Games like Rakuen
If Rakuen is your kind of game, the closest matches are Mr. Saitou, Slumberer's Universe and The Senex Bird — picked from the ranked list below. Reviewers single out its charming pixel art style, music is exceptionally moving and writing quality is exceptional. 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 →Rakuen is a 2017 story-driven adventure game developed and published by Laura Shigihara, available for $14.99. Players navigate a fantastical world alongside a hospitalized boy and his mother, exploring themes of empathy and personal growth through character development, dialogue-heavy interactions, and thoughtful puzzles with no combat. The game runs at a chill difficulty and takes a medium length to complete, designed for solo play in sit-down sessions and marked as playable on Steam Deck. Reviewers and players describe the experience as atmospheric, emotional, and whimsical, with the pixel art style frequently highlighted as charming. The game holds a Metacritic score of 84 and a 97% positive rating from over 2900 Steam reviews.
About Rakuen: A hospitalized Boy comes to terms with his own story by traveling with his Mom to a beautiful fantasy world; ultimately helping his fellow patients find closure by walking a mile in their shoes.
Players who liked Rakuen also play
Steam players who put hours into Rakuen 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.
Mr. Saitou
WHY THIS
Shares an emotional mood with Rakuen.
Top pick for Rakuen fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries.
A short game about an average white-collar worker who struggles to find meaning in a life full of constant overtime and isolation. After an accident lands him in the hospital, Mr. Saitou is spirited away to a strange fantasy world where an unexpected friend takes him on a life-changing adventure.
Slumberer's Universe
WHY THIS
Second-strongest match for Rakuen fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries.
Slumberer’s Universe is a psychological horror JRPG about a grieving middle-schooler trapped in a fading world, having to confront buried memories, the parts of himself he's tried to escape, and the question of whether life is still worth living.
The Senex Bird
WHY THIS
Third-strongest match for Rakuen fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries.
In this story-driven adventure, you're an old bird at a castle full of senile geezers. While enduring their bad gags, you're pulled into a conflict about … cows and meat? On a journey to save Senexcastle, you meet quirky fellas, play minigames and slowly uncover the truth while trying to stay sane.
Amulet Zero 零物语 - Optimize
WHY THIS
Ranked #4 for Rakuen fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries.
某一天，一觉醒来的朵琳，发现自己正置身于这个陌生的小岛上， 独自在树林里走着，没走多远，她遇上了一个哭得很伤心的女孩子，她叫杰西卡……
The Adventure of Magical Girl
WHY THIS
Shares a whimsical mood with Rakuen.
Ranked #5 for Rakuen fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries.
Magical Girl + JRPG! The mercenaries Kaim and Asal are unable to get used to the court life, so they give up their lordship and continue to wander around, living by eating grass as mercenaries. But their boring routine is broken again. They would meet the three students from the magic academy.
羽翼的祈愿 - Feather Of Praying
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with Rakuen.
Ranked #6 for Rakuen fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries.
This is a horror puzzle RPG first released in 2016. Players control Qiu Xiaoqi as she explores a mysterious room filled with puzzles alongside a white-haired youth. They unravel mechanisms to uncover the truth behind her loss of consciousness. Will the wish be fulfilled? The story is yours to shape!
Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass
WHY THIS
Shares an emotional mood with Rakuen.
Ranked #7 for Rakuen fans by collaborative filtering across millions of Steam libraries.
One day, Jimmy looked inside.
Reviewers mention these as similar to Rakuen
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.
Mr. Saitou
WHY THIS
Shares an emotional mood with Rakuen.
Reviewers of Rakuen cross-mention this title as a similar play.
A short game about an average white-collar worker who struggles to find meaning in a life full of constant overtime and isolation. After an accident lands him in the hospital, Mr. Saitou is spirited away to a strange fantasy world where an unexpected friend takes him on a life-changing adventure.
Finding Paradise
WHY THIS
Shares an emotional mood with Rakuen.
Reviewers of Rakuen cross-mention this title as a similar play.
Two doctors traverse backwards through a dying man's memories to fulfill his last wish. This is To the Moon's standalone sequel, but can also be played first.
Impostor Factory
WHY THIS
Shares an emotional mood with Rakuen.
Reviewers of Rakuen cross-mention this title as a similar play.
A bonkers time-loop tragicomedy murder mystery thriller featuring multiple casualties and a suspicious cat, from the creator of To the Moon & Finding Paradise.
Yume Nikki
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with Rakuen.
Reviewers of Rakuen cross-mention this title as a similar play.
This is a game in which you traverse the extremely dark world inside a dream.
To the Moon
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with Rakuen.
Reviewers of Rakuen cross-mention this title as a similar play.
A story-driven experience about two doctors traversing backwards through a dying man's memories to artificially fulfill his last wish.
Wandersong
WHY THIS
Shares an emotional mood with Rakuen.
Reviewers of Rakuen cross-mention this title as a similar play.
A musical platforming adventure with an emotional story. Play as a silly bard and use music to interact with everything on a journey around the world. Along the way you'll explore, solve puzzles, and meet a huge cast of characters!
Eliza
WHY THIS
Shares an atmospheric mood with Rakuen.
Reviewers of Rakuen cross-mention this title as a similar play.
Eliza is a visual novel about an AI counseling program, the people who develop it, and the people who use it. Follow Evelyn Ishino-Aubrey as she reconnects with people from her past, gets to know the people of Seattle who use Eliza for counseling, and decides the course of her future.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
ENA: Dream BBQ
WHY THIS
Free-to-play pick from the same recommendation pool — no purchase to try it.
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.
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.
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
Frequently asked about Rakuen
- Does Rakuen run on Steam Deck?
- Rakuen is rated Playable on Steam Deck — it runs, but expect some manual adjustments (control remapping, text size, or graphics settings) for the best experience.
- How much does Rakuen cost?
- Rakuen is listed on Steam at 14.99 USD (current store price; Steam sales may reduce this temporarily).
- What games are most similar to Rakuen?
- Based on Steam play patterns and shared genres/tags, the games most often recommended alongside Rakuen are Mr. Saitou, Slumberer's Universe, The Senex Bird.
- Who developed Rakuen?
- Rakuen was developed by Laura Shigihara.
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 Rakuen.
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