Shares Indie with Detention.
Mow down thousands of night creatures and survive until dawn! Vampire Survivors is a gothic horror casual game with rogue-lite elements, where your choices can allow you to quickly snowball against the hundreds of monsters that get thrown at you. Be the bullet hell!
Slay the Spire
WHY THIS
Priced ~48% under Detention on Steam right now. Shares Indie with Detention.
We fused card games and roguelikes together to make the best single player deckbuilder we could. Craft a unique deck, encounter bizarre creatures, discover relics of immense power, and Slay the Spire!
Cookie Clicker
WHY THIS
Priced ~58% under Detention on Steam right now. Shares Indie with Detention.
An idle game about making cookies! Originally released in 2013 on the web, and actively developed since then. This is the official version for Steam.
WEBFISHING
WHY THIS
Priced ~58% under Detention on Steam right now. Shares Indie with Detention.
WEBFISHING a multiplayer chatroom-focused fishing game! Relax and fish (on the web!)
POSTAL 2
WHY THIS
Priced ~92% under Detention on Steam right now. Shares Indie and Adventure with Detention.
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?
Buckshot Roulette
WHY THIS
Priced ~75% under Detention on Steam right now. Shares Indie with Detention.
Play Russian roulette with a 12-gauge shotgun. Four enter. One leaves. Roll the dice with your life. Good luck!
OneShot
WHY THIS
Priced ~50% under Detention on Steam right now. Shares Indie and Adventure with Detention.
OneShot is a surreal top down Puzzle/Adventure game with unique gameplay capabilities. You are to guide a child through a mysterious world on a mission to restore its long-dead sun. The world knows you exist.
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 Detention.
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 Detention.
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 Detention.
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 Detention.
Experience surreal environments and inexplicable characters as ENA in a new wild world.
The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it. Shares Indie with Detention.
Sonic the Hedgehog...was murdered!? Get to the bottom of the mystery in this brand-new adventure!
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 Detention.
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.
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.
Fran Bow
WHY THIS
Shares point and click, puzzle solving and a dark mood with Detention.
Deck Verified — runs on Steam Deck out of the box. Shares Indie and Adventure with Detention.
Fran Bow is a creepy adventure game that tells the story of Fran, a young girl struggling with a mental disorder and an unfair destiny.
Vlad Circus: Descend Into Madness
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with Detention.
Deck Verified — runs on Steam Deck out of the box. Shares Indie and Adventure with Detention.
Vlad Circus: Descend into Madness puts your sanity to the test, challenging you to escape a labyrinth of nightmares and torment. Test your mind against a slow burn of puzzles, light survival mechanics, and methodical action.
Rusty Lake: Roots
WHY THIS
Shares point and click, puzzle solving and an atmospheric mood with Detention.
Deck Verified — runs on Steam Deck out of the box. Shares Indie and Adventure with Detention.
Experience the beginning and end of characters' lives and build your own family tree! Rusty Lake: Roots is the second premium point-and-click adventure by the creators of the Cube Escape series and Rusty Lake Hotel.
Frequently asked about Detention
- Is Detention verified for Steam Deck?
- Yes — Detention is Steam Deck Verified, meaning Valve has confirmed it runs well on the Deck with full controller, text legibility, and default configuration support.
- How much does Detention cost?
- Detention is listed on Steam at 11.99 USD (current store price; Steam sales may reduce this temporarily).
- What games are most similar to Detention?
- Based on Steam play patterns and shared genres/tags, the games most often recommended alongside Detention are Fran Bow, The Cat Lady, Vlad Circus: Descend Into Madness.
- Who developed Detention?
- Detention was developed by RedCandleGames and published by RedCandleGames, AGM PLAYISM.
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 Detention.
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